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Wootten, Moulton, and Clarke Family Papers, 1766-1960

Title: Wootten, Moulton, and Clarke Family Papers, 1766-1960

Clarke family of North Carolina; the New Hampshire-based Moulton family; and New Bern, N.C., native photographer, Bayard Wootten are included in the collection. In 1886, Mary Devereux Clarke, daughter of the prominent North Carolina poet Mary Bayard Clarke and Major William J. Clarke, married George Moulton, a traveling salesman. George Moulton came from a New Hampshire farming family headed by Nathan and Sarah Moulton. Mary's daughter, Bayard Morgan Wootten, learned photography as a means of supporting herself after she and her husband divorced. While Chief of Publicity for the North Carolina National Guard, Bayard set up a studio at Fort Bragg, N.C. After working in New York City, she returned to North Carolina and went into partnership with her brother George C. Moulton. The Wootten-Moulton studio became the official photographer for the UNC Playmakers and yearbook. George and sister Celia Moulton helped Bayard run studios in New Bern and Chapel Hill while she was taking pictures on location. Bayard sold the Chapel Hill studio in 1954 and lived in New Bern until her death in 1959. Papers of the Wootten, Moulton, and Clarke families chiefly consist of correspondence among family members. Clarke family correspondence discusses Major William J. Clarke's experiences during the Civil War and the literary activities of Mary Bayard Clarke. Moulton family correspondence details the daily life of a large family in New Hampshire in the mid-19th century. Letters from Mary Moulton to her husband George, a traveling salesman, describe life in New Bern during the late 19th century. Bayard Wootten's letters to her brother George and her sister Celia discuss matters relating to the Wootten-Moulton photography studios. Letters to and about Bayard Wootten relate to her teaching in the 1890s and early 1900s, her photography and her photography business, her family life, and her son's service in the U.S. Navy and observations of life in China in the late 1920s. There are also diaries and other personal writings of members of the Clarke, Moulton, and Graves families, some poetry by Mary Bayard Clarke, and some writings of a literary or religious nature by unidentified authors. There are financial and legal papers, bills, and receipts generated by members of the Clarke, Moulton, and Wootten families. There is, however, little financial or legal material relating to the operation of the Wootten-Moulton photography studios. Other papers include certificates and licenses, genealogical information, clippings, printed matter, schoolwork, and other materials.

ArchivalResource: About 3,000 items (15.0 linear feet)

https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/04805/ View