Series: 1 GG (Volume 1)
Scope and Content Note: Assorted papers, including: a bibliography of writings concerning the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence; text and commentary on James C. Welling's article in North American Review, volume 118 (April 1874); letters and notes on Hezekiah Alexander, Thomas Alexander, Waightstill Avery, Adam Brevard, Robert Irwin, William Kennon, Neill Morrison, Thomas and Ezekiel Polk, William Polk, and Hugh Waddell.

Series: 2 GG (Volume 2)
Scope and Content Note

Assorted papers, including: transcripts of a few Rowan County, North Carolina, records, 1775, and of a letter of Joseph Hewes, dated October 20, 1776; an original letter (1779) written by Adam Alexander; an original bill of sale (1822) for a Negro youth signed by William B. Alexander; correspondence (1823) between J.G.M. Ramsey and R.H. King; correspondence (1841) exchanged by Peter Force and John Vaughan; letters by David L. Swain to Benson J. Lossing (1851), George Bancroft (1858), and Henry S. Randall (1858); and Draper correspondence, 1870-1875, accompanied by a few related newspaper clippings.

Among the topics discussed are the early publication of the Mecklenburg declaration; the state pamphlet issued by the North Carolina legislature in 1831; the centennial celebration in honor of the Mecklenburg declaration held at Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1875; and genealogical and biographical information on the Alexander family, Waightstill Avery, Richard Barry, John Davidson, Joseph Graham, Humphrey Hunter, Robert Irwin, the Phifer family, Thomas Polk, James Wallis, and Zaccheus Wilson.

Series: 3 GG (Volume 3)
Scope and Content Note

Primarily Draper's biographical and genealogical correspondence, 1875-1887, pertaining particularly to Ezra Alexander, Isaac Alexander, and other members of the Alexander family; Waightstill Avery; Ephraim Brevard; William L. Davidson; Henry Downs; John Flenniken; John Foard; Robert Harris; Robert Irwin; James Jack; William Kennon; Matthew McClure; Neill Morrison; Duncan Ochiltree; Benjamin Patton; John Phifer; Thomas and Ezekiel Polk and other members of the Polk family; David Reese; and Hugh Waddell.

Among miscellaneous notes by Draper are excerpts from articles on the Mecklenburg declaration published in the Raleigh Register in 1819-1820 and commentary on the David L. Swain letters in 1858 filed in 2 GG. Remarks on Sabbath customs of the Scottish Presbyterians in North Carolina occur in numerous letters. Depredations suffered during the Civil War and the relationships between black and white residents during the Reconstruction era were described in one letter (1876) by Mary A. Chambers of Bridgewater, North Carolina.