John L. Bridgers Family Papers

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Portions of this collection are digitized (5 items)

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1860-1919, 1943

Manuscript Collection #727

Portions of this collection are digitized (5 items)

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Creator(s): Bridgers family; Bridgers, John Luther, 1821-1884
Physical description: 0.313 Cubic Feet, 1 archival box, 1 oversize folder , consisting of correspondence, photographs, tax receipt, and presidential pardon
Preferred Citation: John L. Bridgers Family Papers (#727), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository: ECU Manuscript Collection
Access: Access to audiovisual and digital media is restricted. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Papers (1860-1919, 1943) of John L. Bridgers family of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, including correspondence, photographs of the family home "Hilma," family members, and farm scenes, 1869 tax receipt, and a pardon signed by U.S. President Andrew Johnson.

Biographical/historical information

The Bridgers family of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, were active participants in the legal, political, military, agricultural, and industrial life of the state during the nineteenth century. John Luther Bridgers Sr. (1819–1884) was a lawyer and politician who represented North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the North Carolina House of Commons. During the Civil War, he held various appointments in the Confederate military, including commandant of Camp Wyatt and later as head of the Bureau of Conscription in North Carolina.

His son, John Luther Bridgers Jr. (1844–1898), served as an officer in the Confederate Army and later held leadership positions in business and industry. He was involved in the management of Rocky Mount Mills, a textile manufacturing enterprise, and took part in postwar economic activities in the region.

The Bridgers family was connected to other prominent families in eastern North Carolina and remained involved in various aspects of public and private enterprise throughout the nineteenth century.

Administrative information

Custodial History

May 17, 1996 (unprocessed), 20 items; Papers (1891-1919) of Edgecombe County, N.C. family, including correspondence, along with photographs of the family home "Hilma," family members, and farm scenes. Donor: Courtesy of the Special Manuscripts Fund.

September 12, 2017 (unprocessed addition 1), 6 items, 0.125 cu.ft.; Addition consists of an 1860 Internal Revenue receipt for excise tax on cotton bales (Tarboro, N.C.), two letters (1861, 1879) written to Capt. Bridgers with the 1861 one being from North Carolina Governor Henry T. Clark, a presidential pardon for John L. Bridgers under the signature of President Andrew Johnson, and a letter (1943) discussing the plan to rename Central School as Bridgers School. Also included are a CD containing images (late 1890s to early 1900s) of correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, postcards from around the world, and ephemera, much of it related to Marcus Milton Bridgers, and a booklet entitled "Edgecombe County, North Carolina: Her People and Resources." The booklet will be housed in the North Carolina Collection's Rare Books Room. Gift of Nanny Foster.