The Veale and Reese families of Bertie County were related through marriage and they were the ancestors of the donor. Thomas Veale (b. before 1767) married Elizabeth Gosling. Their grandson Richard Jackson Veale (b. 1816), also known as General Jackson Veale, married Harriet Amanda Horne. Their daughter Willie Ruffin (b. 1854) married Walter Rivers Reese.
Correspondence in the collection consists of a request for discharge (1862) from the 8th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, of the North Carolina Militia for R. J. Veale due to health problems; letters concerning the guardianship of Willie R. Hill of Bertie County, N.C., and money matters of regimental friends; and a conscription notification for R. J. Veale to report for Quartermaster Department detail (1865). One letter (1862) includes information from a soldier who was wounded at the first battle of Manassas (Bull Run).
Land records (1738-1860) concern many Bertie County families including among others the Veale, Ruffin, Dukes, Hardy, Williams, Gardner, and Purvis families.
Financial papers (1812-1921) include powers of attorney, promissory notes, arrest warrants, receipts, accounts listing, and deeds of sale for property other than land, and a deed of sale for enslaved persons (1812, 1840, 1854). A document that lists the sale of enslaved persons that includes their names, ages, and the prices paid by enslavers. There is also a receipt (1862) documenting the substitution of one man for another in military service in exchange for money.
Richard Veale served as administrator for several estates, including among others, Wiley Smith and Elijah Williams. Items of interest include bills and receipts detailing sale/purchase of tobacco, liquor, cotton, and general merchandise; bills for doctor's house calls for family members and enslaved persons (1846-1848, Wiley Smith estate); receipts for school tuition for Bertie Union Academy (1848, Wiley Smith estate); promissory notes; repairs for farm implements; and a receipt for hiring out an enslaved person (1851, Abram Smith estate). The Hiring-out system allowed a hirer to temporarily lease an enslaved person from an enslaver, generating revenue for the enslaver through the labor of the enslaved people completing the work. There is also a folder of material concerning Richard J. Veale's estate (1865-1872).
Miscellaneous items include wills for Thomas Veale (1806) and Joseph J. H. Cole (1846), a prose work by Richard J. Veale entitled "On Intemperance," and the Roanoke Gun Club Bylaws and members list (1930s-1940s). Two folders of genealogical material provide information on the Veale, Reese, and Taylor families.
Gift of Mr. R. Taylor Reese
Gift of Mr. Thomas Wilson Reese
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023
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