Papers (1783-1856) of a Shelby County, TN family to their Pitt County, NC relatives, consisting of correspondence, deeds, bills of sale of enslaved persons and miscellaneous.
The correspondence (1832-1835) in the collection is from members of the Brooks family in Shelby County, Tenn. to their relatives in Pitt County, N.C., describing life, agriculture, and trade in western Tennessee with references to western Mississippi. Mention is made of cholera epidemic in Shelby County, the expanding commerce of the area, the increase in land speculation in the western lands, and the number of new settlers. Included are numerous deeds (1791-1838) for tracts of land, the majority in Pitt County, N.C. in the area of Juniper Swamp south of the Tar River, involving William Adams and other Pitt County families. The will of James Wilson (1850) is also included, along with the bill of sale transferring an enslaved person from their previous enslaver to their new enslaver, Sarah Wilson (1839).
Loaned by Mr. Walter L. Tucker
Processed by D. Speas, March 1976
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.