Creator: Fries and Shaffner family.
Collection number: 4046
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Abstract: Fries, Shaffner, and related families of Salem (now Winston-Salem), N.C. Francis Lavin Fries (1812-1863), with his brother, Henry (1825-1905), owned and operated woolen and cotton mills and a general store in Salem. Fries was active in the Moravian church and in local government and politics, and served in the North Carolina legislature, 1858-1859. He married Lisetta Marie Vogler (1820-1903), also of Salem, and with her had seven children, including Caroline Louisa (1839-1922), called Carrie, who married John Francis (“Frank”) Shaffner (1838-1908); and Mary Elizabeth (1844-1927), who married Rufus Lenoir Patterson (1830-1879).Shaffner studied medicine in Philadelphia and Salem, where in 1861 he joined the Confederate medical service and was named assistant surgeon of the 33rd North Carolina Regiment and was captured briefly by federal forces, May-June 1862. In 1863 he joined the 4th North Carolina Regiment. Caroline Fries and J. F. Shaffner were married in 1865 and together had five children. Mary (Fries) Patterson and her husband lived during the early years of their marriage at “Palmyra,” the Patterson family home in Caldwell County, N.C. Primarily personal and family correspondence of Francis Lavin Fries, his daughter Caroline (“Carrie”) Louisa Fries Shaffner, and her husband John Francis (“Frank”) Shaffner. There is correspondence, 1850-1860, between members of the Fries family visiting in Philadelphia and other family members at home in Salem; letters to J. F. Shaffner at Jefferson Medical College from members of the Fries family; and scattered letters from Francis Fries on business trips and while attending the North Carolina state legislature in 1858. During the Civil War period there are letters from J. F. Shaffner with the Confederate Army in North Carolina and Virginia and letters to him from Caroline and Mary Fries describing life in Salem.Also included are letters to Caroline from Mary, after the latter’s marriage and removal to Caldwell County, N.C., mostly dealing with domestic and family affairs. There are scattered business letters of J. F. Shaffner, 1868-1887. Volumes include diaries of Caroline (Fries) Shaffner, 1861-1876; surgical notes, 1862-1863, by J. F. Shaffner; his diary, 1863- 1865; and an address by him about his Civil War experiences.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: Letters discuss Carrie Fries’ social encounters with abolitionists in Philadelphia in February 1860 and news of the health, illnesses, and deaths among Fries slaves in Salem in March thru May 1860 (See Folders 4- 6).