Manuscripts

Abram Gabriel Jones Papers

ca. 1831-1900. 4 folders (55 items).MSS. COLL. #5


INTRODUCTION

The Abram Gabriel Jones Papers consists of books, account books and letters of Abram G. Jones, a physician who served in the Confederate Army and later practiced in Walnut Cove, North Carolina.

Arrangement: This collection is arranged into five series: Correspondence, Notebooks, Financial, Photographs, and Books.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Dr. Thomas Sears in 1981 and assigned accession numbers 1981.170.1-51.

Processing: This collection was processed by Karen C. Carroll with the finding aid completed in August 1983.


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Abram G. Jones was born in 1845 in the Bethania area of Stokes County, North Carolina. His father was a doctor. Jones enlisted in Guilford County in September 1862, in Company K, 63rd Regiment, North Carolina Troops (5th NC Cavalry). He mustered in as a corporal and was captured in Carteret County on May 4, 1863, and confined to Fort Monroe, Virginia. He was paroled and exchanged at City Point, Virginia, on May 23, 1863, and promoted to Sergeant on August 20, 1863. He was present or accounted for through August 1864. On April 3, 1865, he was admitted to a hospital in Danville, Virginia, for a gunshot wound in the right side of the neck. He was furloughed for 30 days on April 9, 1865, and was paroled in Greensboro in May 1865. He later practiced medicine in Walnut Cove, North Carolina, and died around 1903.


SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

This collection contains four letters from Jones written to his home in 1859 and 1865. Three of them are from the Civil War era and each has the original cover. A carte de visite of two Confederate battle flags is also included. Post war items include a visiting list (1894) and an account book (1881-1883). A time book for a mill is also included (1889). The collection includes forty-five books that belonged to Jones, ranging from a children’s grammar to medical textbooks. The collection is a good example of the library and activities of a late 19th century physician. Its major weakness is that it contains no items from 1866 through 1880 and the Civil War items are limited to 1865.


SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Correspondence. 4 items. 1859-1865. Arranged chronologically.

This series consists of four letters written by A. G. Jones to one or both of his parents. It includes a letter to his mother in Bethania, December 25, 1859, from Nazareth Hall, Pennsylvania, discussing family matters; a letter, January 26, 1865, to his mother from Belfield, Virginia, discussing family matters, the fall of Fort Fisher and Wilmington, and the possibility of foreign intervention; a letter to his father, January 31, 1865, from near Belfield, Virginia, discussing the weather, regularity of mail, rumor of peace, and the government purchase of horses; and a letter to his parents dated March 14, 1865, from near Dinwiddie Courthouse, Virginia. The last speaks of returning to camp from Greensboro via train (with a one day delay because no train was available), Hood’s army’s movement to Fayetteville, and Johnson’s inability to stop Sherman. All letters have the original covers.

2. Notebooks. 3 items. 1889-1894.

These include a physician’s visiting list (1894) for Jones as a physician in Walnut Cove, North Carolina. It lists patients, dates visited and fees. There are also personal notes in the back and a listing of some obstetrical cases. The series also includes a mill time book (1889), probably that of John Hatz and Brothers; and a miscellaneous handwritten note on a treatment, presumably by Jones, of a venereal disease.

3. Financial. 1 item. 1881-1885.

This account book covers September 1881 until 1883. The first 116 pages prior to September 1881 are missing. The book is in fair to poor condition. It includes notes on who was visited by Jones, the diagnosis, treatment and charge. It gives fetal positions for obstetrical visits, personal notes on various cases, which drugs were prescribed, notes of payment of cash and in kind, consultations, etc. Cases include examples of pulling teeth, pneumonia, typhoid, various pregnancy deliveries and complications, surgery, gonorrhea, etc. A list of collections made 1881-1885 is included as is a list of drugs bought in 1881. Jones was apparently in practice with D. N. Dalton as collections listings are shared between them.

4. Photographs. 2 items.

This series includes a carte de visite of two Confederate battle flags inscribed on the reverse “Abram. G. Jones/Co K. 5 N.C. Cav/UNF Lee’s Division/Stuart & Hampton’s Corps/Army NVA,” published out of Richmond. Also included is a photographic bookmark of a young man circa 1900.

5. Books. 45 items. Filed by accession number with Rare Books (1981.170.1-51).

This set of books includes two written in German, including a New Testament; twenty school books used by children (grammar, geography, readers, etc.); eighteen medical textbooks; and five others. Most are in fair to good condition. Publication dates range from 1831 to 1835.


FOLDER LISTING

SeriesFolderContents
11Correspondence
21Notebooks
31Financial
41Photographs
5--Books


Index to the Abram Gabriel Jones Papers
(ca. 1831-1900)

Note: The numbers following the name/subject entry — e.g. 1:1 — indicate in which Series#:Folder# (or, if no “:”, Series only) that name/topic can be found.

Childbirth: 2:1 (1889-94); 3:1 (1881-85)
Civil War: 1:1(1865); 4:1

Dalton, D. N.: 3:1 (1881-85)

Fort Fisher, NC: 1:1 (1865)

Greensboro, NC—1865: 1:1 (1865)

Hood, John Bell: 1:1 (1865)

John Hatz and Brothers: 2:1 (1889-94)
Johnston, Joseph Eggleston: 1:1 (1865)

Obstetrics: 2:1 (1889-94); 3:1 (1881-85)

Venereal diseases: 2:1 (1889-94); 3:1 (1881-85)

Wilmington, NC: 1:1 (1865)