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Special Collections Research Center
William & Mary Special Collections Research CenterChristina Luers, CA and Mattie Clear, SCRC Student Assistant, 2018.
Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.
John White Papers, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.
This collection was originally a part of the Schuyler Otis Bland Papers. It was separated and made its own collection in 2018.
John White is mentioned in the 1820, 1830, and 1840 United States Census. These records confirm his residence in Northampton, North Carolina and his ownership of many enslaved individuals. It is from these government records that his inferred date of birth is around 1795. However, outside of these census records, there is little other record of John White. Based on the papers, it is presumed that Jane Laura/ Laura Jane was the spouse of John White, but there is no marriage record between the two, or a record of his nor her death.
This collection includes correspondence, personal and managed accounts, and legal papers of John White. Ranging in date from 1757-1843, with the bulk of the papers taking place from 1810-1830. From these papers, it appears that John White was a lawyer who practiced in Northampton County, North Carolina and the surrounding area. The buying, selling, and loaning of enslaved persons is a pervasive theme in his personal papers. As a result of his work managing accounts, he has many warrants placed on him for his arrest as a result of the accounts that he managed. In addition to numerous small accounts, the largest accounts White managed were those of Thomas Deberry Hollamon and Etheldred Smith. Outside of managing the accounts of others, White was a farmer and ran, with the help of Ann Johnson, what appears to be an inn where alcohol was sold and individuals could obtain transportation. This collection primarily occurs in the area surrounding Murfeesboro, North Carolina and Northampton County, North Carolina. More specifically, the location of Bryan's Cross Roads is referenced on multiple occasions and is confirmed to be a location in Northampton County, North Carolina during this time by the North Carolina Postal History Society.
Includes a letter detailing the arrangement of John White to pay for the medical expenses of an enslaved person as a result of White's actions.
Includes a document written by white where one Jane Laura is identified as his wife.
Includes an account with Aycock and Long.
The accounts of Thomas Deberry Hollamon were maintained by John White.
Johnson appears in Managed Accounts file entitled Account of Ann Johnson and in the Ledger entitled White and Johnson Cash Book.
Gary identifies himself as the husband of Rebecca R. Parker whose accounts were also managed by John White.
This ledger includes entries regarding cotton accounts, Rebecca Edwards and Charles Driver.
Parker is identified as the orphan of Richard Parker and Etheldred Smith appointed as her guardian following her father's death. Parker is also the wife of Roderick B. Gary whose accounts were managed by John White.
Account of Leonard Purdy, Account of Roderick Gary, and the Ledger entitled Managed Accounts. Smith is the son of Etheldred and Sally Smith (Purdy) and the brother of Henry Smith.
This ledger includes entries for Williams Garner, John Garner, Morgan Edwin, Cobb Littleberry, Hailey Hollody, Mary Luten, Dicey Goodson, Joseph Park, Howard Dukes, Thomas Edwards, John J. Crump, Absalom P. Smith, Dorothy Doles, Estate of Richard Long, David Davies, John Luten, George Pollock, John Williams, George W. Binkley, Thomas E. Hollamon, Mary A. Newsome, James Boon. and Pennalope Daughtrey.