Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick was born nearSalisbury, Davidson County, N.C. After graduation from UNC in 1851, he worked forthe Nautical Almanac in Cambridge, Mass., 1851-1853. In 1854, he became professor ofanalytical and agricultural chemistry at UNC. On 11 October 1856, he was dismissedfrom the faculty for having expressed his antislavery views. Beginning in 1861, heworked as examiner in the Chemical Department of the U.S. Patent Office, remainingwith that agency until his death in 1886. Hedrick married Mary Ellen Thompson ofOrange County, N.C., in 1852. They had eight children. Early items are chiefly Hedrick and Sherwood familyletters from Davidson County while Hedrick was a student at UNC and employee at theNautical Almanac. Among letters, 1851-1858, are several from UNC President David L.Swain and professors Charles Phillips and Elisha Mitchell. Beginning around 1854,there is correspondence with agricultural and other scientists. After the dismissalfrom UNC, there are many letters of support or condemnation; letters relating topotential jobs; and letters of recommendation, including one from Horace Greeley, 2December 1856. There is also considerable correspondence, 1857-1869, with HintonRowan Helper, a North Carolina writer who published in 1857, and correspondence, 1856-1862,with Henry Harrisse, historian of early American history and exploration, who wroteto Hedrick chiefly on political and literary issues. Most 1861-1863 letters are toHedrick from his brother John A. Hedrick, a Unionist and abolitionist who was aUnited States Treasury Department customs collector in Beaufort, N.C., during theCivil War. John wrote about life in occupied Beaufort, North Carolina politics, warnews, and actions of northern soldiers, black recruits, and southern Unionists.Materials 1861-1886 chiefly relate to Hedrick's Patent Office work. There are alsomany family letters during this period. Also included are a few writings, clippings,financial materials, and photographs. TheImpending Crisis of the South
