| Scope and content |
Early correspondence (1884-1893) primarily consists of brief letters from Lena Clyde Davis of Beaufort who related family news and her own school-related, social, and church activities. Also includes a letter from Jesse Piver to his sister, Mrs. W. J. Bushall, in which he recounts a visit to Philadelphia, Pa., and makes negative comments about the Republican Party in the South. Other letters contain family news and genealogical information on the Guthrie, Ward, Shepard, Leecraft, and Bushall families of Carteret County, N.C. World War II letters give coastal North Carolina war news. Diary notations, which are written in an unidentified account book, contain information concerning the removal of pontoons at Franklin, Va., and the construction of a bridge over the Blackwater River by Company H of the 10th Regiment of North Carolina Artillery (May 1863). A fuller diary fragment (1867), the most substantive item in the collection, pertains to William James Bushall's farming activities near Beaufort, N.C., and describes problems with hired labor and general activities related to farm management and raising cotton. |
| Access restriction | No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
Bushall Family Papers (#450), 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 Mr. Ward L. Cornwall, Denver. |
| Biographical note | William James Bushall (1843-1891), son of Rachel Ward and Marmaduke Bushall of Carteret County, N.C., worked as a printer. At the beginning of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 10th Regiment of North Carolina Artillery, and in April 1863, was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. At the end of the war, he married Annie Piver and resided near Beaufort, N.C., where he managed a farm and cotton gin for W. H. Piver, his father-in-law. By 1884, the Bushalls had moved to Washington, D.C., where their eldest daughter, Annie May Bushall, received much of the correspondence in this collection. |
