The collection contains the papers of Lavinia "Venie" Roberts (1833-1923), a native of New Bern, North Carolina who wrote an unpublished memoir of her experience during the Civil War. In addition to the memoir, the collection includes material documenting the history of New Bern, the life of wealthy white Southerners during the Antebellum and Reconstruction periods, the lives of those enslaved from the point of view of their enslavers, the efforts of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in New Bern, and genealogical material related to the Cole and Roberts family.
North Carolina native Lavinia "Venie" Ellis Roberts (1833-1923) was an author, local historian, and horticulturist. She was born March 14, 1833 in New Bern, North Carolina as the daughter of the wealthy merchant and politically well-connected James Carney Cole (1795-1864) and Mary Catherine Snead (1799-1862). She attended the Burwell School in Hillsborough, North Carolina, a finishing school for young women, followed by two other finishing schools in Philadelphia, Madame Gardel's and Madame Picot's. In 1858, Roberts married Frederick Cox Roberts (1836-1911), a lawyer from New Bern.
As with many during the time period, Roberts' life was upended by the events of the Civil War. During the Battle of New Bern in March 1862, Roberts fled with three of her young children to Hillsborough. She returned briefly to New Bern during the occupation by Union troops before moving to a small farm in Warren County, North Carolina with her children and several enslaved persons. Suffering from tuberculosis, her husband was discharged from the Confederate Army in 1863 and Roberts nursed him back to health while running the farm and raising their children. Probably sometime during war, Roberts began writing her memoir documenting life before the war and her experiences during. At war's end, the Roberts family returned to New Bern to find their home destroyed, but quickly rebuilt their home and reestablished their status as influential members in the city.
Roberts was active in her community, writing local history articles, and working to memorialize the Confederacy through her work in the United Daughters of the Confederacy. An avid gardener, Roberts' abilities as a horticulturist are noted in several biographies, along with her artistic abilities as painter and singer. She died June 23, 1923 and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern. Roberts was preceded in death by her husband and her son John Mushro Roberts (1860-1865). She was survived by her four remaining children: Mary Catharine Roberts (1858-1951), Lucretia Lydia Roberts (1861-1949), James Cole Roberts (1863-1930), Lavinia Cole Simmons (1865-1942), and Anna Boyd (1867-1954).
In 1957, a photograph of her garden was published in Popular Gardening and one of her watercolor paintings was featured on the cover of the magazine. Sometimes credited with introducing the spider lily or Lycoris radiata to American gardens, her influence was recognized when a sculpture of the flower was installed on the waterfront in New Bern in 2011. For a more extensive biography of Roberts, see the articles cited below.
Sources:
"Lavinia Ellis Cole." Burwell School History. https://burwellschoolhistory.org/research/pPerson.php?id=1283. Accessed March 31, 2023.
"Lavinia Ellis "Venie" Cole Roberts." Findagrave.com. Accessed March 31, 2023.
Hand, Bill. "The Renaissance Life of Venie Roberts." Sun Journal. Gannett Company, Inc., May 21, 2017, New Bern, North Carolina.
The Lavinia "Venie" Roberts (1833-1923) Papers document the life of a wealthy, white, female enslaver during the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction-era periods in New Bern, North Carolina. The collection also includes material documenting the history of New Bern, the lives of the enslaved from the point of view of their enslavers, the efforts of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in New Bern, and genealogical material related to the Cole and Roberts family.
The collection is divided into three series. The first series contains material intended for Roberts' memoir. The second series contains additional, unpublished writings by Roberts. The third series is comprised of local history and genealogical research created and collected by Roberts.
Series 1: Memoir
The bulk of the collection includes various drafts of Lavinia "Venie" Roberts's memoir. Three chapters of the memoir were published, but most of the writing remains in handwritten or typescript draft form. Included in the collection is a typed table of contents for her intended memoir (Box 1, Folder b) and her memoir has been arranged according to that table of contents. Also included is a possible preface (1902) which describes Roberts' intentions for writing the memoir and summaries for most of the chapters (Box 1, Folder b). Other potential orderings of her memoir are included in a folder containing records of the content of her papers (Box 1, Folder a).
Beginning with accounts that date back to 1793, Roberts' memoir documents her life as a wealthy, white, enslaver during the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction-era periods in New Bern, North Carolina. The 10 chapters included in her table of contents retell stories and events which serve to glorify and nostalgically recall Antebellum life, including the practice of enslaving Black men and women (Box 1, Folders c-e). They also document Roberts's opinion of the hardships brought Southerners by the North, especially on white women who were allegedly victimized by newly freed Black persons during the Civil War according to Roberts (Box 1, Folders f and g, and Box 2, Folders a-e). Roberts also bemoans the changes brought on Southerners during the Reconstruction era (Box 1, Folder h and I, and Box 2, Folders a-e). Chapters 5 and 8 (Box 1, Folders f and h) were published by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in their Kinston-based publication Carolina and the Southern Cross. These were "Within the Lines" March 1914, Number 12, Vol. 1 and "The Aftermath" February 1914, Number 11, Vol. 1. According to a piece of correspondence included with other materials related to Roberts' membership in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Chapter 10 (Box 2, Folders a-e) was intended to be published serially in Carolina and the Southern Cross so that others could "better understand the Confederacy" (Box 3, Folder c). Thus, Roberts's memoir serves an example of a Lost Cause narrative.
Notably, Roberts' memoir includes the names and stories about several enslaved individuals. These include an enslaved man named Darby, a butler, enslaved by the Gillespie family in 1793 (Box 1, Folder C), Riah, the great-grandchild of Darby, probably enslaved by Lavinia Roberts, and seven persons enslaved by James Cole Roberts. The named individuals enslaved by James Cole Roberts include: a man named Jerry, enslaved in 1820; Dinah Banks, a cook enslaved as early 1820 and as late as 1833; John Banks, son of Dinah Banks; Caroline (Banks?), married to John Banks; Sarah, a partially educated house-servant, chamber-maid, and laundress, enslaved as early as 1852 and likely until 1862; Linda, a house-servant enslaved in 1852; and Charlotte, enslaved who was 1862 and who remained with Roberts throughout the Civil War. Also notable is the fact that chapter 3, titled "The Old South," is missing from Roberts's paper and was likely destroyed by her. A possible explanation and evidence to support this conclusion is located in Box 2, Folder g.
Series 2: Unpublished Writing
Additional writings not intended for Roberts' memoir are included in this series. These include memories of her time as a newlywed, some memories of her childhood, an original poem, a chapter of the history and her involvement as a member in Christ Episcopal Church in New Bern, North Carolina, and a biography of John Carruthers Stanly (1774-1846).
Most notable in this series are Roberts's recollections about her time as newlywed and notes on the reverse side of writings on her memories of childhood. These notes state that her personal papers were lost at one point in her life, and during this time some of her writings were destroyed by an unknown individual out of spite. Roberts also notes that she personally destroyed some of her writing "giving [an account] of my life of note – and other days" seemingly due to the reaction she received from one of her articles (1920). In two additional undated notes, Roberts states that many of her writings were intended just for her husband and children and Roberts's expresses regret at the destruction of some of her writings.
Series 3: Local History and Genealogical Research
This series contains various materials including personal correspondence, New Bern, North Carolina church history, material related to Roberts's membership in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, newspaper clippings, and genealogical materials related to the Cole, Roberts, Snead, and Hill families.
Of particular note in this series is a brief membership list of the New Bern Fire Engine Company for the years 1869-1925 (1925, Box 3, Folder d), a membership list of the New Bern Silver Cornet Band for the years 1865-1880 (undated, Box 3, Folder d), a 1907 booklet with charitable contributions and pew rentals for Christ Episcopal Church in New Bern (Box 3, Folder a), and a scathing opinion of Abraham Lincoln, likely written by Roberts, which summarizes the opinion of the president held by many Southerners at the time (Box 3, Folder c).
February 1, 2023, 1.5 cubic feet; Collection includes primarily handwritten notes on lined paper with notebooks, typescripts, correspondence, newspaper clippings, genealogical material devoted to the topic of the life before, during, and after the Civil War and family history and in New Bern, North Carolina. Gift of Alex Albright.
Gift of Alex Albright
Processed by John Dunning March 2023.
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Carolina and the Southern Cross. Edited by L.V. Archbell. vols. 11-12, no. 1. North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Kinston, N.C., 1914. Paper copies available in North Carolina Collection, see here for catalog record. Full text electronic copies also availabe here.
Written record of the contents and original order of the box in which Lavinia Roberts kept her papers. Includes many iterations edited and rearranged over time. Date range approximated.
Original table of contents for memoir and possible preface. Preface undated.
1 handwritten and 1 typescript draft with loose sheet and envelope. Date on drafts is date of content not creation.
4 handwritten and 3 typescript drafts (1 typescript draft incomplete) with edits. Date on drafts is date of content not creation.
2 handwritten and 3 typescript drafts (1 typescript incomplete) with edits. Date on drafts is date of content not creation.
1 handwritten draft, 1 typescript draft, and 3 published copies. Drafts undated. 1 published copy dated March 1914.
1 handwritten and 1 typescript draft. Undated.
2 handwritten drafts, 3 typescript drafts (with edits), 2 published copies with loose sheets included. Drafts undated. Published copies dated March 1914.
1 handwritten and 1 typescript draft. Date on drafts is date of content not creation.
1 handwritten copy. Undated.
1 handwritten draft on loose sheets; pages 2-49. Undated.
1 handwritten draft on loose sheets; pages 50-96. Undated.
1 handwritten draft on notepad; pages 1-35. Undated.
1 handwritten draft on notepad; pages 36-93. Undated.
1 handwritten draft on notepad. Incomplete with loose sheets from other copies not included in collection. Pages 26-80, 72-74. Undated.
Loose sheets from unidentifided or removed chapters. Undated.