Penelope B. Rodman Papers

1918-2006, undated
Manuscript Collection #1228
Creator(s)
Rodman, Penelope B., 1929-2019
Physical description
1.05 Cubic Feet, 1 document case, 1 flat box, consisting of genealogical notes, scrapbooks, historical articles, typescripts of oral history interviews, a journal, correspondence, and publications
Preferred Citation
Penelope B. Rodman Papers (#1228), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

This collection contains twenty-four pages of genealogical notes related to Beaufort County, N.C., families including Bonner, Snoad, Smallwood, and Latham written by Lucretia Hughes of Washington, N.C.; and a scrapbook of "About Town" columns (1946-1947) written by Penelope Bogart (Rodman) as a teenager for the Washington Daily News published in Washington, N.C. Also included are two typescripts of interviews done in 1938 with a mill worker at Glen Raven Cotton Mill in Burlington, N.C., and with a woman who ran a lodging house in Raleigh, N.C.; and an undated typescript titled "Description of Mill Village" about life on Factory Hill where many of the Asheville Cotton Mill workers lived. The interview with the woman in Raleigh also includes her experiences during the Civil War in Wake County, N.C. In addition, there is an errata of corrections to Van Camp's Images of America: Washington, North Carolina and a Bible containing family history information.


Biographical/historical information

Penelope O'Cain Bogart was born on September 12th, 1929, in Washington N.C to Robert Courtney Bogart and Penelope Biggs Bogart. Penelope was not a direct descendant of the Rodman family, rather she married into it. In 1956 she married George Farnell Rodman, the son of William Blount Rodman III and Helen Farnell Rodman. Together they had three children, and would live abroad in different countries throughout their lives because her husband was a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. State Department. After her husband retired, they moved back Beaufort County. She enjoyed collecting the genealogical history of several Beaufort County families and local history of Washington N.C. Penelope passed away on April 29th 2019 at the age of 89 in Williamsburg VA.

Sources:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198795005/penelope-o'cain-rodman

https://www.paulfuneralhome.com/obituary/penelope-rodman


Scope and arrangement

This collection consists of genealogical information on families, including that of Penelope B. Rodman, and other families from Beaufort County N.C as well as local history related to the county and Washington N.C.

Those families mentioned include the Bonner, Latham, Smallwood, Peyton, Biggs, O'Cain, Grimes, Rodman, and Snoad family. Besides notes and pedigree charts, there is also a rendering of the Bonner family coat of arms.

The material related to local and family history of Washington N.C includes papers written about the area's history and customs, notes of physical maps, information on houses used in a slide show, photographs and photocopies of images of houses, and a layout of the area in 1776. A copy of Louis Van Camp's book "Images of America, Washington North Carolina" (2000) is also included along with an errata sheet of corrections suggested by Washington citizens.

Material that is not related to Washington or Beaufort Country includes transcriptions of interviews done by an unknown interviewer in 1938. Interview subjects include Mary Rumble, a worker at Glen Raven Cotton Mill in Burlington, and a person staying at Mrs. Nancy Gill's Lodging House in Raleigh. The other transcription contains a description of Mill Village, where workers from Asheville Cotton Mill lived. There is also a journal kept by an unidentified person discussing a visit to a solider stationed at Camp Mills on Long Island (1918).

Personal items include a Bible that was gifted to Penelope Biggs Bogart in 1909. The Bible has one page of births and deaths dates. Two personal scrapbooks were made by Penelope Rodman. The "About Town" scrapbook (1946) contains columns that Penelope wrote for The Washington Daily News when she was a teenager. The other scrapbook is titled "Tide Land Scrap Book" (1960s) and mostly concerns Washington history.

The publications donated as part of this collection were transferred to the North Carolina Collection in Joyner Library.


Administrative information
Custodial History

October 13, 2014, 0.10 cubic feet; This collection contains twenty-four pages of genealogical notes related to Beaufort County, N.C., families including Bonner, Snoad, Smallwood, and Latham written by Lucretia Hughes of Washington, N.C. Also included are two typescripts of interviews done in 1938 with a mill worker at Glen Raven Cotton Mill in Burlington, N.C., and with a woman who ran a lodging house in Raleigh, N.C.; and an undated typescript titled "Description of Mill Village" about life on Factory Hill where many of the Asheville Cotton Mill workers lived. The interview with the woman in Raleigh also includes her experiences during the Civil War in Wake County, N.C. Donor: Penelope B. Rodman.

January 16, 2016, (addition 1) 0.09 cubic feet; This addition consists of a scrapbook containing "About Town" columns and other articles written for the newspaper Washington News (Washington, N.C.) by the donor when she was 16 and 17 years old; notes for an historical slide presentation the donor prepared related to old homes in Washington, N.C.; articles written by Rhonda Lucas Donald (2006) concerning "Washington Haunts," Sara Long Johnson about the Blount-Hodges House in Washington, and Rena Harding Davenport about "Early Customs of Washington"; and photocopies of photographs and articles related to Washington, N.C., history. Donor: Penelope B. Rodman.

October 31, 2019, (addition 2) 2.0 cubic feet; Donation includes a 1918 journal documenting a visit to a soldier stationed at Camp Mills on Long Island, genealogy notes, framed Bonner Coat of Arms, a photograph of a drawing of the Smallwood Place, a copy of Louis Van Camp's "Images of America Washington, North Carolina," with handwritten corrections and a typed Errata submitted by several people including Penelope Rodman, correspondence (1989-1990), two 1944 edition Books of Common Prayer, a Bible with a few family births and deaths listed, and 19 volumes of genealogy publications (most by Marilu Burch Smallwood). Donor: George Rodman.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Penelope B. Rodman

Gift of George Rodman

Processing information

Processing completed September 15, 2022, by Lindsey Grider.

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
Rodman, Penelope B., 1929-2019
Family Names
Bonner family
Latham family
Smallwood family
Snoad family
Corporate Names
Glen Raven Mills Inc.--Employees
Topical
Lodging-houses--North Carolina--Raleigh
Mills and mill-work--North Carolina--Asheville
Mills and mill-work--North Carolina--Burlington--Employees--Interviews
Places
Beaufort County (N.C.)--Genealogy
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives
Washington (N.C.)--History

Container list
1228 Digitized Material
Box 1 Folder b Family and Local History (especially related to buildings and customs) of Washington, N.C.
Box 1 Folder c Article re Deborah Sampson (related by marriage to Joshua Bradford) who served in the American Revolutionary War.
Box 1 Folder d Bonner Family Coat of Arms.
Box 1 Folder e Slide show notes related to old homes in Washington, N.C.
Box 1 Folder f Oral history transcripts concerning Glen Raven Cotton Mill in Burlington, N.C. (1938), and a Lodging House in Raleigh, N.C. (1938); and an undated descriptive account of an Asheville Cotton Mill Village.
Box 1 Folder g Journal (1918) recounting a visit to Camp Mills on Long Island to see a soldier; also includes undated letters.
Box 1 Folder h Loose materials related to the Grimes and Rodman Families found in Vol. 1 and 2 of "John Gray Blount Papers."
Box 1 Folder i Family tree for Biggs and Smallwood families found in and photocopies of notes written in margins of "Some Colonial and Revolutionary Families of North Carolina," Vol. 1.
Box 1 Folder j Photocopies of notes written in the margins of book "Related Royal Families."
Box 1 Folder k Photocopies of notes in the margins of and loose items found in "Some Colonial and Revolutionary Families of North Carolina," vol. II.
Box 1 Folder l Photocopies of notes written in the margins of and loose items found in "Related Royal Families," vol. II.
Box 1 Folder m Loose items found in "Some Colonial and Revolutionary Families of North Carolina," vol. III.
Box 1 Folder n "Images of America: Washington, North Carolina" by Louis Van Camp (2000); with a separate Errata of corrections put together by Washington, N.C., citizens.
Box 1 Folder o Addisco Book Club and Roy Peterson Cotillion materials, Washington, N.C.
Box 2 Folder a Penelope Biggs's Red Letter Art Edition Bible (received in 1909) with a page of birth and death records. A photocopy of the birth and death records can be found in box 1, folder a.
Box 2 Folder b Scrapbook of clippings related to the history of Washington, North Carolina. 1969-1973, 1985, undated.
Box 2 Folder c Scrapbook of "About Town" columns from the "Washington Daily News" written by Penelope Bogart in 1946 when she was a teenager.