Biographical/historical information

The collection consists of various items relating to the Smith family of Chicod in Pitt County.

Scope and arrangement

The correspondence is in two sections. Early correspondence (1802, 1854-1890, undated) consists primarily of letters to Caleb Smith of Pitt County from James T. Braxton who had moved from Pitt County to Jackson County, Florida. Of special interest is Braxton's description of the sea voyage from Charleston to Florida; life in a new community there; a description of an uprising led by enslaved freedom seekers (1857); and prices of various crops, including corn, pork, and flour (1854-1861). In the second group of letters (1912, 1918-1919, undated), there is correspondence from a cotton seed company extolling the value of its product (1912). The remainder of the letters are from Harvey Smith, while serving in the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. There are descriptions of camp life in South Carolina and Georgia, and a letter concerning a submarine attack while he was crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Of special interest are several letters which describe the routine of an American soldier on occupation duty in Germany and talk of flu epidemics both there and in the United States.

Also of considerable interest are election polls for several precincts in Pitt County (1842-1861, undated), most of which are from Clayroot Precinct. The polls cover presidential, congressional, and senatorial elections on the national level, gubernatorial and assembly elections on the state level, and elections for local clerks and judges and various referendums. Included are the names of voters for the precinct and tabulations of the votes. Of special interest are the results of the 1860 Presidential election in Clayroot Precinct.

A third group of papers consists of local tax lists for the Chicod area of Pitt County (1846-1863). These lists show the number of acres of each farm, its value, and the number of enslaved persons on each farm.

There are numerous business records in the collection (1795-1887, undated). They consist mostly of bills, statements, and notes on loans. Of special interest is a bill of sale transferring an enslaved person in 1811 from their previous enslaver to their new enslaver, livestock prices (1837), a land sale (1838), and a division of possessions for an inheritance (1841).

There are also numerous legal documents (1797-1892, undated). Included are marriage licenses, wills, land records, tax receipts, judicial statements, and deeds. Of particular note are a marriage license (1797), a divorce edict (1849), an affidavit for the trial of an enslaved person (1853), documents appointing overseers for local roads (1850s), an estimate for a tax-in-kind (1865), an oath of allegiance to the United States and a parole (1865), and land mortgages dating from 1888 and 1891.

There is also a family record dating from 1770 until 1910. It records births, deaths, and marriages in the Smith family.

Administrative information

Custodial History

October 27, 1970, ca. 200 items; Papers, including correspondence, financial records, election returns, tax lists, legal papers, and miscellaneous items. Loaned for copying by Mr. Ephraigm Smith, Greenville, N.C.

Source of acquisition

Loaned by Mr. Ephraigm Smith

Processing information

Processed by D. Lennon

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.

Metadata Rights Declaration

Key terms

Personal Names

Braxton, James T.
Smith, Caleb
Smith, Harvey

Family Names

Smith family

Corporate Names

United States. Army--Military life
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces

Topical

Agricultural prices--Florida--History--19th century
Cotton--Prices--Southern States
Elections--North Carolina--Pitt County
Real property--North Carolina--Pitt County
Roads--North Carolina--Pitt County
Slave rebellions--Florida--History--19th century
Slave trade--North Carolina--Pitt County
Taxation--North Carolina--Pitt County
Voting registers--North Carolina--Pitt County
World War, 1914-1918--Germany
World War, 1914-1918--Personal narratives, American

Places

Jackson County (Fla.)--Social life and customs--19th century
Pitt County (N.C.)--Genealogy

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