Peter Wilson Hairston Papers, 1773-1986

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Peter Wilson Hairston Papers, 1773-1986

1773-1986

https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00299/

Peter Wilson Hairston (1819-1886) was a tobacco planter of southwestern Virginia and north central North Carolina, Confederate soldier, and commission merchant. Other prominent family members include Peter Wilson Hairston's great-grandfather, Major Peter Hairston (1752-1832); his grandmother, Ruth Stovall Hairston (1784-1869); his step-grandfather, Robert Hairston (1782-1852); and his second wife, Frances McCoy Caldwell Hairston (1835-1907). Through his first wife, Columbia Stuart Hairston (d. ca. 1858), Hairston was also related to Jeb Stuart (1833-1864), under whom he served in the Civil War. Peter Wilson Hairston had four children, including Peter W. Hairston (1871-1943), who married Margaret George (1884-1963). They had two sons, Peter W. Hairston Jr. (born 1913) and Nelson G. Hairston (born 1917). The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal papers, plantation ledgers, travel diaries, and miscellaneous items documenting the business and personal affairs of the Hairston family. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence of Peter W. Hairston and financial and legal papers of Major Peter Hairston. Letters and business items also appear for Robert and Ruth Hairston. Only limited information appears on Major Hairston's personal or family life, and no information is available on his Revolutionary War experiences. The papers of Peter W. Hairston provide mostly financial data on his plantations, but there are also letters relating to the courtship of his second wife and to family life in general. Little information appears, however, on his postwar commission firm. Plantations documented include Sauratown Hill in Stokes County and Cooleemee Hill in Davie County, N.C., and other plantations in Surry and Davidson counties, N.C.; Henry and Patrick counties, Va.; and in Columbus, Miss. The papers provide particularly rich opportunities for research on slaves. One volume contains accounts, 1815-1836, with a midwife who chiefly attended slave births. Peter Wilson Hairston's Civil War experiences, including his service, chiefly in Virginia as aid to Jeb Stuart with the 1st Virginia Cavalry and to Jubal A. Early, are documented in his correspondence and his Civil War diary. There are also volumes documenting European travel in the 1840s and 1850s, life in Chapel Hill, N.C., around the same period, documents relating to the work of freedmen and tenant farmers, clippings genealogical materials relating to Hairston family members, and other papers. The addition of October 1997 contains photocopies, typed transcriptions, and indexes of three Hairston family plantation record books and of pages found inserted in the record books. The addition of October 2004 is primarily Hairston family correspondence from 1930 to 1962, including some letters from family members serving in World War II, as well as financial documents and other family papers.

Items: About 3400 items; Linear Feet: 7.0

eng, Latn

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6626937

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection

Related Entities

There are 10 Entities related to this resource.

Hairston, Robert, 1783-1852

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wx88cg (person)

Robert Hairston (1783-1853), son of George Hairston (1750-1827) and Elizabeth Perkins Letcher Hairston (1759-1819), was a tobacco planter in Henry County, Va., and a planter cotton in Columbus, Miss....

Hairston, Ruth Stovall, 1784-1869.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b64hb6 (person)

Hairston, Frances McCoy Caldwell, 1835-1907.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w174b1 (person)

Confederate states of America. Army

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fn4wfh (corporateBody)

The Savannah Ordnance Depot, Savannah, Georgia, was organized as a field depot during the Civil War. In April 1864, it became the Savannah Arsenal under the supervision of the Chief of Ordnance. From the description of Savannah Ordnance Depot employment roll, 1864. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38477938 The Confederate States of America Army may have created the position of Purchasing Commissary of Subsistence to oversee the distribution of food and other supplies to the Co...

Hairston, Peter, 1752-1832.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sn4c4c (person)

Hairston family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d6018m (family)

Stuart, Jeb, 1833-1864

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f1918m (person)

James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart, soldier, was born 6 February 1833, on "Laurel Hill" plantation, Patrick County, Virginia. He died 12 May 1864 and is buried in Richmond, Virginia. Stuart graduated from the U.S. Military Academy (1850); received his commission (1854); and transferred to the Cavalry (1855). He married Flora Cooke, a colonel's daughter, in 1855, and the couple had three children. Stuart became Robert E. Lee's aide (1859) and resigned from the U.S. Army to be commissioned a lieutenan...

Early, Jubal Anderson, 1816-1894

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61838zw (person)

Confederate general. From the description of Autograph manuscript : [n.p., n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270742671 James Barron Hope was born 23 March 1829 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the grandson of James Barron and son of Wilton and Jane A. (Barron) Hope. James Barron Hope graduated from the College of William and Mary. He practiced law and was commonwealth's attorney for Norfolk. He married Anne Beverley Whiting. The couple had two daughters, Jane A. Barron (Jane...

Confederate States of America. Army. Virginia Cavalry Regiment, 1st

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n051x4 (corporateBody)

Hairston, Peter Wilson, 1819-1886

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z97bds (person)

Peter Wilson Hairston (1819-1886), tobacco planter of southwestern Virginia and north central North Carolina, Confederate soldier, and commission merchant. Other prominent family members include Peter Wilson Hairston's great- grandfather, Major Peter Hairston (1752-1832); his grandmother, Ruth Stovall Hairston (1784-1869); his stepgrandfather, Robert Hairston (1782-1852); and his second wife, Frances McCoy Caldwell Hairston (1835-1907). Through his first wife, Columbia Stuart Hairston (d. ca. 18...