Baltzell and Bullock families papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS-0105

Scope and Contents note

The Baltzell and Bullock family papers span the periods 1839-1921 and 1849-1921, respectively. The bulk of the material in the Baltzell papers dates from the 1840s, the 1880s, and the 1910s. The material in the Bullock family papers is spread fairly evenly across the inclusive dates. The Baltzell series relates to the Thomas Baltzell family, which included his father, his wife, Panthia Mary Bullock, and their five children: Lucie Ann, William Bullock, Mary Robb, Richard Henley, and Panthea E. The Bullock series relates to the William Henley Bullock family, which included his wife, Panthea Coleman Burchett Bullock and their children Panthea Mary Bullock Baltzell, James Madison Bullock, and Lucy Ann Bullock. The Baltzell collection consists mainly of correspondence, plus a diary, essays, clippings, a scrapbook, printed invitations, a photograph, diplomas, receipts, deeds, receipts for taxes in kind and other financial papers, and memorabilia. Essays by Thomas Baltzell on a wide range of topics testify to his eclectic interests. Similarly, the Bullock collection consists chiefly of correspondence, but also contains a published essay, clippings, and financial papers. The majority of both families’ correspondence relates to family matters. Both William Bullock Baltzell and James Madison Bullock served in the Alabama House of Representatives from Greene County as Democrats. There is some correspondence from Joseph F. Johnston, Alabama Governor 1896-1900, to William Bullock Baltzell. All papers are originals with exception of some photocopied newspaper clippings.

Dates

1839-1921

Creator

Johnston, Joseph Forney (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Biographical/Historical note

Two Greene County, Alabama families involved in state-level politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The principal figures in the Baltzell family, as relates to this collection, are: Thomas Baltzell (ca. 1813-?), who was born in Waynesboro, Greene County, Pennsylvania. He moved from Wheeling, Virginia to Greene County, Alabama in1835, when he was 22 years old. He earned a degree at Louisville Medical Institute in 1841, then returned to Forkland, in Greene County, to practice medicine. He practiced medicine in Sumter County, Alabama in his later years. He ran for Congress in 1840, but was not elected. Panthea Mary Bullock Baltzell (7 June, 1827-19 October 1885) was born in Granville County, North Carolina, the daughter of William Henley Bullock and Panthea Coleman Burchett Bullock. She married Thomas Baltzell in 1846. They had five children: Lucie Ann, William Bullock, Mary Robb, Richard Henley, and Panthea E. Panthea Bullock Baltzell died at her home in Greene County, Alabama. Lucie Ann Baltzell Deloach (d. 9 July 1922) was born in Greene County, Alabama. Her husband Thomas Deloach (7 September 1850-10 July 1922) was born in Choctaw County, Alabama. They were married on 13 May 1874. Thomas Deloach graduated from Mobile Medical College and, like his father-in-law, established a practice in Forkland, Alabama. In later life he gave up medicine and ran a hardware and furniture business in Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama, where his family moved in 1895. Richard Henley Baltzell (d. June 1880) attended the University of Alabama 1875-1879 and graduated with honors at age 22. The following year he went to Louisiana to teach school and died there of appendicitis. He is buried near Clinton, La. William (Willie) Bullock Baltzell (6 August1849-13 November 1921) was born at Union, Greene County, Alabama. He was a merchant and farmer and a member of Methodist Church and the Knights of Pythias. He served in the Alabama House of Representatives as a Democrat from Greene County in 1907. Panthea (Pannie) E. Baltzell (d. 28 June 1884) graduated from Alabama Central Female College in Tuscaloosa, in March, 1879. The principal figures in the Bullock family, as pertains to this collection, are: William Henley Bullock, husband of Panthea Coleman Burchett Bullock and father of Panthea Mary Bullock Baltzell, James Madison Bullock, and Lucy Ann Bullock. He was evidently from Granville County, North Carolina by way of Petersburg, Virginia. He subsequently moved to Alabama with his family and was an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Greene Co. Panthea Coleman Burchett Bullock (22 September 1799-6 October 1860), wife of William Henley Bullock and mother of Panthea Mary Bullock Baltzell, James Madison Bullock, and Lucy Ann Bullock, was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, but subsequently moved to Petersburg, Virginia. She married William Henry Bullock in December 1822. She died at Burton Hill, Greene County, Alabama. James Madison Bullock (1835-5 November 1888), who was born in Henderson County, North Carolina, the son of William Henley Bullock and Panthea Coleman Burchett and the brother of Panthea Mary Bullock Baltzell. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1853 and soon afterwards moved to Pickensville, Pickens County, Alabama where he established a law practice. He served in the 2nd Alabama Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. After the war he returned to Alabama and became a cotton farmer. Bullock was a Whig nominee for the Alabama legislature when a young man. He was subsequently nominated and elected three times to the Alabama House of Representatives as a Democrat from Greene County. He was married in 1874 to Anna Mary Garrow (?), the daughter of a Mobile, Alabama judge. They had one daughter. Lucy Ann Bullock (ca. 1826-12 July 1855) was the daughter of William Henley and Panthea Coleman Burchett Bullock and the sister of Panthea Mary Bullock Baltzell and James Madison Bullock. She moved to Alabama from Granville County, North Carolina when she was nine but later moved back to North Carolina for reasons of health.

Extent

2.8 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The papers of two Greene County, Alabama families involved in post-Civil War Alabama politics, including correspondence, a diary, essays, deeds, and financial documents.