| Scope and content |
The collection consists of correspondence written primarily from De Soto, Louisiana and Bolivar County, Mississippi to relatives who had remained in Virginia. The letters written from Mississippi and Louisiana give valuable insight into pioneering life, including the hardships in farming, social life, and sicknesses. Correspondence also includes information about politics, political candidates and party sympathies of the people in Mississippi and Louisiana. One discussion provides valuable insight into dishonesty in the Post Office. One person writes of the fear of a revolution as a result of Coxey's Army. Two Civil War letters are included in the collection. Some interesting letters of the Reconstruction period comment on rebuilding, the government, and African Americans. Correspondence gives information on education in general, the uselessness of further education for women, and the profession of teaching for women. Finally, one letter of particular interest is written by a Virginia woman teaching in Creedmoor, N.C. (1894), illustrating the attitude of some Virginians toward North Carolinians. The lady comments on the wealth, mentality, language, and specific customs of N.C. women. Additional materials include: a genealogy and history of the Spicer-Young families. |
| Access restriction | No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
Young-Spicer Family Papers (#279), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. |
| Terms of use | Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Mrs. Martha G. Elmore. |
| Biographical note | The Young and Spicer families were nineteenth-century residents of Fredericks Hall, Louisa County, Virginia. The Spicers lived in Virginia as early as 1618, while the earliest extant record of Youngs in Fredericks Hall is from the early nineteenth century. The union of the Young and Spicer families was brought about by the marriage of Frances R. Young (1848-1926) to Elijah H. Spicer (1844-1922). Several members of these related families settled in Mississippi and Louisiana. |
