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 Thomas James Wilson Papers #2257, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Partial microfilm copy available.

• Reel 1: Volume 1
• Reel 2: Volume 5

Acquisitions Information

Received from Thomas J. Wilson of Santa Rosa, Calif., 1940-1979; from Henry Brown of Memphis, Tenn., in 1979; from Peter Wilson of Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1985 (Acc. 85082).

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.

• Account books.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Surgeons.
• Diaries.
• Fiddle tunes.
• Hymns.
• Medicine--Practice--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Music--19th century.
• Orange County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Physicians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Poor--Medical care--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Prisoners--Medical care--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Southern States--Description and travel.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Medical care.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--History--19th century.
• Vocal music.
• Wilson family.
• Wilson, Thomas James, 1833-1904.
• Wilson, Thomas James, 1874-1945.
• Wilson, Thomas, 1797-1876.

Thomas James Wilson (1833-1904) was educated at Davidson College, Jefferson Medical School in Maryland, and Bellevue Hospital. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army as a surgeon. After the war, he practiced in Hillsborough and, in the 1880s, moved to Chapel Hill, N.C. He was married to Margaret D. Ross.

Thomas James Wilson's father, Thomas Wilson (1797-1876), was born at Sinking Valley, Pa., in Huntingdon (now Blair) County. He moved to North Carolina in 1845 and died in Hillsborough, N.C., 26 November 1876. He worked as a farmer, civil engineer, and draftsman and was interested in music and painting.

Thomas James Wilson's son, Thomas James Wilson (1874-1945), received his A.B. from the University of North Carolina in 1894, his M.A. in 1896, and his Ph.D. in 1898. He was professor of Latin, secretary of the faculty, and registrar at the University for many years. He married Lorena F. Pickard in 1900 and had four sons, one of whom was Thomas James Wilson (1902-1969), who received his A.B. from the University in 1921 and served as director of the UNC Press. His son, also named Thomas James Wilson, was a management consultant in California.

The collection includes scattered papers of North Carolina physician Thomas James Wilson, including a volume, 1864-1886, with records of the treatment of patients while Wilson was a Confederate Army surgeon, and accounts after the Civil War with private patients and the Orange County, N.C., poor house and jail. Also included are scattered letters and business papers; school reports for Thomas James Wilson's son, Thomas James Wilson (1874-1945), from the University of North Carolina, 1888-1893; Wilson family genealogical data; a diary, 1825-1827, of Thomas James Wilson's father, Thomas Wilson (1797-1876), documenting extensive travels from his home in Pennsylvania through North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia; two music books, apparently by W. J. Perkins, one from 1823 containing fiddle tunes and another containing undated vocal music and sacred music; one music book from 1821 of psalms and hymn tunes by Stephen St. John; and other items.