Essie T. Smith Collection
1791-1896
Manuscript Collection #174- Creator(s)
- Smith, Essie T.
- Physical description
- 0.2 Cubic Feet, 1 archival box , consisting of land deeds and tintypes.
- Preferred Citation
- Essie T. Smith Collection (#174), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
- Repository
- ECU Manuscript Collection
- Access
- No restrictions
Collection (1791-1896) consisting of photocopies of land deeds and tintypes pertaining to families in Carteret County, N.C.
Biographical/historical information
Benjamin Taylor (1829-1897) was married to Elizabeth C. Pigott and they had one child, Curtis Webster Taylor.
Benjamin later remarried Julia Frances (1839-1926) and had three children, Maud L. Taylor Bell (1870-1930), Leon Parker Taylor (1878-1968), and Minnie Ola Taylor Holland (1878-1974).
Curtis Webster Taylor (1860-1914) married Gertrude Humphrey Taylor (1868-1946) and had three children Rena E. Humphrey (1891-1895), Essie Viola Taylor Smith (1893-1983), and Lula Stewart Taylor Jurney (1896-1962).
Essie married to Walter Duffy Smith (1888-1952) in 1917 and they had four children, Hugh Duffy Smith (1918-2005), Juanita Gertrude Smith Maynard (1920-1972), Wilbur Stewart Smith (1922-1999) and Walter Angus Smith (1924-1991)
Scope and arrangement
This collection of photocopies of deeds and pictures deals mainly with several generations of Mrs. Essie T. Smith's family. The deeds refer to Mrs. Smith's ancestors such as her father's parents, Eliza C. Pigott Taylor and Benjamin F. Taylor; her mother's parents, Robert W. Humphrey and Rena (Polly) Bell Humphrey; and Rena Bell Humphrey's father, Abner S. Bell, and grandfather, David Shephard. All of the deeds refer to southwest Carteret County; and such local places as Goose Creek, Bogue Sound, Shelly Point, and Bartram's Creek appear frequently in the reading of the deeds. The items date from 1791 to 1896. A bit of Pigott genealogy is revealed in a deed dated August 29, 1883.
The four tintypes are 5" by 7" and they picture Mrs. Essie T. Smith's parents, Curtis Webster Taylor and Gertrude Humphrey Taylor, and her two grandmothers, Eliza C. Pigott Taylor and Rena (Polly) Bell Humphrey. Genealogical information is found on the back of each picture.
The oversize folder contains a photocopy of an 1851 land grant.
Administrative information
Custodial History
Source of acquisition
Loaned by Mrs. Essie T. Smith
Gift of Norma McAdams
Processing information
Processed by M. Elmore, September 1976
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.