Folger and Tillet families papers

Collection

Identifier: MS0296

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This small collection contains a few items from various members of the Folger and Tillett families (and a couple of items from James Wyche Poole). The bulk of materials came from Charles W. Tillet and Alice A. Folger. Tillet was a lawyer who practiced in Charlotte in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He also wrote essays and eulogies for his friends. Alice Folger's debutante ball took place in 1967, and she kept a scrapbook marking the occasion, which is a part of this collection. Alice Folger's father, Spencer A. Folger, served as a captain in the 3456 Ordinance Medium Auto Maintenance Company in Europe during WWII. Most of his correspondence that has survived today was with his banker, Duncan P. Tillett, and his correspondence concerning the management of Folger's bank account. One letter concerns conditions in France and Belgium in 1944, and rationing required by the Nazi establishment during the war.

Dates

Creation: 1897 - 1967

Creator

Folger family (Family)
Tillett family (Family)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Walter Tillett was born to the Reverand John and Eliza Wyche Tillett in Ridgeway, NC on September 27, 1857. He attended the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and the Graves School at Hillsboro, NC. He later matriculated through Randolph-Macon College, graduating in 1880. After completing his formal education, he taught school at Wilmington and Rockingham, NC. It was while he was teaching school in Rockingham that he began learning law, and he was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1882. He began his law practice in Rockingham, and moved to Charlotte in 1887, where he remained for the rest of his life. Throughout his career he had a reputation for high standards in ethics and professionalism.

Tillett married Carrie Patterson in 1885. Charles and Carrie had five children: Duncan P. Tillett (who became the vice-president of the Union National Bank of Charlotte), Charles W. Tillett, Junior (who also went into law and practiced with his father), John Tillett (who became the treasurer of the Leaksville Woolen Mill), Dr. William S. Tillett (who became a professor of medicine at New York University), and Laura Elizabeth Tillett (who married Osborne Bethea, of New York).

Charles Tillett died in Charlotte on June 12, 1936 at the age of 79.

Biographical / Historical

The history of the Folger family in Charlotte, NC begins with Lee A. Folger, who moved to Charlotte from Richmond, Virginia, to establish an automotive dealership in 1912.

Lee's son, Spencer A. Folger served in WWII as a captain. Folger corresponded with Duncan Tillett (of the Union National Bank in Charlotte) concerning the management of his bank account while overseas, and also about conditions in France and Belgium in 1944.

Spencer's daughter, Alice Adams Folger, had her debutante ball in 1967, and the scrapbook she kept concerning this occasion is a part of this collection.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection contains an assortment of papers and photographs from the Folger family and Tillett family. The bulk of the materials concern Charles Walter Tillett, a lawyer and Duncan Tillett, a banker; both of Charlotte in the early twentieth century.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into series, some of which are arranged into subseries.

Series I contains the papers of the Folger and Tillett families (there is also a series containing some genealogical materials of James Wyche Poole). This series is divided into subseries--one for each person whose papers are found in this collection.

Series II contains a small assortment of photographs produced by the Folgers and Tilletts.

Series III contains oversize photographs related to these families.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Folger and Tillett family papers was donated by Alice A. Folger in 2002.

Separated Materials

A published book, entitled "The Scrapbook: choice bits of wit, humor, and philosophy, begged, borrow and begotten" by Mayor and Mrs. Ben E. Douglas, has been removed from this collection and cataloged for the Rare Book Collection.