This collection contains a photocopy of a letter written by Thomas J. Jarvis of Greenville, North Carolina, on February 1, 1890, to Horace P. Gates in New York, New York, accepting Gates' invitation to meet with Civil War veterans of the Roanoke Island Campaign and describes his own service during the Civil War. Also included are many items related to Eastern North Carolina citizens relative to life during World War II such as ration books, application for appointment as an Aviation Cadet, farm allotments, and photographs of Basic Training Camp #10 in Greensboro. Unrelated items include photographs of Sycamore Hill Baptist Church in Greenville, North Carolina, on February 11, 1969, after it had burned presumably due to arson.
Thomas J. Jarvis was born on January 18, 1836 in Jarvisburg, North Carolina to Bannister Hardy Jarvis and Elizabeth Daley. He served in the Civil War and became a teacher, lawyer and politician. As advocates for white supremacy, he and his wife Mary Woodson were sympathetic and had connections to the Ku Klux Klan. In 1898, he also played a significant role in promoting white supremacy during the NC state elections. Jarvis was the 44th governor of North Carolina from 1879 to 1885 and served as a U.S. Senator from 1894 to 1895. Jarvis is best known for being one of the founders of East Carolina Teachers Training School, which later became East Carolina University. Jarvis passed away in Greenville on June 17, 1915.
The materials in this collection were collected and donated by Douglas P. Williams, a native of Kinston, North Carolina. He is particularly interested in military history (especially Civil War and World War II). In relation to the Civil War, he donated a photocopy of an 1890 letter from Thomas Jordan Jarvis, Greenville, NC to Horace P. Gates, New York, NY, tentatively accepting Gates' invitation to meet Civil War veterans of the Roanoke Island campaign at their reunion in New York. Jarvis shares that he surrendered to the military authorities of the United States and took the Oath Allegiance after the war. He then describes his service and experiences during the war.
The majority of the material relates to how World War II affected the lives of Eastern North Carolinians. Included are ration books, sugar certificate, farm allotments document, and notification of selective service classification belonging to Mack Ray Haddock of Greenville, North Carolina. Other documents relate to Michael Atamanchuk's (of Plymouth, North Carolina) application (1942) for appointment as an Aviation Cadet. Photographs (1943-1944) document Basic Training Base #10 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and an undated photograph is of a military parade in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A booklet (April 1945) entitled "War Flowers (Poems of a Soldier)" by PFC Hobert O. (Bill) Seever was sponsored by the Raleigh Chapter No. 10 of American War Mothers. A letter written in 1943 is written on U.S. Naval Station at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, stationery which has a blimp in the letterhead.
Unrelated to military history are photographs of Sycamore Hill Baptist Church in Greenville, North Carolina, taken on February 11, 1969, after it had been burned presumably by arson; concert programs (Duke University, New Bern, North Carolina, and unknown locations) for plays and concerts; and ephemera related to North Carolina Education Association conventions (1933-1935).
November 26, 2025, 0.10 cubic feet; Addition (1929-1969) includes pictures of Sycamore Hill Baptist Church (1969), material related to WWII (photographs, "War Flowers—Poems of a Soldier," ration books, notice of enlistee's classification, letter on stationery for the "Blimp Base" in Elizabeth City, Farm Defense Program document, and documents related to an application by a Plymouth, N.C., man for appointment as an Aviation Cadet), play and musical programs, and 1935 N.C. Education Assoc. session material. Gift of Douglas P. Williams
Gift of Douglas P. Williams
Encoded by Mark Custer, March 17, 2008
Processed by Aleck Tan, February 2020 Revised by Martha Elmore, November 2025
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.