Veale Family Papers

1738, 1786-1921
Manuscript Collection #722
Creator(s)
Veale family
Physical description
0.4 Cubic Feet, 128 items , consisting of correspondence, family histories, estate and land deeds, surveys, records of enslaved persons, financial and administrator papers, and miscellaneous.
Preferred Citation
Veale Family Papers (#722), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions


Biographical/historical information

The Veale and Reese families of Bertie County were related through marriage and they were the ancestors of the donor. Thomas Veale (b. before 1767) married Elizabeth Gosling. Their grandson Richard Jackson Veale (b. 1816), also known as General Jackson Veale, married Harriet Amanda Horne. Their daughter Willie Ruffin (b. 1854) married Walter Rivers Reese.


Scope and arrangement

Correspondence in the collection consists of a request for discharge (1862) from the 8th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, of the North Carolina Militia for R. J. Veale due to health problems; letters concerning the guardianship of Willie R. Hill of Bertie County, N.C., and money matters of regimental friends; and a conscription notification for R. J. Veale to report for Quartermaster Department detail (1865). One letter (1862) includes information from a soldier who was wounded at the first battle of Manassas (Bull Run).

Land records (1738-1860) concern many Bertie County families including among others the Veale, Ruffin, Dukes, Hardy, Williams, Gardner, and Purvis families.

Financial papers (1812-1921) include powers of attorney, promissory notes, arrest warrants, receipts, accounts listing, and deeds of sale for property other than land, and a deed of sale for enslaved persons (1812, 1840, 1854). A document that lists the sale of enslaved persons that includes their names, ages, and the prices paid by enslavers. There is also a receipt (1862) documenting the substitution of one man for another in military service in exchange for money.

Richard Veale served as administrator for several estates, including among others, Wiley Smith and Elijah Williams. Items of interest include bills and receipts detailing sale/purchase of tobacco, liquor, cotton, and general merchandise; bills for doctor's house calls for family members and enslaved persons (1846-1848, Wiley Smith estate); receipts for school tuition for Bertie Union Academy (1848, Wiley Smith estate); promissory notes; repairs for farm implements; and a receipt for hiring out an enslaved person (1851, Abram Smith estate). The Hiring-out system allowed a hirer to temporarily lease an enslaved person from an enslaver, generating revenue for the enslaver through the labor of the enslaved people completing the work. There is also a folder of material concerning Richard J. Veale's estate (1865-1872).

Miscellaneous items include wills for Thomas Veale (1806) and Joseph J. H. Cole (1846), a prose work by Richard J. Veale entitled "On Intemperance," and the Roanoke Gun Club Bylaws and members list (1930s-1940s). Two folders of genealogical material provide information on the Veale, Reese, and Taylor families.


Administrative information
Custodial History

February 7, 1996, 126 items; Papers (1793-1865, 1891, 1902) of Bertie County, N.C., family, including deeds and inventories, surveys, wills, powers of attorney, correspondence, estate papers, financial papers, and miscellany. Gift of Mr. R. Taylor Reese, Spruce Pine, N.C.

April 19, 1996 1 volume; "The Reese-Veale Family" complied by Lee Fleming Reese.

May 17, 1996 1 volume; Copy of Part 3 "Reese-Taylor Descendants and In-Laws" from John Fleming--Carolina to California by Lee Fleming Reese. Gift of Mr. Thomas Wilson Reese, San Diego, California.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Mr. R. Taylor Reese

Gift of Mr. Thomas Wilson Reese

Processing information

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023

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
Veale, Richard Jackson, 1816-
Family Names
Reese family
Taylor family
Veale family
Corporate Names
Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 8th
Roanoke Gun Club
Topical
Land titles--North Carolina--Bertie County
Slave bills of sale--North Carolina--Bertie County
Places
North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives, Confederate

Container list
Box 1 Folder a Correspondence, 1861-1891
Box 1 Folder b Genealogical Material
Box 1 Folder c Genealogical Material
Box 1 Folder d Richard J. Veale Estate Papers , 1865-1872
Box 2 Folder b Land Records, 1816-1860, n.d.
Box 2 Folder c Financial Papers, 1812-1921
Box 2 Folder d Administrator Papers, 1837-1864
Box 2 Folder e Miscellaneous Items