Bettencourt Family Papers, 1833-1965(bulk 1833-1888) undated

(Manuscript Collection #482)

Accessions Information

February 9, 1984 (unprocessed), 157 items; Papers of Wilmington, N. C. family (1828-1862), including correspondence, financial papers, and miscellaneous. Donor: Mrs. Elizabeth Newkirk.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

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

Preferred Citation

Bettencourt Family Papers (#482), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Newkirk

Processing Information

• Arrangement, description, inventory and finding aid by Jacqueline E. Kempfer, 4/10/2012; revised by Jonathan Dembo, 10/17/2012; Encoding revised by Jonathan Dembo, 10/18/2012; Apex Data Services, March 2002

William C. Bettencourt first arrived in New Hanover County, North Carolina as an immigrant from France in 1817. He had a wife, Mary, a son, William H. "Willie" Bettencourt, and a daughter Amy. Bettencourt seems to have had significant financial resources and became prominent socially. He served as a director of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, ca. 1861-1862. He also served as a postmaster in Wilmington for many years, from at least 1846 to the 1880s. In the 1850s he appears to have been a U. S. Treasury Department official in Wilmington. As a consequence, he had some political influence in the state of North Carolina and often traveled back and forth to Chapel Hill for business. The papers, however, make little mention of his professional or political activities. His son, William H. “Willie” Bettencourt, attended the College of St. James an Episcopal college in Hagerstown, Maryland, 1854-1851. After having a difficult time at school, punctuated by a series of rejections from women whom he sought to marry, he returned home to Wilmington. Willie mentions having a wife in one of his letters home from Maryland. Documents in the collection indicate that he was threatened with imprisonment for debt. There is hardly any mention of the daughter Amy. The college closed during the Civil War and was reopened in 1869 as a secondary school. Mary Bettencourt was sick on a regular basis, but there is no mention of her death. The papers also include genealogical materials relating to the Hawes - Newkirk - Nieuwkirk - Brossard - Van Benschoten families of New Hanover County, North Carolina which was compiled in 1965 by Mrs. Mercy N. Hartley of Wilmington, NC. There does not seem to be any obvious connection between the Bettencourts and the Newkirk's. However, the Newkirks do seem to be related to Hartleys.

Papers of the Bettencourt Family of Wilmington, North Carolina, 1833-1965 [Bulk: 1833-1888], relate to personal, financial, and genealogical matters of the family and the related Hawes - Newkirk - Nieuwkirk families of Hanover County, North Carolina. Series I includes correspondence of William C. Bettencourt with various men his political patronage; it also contains correspondence between Mrs. Mary Bettencourt and three of her friends about local gossip; correspondence between Mrs. Mary Bettencourt and her niece Naomi Thompson. Series I also includes the correspondence of William C. Bettencourt and his wife Mary with their son William while he was attending an Episcopal school, the College of St. James in Hagerstown, Maryland and it includes some of his correspondence, including calling cards accepting and rejecting his invitations / requests for dates. Series II: Hawes - Newkirk - Nieuwkirk – Brossard – Van Benschoten Family Genealogical File, 1954-1965 includes a bound volume entitled Ancestors and Descendants of Edmond Hawes; a print of the Hawes Family Crest in black and white; a genealogical file entitled Line of Edmond Hawes (also includes biographical information about Edmond Hawes 1612-1693); a letter from Mrs. Mercy N. Hartley, 1954, relating to Brossard - Benschoten family genealogy; and a loose leaf volume entitled Data on the Newkirk family [1659-1965], by Mercy Newkirk Hartley, 1965, focusing on the descendants of Cornelisse Van Nieuwkirk. Series III: Financial Records includes bills and receipts of William C. Bettencourt and his son William Bettencourt; it also includes legal documents concerning William Bettencourt's arrest for nonpayment of his debt to Thomas Webb.

Jump to a section?

• Series 1 Correspondence, 1838-1888
• Series 2 Hawes - Newkirk - Nieuwkirk - Brossard - Van Benschoten Family Genealogical Files, 1954-1965
• Series 3 Financial & Legal Records, 1833-1888

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