William B. McKoy Collection

1910-1928
Manuscript Collection #57
Creator(s)
McKoy, William Berry, 1852-1928
Physical description
1.3 Cubic Feet, 5 items , photocopies of correspondence, programs, and one volume.
Preferred Citation
William B. McKoy Collections (#57), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Collection (1910-1928, undated) of photocopies of correspondence, programs, and a volume relating to a Wilmington (NC) attorney, political leader, and mason. **Please note the collection is photocopies only. ECU does not own the originals.


Biographical/historical information

William Berry McKoy was an attorney in Wilmington, NC. He was a Democrat and member of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. McKoy was aslo a chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee during the Wilmington Coup d'état of 1898. He was born in Wilmington on December 24, 1852, graduated from Princeton University in 1876, and was admitted to the bar in 1879.


Scope and arrangement

This collection consists of photocopies of correspondence relating to a history of Lodge #319 in Wilmington, N.C.; a photocopy of the written history of the lodge; and photocopies of two programs of lodge activities. The history describes the development of the Masonic Order in North Carolina and the origins of lodges in the Wilmington area. Of primary interest are photocopies of biographical sketches and genealogical information contained in the lodge history. These sketches concern a number of prominent Wilmington citizens who were Masons in the late nineteenth century.

Sketches included are those of Samuel Northrop, a prominent lumber exporter; Charles H. Robinson, businessman and customs official; Reverend George Patterson, chaplain of the Third N. C. Regiment; Louis Henry DeRosset, assistant chief of the Confederate Bureau of Railroads and Transportation and later ordnance agent, and also purser of the blockade runner "Fannie"; Colonel John Lucas Cantwell, Mexican War veteran who seized Fort Caswell in 1860 prior to the Civil War; Nehemiah Taylor Harriss; Captain William A. Cumming; Andrew Jackson Howell; Dr. Thomas B. Carr; Preston Cumming; William Harriss Northrop; John L. Boatwright; George Harriss; Captain Edward Wilson Manning, a member of the Perry Squadron in Japan and later engineer on the ironclads "Virginia"and "North Carolina"during the Civil War; William P. Oldham; Matthew P. Taylor; Colonel John D. Taylor; Barzillai G. Worth, brother of N. C. Governor Jonathan Worth; Rudolph E. Heide, Danish vice consul in Wilmington; Alexander S. Heide, vice consul for Norway, Denmark, and Sweden; and Captain Richard P. Paddison.

Of special interest are anecdotes of the Reverend George Patterson's Civil War experiences and those of William P. Oldham, which describe Northern reaction to Confederate prisoners after Lincoln's assassination. Also of interest is the mention of peanut oil processing for use in cotton mills during the Civil War. Genealogical material on the Robinson and Worth families is also included.


Administrative information
Custodial History

July 18, 1968, Copy of History of Wilmington Lodge No. 319 by William B. McKoy, correspondence, and programs of meetings of Wilmington, N.C. Masonic Lodges. 5 items. Loaned for copying by Miss Elizabeth F. McKoy, Wilmington, N.C.

Source of acquisition

Loaned by Miss Elizabeth F. McKoy

Processing information

Processed by T. Sloan, September 1968

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
McKoy, William Berry, 1852-1928
Patterson, George
Family Names
Robinson family
Worth family
Corporate Names
Freemasons--North Carolina--Wilmington
Freemasons. Lodge No. 319 (Wilmington, N.C.)
Topical
Freemasonry--North Carolina--Lodges--History
Freemasonry--North Carolina--Wilmington--History
Places
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Anecdotes
Wilmington (N.C.)--Genealogy

Container list
Box 1 Folder a Photocopies of Letters to McKoy, 1910-1928
Box 1 Folder b Photocopies of Masonic Narratives and Sketches, Undated
Box 1 Folder c Photocopies of Masonic Narratives and Sketches, Undated
Box 1 Folder d Photocopies of Programs, 1924-1928