Finding Aid of Hewitt A. Brown Cumberland and Harnett County Collection, PC.2042
Abstract
Items concerning the Buie, Johnson, and Kelly families of Cumberland and Harnett Counties, N.C., 1797-1902, including deeds and indentures, receipts, bills of sale for slaves, and photographs and negatives. Items regarding the Gifford family, including genealogical information and records of Mary Hayes Gifford, Kenneth Gifford, and Kenneth Steve Gifford.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Hewitt A. Brown Cumberland and Harnett County Collection
- Call Number
- PC.2042
- Creator
- Buie family
- Date
- 1794-1996 1794-1902
- Extent
- 0.400 cubic feet
- 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
[Identification of item] PC.2042, Hewitt A. Brown Cumberland and Harnett County Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Collection Overview
Collection concerns some individuals and families (surnames include Johnson, McKethan,
Kelly, Dickson, and Buie) who lived Cumberland County during the antebellum era; and
some who lived in Harnett County (post-1855), after its formation from the northern
portion of Cumberland. Papers include land grants; indentures; tax and other receipts;
miscellaneous materials; and two slave bills of sale of a young boy named Gim, and
a girl named Patsy.
Apparently unrelated to these early families is a small quantity of additional material
(photographs, negatives, certificates, etc.) concerning the Gifford family, whose
members saw U.S. Army military service from World War II until circa 1980. Material
concerning the Gifford family, reflects their life in the U.S. Army and about fifty
small photos and negatives of the family and scenes reflecting military life.
Arrangement Note
By material type and chronologically therein.
Biographical/Historical note
Cumberland County, formed from Bladen in 1754, yielded much of its northern land (1855) to the new county of Harnett. Family surnames represented in this collection (during an approximate time span of 150 years) include Johnson, McKethan, Kelly, and Dickson, McCormick, Morrison, and Buie. During the antebellum era and latter 19th century farming was the chief occupation, with cotton a leading crop. Until the Civil War, 1861-1865, slavery was the overarching social and economic reality.
By the latter part of the 20th century, a large number of families in Harnett County, represented in this collection by the Giffords, had seen military service and had strong connections to the U.S. Army installation of Fort Bragg. (Additionally, Mary Gifford was formerly Mary Hayes of Erwin, Harnett County N.C. Possibly she had long familial roots in the area.) In general, in contrast to the population of the previous two centuries, active military personnel and retirees in the post World War II era came to represent the area's fastest growing demographic.
Contents of the Collection
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Hewitt A. Brown, Coates, N.C., 2012.