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 Matthew Cary Whitaker Papers #768, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. Robert R. William of Asheville, N.C., before 1940; from Meriweather D. Williams in July 2006 (Acc. 100448); and purchased from the Historical Shop at Metairie, La., in January 2012 (Acc. 101552).

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.

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.

• Agriculture--Alabama--History--19th century.
• Agriculture--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Alabama--Economic conditions.
• Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Officiers.
• Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
• Families--Alabama--Social life and customs.
• Families--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Fort family.
• Halifax County (N.C.)--History.
• Halifax County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845.
• Lawrence County (Ala.)--History.
• Lawrence County (Ala.)--Social life and customs.
• Medical fees--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Medicine--Practice--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Physicians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Plantation owners--Alabama.
• Plantation owners--North Carolina.
• Plantations--Alabama.
• Plantations--North Carolina.
• Ranson, R. (Robert), 1828-1892.
• Real property--Alabama--History--19th century.
• Slavery--Alabama.
• Slavery--North Carolina.
• Slaves--Employment--North Carolina.
• Slaves--Medical care--North Carolina.
• Whitaker family.
• Whitaker, Matthew Cary, 1801-1873.
• Whitaker, Spier, 1841-1901.

• Cary Whitaker Papers (#767)
• Matt W. Ransom Papers (#2615)
• R. Ransom Papers (#622)
• Spier Whitaker Papers (#770)
• Absalom Benton Whitaker Papers (#1124)
• Whitaker and Meade Papers (#1132)
• Whitaker and Snipes Family Papers (#770)

Matthew Cary Whitaker (1801-1873) was a physician and planter of Halifax County, N.C.

The collection contains family correspondence and other materials, 1728-1870, of physician and planter Matthew Cary Whitaker of Halifax County, N.C. Included are letters received by Whitaker when he was studying medicine in Baltimore, Md., 1823-1824, and bills, receipts, accounts, and business papers related primarily to plantation operations, including records of slave transactions. Items before 1823 are deeds, accounts, and other papers of the related Fort family, including letters concerning plantations in Lawrence County, Ala. Letters from Fort family members in Alabama to Hilliard Fort of Halifax County, N.C., indicate that Alabama land was more productive than North Carolina land and encourage him to speculate in unclaimed lands in Alabama. Letters to Matthew Whitaker from his brother, Spier Whitaker, and other family members discuss family news, Halifax County political news, opinions of presidential candidates, monetary and other changes made by President Andrew Jackson, and the rising price of grain due to scarcity in Europe. The Addition of 2006 contains correspondence between Whitaker and Fort family members and friends. Topics include family news, Halifax County news, plantation matters, and politics. Included is an 1864 letter from Jefferson Davis to Mrs. Ransom, a Whitaker family friend, discussing the whereabouts of her husband, Major General Robert Ransom Jr. The Addition also contains financial records and receipts including records of slave transactions. The Addition of 2012 consists of two manuscript volumes. One is a physician's ledger kept by Matthew Whitaker, 1827-1839, containing details of treatments, charges, payments, and medications prescribed to individuals in the Halifax County, N.C., area, including slaves. The other volume is a plantation journal belonging to Hilliard Fort, 1820-1827, listing accounts of various plantation operations, including purchases, promissory notes, debts, and at least four pages towards the end of the volume listing records of slaves hired out, grouped by the year hired and for what amount.