Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Isabella C. Sourtan Letter #719-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [Note: Previous title: Manuel J. Thouston Letter]

Acquisitions Information

Received from George Coffin Taylor of Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, August 1996

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

Conscious Editing Work by: Nancy Kaiser, July 2020. Updated title (previous title: Manuel J. Thouston Letter), abstract, subject headings, biographical note, scope and content note, and container list.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• African American women--Virginia--History--19th century.
• Freedmen--Virginia--Correspondence.
• Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)--Virginia.
• Slavery--United States--History--19th century--Sources.
• Sourtan, Isabella, Active 1865.
• Thouston, Manuel J., Active 1865.

Isabella C. Sourtan was a freedwoman in Liberty, Va., in July 1865. She was previously enslaved by Manuel J. Thoustan, a lawyer in Gloucester County, Va.

John was also a freedman in Liberty, Va., in July 1865, with ties to enslavement in Gloucester County, Va.

Letter from Isabella C. Sourtan, a freedwoman of Liberty, Va., asking permission to return and work for Manuel J. Thouston, formerly her enslaver, in Gloucester County, Va. She also mentioned John, a freedman with ties to Gloucester County, Va., for whom she would send if given the opportunity to return.