M.A. Curtis Papers, 1720-1952

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Summary

Creator:
Curtis, M. A. (Moses Ashley), 1808-1872.
Abstract:

Moses Ashley Curtis (1808-1872), born and educated in Massachussetts, was a white Episcopal teacher and rector at various posts in North Carolina and South Carolina between 1835 and 1872. Besides his clerical and teaching duties, Curtis was also a noted mycologist. The collection contains the correspondence, papers, journals and notebooks, and scientific materials of M.A. Curtis, along with the correspondence of his wife Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis, their children, and members of the Curtis and DeRosset families, chiefly in North Carolina and South Carolina. Correspondence primarily consists of early DeRosset papers; letters from M.A. Curtis's parents, Reverend Jared Curtis and Thankful Curtis, and his daughter, Caroline, to M.A. Curtis while at Williams College; correspondence between M.A. Curtis and Mary Jane DeRosset; letters from relatives of Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis of Wilmington, N.C., and Charleston, S.C.; letters from the Curtis childen while they were at school and as adults; letters from John H. Curtis while he was serving in the Confederate army; and scattered letters about activities of the Episcopal Church; letters to Curtis from other botanists, including Henry William Ravenel, Asa Gray, and M.J. Berkeley, primarily regarding fungi and related scientific topics. Topics are generally related to family news and daily life, along with some discussions of news and politics. Some letters mention slavery and particular people enslaved by Curtis and DeRosset family members. Included is an 1841 letter discussing the trial of a man accused of murdering an enslaved person, and letters, 1859-1860, discussing the forced separation of enslaved people by the DeRosset family after the death of Armand DeRosset. Later papers, 1873-1929, are family correspondence, papers relating to the disposition of Curtis's scientific materials, and letters from Catherine Fullerton describing her travels and teaching experiences in Cuba, 1910-1919. Also included are diaries, botanical notes, school notebooks, sermons, photographs, and church music, as well as Curtis's diary, 1830-1836 and undated, that contains descriptions of his life in Wilmington, N.C., and his employment as a tutor for the children of former Governor Edward Bishop Dudley.

Extent:
5,850 items (9.5 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Moses Ashley Curtis was born in Stockbridge, Mass., and educated at Williams College in Massachusetts. After graduating, he became a tutor for the children of former Governor Edward Bishop Dudley in Wilmington, N.C., returning to Massachusetts in 1833 to study theology. He married Mary de Rosset in 1834, was ordained in 1835, and obtained a post to teach at the Episcopal school at Raleigh, N.C. He became rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Hillsborough, N.C., in 1841 and in charge of a parish at Society Hill, S.C., in 1847 before returning to the Protestant Episcopal Church at Hillsborough in 1857. He died in Hillsborough, in 1872. Besides his clerical and teaching duties, Curtis was also a noted mycologist.

M.A. Curtis and his wife Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis (1813-1903) had ten children: Armand DeRosset, Moses Ashley Jr. (Ashley), John Henry, Catherine Fullerton (Kate), Charles Jared, Mary Louisa (Minna), Caroline (Carrie), Elizabeth DeRosset (Lizzie), William White, and Magdalene. Only Moses Ashley Jr., Catherine Fullerton, Charles Jared, Elizabeth DeRosset, and Mary Louisa survived to adulthood.

Scope and content:

The collection contains correspondence, papers, journals and notebooks, and scientific materials of M.A. Curtis (1808-1872), along with the correspondence of his wife Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis (1813-1903), their children, and members of the Curtis and DeRosset families. Correspondence chiefly consists of early DeRosset papers; letters from M.A. Curtis's parents, Reverend Jared and Thankful Curtis, and from his daughter, Caroline, to him while at Williams College; correspondence between M.A. Curtis and Mary Jane DeRosset; letters from Mary Jane DeRosset's relatives of Wilmington, N.C., and Charleston, S.C.; letters from the Curtis childen while they were at school; letters from John H. Curtis while he was serving in the Confederate army; scattered letters about activities of the Episcopal Church; and letters to Curtis from other botanists, including Henry William Ravenel and Asa Gray. Topics are generally related to family news and daily life, along with some discussions of news and politics. Later papers, 1873-1929, are family correspondence, papers relating to the disposition of Curtis's scientific materials, and letters from Catherine Fullerton describing her travels and teaching experiences in Cuba, 1910-1919. Also included are diaries, botanical notes, school notebooks, sermons, photographs, church music, and a diary belonging to Curtis, 1830-1836 and undated, that contains descriptions of his life in Wilmington, N.C., and his employment as a tutor for the children of former Governor Edward Bishop Dudley.

The addition of 1977 consists of personal letters, 1841-1879 and 1889, to Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis from members of the DeRosset and Curtis families; botanical correspondence, 1846-1872, to M.A. Curtis from Miles Joseph Berkeley and other botanists; and two manuscript volumes of M.A. Curtis's botanical notes. Some letters mention slavery and particular people enslaved by Curtis and DeRosset family members. Included is an 1841 letter discussing the trial of a man accused of murdering an enslaved person, and letters, 1859-1860, discussing the forced separation of enslaved people by the DeRosset family after the death of Armand DeRosset.

The addition of February 2003 chiefly contains family correspondence and other materials, 1814-1950, of Mary Jane DeRosset; her sisters Magdalene, Catherine, and Elisa DeRosset; her children Armand, Moses, John Henry, Charles Jared, Mary Louisa, Catherine Fullerton, and Elizabeth DeRosset; and grandson Curtis Bynum. Correspondence, 1814-1850, is chiefly of the DeRosset sisters; topics include religious concerns, illnesses, and family visits. Correspondence, 1855-1917, is chiefly from the Curtis children and grandchildren, including Catherine Fullerton writing from Havana, Cuba. Topics include religious matters, illnesses, travels, and family news. Also included are a journal, sermons, poetry, photographs, sheet music, biographical information, church histories, a yearbook, and genealogical materials.

The addition of November 2007 consists of correspondence between Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis and her children, friends, and other (mostly female) members of the DeRosset family, particularly Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis's sisters Elizabeth Ann DeRosset and Catherine Fullerton Kennedy. Letters discuss daily life, the Curtis children's school activities, and the impact of the Civil War. The addition also contains scattered correspondence addressed to other members of the Curtis and DeRosset families, as well as several photographs and a small amount of related materials including sermons, financial documents, academic assignments, and poems, among other materials.

The addition of November 2019 includes letters to Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis from her sisters and others; a ledger of household goods, including food, clothing, fabric, an other items; lists of plants; two letters from Asa Gray; a letter from Charles Wright written from Santa Catalina, 19 March 1847; a letter from Miles J. Berkely, 24 May 24 1848, written from Kings Cliffe, England; and a letter from the Portland Society of Natural Philosophy, State of Maine, 16 September 1869, acknowledging Curtis's gift of plants.

Additions received after 1977 have not been integrated into the original deposits. Researchers should always check additions to be sure that they have identified all files of interest to them.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Curtis Bynum of Asheville, N.C., 1936-1962.

Addition of August 1966 transferred from the North Carolina Collection.

Addition of August 1970 received from Archibald Henderson of Chapel Hill, N.C.

Addition of November 1977 gift of Annie Cameron.

Addition of February 2003 (Acc. 99419) received from Curt Shepard of Charlotte, N.C.

Addition of November 2007 (Acc. 100809) received from Darren McGehee.

Addition of November 2019 (Acc. 103739) received from Rev. Robert Fruehwirth.

Processing information:

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Finding aid updated for digitization by Kathryn Michaelis, August 2010

Revisions by: Anna Kephart, January 2011; Adam Fielding and Jodi Berkowitz, March 2011; Nancy Kaiser, December 2019 and October 2020

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Additions received after 1977 have not been integrated into the original deposits. Researchers should always check additions to be sure that they have identified all files of interest to them.

In 2017, we began using "white" as an ethnic and racial identity for individual and families, in addition to "Black," "African American," "Jewish," and other familiar identity terms that we have used for decades in collection descriptions. We use this identity term so that whiteness is no longer the presumed default of the people represented in our collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Sensitive materials statement:

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, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the M.A. Curtis Papers, #199, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
BERJAYA
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu