Burroughs Family Papers, 1859 - 1930, PC.1711
Abstract
William L. Burroughs, son of Basil and Rebecca M. (Turner) Burroughs enlisted with his brother Charles G., in Company B, 12th N.C. Regiment on April 26, 1861. He was sick in the hospital at Petersburg in May 1862, and both boys were furloughed home on sick leave from 1862 into 1863, Charles G. returned to his regiment in April 1863, but William L. was at home from May 28, 1862 until Aug. 2, 1863 at which time he was reported as absent without leave from his regiment. Papers of two generations of the Burroughs family of Granville/Warren County. The seventeen items dating from 1859 through 1878 relate to William Luther Burroughs (born Oct. 1836), and the remaining items dating from 1892 to 1930 relate to his son William J. Burroughs (born 1875) and family connections.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Burroughs Family Papers
- Call Number
- PC.1711
- Creator
- Burroughs family
- Date
- 1859 - 1930
- Extent
- 2.00 folders, 57.00 items
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
PC.1711, Burroughs Family Papers, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA
Collection Overview
These papers represent two generations of the Burroughs family of Granville/Warren
County, N.C. The seventeen items dating from 1859 through 1878 relate to William Luther
Burroughs (born Oct 1836), and the remaining items dating from 1892 to 1930 relate
to his son William J. Burroughs (born 1875) and family connections. The papers include
30 letters, 1 "Soldier's Bible", 5 deeds, 2 plats, and 3 copies of receipts. The earliest
of the William L. Burroughs letters is dated in 1859 and is from his cousin Fannie
giving news of the health and conditions of neighbors, two of wham are recovering
from typhus. The following fourteen letters are dated from 1862 through 1864 and are
written by or to friends and relations. Three of those letters are addressed to his
cousin Jennie and relate to a slanderous tale being circulated against Burroughs;
his letter to her dated September 10, 1863, reports the destruction of W. W. Holden's
printing office in Raleigh by soldiers--"I wish they could have got him." Three 1863
and 1864 letters from Leopold Henderson of Williamsboro, amusingly written, give news
of neighbors and kinsmen. A letter of October 28, 1863, is a recommendation for Dr.
R. D. Fleming to fill a vacant lieutenancy in the Warren Guards, and letters of Feb.
11, June 18, and Aug. 21, 1864, relate to Burroughs' work in the Quartermaster Department
in Raleigh. Of these latter, the one dated Aug. 21, 1864, written by 1st Lt. James
A. Marrow, Co. H, 55th Regt., gives instructions on the cutting of a new uniform to
be made by the tailor, Michael Grausman in Raleigh. Two of the letters have a freemasonry
relationship (one of Oct. 10, 1864, in connection with the funeral service for Burroughs'
brother and one of Jan. 30, 1864, asking that Burroughs use his influence to prevent
the writer from being sent on active duty in the Confederate Army).
Filed with the Civil War letters, but not necessarily related to any of them, is a
sixteen-page Confederate imprint, "The Soldier's Bible" by William W. Crumly, Chaplain
of Georgia Hospitals, Richmond (by attribution, printed in Raleigh--see Crandall Unofficial
#4619).
The last of the William L. Burroughs letters is one dated 1878 and relates to his
wish to purchase an upright stove suitable for a school house.
William J. Burroughs, son of the above, moved to Charlotte and continued to live there
from as early as 1910. His papers include four letters written by Margaret Norwood
of Hillsborough concerning the estate of her brother James (non compos mentis) in
1909; three letters dated in 1913 concerning the sale of land in Charlotte belonging
to the estate of Patience Gardner; three letters from Burroughs' wife Hattie while
vacationing at Green Park Hotel, Green Park, N.C.; two letters dated in 1922 and 1923
concerning the sale of family property two letters written by his sister in 1926 and
1930 on family matters; and five deeds and related papers. The 1926 letter from Burroughs'
sister (Mrs. Thomas Tyack of Winston-Salem) expresses her disapproval of an aged uncle
who had neglected his parents while looking for gold mines in California and now needs
their assistance, and insists that Burroughs come to attend the Greensboro graduation
of Annie Gray Burroughs (missionary to Liberia from 1931 to 1935). Mrs. Tyack's letter
of Oct. 8, 1930, gives the account of a little girl who has come to stay with them
and has traveled by herself from San Francisco to Washington, stopping only at Chicago
where someone from the Traveler's Aid Association met the child and lunched and entertained
her at Marshall Fields during the layover.
Arrangement Note
Chronological
Biographical/Historical
William Llewellyn [J.] Burroughs, son of William Luther and Rebecca Burroughs, moved to Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, N.C., and continued to live there from as early as 1910. On January 21, 1908 he was married to Hattie Brenizer, born ca. 1880. His death certificate of September 22, 1959 listed his birthplace as Vance County, N.C, his profession as real estate, and his wife as the former Grace Garrison.
Contents of the Collection
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
T. C. Beam, Raleigh, N.C., May 11, 1983.