William E. Ardrey Collection

Collection

Identifier: DC001

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection is organized into the following series: Biographical Information, Speeches ,Diaries, Petitions, Account Records, B. F. Morrow's Records. The Biographical Information includes copies of obituaries and newspaper articles, a family history and a photograph. The speeches are on James K. Polk and his political campaign. The account book contains records of estates administered by Ardrey. The record book of B.F. Morrow's Company lists individual soldiers' pay and quartermaster accounts. Some entries have newspaper clippings with notices about the soldiers. The bulk of the collection are Ardrey's diaries. The entries describe his life as a soldier in the Civil War, farming and his daily life after the war. Beasley's Farm and Home Weekly from 1941 contain excerpts from Ardrey's diaries.

Dates

Creation: 1861 - 1907

Creator

Ardrey, William Erskine, 1839-1907 (Class of 1862) (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Captain William Erskine Audrey was a member of the Davidson College Class of 1862. He left the college to join the Confederate Army, first enlisting in Company C of "Charlotte Grays" of the First North Carolina Regiment commanded by General D. H. Hill. He later enlisted as a private in Company K, 30th North Carolina Regiment and was at Appomattox at the surrender on April 9, 1865.|He returned to Mecklenburg County and farmed in the Pineville, NC area. He was elected chairman of the Board of County Commissioners in 1874 and served for 10 years. He also served as a member of the House of the first Democratic Legislature in North Carolina after the Civil War (1876) and served in the House of the State Legislature in 1879, 1885 and 1901. He presented petitions to the State Legislature, includinga petition on the proposed stock law in Mecklenburg County. He joine the State Senate in 1891 and was appointed Superintendent in charge of the Assay Office of the U.S. Mint located in Charlotte in 1892. He died May 20, 1907.