Abraham Watkins Venable (1799-1876), the son of Mary S. Carrington and Samuel Woodson Venable, was born in Prince Edward County, Va.; educated at Hampden Sydney and Princeton; became a lawyer; and in 1824 married Isabella Alston Brown of Granville County, N.C. Venable moved to North Carolina in 1829 and became active in politics as a Democrat, serving as a presidential elector in 1832 and 1836 and in the United States House of Representatives, March 1847-March 1853, representing the fifth congressional district of North Carolina. After congressional redistricting in 1852, Granville County was in the new fourth district, which he failed to win. Venable was a presidential elector on the Breckinridge-Lane ticket in 1860; a delegate from North Carolina to the Provisional Confederate Congress; and a member of the Confederate House of Representatives, 1862-1864. He died in Oxford, N.C., on 24 February 1876. The collection consists chiefly of letters written to Venable, primarily from his constituents, either commenting on politics and campaigns or seeking office. In 1847 and 1848, some of the letters deal with efforts to obtain appointments in the United States Army. Ten of the letters were written by William Woods Holden, editor of the Raleigh and a leader in the Democratic Party. Also included is an account book belonging to Venable documenting the Brownsville plantation in Granville County, 1864-1872. Entries include contractual agreements, wages, and amounts deducted for staples for freedmen who worked for him (first and last names are listed). Also included are records of wheat and corn crops during this time, with a few memos, promissory notes, and receipts interleaved. Standard
