http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/y/Yancey,Benjamin_C.html Manuscripts Department Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION #2594 BENJAMIN CUDWORTH YANCEY PAPERS Inventory Abstract: Planter, lawyer, antebellum Alabama newspaper editor, Democratic state legislator in South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia; U.S. minister to Argentina; Confederate officer in Virginia, 1861, and Georgia militia officer in the Atlanta Campaign, 1864; publisher of postwar agricultural journals and promoter of agricultural societies, business, and industry in Georgia; and brother of William Lowndes Yancey. Yancey's papers, primarily 1835-1891, include extensive correspondence with public figures and with a large and widespread family connection, which included the Yancey, Bird, Cunningham, Hamilton, Phinizy, and Patterson families; papers relating to plantations in Cherokee County, Ala., and Floyd County, Ga., including correspondence with overseers; papers relating to law practice and politics, especially in the 1840s and 1850s in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina; correspondence and letterpress copy book in Argentina, 1858-1859, including letters to Secretary of State Lewis Cass; and papers relating to military service and varied business, industrial, and agricultural pursuits after the war. Also included are volumes of miscellaneous accounts, 1847- 1885, and a woman's diary, 1850, of a seven-week trip from Georgia to New York and New England. Online Catalog Terms: Alabama--Politics and government--To 1865. Argentina--Description and travel--19th century. Cass, Lewis, 1782-1866. Cherokee County (Ala.)--History. Floyd County (Ga.)--History. Georgia--Politics and government--1775-1865. Lawyers--Alabama--History--19th century. Lawyers--Georgia--History--19th century. Lawyers--South Carolina--History--19th century. Marengo County (Ala.)--History. Plantations--Alabama--Cherokee County. Plantations--Georgia--Floyd County. South Carolina--Politics and government--1775-1865. Southern States--Economic conditions--19th century. Travellers--Diaries--United States--History. United States--Description and travel--1848-1865. United States--Diplomatic and consular corps--Argentina. Yancey, Benjamin Cudworth, 1817-1891. Yancey, William Lowndes, 1814-1863. Size: About 4,800 items (7.0 linear feet). Provenance: Received from Hamilton Yancey and Claire Yancey Clark of Rome, Ga., in April 1943 and October 1946. Access: No restrictions. Related Collections: Benjamin Cudworth Yancey Papers, Special Collections, Duke University. Processing Note: This collection was processed with support, in part, from the Randleigh Foundation Trust. Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Table of Contents: Introduction Biographical Note Collection Overview Series Descriptions Series 1. Yancey Papers Series 2. Volumes Series 3. Pictures Shelf List INTRODUCTION Biographical Note Benjamin Cudworth Yancey was born in Charleston, S.C., on 27 April 1817, the younger of two sons of Caroline Bird and Benjamin Cudworth Yancey. His father was a prominent South Carolina lawyer and political figure while his mother was the daughter of William Bird of Warren County, Ga. When his father died in 1817, his mother moved to Georgia where Yancey received his education at the Mount Zion Academy in Hancock County, under the tutelage of Reverend Nathan Sidney Smith Beman, later the leader of the New School Presbyterians and an ardent abolitionist. Caroline Bird Yancey married Beman in 1821 and the family moved to Troy, N.Y., where Yancey attended the Academy School. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1836 and from Yale Law School in the winter of 1838. Yancey began his practice in Cahaba, Ala., edited the local Democrat paper, and, in 1840, joined his brother, William L. Yancey, as co-owner and co-editor of the Wetumpka Argus. In 1841, he moved to Hamburg, S.C., across the Savannah River from Augusta, Ga. He married Laura Hines of Hancock County, Ga., in 1842, and they had one daughter, Caroline. Three years after Laura died in 1844, he married Sarah Hamilton, daughter of Thomas N. Hamilton of Athens, Ga., with whom he had Hamilton and Mary Louisa. Yancey practiced law in Hamburg until 1850, serving several times in the South Carolina legislature. In 1850, he left South Carolina for a plantation home in the Coosa River in Cherokee County, Ala. Yancey was elected to the Alabama legislature and served as presiding officer of that body. In 1858, he accepted an appointment to the post of Minister Resident of the United States to the Argentine Confederation, serving there until the winter of 1859 when he returned to the United States to look after his private affairs following the death of his father-in-law. While serving as United States minister to the Argentine Confederation, he attempted to mediate a dispute between the Confederation and the then independent state of Buenos Aires, but was unable to avert war. Upon his return to the United States, he was offered other diplomatic positions by President Buchanan, but declined them. During the American Civil War, Yancey served in Virginia as an officer in the Fulton Dragoons of Cobb's Georgia Legion, and also participated actively in the defense of Atlanta in 1864 as a colonel in the Georgia militia. After the war, Yancey resided in Georgia where he practiced law in Athens and undertook various other business interests and planting ventures in several localities. He served in the Georgia legislature, was a trustee of the University of Georgia, edited an agricultural journal, and was president of the Georgia State Agricultural Society. He remained actively interested in business and agricultural affairs until shortly before his death in 1891. Collection Overview Personal, business, professional, and official papers of Benjamin C. Yancey in Series 1 are divided into dated and undated material. The collection is arranged as follows: Series 1. Yancey Papers Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers Subseries 1.2. Undated Papers Series 2. Volumes Series 3. Pictures SERIES DESCRIPTIONS Series 1. Yancey Papers 1800-1931 and undated. About 4,775 items. Personal, business, professional, and official papers of Benjamin C. Yancey together with the correspondence of his wife's Georgia relatives, the Hamiltons, as well as his own more widely scattered relatives. Personal papers include letters from the Cunningham family in Laurens County, S.C., and picture daily life in South Carolina; the Hamilton family, beginning in 1837, and covering details of business and daily personal life of a Georgia planting family; disputes and the separation of Yancey's mother, Caroline Beman, and her second husband, Reverend Nathan S. S. Beman, 1834-1838; the career and migration to the west of Samuel S. Beman, Yancey's step-brother; and Yancey's education at the University of Georgia and Yale, 1837-1838, with letters from classmates and other friends. There are also letters from his son, Hamilton Yancey, while at University of Georgia and the University of Virginia, 1868-1869, and his daughters, Mary Lou Yancey, at the Virginia Female Institute at Staunton, 1868-1869, and Caro, at the Tuskegee Female College, 1856-1858. After the Civil War, there are letters among Yancey's relatives about Reconstruction and the situation of the South. Other correspondence deals with Mary Lou's marriages to Phinizys and other personal letters of Sarah Hamilton Yancey. Letters, 1916-1931, deal chiefly with family history and genealogy. Business materials, 1800-1855, include letters discussing management of Yancey's Cherokee County, Ala., plantation; management of Thomas N. Hamilton's Woodville, Ga., plantation (beginning in 1837); correspondence with overseers, relatives, and brokers, chiefly in Augusta, Rome, and Charleston, pertaining to the ordering and delivery of supplies and debt collection; and the river transportation of cotton in Alabama and Georgia. In 1858, Yancey settled the Woodville estate belonging to his father-in-law, Thomas N. Hamilton, from South America. Yancey's papers as president of the State Agricultural Society in Georgia begin in 1869 and continue through 1878. During this time, he was president of the Plantation Publishing Company, Atlanta, 1870-1873, and editor of The Plantation, an agricultural journal. Much of the correspondence of this period deals with subscriptions, advertisements, binding and printing work, agricultural articles, applications for positions, and news about seeds, fertilizers, and machinery. Yancey maintained both his cotton plantations in Floyd County, Ga., and Cherokee County, Ala., and was interested in experimental farming, insurance matters, and horses. Political papers relating to local politics in Edgefield County, S.C., and Cherokee County, Ala., are dated, 1840-1851. State legislature papers discuss the struggle for states' rights, 1851-1852, and national issues in the South. Yancey served one legislative term in Alabama in 1856 and served as Minister Resident of the United States to the Argentine Confederation, 1858-1859. Material from this period includes Yancey's official papers and reports in connection with peace negotiations between the Confederation and the state of Buenos Aires; items relating to political and military activities in that connection; correspondence relating to the interests of American merchants, navigation rights, and diplomatic and social matters, especially to Secretary of State Lewis Cass; and Yancey's own business and personal affairs. Also included is material relating to Yancey's service as captain, later major, in the Fulton Dragoons of Cobb's Georgia Legion stationed near Yorktown, Va., in 1861 and as colonel in the Georgia militia around Atlanta in 1864. There is also materials relating to Yancey's candidacy as judge of the western circuit, 1872-1873; president of the Georgia Chemical Works, Augusta, beginning in 1878; trustee of the University of Georgia; and candidate for legislature in 1878. Material in connection with his law practice begins in 1838 and includes documentation of cases handled by Yancey; documents pertaining to property involved in the cases; and miscellaneous wills and deeds. There are also materials relating to Yancey's editorship of the Cahaba Democrat in 1838 and law practice in both Cahaba and Wetumpka in 1839, his 1840-1856 law practice in Hamburg, S.C., and editorship of The Crisis, and his Atlanta law practice, beginning in 1856 and continuing until his move to Athens after the war. Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers 1800-1931. About 4,000 items. Arrangement: chronological. Folder 1a Biographical Data 1b 1800-1835 2 1836 3 1837 4 1838 1839 5 January-June 6 July-December 7 1840 8 1841-1842 9 1843-1844 10 1845 11 1846 12 1847-1848 1849 13a January-March 13b April-December 1850 14 January-March 15 April-July 16 August-December 1851 17 January-March 18 April-July 19 August-December 1852 20 January-May 21 June-December 1853 22 January-May 23 June-December 24 1854 1855 25 January-September 26 October-December 1856 27 January-June 28 July-December 1857 29 January-May 30 June-December 1858 31 January-April 32 May-June 33 July-August 34 September-December 1859 35 January-March 36 April-June 37 July-August 21 38 August 30 39 September-December 40 Undated 41 1860-1861 42 1862-1865 43 1866 1867 44 January-April 45 May-December 1868 46 January-October 47 November-December 1869 48 January-February 49 March-June 50 July-December 1870 51 January-March 52 April 53 May 54 June-December 1871 55a January-June 55b July-October 56 November-December 1872 57 January-March 58a April-May 58b June 59 July-September 60 October-November 61 December 1873 62a January 62b February 63 March 64a April-May 14 64b May 15-June 65 July 66 August-October 67 November-December 1874 68 January 69 February 70 March-April 71 May-June 72 July-September 73 October-December 74 1875 75 1876 1877 76 January-February 77 March-May 78 June-August 79 September-December 80 1878 1879 81 January-August 82 September-December 83 1880 84 1881 1882 85 January-July 86 August-December 1883 87 January-April 88 May-September 89 October-December 1884 90 January-March 91 April-June 92 July-September 93 October-December 94 1885 1886 95 January-July 96 August-December 97 1887 98 1888-1889 1890 99 January-July 100 August-December 101 1891 102 1892-1896 103 1897-1931 Subseries 1.2. Undated Papers Undated. About 775 items. Includes undated material arranged by sender, addressee, or type of material. Folder 104-105 Letters to Ben C. Yancey 106-107 Letters to Florence Patterson Yancey 108 Letters to and from Hamilton Yancey 109-110 Letters to and from Mary Lou Yancey Phinizy 111-112 Letters to and from Sarah P. Hamilton Yancey 113 Letters from William L. Yancey 114 Letters from Lucy Alexander, Saida B. Byrd, and S. E. Byrd 115 Letters from Caro Yancey Williams and Family 116 Patterson and Phinizy Family Correspondence 117 Letters to and from Mamie Lou Phinizy 118-120 Miscellaneous Personal Letters 121-124 Business Papers and Miscellaneous Papers 125-126 Speeches, essays, poems, recipes, cures, notes 127 Fragments ad short notes 128 Circulars and broadsides 129 Clippings 130 Invitations, replies and visiting cards Series 2. Volumes 1847-1885 and undated. 13 items. Primarily account books and one letterpress book, one diary, and two memorandum books. Folder 131 Volume 1: Undated, 16 pp. Lady's fortune-telling game book. Folder 132 Volume 2: 1853, 17 pp. Memorandum of curiosities to be seen at the Crystal Palace in 1853. Folder 133 Volume 3: 1850, 200 pp. Diary of Julia Marsh Patterson describing a trip to the North with her husband, Dr. Robert M. Patterson, and typescript copy. Folder 134 Volume 4: 1858-1859, 500 pp. Letterpress copybook of Benjamin C. Yancey while Minister Resident to the Argentine Confederation. Folder 135 Volume 5: 1872, 24 pp. Accounts relating to William Garrett's Reminiscences of Public Men in Alabama for Thirty Years. Folder 136 Volume 6: 1847-1850, 18 pp. Small account book which contains receipts and various accounts of Benjamin C. Yancey. Folder 137 Volume 7: 1856-1857, 75 pp. Receipt book of Benjamin C. Yancey. Folder 138 Volume 8: 1860, 75 pp. Receipt book of Benjamin C. Yancey. Folder 139 Volume 9: 1860, 75 pp. Account book of Benjamin C. Yancey with John Ryan. Folder 140 Volume 10: 1860-1864, 44 pp. Memorandum of Bonds and other bank transactions. Folder 141 Volume 11: 1879-1885, 34 pp. Benjamin C. Yancey's account book with Gate City National Bank. Folder 142 Volume 12: 1877-1883, 100 pp. Planation journal of Benjamin C. Yancey. Folder 143 Volume 13: 1868, 20 pp. Account book with mathematical calculations of Benjamin C. Yancey. Series 3. Pictures Undated. 4 items. P-2594/1-2 Photograph and pencil sketch by Horace Bradley of Benjamin C. Yancey, undated. P-2594/3 Photograph of William L. Yancey, undated. P-2594/4 Photograph of the clover seed gatherer, a farm machine, undated. SHELF LIST Series 1. Yancey Papers Box 1 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 1-12) Box 2 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 13-26) Box 3 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 27-40) Box 4 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 41-48) Box 5 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 49-56) Box 6 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 57-64a) Box 7 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 64b-74) Box 8 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 75-84) Box 9 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 85-93) Box 10 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 94-101) Box 11 Subseries 1.1. Dated Papers (folders 102-103) Subseries 1.2. Undated Papers (folders 104-112) Box 12 Subseries 1.2. Undated Papers (folders 113-125) Box 13 Subseries 1.2. Undated Papers (folders 126-130) Series 2. Volumes (folders 131-134) Box 14 Series 2. Volumes (folders 135-143) Items separated: OP-2594/1-15 P-2594/1-4