MS127

MS127
BARDEN FAMILY
Private Papers 1822-1920

Description

The Barden [Bardin] family were planters who farmed in the Sampson and Duplin County area of Southeastern North Carolina before and after the Civil War. While this collection contains few items of correspondence, the contents provide a wealth of economic information. The many receipts for mercantile transactions, medical bills, blacksmith jobs, hire and sale of slaves, land sales, tax payments as well as wills and estate papers provide a clear picture of the varied and comprehensive economic activities of the family.

According to the Federal Census of 1790,^1.Ephraim Barden was the head of a household consisting of himself and an unidentified white female, possibly his wife, Phoebe, who died in 1827. However, by his death in l837 Barden owned a sizeable estate of over three hundred acres, ten slaves, plus livestock and household furnishings.When his widow Nancy, his second wife, died the following year, she too left a substantial estate.

John Barden (1797-1855) continued the family's prosperous course; he administered his parents' estates and served as guardian of the minor heirs of his older brother Sherwood. In 1840 Everett G. Barden, son of Ephraim and Nancy, was obliged contemplate a suit to compel his brother John, executor of the estate to release his rightful share. Upon John Barden's death in 1856, he owned twenty-two slaves and, aside from substantial bequests to his sons, bequeathed his two daughters five slaves and $1175 each.^2.

Zilpha Barden, ( 1803-1871 )^3.John's widow, who though unable to write, appears to have managed the Barden plantation through the Civil War years and after until shortly before her death.

John and Zilphia's son, George Buchanan Columbus "Buck" Barden (1848-1929), enlisted in the Confederate Army at age eighteen, served in the ranks of the 41^st North Carolina Regiment as a private, ^4.and returned unharmed to pursue agricultural and commercial interests. It is unclear whether he achieved the level of wealth attained by the Barden family in the pre-war years. Of particular interest are his purchases of orchard and small fruit stocks which appear to indicate an attempt to move beyond the traditional southeastern North Carolina crops of cotton and tobacco. Although little is known of Barden's war experience, he actively maintained links to his service in the Confederate Army.

Mrs. Maude Smith, of Magnolia NC, a direct lineal descendant, authorized the photocopying by the library of the original Barden Papers as well as selected secondary materials about the history of Magnolia and Duplin County in 1996. These papers have been designated Accession Number 127 of the Manuscripts Collection, Special Collections Department, William Madison Randall Library, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, North Carolina 284-3-3297. Literary rights to the Collection are retained by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Patricia B. McGee

Special Collections Librarian

November 21, 1996

^{1. Register, Alvaretta Kenan. The First
Census of the United States 1790, Sampson County, North Carolina. Norfolk,
VA: Register. 1966. p.1.}

^{2. Murphy, William L. Genealogical Abstracts,
Duplin County Wills 1730-1860. Rose Hill, NC: Duplin County Historical
Society p. 3.}

^{3. McEachern, Leora H. Duplin Country
Gravestone Records. Duplin County, NC: Duplin County Historical Society and
Christine Williams Register of Deeds of Duplin County Kenansville. 1978. vol 8,
p. 8.}

^{4. Mararin, Louis H. comp. North Carolina
Troops 1861-1865 A Roster. Vol. 1 Artillery Raleigh: NC}

^{State Dept of Archives and History, 1966. p
376.}

INVENTORY

File	Date	Description
1	September 26, 1922, n.d.	Photographs of Reunion of Confederate Veterans of North Carolina, Grove Park, Asheville, NC. George "Buck" Barden identified in both. Photo of George Barden. Photo negatives. [4 items]
2	1839-1861	Receipts for Payments to John Forlaw, Blacksmith from John Barden and Zilpha Barden [7 items]
3	1837	Estimated Budget for the United States Navy [Fragment]
4	1790-1905	Church Deeds: Methodist Episcopal and Baptist Churches [5 items]
5	1873-1919	Correspondence: including mercantile and C.S.A. Veteran Registration [10 items]
6	1842-1908	Deeds and Surveys [12 items]
7	April 22, 1851	Duplin County Court Receipt from John Barden [1 item]
8	1840-1916	Medical Receipts; home remedy recipes [11 items]
9	1833-1845	Mercantile Receipts from John Barden [26 items]
10	1846-1855	Mercantile Receipts from John Barden [31 items]
11	1857-1869	Mercantile Receipts from Zilpha Barden [9 items]
12	1872-1886	Mercantile receipts from George B. C. "Buck" Barden, [30 items]
13	Dec. 1, 1920	Mercantile Receipt from Estate of Susan P. Barden , wife of George [Funeral, 1 item]
14	1854-1909	Miscellaneous [8 items]
15	1873-1879	Religious: Subscription Receipt for [Baptist] Recorder and Messenger, pledges to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Request for Payment of Same [4 items]
16	1822-1862	Receipts for Sale or Hire of Negro Slaves [16 items]
17	1839-1913	Tax Receipts from Magnolia Township, Kenansville Township and Duplin County paid by John, Zilpha or George B.C. "Buck" Barden [87 items]
18	1845-1887	Tuition Receipts [8 items]
19	1839-1849	Turpentine: Inspector's Receipts [ 7 items]
20	1902-1917	Voter Registration Certificates [4 items]
21	1827-1854	Wills and Estates, Receipts, Legal Papers: Phoebe [1 item], Ephraim [5 items], Nancy [18 items], and Sherwood Barden [1 item].
22	August 1904	Contents of a sealed jar "time capsule" found when the H.E. Newbury Store was demolished in 1980.
23	1784	Laws of NC Chapter LXXV An Act for Dividing Duplin County [typescript]
24	N.D.	"In Memoriam" Tribute to Civil War Soldiers by "An Average Men in Certus Res" [author unknown, typescript]
25	1909-	Personal Recollections and Newspaper Articles about the Early History of Duplin County [17 items]

____________________

^{1. Register, Alvaretta Kenan. The First
Census of the United States 1790, Sampson County, North Carolina. Norfolk,
VA: Register. 1966. p.1.}

^{2. Murphy, William L. Genealogical Abstracts,
Duplin County Wills 1730-1860. Rose Hill, NC: Duplin County Historical
Society p. 3.}

^{4. Mararin, Louis H. comp. North Carolina
Troops 1861-1865 A Roster. Vol. 1 Artillery Raleigh: NC}

^{State Dept of Archives and History, 1966. p
376.}
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

COPYRIGHT: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.