William Latimus Harris Papers

1880-1912
Manuscript Collection #113
Creator(s)
Harris, William Latimus
Physical description
0.22 Cubic Feet, 71 items , including correspondence, financial papers, daybooks, sermon notes, and a diary.
Preferred Citation
William Latimus Harris Papers (#113), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Papers (1880-1912) including correspondence, financial papers, daybooks, sermon notes, diaries, personal expenses, letter from Board of Church.


Biographical/historical information

William Latimus Harris (1854-1910) was a Methodist minister who studied at Trinity College (later Duke University) (1880-1882) and was ordained in 1888. Harris was a circuit rider in North Carolina in the Littleton Circuit (1887-1888), in an unnamed circuit (1897-1898), in the Gibsonville Circuit (1900-1901), and in the Flat Rock Circuit (1904-).


Scope and arrangement

The major emphasis of the collection is on the activity of the various circuits that Harris worked. Early notes for the Littleton Circuit include assessments of the individual churches for the pastor's salary, names and amounts paid by individuals in each church, and miscellaneous collections and donations. A personal notebook (1897-1898) gives information for churches in an unnamed circuit on conversions and accessions, amounts paid by individuals, pastoral visits, sermon notes, and personal expenses. Similar information is given for the Gibsonville Circuit. More complete information is given for the Flat Rock Circuit and includes lists of male and female members of the churches, class leaders, members who moved away, trustees, and stewards, and Sunday School reports and sermon notes. A 1903 letter about the First Quarterly Conference at Alamance is concerned with pastors' salaries while a 1905 printed letter from the Board of Church Extension discusses expenses.

Class notes (1880-1882) from lectures on theology and ethics by Dr. Braxton Craven, president of Trinity College, are included in a ledger.

Correspondence indicates that Harris was first executor and then guardian for minor relatives (1903, 1906). His financial records (1897-1908) list the expenses of the guardianship as well as his own personal expenses.

Edith Harris' diary (1912) notes her father's death, being a bridesmaid, visits to relatives, the weather, and an occasional sermon.


Administrative information
Custodial History

January 28, 1970, ca. 50 items; Church theology ledger and daybook (1880-1907), correspondence, financial papers, and miscellaneous (1880-1910).

October 15, 1971, 21 items; Correspondence, sermon notes (1861-1906).

February 19, 1973, 3 volumes; Church ledgers (1897-1910). Gifts of Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives, Greenville, N.C.

Source of acquisition

Gifts of Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives

Processing information

Processed by H. Honeycutt; M Quintanilla; M. Boccaccio, June 1988

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.


Key terms
Personal Names
Harris, William Latimus
Topical
Circuit riders--North Carolina
Methodist Church--Clergy
Methodists--North Carolina

Container list
0113 Digitized Material
Box 1 Folder a Letters and Sermon Notes, 1897-1911
Box 1 Folder b Ledger, 1880-1882
Box 1 Folder d Ledger and Notebooks, 1897-1906