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Benjamin Mandeville Long papers

 Collection
Identifier: LH-0010

Scope and Contents note

The Benjamin Mandeville Long Papers consists of photographs, negatives, scrapbooks, and books.

The majority of the photographs and negatives were taken by Benjamin Mandeville Long, consisting of images of houses and businesses that Benjamin Long insured through Long Insurance Agency. The remainder of the series contains family photographs, some that were handed down through the family, such as the photographs of his great-great grandfather and his great grandfather and others of his family that he took. There are family photos near the family home, a train station and at a local BBQ restaurant. The series also contains a collection of stereopticon cards. The cards are scenes from around the United States and are various pictures of children.

The eight scrapbooks are a collection of news clippings on his family from his great-great grandfather John Long to his grandchild Marion Frances McNamara, news clippings on the history of Carrollton and members of the Carrollton, Georgia and Cordova, Alabama communities, civic organization cards, wedding invitations, programs, Benjamin Mandeville Long's military records, and letters from family members.

The collection contains a Civil War diary written in 1865. The book appears to have been first owned by a Union soldier and later changed hands into a Confederate soldier. The diary is probably from a relative of Benjamin Mandeville Long, perhaps his grandfather. The collection also includes books on the people of Carrollton, Carrollton laws, and Masonic books.

Dates

  • bulk 1840-1973

Creator

Conditions Governing Access note

Open to all users; no restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use note

Rights to these materials are subject to Copyright Law of United States (Title 17). The photographic media created by Benjamin M. Long was made during his career in insurance and as a hobby. Long died in 1973.



W. Aubrey Jones, who was married to the then deceased daughter of Benjamin Mandeville Long, donated eight scrapbooks compiled by Long and a set of Sanborn Fire Insurance atlases of Bowdon and Carrollton to West Georgia College in August 1993, and further gifted Long’s photographic negatives in November 1998. At that time intellectual rights to the materials created by Long were not transferred. The Sanborn atlases were separated for cataloging.



W. Aubrey Jones, who attended West Georgia College from 1935 to 1936, died in 2002. Jones was married to Celeste Long Jones (1912-1986), daughter of Benjaman Mandeville Long. He later married Cynthia Akers Jones, who donated additional photographic negatives made by Long to the university in March 2009.

Biographical/Historical note

Benjamin Mandeville “Mann” Long (1881 – 1973), the oldest child of Henry and Lula Long, was born in Carrollton in 1881. Long joined the Army in 1903 and served three years overseas in the Philippines in the Army Band advancing to the rank of sergeant. In 1906 Long returned to Alabama and began a banking career in Cordova. He returned to Carrollton in 1914 and worked in the Peoples Bank until 1917 when he opened Long Insurance Agency. Long remained in insurance from 1917 until the late 1960’s when he retired.

Long’s grandfather, Benjamin McFarland Long was born in Carroll County on November 5, 1827 to John and Nancy Long. Benjamin McFarland was involved in the mercantile business and politics for both Carroll County, Georgia and Walker County, Alabama. Benjamin McFarland Long was active in the Mexican War and twice enlisted in the Civil War, once for Walker County and once for Carroll County. After the war Long resided in Carrollton and worked in the mercantile business with his partner John W. Stewart, until 1874. Long was elected a member of the lower Georgia Legislature and served a term from 1872 – 1874. After 1874 Long moved to Cordova, Alabama in Walker County (a city he founded and named after a town he passed through in Mexico.) In Cordova, he continued in the mercantile business and served in the Alabama Legislature in 1882. He was known for being a national republican but a state democrat. Benjamin McFarland Long married Caroline Amanda Wooten, daughter of Pope Wootten and Melissa Caroline Hinton, in 1854. Together they had twelve children: Henry Whitfield (1855 - 1916 ), John Benjamin (1857 – 1907), Nancy Caroline (1858 – 1925), Thomas Leeper (1860 – 1931), Looney Jesse (1862 – 1863), Robert Wootten (1864 – 1910), Ida Jane (1866 – 1915), Effie Lou (1868 – 1937), Ada Sophie (1870 – 1940), Pope McFarland (1872 – 1956), Jesse Orville (1874 – 1937), and Edgar Williams (1876 – 1947). Benjamin McFarland Long died in 1903.

Henry Whitfield Long (1855 – 1916), oldest son of Benjamin McFarland Long, was born in Carrollton and worked with his father in the mercantile business in Cordova. He returned to Carrollton where he began working in real estate and was the mayor of Carrollton for six years between 1900 and 1910. Henry Long married Lula Mandeville in 1881 and had five children: Benjamin Mandeville (Mann) (1881 – 1973), Lula, Ida Stella, Mary and Helen.

Benjamin Mandeville married Helen West, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George West of Carrollton, in 1909 and had two children: Helen Celeste (1912 – 1986) and Frances Marion (1914 – 2000). Benjamin Mandeville Long died in 1973.

Helen Celeste married William Aubrey Jones in 1944. Frances Marion married James F. McNamara in 1941. Frances and James had a daughter, Marion Frances (1940 - ) who married Nelson Barrett Dobbs in 1964.

Extent

6.51 Linear feet (8 boxes)

Language

English

Overview

Photographs, negatives, scrapbooks, and other materials of Benjamin Mandeville Long (1881-1973), the oldest child of two-time Carrollton mayor Henry and Lula Long. After serving in the U.S. Army, Long began a banking career in Cordova, Alabama in 1906. He returned to Carrollton in 1914 and worked in the Peoples Bank until 1917 when he opened Long Insurance Agency. Long remained in insurance from 1917 until the late 1960s when he retired.

Arrangement note

Arranged into four series: 1. Photographs; 2. Scrapbooks; 3. Books; 4. Newspapers. Items are arranged alphabetically by file title.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

Donated by William Aubrey Jones (son-in-law of Benjamin Mandeville Long) in 1993.

Seperated Materials

Sanborn fire insurance maps of Carrollton and Bowdon were separated for cataloging.

Processing Information note

Processed by Audrey Cook in 2008 and Jennifer Little in 2014.

Title
Guide to the Benjamin M. Long papers LH-0010
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Written by Audrey Cook, Jennifer Little, and Danilo Baylen
Date
2014
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the University of West Georgia Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Special Collections, Ingram Library
University of West Georgia
1601 Maple Street
Carrollton GA 30118-2000 United States