John McRae papers, 1792-1909, 1966.

Creator: McRae, John, 1793-1880.
Collection number: 477
View finding aid.

Abstract: John McRae was the postmaster in Fayetteville, N.C., in the 1840s and 1850s, and a private farmer and businessman in Mangum, N.C., from his retirement in 1853 to his death in 1880. Personal and business papers of McRae and his family, and of Joshua A. Wright and James G. Burr, businessmen of Wilmington, N.C. The McRae papers are primarily letters between McRae and his sons Alexander, Duncan K., Thomas, and James Cameron, concerning the men’s personal lives and careers. Topics include military service, the Kentucky Shaker community of which Thomas was a part, Duncan’s service as consul-general at Paris, and North Carolina politics.Also included is James Cameron MacRae’s 1879 diary. The Wright and Burr papers concern their legal and financial businesses in Wilmington. Topics include the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad; the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad; banks in New York, Wilmington, and the Cape Fear region; and dealings with New York merchants. The connections among the Wright, Burr, and McRae families are unclear.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Of note are a few letters describing Duncan McRae’s arrest in 1867 for complicity in the murder of an African American by a mob in Fayetteville. (See Folder 16) Series 2 (financial and Legal papers) also contain records relating to the emancipation of two enslaved individuals.