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Collection Number: 00800

Collection Title: Trist Wood Papers, 1808-1952

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 12.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 8350 items)
Abstract Trist Wood (died 1952) of New Orleans, La., artist and genealogist, who compiled extensive records on his own and related families and on Zachary Taylor, from whom he was descended. The collection includes originals and copies of wills, deeds, inventories, letters, and other papers related to families of several states, from colonial times to the 20th century, and extensive compilations of family histories gathered by Trist Wood of New Orleans. Papers are chiefly of families united in the Wood family of Louisiana, and include the Wood and Crooke families of Rhode Island, the Dabney and Jennings families of Virginia, the Taylor and Trist families of Virginia and Louisiana, and others. Also included are papers of the Bringier family of Ascension Parish and New Orleans, 1808-1852, including many items relating to the buying and selling of slaves; the diary of Robert Crooke Wood (1799-1869) of Rhode Island, while an army surgeon during the Mexican War, 1846-1847; letters from H.B. Trist (1802-1856), Louisiana sugar planter, to his family, particularly to his children at school, 1852-1856; recollections of Trist Wood's father, Robert Crooke Wood (1832-1900), New Orleans businessman, city councilman, and active Confederate veteran, including letters to his family while traveling in the U.S. in the 1870s and in Mexico and Colombia in the 1880s; and letters from Trist Wood while he worked as an artist and editor for a monthly magazine, The Quartier Latin, in Paris and London, 1893-1905. There are also collected papers and photographs relating to Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), and a scrapbook, compiled in 1898, of clippings and a poem concerning Aubrey Beardsley.
Creator Wood, Trist, d. 1952.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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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 Trist Wood Papers #800, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm available.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Trist Wood of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the 1930s and 1940s, with some materials added from other sources in later years.
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.
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Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, August 1990

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Trist Wood (died 1952) of New Orleans, Louisiana, appears to have chiefly worked as an artist, editor, and illustrator. After 1915, he seems to have turned his attention to genealogy, compiling extensive records on families related to his own and on Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) from whom he was descended.

The collection contains originals and copies of wills, deeds, inventories, letters, and other papers related to families of several states, from colonial times to the 20th century, and extensive compilations of family histories gathered by Wood. These families all unite in the Wood family of Louisiana, and include the Wood and Crooke families of Rhode Island, the Dabney and Jennings families of Virginia, the Taylor and Trist families of Virginia and Louisiana, and others. Also included in this collection are the following: papers of the Bringier family of New Orleans, 1808-1852, including many items relating to the buying and selling of slaves (most of these items are in French); the diary of Robert Crooke Wood (1799-1869) of Rhode Island, while an army surgeon during the Mexican War, 1846-1847; letters from H. B. Trist (1802-1856), Louisiana sugar planter, to his family, particularly to his children at school in Germany and New Orleans, 1852-1856; recollections of Trist Wood's father, Robert Crooke Wood (1832-1900), New Orleans businessman and city councilman, including letters to his family while traveling in the U.S. in the 1870s and to Mexico and Colombia in the 1880s; and letters from Trist Wood while he worked as an artist and editor in Paris and London, 1893-1905.

Zachary Taylor was a special interest of both Robert Crooke Wood and Trist Wood, and the collection contains many items relating to Taylor. These include a biographical sketch, a scrapbook of clippings dated 1848 through 1850, and about 100 photographs of paintings, drawings, etc., of Taylor.

Please note that this inventory incorporates parts of the inventory to the Trist Wood Papers that was compiled in the 1940s and 1950s. The order of the papers has been modified slightly, folders have been renumbered, and the description of the papers has been streamlined, with some additions and revisions.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes originals and copies of wills, deeds, inventories, letters, and other papers related to families of several states, from colonial times to the 20th century, and extensive compilations of family histories gathered by Trist Wood of New Orleans. Papers are chiefly of families united in the Wood family of Louisiana, and include the Wood and Crooke families of Rhode Island, the Dabney and Jennings families of Virginia, the Taylor and Trist families of Virginia and Louisiana, and others. Also included are papers of the Bringier family of Ascension Parish and New Orleans, 1808-1852, including many items relating to the buying and selling of slaves; the diary of Robert Crooke Wood (1799-1869) of Rhode Island, while an army surgeon during the Mexican War, 1846-1847; letters from H.B. Trist (1802-1856), Louisiana sugar planter, to his family, particularly to his children at school, 1852-1856; recollections of Trist Wood's father, Robert Crooke Wood (1832-1900), New Orleans businessman, city councilman, and active Confederate veteran, including letters to his family while traveling in the U.S. in the 1870s and in Mexico and Colombia in the 1880s; and letters from Trist Wood while he worked as an artist and editor for a monthly magazine, The Quartier Latin, in Paris and London, 1893-1905. There are also collected papers and photographs relating to Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), and a scrapbook, compiled in 1898, of clippings and a poem concerning Aubrey Beardsley.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, Financial and Legal Materials, and Related Items, 1808-1952.

About 1800 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.1. 1808-1856.

About 50 items.

Includes the following:

1808-1852. Bringier family of Ascension Parish and New Orleans. These papers consist chiefly of slave lists and items related to the sale of slaves, but there are a few family letters included in 1826 and 1852. Many of the items are in French. There are many years for which there are no papers.

1852-1856. H. B. Trist family. Letters from H. B. Trist, at Bowdon, his sugar plantation on the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish, to his daughters, Lola and Willie, who were with their grandmother at Melpomene near New Orleans and who were attending school in New Orleans and, later, going out in society. Also, letters to his sons, Bringier and Browse, who were at school in Stuttgart, Germany. Letters contain news of family members and descriptions of life on the plantation.

Folder 1

1808-1812

Folder 2

1821-1828

Folder 3

1834-1853

Folder 4

1854-1856

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.2. 1865-1889.

About 200 items.

Family correspondence and business papers, chiefly of Robert Crooke Wood, while he was commissioner general of the American Shipping and Industrial League, member of the New Orleans City Council, and, in the 1880s, making business trips to Mexico and Colombia. Letters are most frequently to his wife Mary Wilhelmine Trist (1838-1914) on occasions when he was away from New Orleans on business trips and visits to relatives in New York, Washington, D.C., Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Winchester, Virginia.

Folder 5

1865-1868

Folder 6

1869-1878

Folder 7

1879

Folder 8

1880-1881

Folder 9

1882

Folder 10

1883

Folder 11

1884

Folder 12

1885-1887

Folder 13

1888

Folder 14-15

Folder 14

Folder 15

1889

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.3. 1890-1915.

About 400 items.

Although Robert Crooke Wood's business correspondence continues during this period, increasingly the letters are about family matters, with the focus shifting from Robert to his son Trist.

Included are the following:

1890-1891. Family letters, including letters from John Taylor Wood and others.

1892. Copies of correspondence of Trist Wood with William Preston Johnston about securing a position as assistant professor of drawing.

1893-1895. Wood family letters, including letters from Trist Wood, who was studying art in Paris. Among Robert Crooke Wood's correspondents for 1895 were Charles Broadway Rouss of New York City and R. J. Gatling of the Gatling Gun Company.

1896. More letters from Charles Broadway Rouss. Letters from Trist Wood indicating that he had founded and was editing a monthly magazine called The Quartier Latin in Paris and London.

1897. Trist Wood's letters about his magazine. Robert Crooke Wood's correspondence about his interests in Confederate history and Zachary Taylor.

1898. Robert Crooke Wood's correspondence related to his compiling a "Confederate handbook." Letters from Taylor Wood in the United States Army. Letters from Trist Wood discussing troubles with his magazine and his business associates.

1899. Trist Wood's letters from London to his mother in New Orleans, full of news of current and his own affairs, including his attempts to earn his living through commercial art. The Quartier Latin put out its last issue in March 1899, following difficulties with the publishers. Letters show that Trist attempted to sell his interest in the magazine, and, failing that, tried to reestablish the publication. Meanwhile, he was doing illustrations for the Sun, cartoons, and theater drawings. Late in the year, there are letters to Trist from friends in London and Paris. Some of these include comments on the Dreyfuss case. In December, there is news of the death of Charles Carroll Wood in the Boer War.

1900. Correspondence related to the publication of Robert Crooke Wood's Confederate Handbook and to his activities in various Confederate veterans' associations. A 4 December letter details Robert's death. More news of Trist, still working for the Sun in London.

1901-1905. Correspondence of Trist Wood in London continues until August 1905, when he apparently returned to New Orleans. A 14 August 1902 letter contains Wood's description of the coronation parade. Letter in 1902 and 1903 relate to a sash that was supposed to have belonged to General Braddock and its temporary deposit at the Smithsonian Institution.

1907-1909. Papers relating exclusively to the Confederate monument at Yazoo City, Mississippi, which was designed by Trist Wood. Much correspondence is with S. S. Griffin, representing the Confederate associations that sponsored the monument. A September 1909 letter seems to indicate that Trist was practicing law, but there are no other documents to substantiate this.

1910. Correspondence of Trist Wood with his aunt, Sarah Wood, of Winchester, Virginia, about Taylor and Anderson family history and other matters.

1911. Trist Wood's family correspondence, including a letter about Mardi Gras and letters to his mother and sisters during the summer when he was in New Orleans and they were in Covington.

1912. Slight correspondence about genealogical research. Wood was thanked by James R. Parkson in a 1 August letter for cartoons Wood did for Senator Gueydans's campaign.

1913-1915. A few family letters; increasingly, correspondence has to do with Trist Wood's genealogical investigations.

Folder 16

1890

Folder 17

1891

Folder 18

1892

Folder 19

1893

Folder 20

1894

Folder 21-22

Folder 21

Folder 22

1895

Folder 23

1896

Folder 24

1897

Folder 25

1898

Folder 26-27

Folder 26

Folder 27

1899

Folder 28-29

Folder 28

Folder 29

1900

Folder 30

1901-1902

Folder 31

1903-1904

Folder 32

1905-1907

Folder 33

1908

Folder 34

1909

Folder 35

1910

Folder 36

1911-1912

Folder 37

1913-1915

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.4. 1916-1952.

About 680 items.

Chiefly items relating to Trist Wood's genealogical studies. While closely related to materials found in Series 4, these items tend to be exclusively correspondence and more general in nature than Series 4 items, which are chiefly notes dealing with research on specific families.

Folder 38

1916-1918

Folder 39

1919-1925

Folder 40-46

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

1926

Folder 47-54

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Folder 54

1927

Folder 55-60

Folder 55

Folder 56

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 60

1928

Folder 61-68

Folder 61

Folder 62

Folder 63

Folder 64

Folder 65

Folder 66

Folder 67

Folder 68

1929

Folder 69-71

Folder 69

Folder 70

Folder 71

1930

Folder 72

1931-1935

Folder 73

1936

Folder 74

1937-1941

Folder 75

1942-1952

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.5. Undated and fragments

About 10 items.

Undated letters and letter fragments, most of which appear to be twentieth-century items.

Folder 76

Undated letters

Folder 77

Letter fragments

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Volumes, 1846-1898 and undated.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Zachary Taylor, 1848-1930s.

About 125 items.

Items, chiefly collected by Trist Wood and perhaps his father, Robert Crooke Wood, relating to Zachary Taylor. Included are a small amount of correspondence about Taylor, notes, a biographical sketch, a play in verse, a scrapbook, clippings, and a large collection of pictures. (See also Taylor family materials in Series 4.)

Folder 82

Correspondence, biographical sketch, play in verse (author unknown), and notes, 1930s and undated

Folder 83

Clippings, 1840s-1930s

Folder 84

Scrapbook compiled by Nellie B. Custis Lewis, 1848-1850

Photograph Album PA-800/1

Photograph Album, chiefly containing annotated photographs of paintings and drawings of Taylor, probably compiled by Trist Wood, undated

Image Folder PF-800/1-16

PF-800/1

PF-800/2

PF-800/3

PF-800/4

PF-800/5

PF-800/6

PF-800/7

PF-800/8

PF-800/9

PF-800/10

PF-800/11

PF-800/12

PF-800/13

PF-800/14

PF-800/15

PF-800/16

About 100 photographs and halftones, chiefly of paintings and drawings of Taylor

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Genealogical Materials, 1915-1952.

About 6400 items.

Arrangement: chiefly by family.

Chiefly notes, but also a small number of other items, relating to various families. Papers are chiefly of families that eventually unite in the Wood family of Louisiana. (See also Series 1.4 for correspondence relating to Wood's genealogical investigations and Series 3 for information on Zachary Taylor of the Taylor family.)

Folder 86-107

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

Folder 90

Folder 91

Folder 92

Folder 93

Folder 94

Folder 95

Folder 96

Folder 97

Folder 98

Folder 99

Folder 100

Folder 101

Folder 102

Folder 103

Folder 104

Folder 105

Folder 106

Folder 107

Anderson family

Folder 108-139

Folder 108

Folder 109

Folder 110

Folder 111

Folder 112

Folder 113

Folder 114

Folder 115

Folder 116

Folder 117

Folder 118

Folder 119

Folder 120

Folder 121

Folder 122

Folder 123

Folder 124

Folder 125

Folder 126

Folder 127

Folder 128

Folder 129

Folder 130

Folder 131

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

Folder 135

Folder 136

Folder 137

Folder 138

Folder 139

Dabney family

Folder 140-195

Folder 140

Folder 141

Folder 142

Folder 143

Folder 144

Folder 145

Folder 146

Folder 147

Folder 148

Folder 149

Folder 150

Folder 151

Folder 152

Folder 153

Folder 154

Folder 155

Folder 156

Folder 157

Folder 158

Folder 159

Folder 160

Folder 161

Folder 162

Folder 163

Folder 164

Folder 165

Folder 166

Folder 167

Folder 168

Folder 169

Folder 170

Folder 171

Folder 172

Folder 173

Folder 174

Folder 175

Folder 176

Folder 177

Folder 178

Folder 179

Folder 180

Folder 181

Folder 182

Folder 183

Folder 184

Folder 185

Folder 186

Folder 187

Folder 188

Folder 189

Folder 190

Folder 191

Folder 192

Folder 193

Folder 194

Folder 195

Jennings family

Folder 196-202

Folder 196

Folder 197

Folder 198

Folder 199

Folder 200

Folder 201

Folder 202

Pendleton family

Folder 203-211

Folder 203

Folder 204

Folder 205

Folder 206

Folder 207

Folder 208

Folder 209

Folder 210

Folder 211

Pettus family

Folder 212-240

Folder 212

Folder 213

Folder 214

Folder 215

Folder 216

Folder 217

Folder 218

Folder 219

Folder 220

Folder 221

Folder 222

Folder 223

Folder 224

Folder 225

Folder 226

Folder 227

Folder 228

Folder 229

Folder 230

Folder 231

Folder 232

Folder 233

Folder 234

Folder 235

Folder 236

Folder 237

Folder 238

Folder 239

Folder 240

Taylor family (See also Series 3.)

Folder 241-257

Folder 241

Folder 242

Folder 243

Folder 244

Folder 245

Folder 246

Folder 247

Folder 248

Folder 249

Folder 250

Folder 251

Folder 252

Folder 253

Folder 254

Folder 255

Folder 256

Folder 257

Underwood family

Folder 258-288

Folder 258

Folder 259

Folder 260

Folder 261

Folder 262

Folder 263

Folder 264

Folder 265

Folder 266

Folder 267

Folder 268

Folder 269

Folder 270

Folder 271

Folder 272

Folder 273

Folder 274

Folder 275

Folder 276

Folder 277

Folder 278

Folder 279

Folder 280

Folder 281

Folder 282

Folder 283

Folder 284

Folder 285

Folder 286

Folder 287

Folder 288

Wood family

Folder 289-290

Folder 289

Folder 290

Other families Bailey Billington family

Folder 291

Other families Banks family

Folder 292

Other families Cave family

Folder 293

Other families Crooke-Benton family

Folder 294

Other families Gaines family

Folder 295-296

Folder 295

Folder 296

Other families Holden-Dungan-Latham-Prince family

Folder 297-298

Folder 297

Folder 298

Other families Lee-Allerton family

Folder 299

Other families Pannill family

Folder 300

Other families Peirce family

Folder 301

Other families Ragland family

Folder 302

Other families Smith family

Folder 303-309

Folder 303

Folder 304

Folder 305

Folder 306

Folder 307

Folder 308

Folder 309

Other families Strother family

Folder 310-311

Folder 310

Folder 311

Other families Willoughby-Thompson family

Folder 312

Other families Winston family

Folder 313

Other families Miscellaneous

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