Photograph Album and other files (ca. 1950 - 2004) relating to historic houses in Chowan, Perquimans, Bertie, Gates, and Washington counties in the Albemarle region of North Carolina, including photographic prints, postcard, floor plan sketches, maps, and correspondence.
Edward Crawford "Ted" Williams (May 3, 1911- Oct. 16, 1961) was born in Cloquet, Minnesota. He first attended graduate school at Yale, but eventually decided to pursue seminary training at Princeton University. He married Marguerite Etta Evans, born in Chowan County, North Carolina (Sept. 1, 1921-May 2, 2001) in 1945.
Marguerite Evans Williams received her Master's in Musicology from Westminster Choir College prior to her marriage. The couple's research on historic homes in the Albemarle region of North Carolina began as a vacation hobby, but in later years, Ted and Marguerite began taking photographs and drawing floor plan sketches. Many of the houses in the album are no longer standing. Following Ted's death, Marguerite remarried Philip Devlin Jr. in 1971. In 1986, she began the process of submitting the album to the North Carolina State Archives and the ECU Manuscript Collection.
This collection consists primarily of the Edward Crawford Williams Album, containing photographs, postcards, hand-sketched floor plans, and miscellaneous notes all dating from circa 1950. The photographs and postcards are of houses and buildings in Bertie, Chowan, Gates, Perquimans, and Washington counties located in the Albemarle region of eastern North Carolina. During processing the album contents were removed from the album and arranged in their original order on archival boards and held in place by archival corners.
Also included in this collection is correspondence between Marguerite Evans Williams Devlin and Stanley Little concerning the donation of the collection to East Carolina University, as well as correspondence concerning the submission of the album to the North Carolina State Archives.
Additionally, the collection includes maps marking the locations of many of the buildings featured in the album, as well as information and floor plan sketches for many of the homes. Newspaper clippings from the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot (c.a. 1951) and the Raleigh News & Observer (c.a. 1949) concerning the preservation of historic homes in the Edenton, NC area are also included.
As an aid to research, the processors have produced a partial geographical index of the images in the album. The index is arranged by county and includes the ECU Manuscript Reference numbers for each image.
Bertie
P-606/088: Mulberry Hill House; owned by Frank Gilliam; located in Gregory Crossroads vicinity.
P-606/090: Black Rock House; located in the Gregory Crossroads vicinity.
P-606/091: The Hermitage; located in the Merry Hill vicinity.
P-606/111: Hope Plantation; located in the Windsor vicinity.
P-606/112: Bond-Gilliam House (destroyed); located in the Grabtown vicinity.
P-606/113: Liberty Hall; located in the Grabtown vicinity.
Chowan
P-606/048: Albania House; located in Edenton.
P-606/054: Sycamore House (moved, no longer on original site); located in the Edenton vicinity.
P-606/057: Montpelier (destroyed); located in Edenton vicinity.
P-606/059: Sandy Point; located in Edenton vicinity.
P-606/063: Frederick Luten House (destroyed), built ca. 1795; located near Yeopim vicinity.
P-606/065: Drummond's Point (dismantled and relocated to Hillsborough, Orange County, NC); originally located in Somer vicinity.
P-606/075: Hardle House; located in the Center Hill vicinity.
P-606/084: Ferry Road Farm (Cullen Jones House); located in the Rocky Hock vicinity.
P-606/003: Thomas Cochrane Jr. House (built in stages: 1842/1851/late 1860s); located in the Cisco vicinity.
P-606/087: Briols House; located in the Hancock vicinity.
P-606/089: Edwin Evins House, built ca. 1837; located in the Hancock vicinity.
P-606/092: Elmwood House; located in the Merry Hill Vicinity.
PC-606/001: Cupola House; located in Edenton.
P-606/001: Muth House; located W. Eden Street, Edenton.
P-606/002: Norcom House, built prior to 1769; located Eden Alley, Edenton.
P-606/003: Unnamed. Owned by David Warren; located W. Eden Street, Edenton.
P-606/009: The Bush House, built prior to 1880; located Queen Street, Edenton (near Granville).
P-606/035: The "Layden House" – now the "Burton House." Located on the road from Edenton to Sound Bridge.
P-606/037: The "Uncle Lewis House." Located on the road leading from Rt. 17 to Sound Bridge. Only observed example of fanlight in collection.
P-606/061: Thomas Cochrane Jr. House; located in the Cisco vicinity.
P-606/062: The "Manly Pearce House." Located 6 miles from Edenton on Virginia Highway.
Gates
P-606/094: Warner Hudgins House (destroyed ca. 1950); located in the Willow vicinity
Perquimans
P-606/079: Mitchell-Ward House; located in the Belvidere vicinity.
P-606/105: William Jones House; located in the Hertford vicinity.
P-606/106: Cove Grove; located in the Hertford vicinity.
P-606/107: Fletcher-Skinner House; located in the Hertford vicinity.
P-606/109: Land's End (Leigh House); located in the New Hope vicinity.
P-606/053: Judge Ward House; located between Belvidere and Ryland.
Gift of Mrs. Marguerite Evans Williams Devlin
Gift of Stanley L. Little
Encoded by Apex Data Services Processing, inventory & finding aid by Sarah Burke, 9 May 2014; Revised by Jonathan Dembo, 30 May 2014
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.