DlBlnImt of ArrljliiM enb flTaiinnrrlple
8tate Srjiartmrnt of Arrhiupa nnb JJiotorjj
Xalrlgff. Nortlj Carolina
Collection:
51.1-51.7
ASHE, SAMUEL A 'COURT, Papers
Raleigh, North Carolina
1735, 1778-1775,
181Ц,
18U7-19UO
Physical Description: £• 700 items; letters, pamphlets, programs, commis¬
sions, bills of sale, receipt, notes, affidavit, indentures, speeches,
drafts and notes of speeches, newspaper clippings, photograph, sketches,
map, reports, etc.
Acquisition: From Biennial Reports: 192^-1926, Samuel A' Court Ashe Papers,
77k pieces, presented by Capt. S. A. Ashe j 1926-1928, 9 pieces, military
appointments and orders in the Civil War, gift of Ashe; 1928-1930, copy
of letter of Z. B. Vance to cotton manufacturers of N. C., 1863, and
National American ticket, 1856, presented by S. A. Ashe; April 20, 1938,
deed and letter, typescripts, gift of S. A. Ashe; November 13, 19li0,
address by G. G. Battle, 19^0, and two programs, 1 9i70 gif t of Mrs. Mary
Winder Osborne, Richmond, Va.; November 10, 1953, history of Ashe family,
photocopy, gift of Mrs. William Little, Wadesboro; December It , 1956,
letter from S. A. Ashe, to Col. Nat. Atkinson, Ashville, 189b, "gift of
Description:^ Verne Rhoades, Asheville .
Papers of Samuel A'Court Ashe (I8ii0-1938), Civil War veteran, newspaper
editor, historian, and one of North Carolina's leading Democrats. Ashe
purchased the Raleigh Observer in 1879. Two years later the Daily News
was consolidated with the Observer, and the entire management was commit- -
ted to Ashe. In 1893, the News and Observer obtained possession of the Chron¬
icle and Ashe published the News- Observer- Chronicle. In 1891; the paper
was sold because of financial difficulties and this ended Ashe's editorial
career. (For biographical sketch see Samuel A. Ashe, ed., Biographical
. History of North Carolina, Volume I, pp. 66-76.)
The c. 600 items of correspondence include a few Civil War letters,
some personal letters, but the majority cover the period 1878-1898 and
concern both state and national politics. Prominent men who wrote Ashe
during this time, many of them asking advice, include R. T. Bennett, W.
H. S. Burgwyn, William R. Cox, Thomas J. Jarvis, Augustus S. Merrimon,
Lee S. Overman, Richmond Pearson, Matt W. Ransom, Thomas Ruffin, Jr.,
Alfred M. Scales, Furnifold M. Simmons,
V/.
N. H. Smith, Z. B. Vance, A. M.
Waddell, John H. Wheeler, Kemp P. Battle, and Josephus Daniels. Letters
from those in Congress discuss bills in Congress and their position on
them, personalities in Congress, speculations as to political appointments,
the Senatorial campaign of 1878 between Vance and Merrimon, [S. J.] Ran¬
dall in contest for speaker of the House in 1883, the tariff, and cotton
manufacturing in North Carolina in 188U, the Farmers Alliance in 1890, and
the silver question in 1893. Others thank Ashe for his support in his newspa¬
per, request him to print in his paper letters refuting various charges made
against them, or complain of ja is., treatment by the press.
Letters, 1872-1875, from John H. Wheeler outline his plans, after
completing his history, for preparing a manual for the state, and later
letters are about his work and ask Ashe to help with research, etc.
