Church Family Collection

1840-1927
Manuscript Collection #137
Creator(s)
Church family
Physical description
0.073 Cubic Feet, 22 items, photocopies, correspondence, Civil War records, legal documents, diary and datebook, and genealogical records
Preferred Citation
Church Family Collection (#137), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Collection (1840-1927) consisting of correspondence, records, historical sketches, legal documents, tax receipts, biographical sketches, genealogical records, diary and date book.


Scope and arrangement

This collection deals primarily with genealogical information concerning the Church family of Forsyth and Wilkes Counties, North Carolina, and other families related by marriage. Of particular significance are correspondence, records, and historical sketches of Robert Church's service in the Confederate army during the Civil War.

A letter (February 1862) sent from Morehead City, N.C., by Robert Church to his wife mentions the taking of Roanoke Island by the Union army. Civil War records include the enlistment papers of Church and a tax assessment on agricultural products to pay Confederate war expenses. Also included is a biographical sketch containing an account of Church's military service from his enlistment in 1861 to his death at Fort Fisher in 1865.

Legal documents (1848-1883) are composed of court records, claims, tax receipts, and minutes of a Salem Town Hall meeting.

The collection also contains a diary and date book (1892-1927), evidently begun as a diary in 1892 by a member of the Church family and continued by other family members as a date book of family events, births, deaths, and marriages.

Genealogical materials on the Church family include a family Bible record, abstracts from various Wilkes County censuses (1840-1860), and biographical sketches of Robert and Lavina Church. Other genealogical materials deal with the Pfaff, Flynt, Osborn, and Noble families. Of particular interest is a history of the Noble Brothers Iron Works of Rome, Georgia, which relates that factory's efforts to supply the Confederate army with various ordnance.


Administrative information
Custodial History

August 17, 1970, 22 items; Correspondence, diary, genealogical records, and miscellaneous. Loaned for copying by Mr. Troy Lee Church, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Source of acquisition

Loaned by Mr. Troy Lee Church

Processing information

Processed by M. Mitchell, August 1977

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
Church, Robert
Family Names
Church family
Corporate Names
Confederate States of America. Army
Topical
Iron industry and trade--Georgia--History--19th century
Taxation--Confederate States of America
Places
Forsyth County (N.C.)--Genealogy
Roanoke Island (N.C.)--History--Capture, 1862
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives
Wilkes County (N.C.)--Census
Wilkes County (N.C.)--Genealogy

Container list
Box 1 Folder a Receipts, Legal Documents, Photocopies of Diary, 1840-1927