Papers (1843-1942; bulk 1843-1891) of Kinston, NC, attorney John Franklin Wooten and members of the Wooten, Harper and Moseley families of Lenoir Co., NC, and the Christian family of Virginia including correspondence, deeds, plats, financial records and miscellany.
John Franklin Wooten (November 22, 1824?-November 9, 1903) was an attorney in Kinston, North Carolina. He attended William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, and graduated from the University of Virginia with a law degree in 1845, the same year that he married Mary Adams Christian (June 6, 1829-May 28, 1878) of West Point in King & Queen County, Virginia. The Wooten, Moseley, and Harper families were all based in Lenoir County, NC.
Sources: The Heritage of Lenoir County, published by The Lenoir County Historical Association, 1981, p. 438. Maplewood Cemetery in Lenoir County, NC at http://lenoir.lostsoulsgenealogy.com/cems/maplewoodcem.htm.
The material in the papers belonged to various members of the Wooten, Moseley, Christian, and Harper families. The majority of the collection consists of correspondence belonging to John Franklin Wooten and Mary Christian Wooten dating from 1843 to 1868. Most of the correspondence between Mr. and Mrs. Wooten prior to 1845 is love letters while letters written after 1845 detail Mr. Wooten's travels and domestic concerns. Other letters are from friends and relatives. The remaining letters in the collection (#789.1.i-j) are addressed to various members of the Christian family (1852 – 1866) and to John and Mary Wooten's daughter Fannie Moseley (1878, 1933). Throughout all of the correspondence can be found many letters written by Etheline N. Christian Phillips (later Tudor) to her sister Mary Christian Wooten.
The collection contains legal and financial documents belonging to the Wooten, Moseley, and Harper families. The Wooten family's documents consist of a deed for land in Lenoir County, NC, a University of Virginia diploma belonging to Richard C. Wooten and records detailing the settlement of two estates. The first, the estate of enslaver James Christian of Charlottesville (Mary Christian Wooten's father), was settled with the assistance of A. B. Evans (assumed to be an attorney) and involved the division of land and sale of enslaved persons. This included the sale Henry, an enslaved person. The second, the estate of Council Wooten, was settled in Jefferson County, Florida. The settlement also involved a suit between Lafayette Wooten and John F.Wooten, Marion Wooten, and Council Wooten's widow. The records for the division of this estate include descriptions of the disputed land in Lenoir County, NC, and a description of how the enslaved persons on the estate divided, including the first name and approximate age. The documents belonging to the Moseley family include deeds for land belonging to W. O. and Wiley J. Moseley in Lenoir County, NC; records of money owed W. O. Moseley; a Certificate of Shares for Chesterfield Manufacturing Company in Chesterfield County, VA, belonging to Fannie D. Moseley; and a document related to W. O. Moseley and his role as administrator of Fannie C. Murphy's estate. A land deed and hand drawn survey of land located in Lenoir County, NC, belonging to John F. Harper are also included in the collection.
Other items in the collection include drafts of two county histories, "Lenoir County" (possibly a school child's paper) and "La Grange & Vicinity"; poems and anecdotes clipped from newspapers; drafts of two poems, "Spring & Youth" and "Getting Drunk Again"; two booklets, "A Mason on Self – Knowledge" and "The Name and Family of Moseley"; and an unsigned, undated photograph of a young woman taken at Campbell C.H., VA.
Gift of Mrs. Cameron R. Dudley
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Processed by Brandie Cline April 2006. Revised by Martha Elmore March 2012.
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.