Archibald Hunter Arrington, son of JohnArrington (1764-1844), was a planter of Nash County, N.C., Democratic member of the27th and 28th U.S. congresses, 1841-1845, and of the first Confederate Congress,1861. He also served in the North Carolina Secession Convention and as a localofficial of Nash County. He first married Mary Jones Arrington (1820-1851); hissecond wife was Kate Wimberly Arrington (1834-1871). Archibald's son John PeterArrington (fl. 1851-1895), was a sheriff of Nash County, and his brother was SamuelL. Arrington (fl. 1806-1866), who ran the family plantations in Alabama. The collection is chiefly papers relating to A.H. Arrington'sagricultural and business pursuits in Nash County, N.C., and Montgomery County, Ala.They include many receipts for cotton sales; accounts with merchants; slave andfreedmen documents, including records of provisions provided to slaves and freedmen,slave bills of sale and hiring agreements, lists of ages and birthdates of slaves,and sharecropping contracts; land records; wills and estate inventories; and itemsrelating to the purchase and sale of other goods and services. There are alsobusiness letters relating to the running of the family's plantations and personalletters that discuss family matters. Items relating to Arrington's politicalactivity include a few published speeches and some notes on laws regulating theoversight of slaves; a series of letters, 1857-1858, to Arrington from D.K. McRae(1820-1888) on the latter's gubernatorial campaign and other matters; letters toArrington reporting on voting and political alignment in Confederate regiments; anumber of form letters to Arrington, in his capacity as a local official, frompostwar military governments; and other letters that briefly comment on politicalmatters, including letters from Bartholomew Figures Moore (1801-1878) and WilliamTheophilus Dortch (1824-1889). Also included are several 1893 endorsements collectedby J.P. Arrington in his quest for an appointment as deputy collector for theInternal Revenue.
