DAVIS AND WALKER FAMILY PAPERS, #4172, 1755-1962
Correspondence, scattered business papers, addresses and essays, and miscellaneous
materials, mostly 1850-1900, of the Davis and
Walker families of Wilmington, North Carolina. The Davis Family Series contains one slave
deed of ownership (1833); documents relating to the Freedmen's
Bureau (1866); and recollections of songs sung by blacks on a Davis
rice plantation (1915). The Walker Family Series contains slave
deeds of ownership (1786, 1855); slave
lists (1855, 1862); a promissory note
paid for the hiring of a slave (1861); and letters discussing
Walker slaves living in Raleigh and Wilmington. The correspondence expresses concern for
slaves' health and over-frequent escape attempts (1862, 1865); the permissive attitude of an acquaintance toward slaves (1865); and anxiety about the arrival of black troops in Wilmington
(1865). An account of rent payments received, some apparently from
former Walker slaves (1867), also is present.
