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Title: Letter from Alpheus Jones to Peter W.
Hairston, May 9, 1838: Electronic Edition.
Author: Jones, Alpheus
Editor: Erika Lindemann
Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the
electronic publication of this title.
Text transcribed by
Erika Lindemann and Gregory J. Herder
Images scanned by
Mara E. Dabrishus
Text encoded by
Sarah Ficke
First Edition,
2005
Size of electronic edition: ca. 17K
Publisher: The University Library, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2005
© This work is the property of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and
personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the
text
The electronic edition is a part of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American
South.
Languages used in the text:
English
Revision history:
2005-03-15, Sarah Ficke finished TEI/XML encoding.
Part of a series:
This transcribed document is part of a digital collection, titled True and Candid Compositions: The Lives and Writings of Antebellum Students in North Carolina
written by Lindemann, Erika
This transcribed document is part of a digital collection, titled True and Candid Compositions: The Lives and Writings of Antebellum Students in North Carolina
written by Lindemann, Erika
Source(s):
Title of collection: Wilson and Hairston Family Papers
(#4134), Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill
Title of document: Letter from Alpheus Jones to Peter W.
Hairston, May 9, 1838
Author: Alpheus Jones
Description: 3 pages, 4 page images
Note:
Call number 4134 (Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Topics covered:
Education/UNC Buildings and Grounds
Education/UNC Curriculum
Education/UNC Student Associations
Examples of Student Writing/Letters and Letter Writing
Education/UNC Buildings and Grounds
Education/UNC Curriculum
Education/UNC Student Associations
Examples of Student Writing/Letters and Letter Writing
Editorial practices
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Transcript of the personal correspondence. Originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
DocSouth staff created a 600 dpi uncompressed TIFF file for each image. The TIFF images were then saved as JPEG images at 100 dpi for web access.
Page images can be viewed and compared in parallel with the text.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
Letters, words and passages marked as deleted or added in originals have been encoded accordingly.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
All em dashes are encoded as —.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.
For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see Dr. Erika Lindemann's explanation under the section Editorial Practices.
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Transcript of the personal correspondence. Originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
DocSouth staff created a 600 dpi uncompressed TIFF file for each image. The TIFF images were then saved as JPEG images at 100 dpi for web access.
Page images can be viewed and compared in parallel with the text.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
Letters, words and passages marked as deleted or added in originals have been encoded accordingly.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
All em dashes are encoded as —.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.
For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see Dr. Erika Lindemann's explanation under the section Editorial Practices.
Document Summary
Jones tells former student Hairston about preparations for the
commencement ball and ceremonies, which will include speeches by Charles Manly
and William Green. Senior speaking took place on February 2-4.
Page 1
Chapel
Hill
9th May 1838.
Dear
Peter
:
I have been on the verge of writing to you for the last fortnight;
but owing to some casual occurrences, at the time when I would have commenced,
I have been prevented from it; and thus have I deferred to answer your letter,
which I was happy to receive some time last month, until the present time.
Moreover I heard Walker2
speak of writing to you; and as I suppose it would be more agreeable to you to
receive the two letters, being from the same place, after a short interval, it
may be that I have fallen upon a more suitable time for writing than I should
have done had I commenced a week or two ago. I hope, however, you will not
employ my delay in writing to you as an excuse not to answer this shortly.
The Faculty have begun to make some slight preparations for
Commencement. The3
broken places in the plastering of our library, too, have been repaired, &
Fanning, from
Wilmington, is expected to come up in a few days to paint
the hall in the best of style;
Page 2
and I think it more
than probable that we will employ him to paint the ceiling; & then the
places which have been mended, will not be at all apparent. Our new mantle
pieces, also, will be put up in a short time; so that, with the aid of our new
curtains, I hope we will be able to make a pretty good show in June.
Page 2
The two Societies have ratified the stipulation of which I have
already written to you (viz.) "That each Society shall, alternately,
select one of its members to address the Senior Class & alumni of the
University on the Wednesday evening preceeding
Commencement."4
Mr. C.
Manly
of
Raleigh
has been chosen by our
Society to deliver this address next June & he
has accepted the appointment. I have no doubt but that he will do
the
Society and himself considerable honor not only on
account of his own talents but also by being contrasted with
Shepard
.5
Professor Green
is to address our
Society on the Tuesday night before Commencement.
Considering all these circumstances, I think the inducements to attend our next
Commencement, are greater than they have been for attending others heretofore;
and, from what I have heard, I suppose the numbers of visitors6 will
be very great.
of
Raleigh
has been chosen by our
Society to deliver this address next June & he
has accepted the appointment. I have no doubt but that he will do
the
Society and himself considerable honor not only on
account of his own talents but also by being contrasted with
Shepard
.5
Professor Green
is to address our
Society on the Tuesday night before Commencement.
Considering all these circumstances, I think the inducements to attend our next
Commencement, are greater than they have been for attending others heretofore;
and, from what I have heard, I suppose the numbers of visitors6 will
be very great.The Senior speaking took place on the evenings of the 2nd, 3rd &
4th of instant; the speeches were generally very good; one of the best was
Hobson's
on the relation of
N.
Carolina &
Virginia;
near the
Page 3
close, he introduced
Va. as
addressing
N.
C. and
N.
C. as replying; this part was excellent. Another of the best was
Long's
on the pleasures of a College life—a
'funny'—; this was excellent throughout and he was applauded
throughout at every sentence; it has
been acknowledged by all whom I have heard speak of it the best of the kind
they ever heard—I would give you an idea
or two contained in it but they are all so good I don't ~ know to which one to
give the preference. The Senior report will be read in about a fortnight. I
would be glad, if I could, to inform you who will get first; but I believe it
is generally thought by the Class that
Cuthbert
and
Davis
will [be] put equal.7
on the relation of
N.
Carolina &
Virginia;
near thePage 3
on the pleasures of a College life—a
'funny'—; this was excellent throughout and he was applauded
throughout at every sentence; it has
been acknowledged by all whom I have heard speak of it the best of the kind
they ever heard—I would give you an idea
or two contained in it but they are all so good I don't ~ know to which one to
give the preference. The Senior report will be read in about a fortnight. I
would be glad, if I could, to inform you who will get first; but I believe it
is generally thought by the Class that
Cuthbert
and
Davis
will [be] put equal.7
Our Ball, so far as the supper is concerned (which will be furnished
by
Miss N. Hilliard
) will be superior to that of last
Commencement; but I fear it will be inferior to it in some other respects; for
something had been said of admitting all who may wish to attend, free of
charges; & you know if this is the case, the society will not be very
select.
) will be superior to that of last
Commencement; but I fear it will be inferior to it in some other respects; for
something had been said of admitting all who may wish to attend, free of
charges; & you know if this is the case, the society will not be very
select.
Gov.
Swain
expects to teach a private law school if he can get a
sufficient number of Students; five, I believe, is the number with which he
would commence. Davis, Long, Walker & Wilder8
speak of studying under him.
W. W. Avery
, (who is now in
Newbern under the instruction of
Judge Gaston
) is expected up shortly,
& more than probable he will also study under him; write shortly.
expects to teach a private law school if he can get a
sufficient number of Students; five, I believe, is the number with which he
would commence. Davis, Long, Walker & Wilder8
speak of studying under him.
W. W. Avery
, (who is now in
Newbern under the instruction of
Judge Gaston
) is expected up shortly,
& more than probable he will also study under him; write shortly.Envelope page
Endnotes:
1. Wilson and Hairston Family Papers, SHC. The letter is addressed
"Mr. Peter W. Hairston
,/
University of/Virginia." and is stamped with a
circular postmark in the upper left corner; "CHAPEL
HILL
N.C." appears in the circumference of the
circle, and "MAY 10" appears in the center of the circle. The amount
of postage, "18 3/4" cents, is handwritten in the upper right corner
of the envelope.
,/
University of/Virginia." and is stamped with a
circular postmark in the upper left corner; "CHAPEL
HILL
N.C." appears in the circumference of the
circle, and "MAY 10" appears in the center of the circle. The amount
of postage, "18 3/4" cents, is handwritten in the upper right corner
of the envelope.2. Possibly
William Richmond Walker
.
.4. The resolution is recorded in the minutes of the
Philanthropic Society for April 6, 1838 (Vol. S-9,
UA) and in the minutes of the
Dialectic Society for April 13, 1838 (Vol. 8,
UA).
5. Whereas
Manly
gave what was called the "alumni address," William Biddle Shepard
(1799-1852) gave the "annual
address" on "The Value of the Classics in Education" at the 1838
Commencement.
Shepard
had been a member of the
Philanthropic Society before he was expelled in 1816
(see Chapter One, "Speech of William B. Shepard").
Battle
comments, "His accepting this trust shows that
he had forgiven his dismissal for injecting politics into his Senior speech of
1816" (1:438).
gave what was called the "alumni address," William Biddle Shepard
(1799-1852) gave the "annual
address" on "The Value of the Classics in Education" at the 1838
Commencement.
Shepard
had been a member of the
Philanthropic Society before he was expelled in 1816
(see Chapter One, "Speech of William B. Shepard").
Battle
comments, "His accepting this trust shows that
he had forgiven his dismissal for injecting politics into his Senior speech of
1816" (1:438).7.
Jones
was correct. "In awarding the distinctions in
the Senior class of 19 members,
Green
M. Cuthbert
and
George
R. Davis
were pronounced first and equal" (Battle
1:439).
was correct. "In awarding the distinctions in
the Senior class of 19 members,
Green
M. Cuthbert
and
George
R. Davis
were pronounced first and equal" (Battle
1:439).8. Probably
George
R. Davis
,
William John Long
,
William Richmond Walker
, and
Gaston Hillary Wilder
, all of whom entered the
University in 1834 and graduated in
1838.
,
William John Long
,
William Richmond Walker
, and
Gaston Hillary Wilder
, all of whom entered the
University in 1834 and graduated in
1838.
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