Conditions Governing Use

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers. 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, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation

John W. Lewis and Lewis P. Olds Papers, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased on 1/20/2010.

Processing Information

Accessioned and minimally processed in January 2010. Further arranged and described by Jeffrey Flanagan, SCRC Staff, in March-May 2010.

Biographical / Historical

John W. Lewis was raised in Randolph County, North Carolina. In 1833, at around the age of 25, Lewis entered the Virginia Conference of Methodist ministers. His 50+ year career as a pastor took him from Virginia to Mississippi and eventually back to his home state of North Carolina. Lewis was a slave-owning member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC-S) offshoot that split from the main Methodist Episcopal Church due to differing views on the issue of slavery. He died on May 23, 1885.

Scope and Contents

Collection consists of the papers of three Southerners, dating predominantly from the 19th century. John W. Lewis lived in Virginia, Mississippi, and North Carolina and the portion of the collection from this Methodist minister and farmer includes references to religion including sermons, farming, and slavery. Lewis P. Olds was a North Carolina lawyer and politician and the collection includes evidence of his career as well as poetry and short stories he wrote. The remainder of the collection is schoolwork of Sally Latting from 1808 and unattributed photographs and a recipe book.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 3 series: Series 1: John W. Lewis Papers ; Series 2: Lewis P. Olds Papers; Series 3: Photographs, Recipes and Sally Latting Schoolwork

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Broadsides
• Correspondence
• North Carolina--History--19th century--Sources
• North Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century
• Photographs
• Poems
• Recipes
• Sermons
• Slavery--North Carolina--History
• Slavery--Virginia--History--19th century
• Virginia--History--19th century--Sources
• Virginia--Social life and customs--19th century