Creator: Wilson, Norvell Winsboro, 1834-1878.
Collection number: 2957
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Abstract: Norvell Winsboro Wilson (1834-1878) was a Baptist minister in Chapel Hill, N.C., and Hillsborough, N.C., 1861-1867; Farmville, Va., and Richmond, Va., 1867-1875; and New Orleans, La., 1877-1878. The collection includes the intermittent diary, 1862-1878, recording pastoral visits, Baptist conventions, social news, and cash accounts of Norvell W. Wilson; a scrapbook of clippings relating to Wilson’s career and writings; miscellaneous family letters, 1842-1869, from members of the Scott and Pearman families of Virginia with no apparent relationship to the rest of this collection. Letters are from family members, possibly mulatto or part Indian, who had gone to Ohio and then Canada, describing their life and feelings to their relatives or friends in New Kent County, Va.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: Wilson’s diary contains many references to attending “colored conferences” and preaching to enslaved and possibly free African Americans. Folder 2 also contains letters from the Scott and Pearman families, who are possibly mulatto or part Indian.