Elizabeth Vann Moore Family Papers 1786, circa 1848-1998

Elizabeth Vann Moore (1912-2010) of Edenton, North Carolina, was born in Henderson, North Carolina, to John A. Moore, Sr., and Mabel Vann Moore. Mabel's father, Samuel Cannady Vann (1852-1924), established Sterling Cotton Mills in 1895. Following the Great Depression, the company went into bankruptcy and was purchased by Mabel at auction. Her husband, John Sr., ran the company alongside her brother, Aldridge H. Vann, until John Sr.'s death in 1947. Elizabeth's brother, John A. Moore, Jr., then took over the company until his death in 1982. An historian and historic preservation activist, Elizabeth collected extensive family history materials, including material related to her family's role in managing Sterling Cotton Mills. She also preserved business correspondence, financial reports, and audits of the company.

Elizabeth Vann Moore attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 1929, received a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1933 from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and earned a Masters of Arts in English in 1938 from Columbia University. For four years after graduating, Elizabeth taught English at All Saints’ School in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and later at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia. S she was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church. She later returned to Edenton and worked for the American Red Cross at the Edenton Marine Base. Elizabeth became an active member of the Edenton Historical Commission, writing numerous histories of the town, Chowan County, and eastern North Carolina. She received dozens of awards for her research into the Edenton Tea Party and local genealogies, and as an active promoter of historic preservation, prepared many nominations to the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Edenton and Chowan County. Upon her death in 2010, Elizabeth was survived by her sister, Mary Moore (Mrs. Carter) Rowe, and Mary’s three sons: Carter Redd Rowe, Jr.; John Augustus Moore Rowe; and Dr. Richard Worth Rowe.

Elizabeth Vann Moore’s maternal grandparents were Samuel Cannady Vann and Bettie Henley Vann. Samuel Vann (1852-1924) was born in Darlington County, South Carolina, to Alexander Russia and Elizabeth Frances (Cannady) Vann; his father was a physician and plantation owner. Samuel attended Wake Forest College from 1868 to 1871, spent several years working as a clerk in a general store, and then opened his own mercantile business in Franklinton, North Carolina. In 1895, Samuel organized the Sterling Cotton Mills Company in Franklinton to manufacture cotton yarn. He served as president and manager of the company from its inception to the later years of his life. Vann also served as a director of the Citizens National Bank in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a member of the Franklinton School Board for a number of years, and he was involved in numerous philanthropic activities, contributing funds for the building of the Franklinton Methodist Church in 1891, college scholarships for the Methodist Orphanage in Raleigh in 1917, and mission playground construction in Korea.

Bettie Blanche Henley Vann (1858-1923) was born in Franklinton, North Carolina, to James Aldridge and Josephine Moore Henley; her father was a leading merchant in the community and in the Methodist church. Bettie (alternately, Bette) attended Greensboro Female College before marrying Samuel C. Vann in 1878. The couple had three children: Mabel, Aldridge Henley (Billy), and Eleanor. Apart from raising their children, Bettie taught Sunday School for decades at the Franklinton Methodist church and was involved in women’s missionary societies, children’s ministries, and the American Red Cross.

Elizabeth Vann Moore’s parents were John Augustus Moore, Sr., and Mabel Vann Moore. John Sr. (1878-1947) was born in Edenton, North Carolina, to John Armistead and Mary Skinner Moore; his father practiced law. John Sr. was the third child of the couple but the eldest surviving one. He attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill from 1896 to 1900 and graduated with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree. Working briefly for a bank, a telephone company, and then a supply company, John Sr. was eventually named secretary of the Harriett Cotton Mills of Henderson, North Carolina, in 1901. In 1908, he became secretary of the Henderson Cotton Mills, where he remained until 1915. In that year, he moved to Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, to become the president of Patterson Mills Company. After that company was purchased in 1929 by Simmons Company, John Sr. became the treasurer and manager of the Edenton Cotton Mills and in 1933, the president of Sterling Cotton Mills in Franklinton as well. John Sr. held both positions from 1933 until his death in 1947. Throughout his life, John Sr. was active in the Episcopal Church, and he was a member of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association, the North Carolina Cotton Manufacturers Association, and the Roanoke Rapids school board. In 1910, he married Mabel Vann, and the couple had three children: Elizabeth (1912-2010), Mary (b. 1913), and John Jr. (1917-1982).

Mabel Vann Moore (1882-1965) was born in Chowan County, North Carolina, to Samuel C. and Bettie H. Vann. She attended Greensboro Female College in the early 1900s and travelled to California and Europe upon graduating. After marrying John A. Moore, Sr., in 1910, Mabel raised their three children and was active in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and other community organizations until her death in 1965.

Elizabeth Vann Moore's younger brother, John Augustus Moore, Jr., (1917-1982), was born in 1917 to John A. Moore, Sr., and Mabel Vann Moore. John Jr. studied business at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 1939, and he attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1941. John Jr. was drafted early upon the United States’ entry into World War II. He joined the Army Air Force; graduated from Officer Candidate School in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1942; advanced to a Captain in July 1942 at Kearns Army Airfield in Kearns, Utah; and served overseas in the Pacific Theater in 1945. In 1947, John Jr. became the president of Sterling Cotton Mills, a position he held until his death in 1982. In the early 1950s, he married Margaret (Peggy) Parsley Young, and the couple had one son, John Augustus Moore III, in 1956.

Sterling Cotton Mills was established in 1895 by Samuel C. Vann in Franklinton, North Carolina. Samuel Vann died in 1924 and his son, Aldridge H. Vann, took over the mill (by-laws can be found in Box 10, Folder 2; files documenting the construction of the mill can be found in Box 13, Folder 1). In 1933, due to financial problems resulting from the Great Depression, Sterling Cotton Mills was auctioned and bought by Mabel Moore, daughter of Samuel C. Vann. Mabel Moore’s husband, John A. Moore, Sr., and her brother, Aldridge Vann, then ran Sterling Cotton Mills together. John A. Moore, Sr., died in 1947 and his son, John A. Moore, Jr., took over the mill upon his death. John A. Moore, Jr., ran Sterling Cotton Mills until his death in 1982. John A. Moore III took over the company after his father's death and also ran the Sterling Heritage Corporation, which appears to have been a real estate company (Business Prospectus can be found in Box 8, Folder 7). Sterling Cotton Mills closed in 1991.

The Elizabeth Vann Moore Family Papers contain family history materials as well as extensive records about the day-to-day operations of Sterling Cotton Mills in Franklinton, North Carolina, which several family members managed. Business papers include correspondence, financial reports, and audits documenting Sterling Cotton Mills' founding in 1895, bankruptcy during the Great Depression, and revival in the 1940s and 1950s. Family history materials include correspondence, journals, scrapbooks, and photographs of the Moore and Vann families, which document their experiences from the turn of the twentieth century through World War II and later.

Series 1, Business Papers, 1890-1998 contains correspondence, meeting minutes, stockholder agreements, bank statements, financial books, financial notes regarding wages and orders, financial statements, and bank audits. This series is divided into three subseries: Correspondence and Other Administrative Papers (Subseries 1.1); Financial Books (Subseries 1.2); and Financial Statements and Reports (Subseries 1.3).

Series 2, Family Papers, 1848-1986), contains personal correspondence, articles, diaries, estate records, photographs, and scrapbooks related to the Vann and Moore families of eastern North Carolina. The bulk of the material relates to Mabel Vann Moore, Elizabeth Vann Moore’s mother, and John A. Moore, Jr., Elizabeth’s brother. The series is divided into three subseries: Family Correspondence (Subseries 2.1), Diaries and Personal Papers (Subseries 2.2), and Photographs and Scrapbooks (Subseries 2.3).

Family Correspondence, 1891-1986, primarily includes letters between Mabel Vann Moore and her parents, Samuel C. and Bettie H. Vann, while Mabel was at Greensboro Female College in the early 1900s, and condolences that Mabel received when her husband, John Augustus Moore, Sr., died in 1947. Letters sent and received by John Augustus Moore, Jr., make up the rest of this subseries. Letters address John Jr.'s college years at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in the 1930s and his service overseas during World War II.

Diaries and Personal Papers, 1848-1982, consists of newspaper articles, journals, expense lists, travel accounts, estate records, and obituaries related to John A. Moore, Sr.; Mabel Vann Moore; and John A. Moore, Jr. Of particular note are John Jr.’s journal pages, which partially cover his overseas service during World War II.

Photographs and Scrapbooks, 1786, 1879-1949, contain formal and informal photographs of Samuel C. Vann; Mabel Vann Moore; John A. Moore, Jr.; and other family members and friends. Of special note is an oversize, undated print of Sterling Cotton Mill. Scrapbooks relate to Samuel C. and Bettie H. Vann; Mabel Vann Moore; and John A. Moore, Jr., and include photographs and newspaper clippings.

This collection is arranged in two series: Business Papers, 1899-1983; and Family Papers, 1848-1986.

The Business Papers series is arranged into three subseries: Correspondence and Administrative Papers (Subseries 1.1); Financial Books (Subseries 1.2); and Financial Reports and Statements (Subseries 1.3). Subseries 1.1 is arranged in the order received. Subseries 1.2 and 1.3 are arranged chronologically.

The Family Papers series is arranged into three subseries: Family Correspondence (Subseries 2.1); Diaries and Personal Papers (Subseries 2.2); and Photographs and Scrapbooks (Subseries 2.3). Each subseries is arranged chronologically.

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[Identification of item], Elizabeth Vann Moore Family Papers, MC 00486, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

A. H. Vann Papers, 1920-1925, 1965, MC 00327, North Carolina State University

Elizabeth Vann Moore Papers, 1927-2007, Manuscript Collection #1215, East Carolina University

Augustus Moore Family Papers, circa 1791-1919, undated, Manuscript Collection #1216, East Carolina University

Gift of Carter R. Rowe, 2013 (Accession 2013.0128); transfer from East Carolina University, 2013 (Accession 2013.0302)

Processed by: Gwynn Thayer, April 2014; machine-readable finding aid created by: Gwynn Thayer, April 2014; finding aid updated by Rose Buchanan and Rachel Jacobson, November 2014