| Scope and content |
Collection consists primarily of correspondence and financial records. The bulk of the correspondence concerns the Confederacy and troop maneuvers in the Shenandoah Valley area of western Virginia, eastern North Carolina, and Georgia. Letters describe the disillusionment of soldiers, camp life, the occupation and administration of New Bern by Union forces, scarcity of goods, duty at Fort Holmes, soldier desertion, General William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea," Union Army's attack on Atlanta and Savannah, and the Confederacy during Sherman's Carolina Campaign of 1865. Other correspondence concerns the Gooding family and their business affairs, including letters from Edward Stanley; the spread of illnesses such as influenza, whopping cough, and typhoid fever; and the Episcopal Seminary of Valle Crucis in western North Carolina. Contains Civil War records, including a list of African American men on board the U.S. steamer COSSACK, a list of soldiers issued supplies, and a copy of "The Proclamation made by the Union Government at New Bern." Legal records concern runaway slaves, R. J. Gooding's will, and the Gooding pharmaceutical business. Land records describe the purchase and sale of land by the Gooding family. Financial records include promissory notes, account ledgers, sale inventories, a list of taxable property, and purchase receipts. |
