Edward B. Ellis, Jr., Papers, 1857-2011, undated

(Manuscript Collection #753)

Title:	Edward B. Ellis, Jr., Papers
Creator:	Ellis, Edward B., Jr.
Repository:	ECU Manuscript Collection
Languages:	English
Abstract:	Seven cubic feet of papers (1857-2011) collected by local historian Edward Ellis are related to Havelock, N.C., history, New Bern, N.C., history, the Civil War, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, Sir Henry Havelock and Ellis’s publications. Items included are aerial photographs (1938/1939, 1950) of Craven, Pamlico and Carteret counties, N.C.; New Bern Civil War-related sheet music, two issues of The New York Times (1862); issues of The Illustrated London News, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Harper’s Weekly and The New York Times (1857), emphera, engravings, prints and an image on glass related to Sir Henry Havelock; Havelock Tobacco caddy labels; Havelock Progress newspaper negatives (1981-1983); photographs used in Ellis’s book Historic Images of Havelock & Cherry Point (2010); manuscripts for Ellis’s books In This Small Place (2005), and New Bern History 101 (2009); and four cubic feet of historical files relating to Havelock and New Bern, N.C., Cherry Point, the Civil War, genealogy and other historical topics. Also included are a short history of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing, and ninety-seven photographs (1941) with corresponding indexes and map documenting property adjoining Havelock, N.C. prior to demolition of buildings for construction of Cherry Point Marine Air Station. The photographs include scenes of farm houses, barns, outbuildings, fishing camps, fields, roads, and waterways.
Extent:	7.425 Cubic feet, 13 boxes. 2 oversize folders.

Accessions Information

December 4, 1997, 102 items; 97 photographs, 2 sheets of information related to the photographs, and 3 original indexes listing photographs. Donor: Mr. Edward B. Ellis, Jr.

April 5, 2006, (addition 1), 2 items, ownership map (June 1941) of lands taken by the U. S. Government for the proposed Cherry Point Marine Aviation Base at Cherry Point, North Carolina, surveyed and mapped by the U. S. Forest Service. Public Works Drawing No. 2063. Dimensions: 30.5" x 24". Donor: Mr. Edward B. Ellis, Jr.

August 18, 2011, (unprocessed addition 2), 7 cubic feet; Papers (1857-2011) collected by local historian Edward Ellis are related to Havelock, N.C., history, New Bern, N.C., history, the Civil War, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, Sir Henry Havelock and Ellis’s publications. Items included are aerial photographs (1938/1939, 1950) of Craven, Pamlico and Carteret counties, N.C.; photographs (1940s, 1950s), printed items, patches and a DVD video related to Cherry Point; New Bern Civil War-related sheet music, broadside, invoice, letter and two issues of The New York Times (1862); issues of The Illustrated London News, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Harper’s Weekly and The New York Times (1857), sheet music, stereo cards, postcards, First Day Covers, collectible player cards and tobacco cards, engravings, prints and an image on glass related to Sir Henry Havelock; Havelock Tobacco caddy labels; Havelock Progress newspaper negatives (1981-1983); photographs used in Ellis’s book Historic Images of Havelock & Cherry Point (2010); manuscripts for Ellis’s books In This Small Place (2005), and New Bern History 101 (2009); two VHS videocassettes and four cubic feet of historical files relating to Havelock and New Bern, N.C., Cherry Point, the Civil War, genealogy and other historical topics. Donor: Mr. Edward B. Ellis, Jr.

October 31, 2012, (unprocessed addition 3), 0.025 cubic feet, 1 volume; Memories of Old Havelock, N.C., Correspondence with Johnny Dean Oliver is a publication compiled by Edward B. Ellis, Jr., in 2011 to document Havelock’s past by recording longtime resident Johnny Oliver’s memories and photographs. The Addendum to this publication is a reprint of a Havelock News article from 2010 about brothers Johnny Dean Oliver and Braxton Oliver. Donor: Mr. Edward B. Ellis, Jr.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University owns copyright to the collection. Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Preferred Citation

Edward B. Ellis, Jr., Papers (#753), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Edward B. Ellis, Jr.

Processing Information

• Processed by Naomi Winkelman, April 29, 2003

• Encoded by Mark Custer, January 8, 2008

Edward B. Ellis, Jr., donor of this collection, was the historian of Havelock, NC, at the time the collection materials relating to the future site of Cherry Point Marine Air Station were given to him. Cherry Point Marine Air Station is located at the foot of the great Outer Banks, approximately ninety miles west-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In July 1941, after an authorization by Congress, clearing of swamps, farmland and timberland totaling some eight thousand acres began. In November (only seventeen days before the attack on Pearl Harbor) initial construction of the station commenced. The facility was originally commissioned on May 20, 1942 as Cunningham Field, in honor of Lt. Col. Alfred A. Cunningham, the Marine Corps' first aviator. The name Cherry Point, taken from a local post office set among cherry trees, was later applied to the facility.

The initial purpose of the station was a training facility during World War II for Marines bound for service in The Pacific Theater, as well as a base for anti-submarine operations. During the Korean and Vietnam wars, Cherry Point assisted by supplying a steady supply of replacement aviation personnel. With the deployment of several squadrons, the station played a major role in the victory in Southwest Asia during Operation Desert Storm. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. Cherry Point military personnel have assisted in the ongoing fight on terrorism through various operations. Source: Official website of MCAS Cherry Point, NC http://www.cherrypoint.usmc.mil/

The rest of the collection, which contains the largest portion of the materials, are Ellis's local history files related to Havelock, N.C., history, New Bern, N.C., history, the Civil War, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, Sir Henry Havelock, genealogy and Ellis’s publications. Photographs, emphera, New Bern Civil War-related sheet music, issues of national and also London newspapers (1857, 1862), and some of Ellis's manuscripts are also included.

This collection contains ninety-seven photographs and a few documents pertaining to the future site of Cherry Point Marine Air Station. The photographs document land and structures before clearing took place to build the facility. The forty-two homes that existed on the property are shown in the photographs along with farmhouses, outbuildings, several vehicles, fields, roads, waterways and a service station. The area was photographed as part of government contract NOy 4957 during August and September 1941, a few months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The photographs contain tract numbers that correspond to a map still retained by Ellis. According to Ellis, by the time the photographs were taken most of the homes in the photographs had been abandoned and some had already been razed. Those that did remain were razed soon after the photographs were taken. At least one settlement that was dislocated by the construction of Cherry Point was Little Witness. Little Witness was a black settlement at the intersection of Hancock Creek and the Beaufort Road (Highway 101). Ellis later recorded interviews of original residents, but these are not part of the collection.

The photographs in this collection were given to the donor, Edward B. Ellis Jr., by the Secretary to the Commanding General at Cherry Point. Ellis made copies of the photographs and gave sets to the Cherry Point Command Historian, the Alfred A. Cunningham Air Museum and the new Little Witness Church of Havelock, NC. He also kept some for his personal archives.

The photographs in Box 1, Folder c were taken on August 3, 1941 by Wooten-Moulton Studios of New Bern, North Carolina. Photograph #6 is missing from the collection and photograph #10 is signed and dated by G. Moulton on the back.

The photographs in Box 1, Folder d were taken on August 28-29, 1941. Roy Eubanks of Beaufort, North Carolina was the photographer. Photographs #8D, #24 are missing, and #28 is erroneously labeled as "another" #23. According to Ellis, the building in photograph #24 was the schoolhouse at the settlement of Little Witness.

The photographs in Box 1, Folder e were taken on September 15-16, 1941. The photographer is unknown. Photograph #4 is missing. According to Ellis, the church in photograph #4 was the church at the settlement of Little Witness.

Among the documents are three indexes (duplicated in the container list for the collection) by Ellis describing each photograph. Another document composed by Ellis offers further provenance of the photographs and history of the area. The last document is a short history of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing, first commissioned in July 1941 in San Diego, California. This division was moved to Cherry Point in 1946.

Also included is an ownership map (June 1941 Public Works Drawing No. 2063, 30.5" x 24") of lands taken by the U. S. Government for the proposed Cherry Point Marine Aviation Base at Cherry Point, North Carolina. This item was surveyed and mapped by the U. S. Forest Service. The map is keyed to photographs included in the collection.

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Reading Room's card catalog. This system is no longer maintained, but it is left in place to help on-site researchers locate particular topics in the collection.

Geographic Entries :

• North Carolina, Cherry Point

Autograph Entries :

• Moulton, G.

Subject Entries :

• BOUNDARIES — Cherry Point, N.C.
• BUILDING AND ARCHITECTURE — Little Witness, N.C.
• CHERRY POINT, N.C.
• CHURCHES — Little Witness, N.C.
• HAVELOCK, N.C.
• LAND — Cherry Point, N.C.
• LEGISATURE — Cherry Point, N.C.
• NAVY — Cherry Point, N.C.
• NEGROES — Black Settlement — Little Witness, N.C.
• N.C. — MILITARY INSTALLMENTS — Cherry Point, N.C.
• SETTLEMENT OF N.C. — Little Witness, N.C.
• SURVEYING — Cherry Point, N.C.
• TOWNS — Little Witness, N.C.
• WAR — WORLD WAR II — The Second Marine Aircraft Wing

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• Series 1 Manuscripts
• Series 2 Photographs
• Series 3 Oversized Items

Below is material taken from a preliminary inventory and represents content from the collection that is unprocessed.