Conclusion

At the outset of this exhibit, I attempted to paint a full picture of what loyalties in the Chowan River Basin were like; who people were loyal to, and why they were loyal to them. It was and is a subject area with limited prior exploration, thus complicating my efforts. The biggest shortfall of this project has been finding sources adequate to my task. The records of the Southern Claims Commission available to me are limited; they are not an exhaustive record of accepted claims, but merely the ones that Fold3 happened to have digitized versions of. Though they provide useful case studies, having access to the broader records at the National Archive would be a requirement to further research.

In addition, the records of people such as James Norcum who performed acts of unionism as exceptional as his deserve more investigation then I can suitably relate. Personal records, diaries, letters, these are the sources I would want for a more thorough investigation. Census records have been some help in providing additional context, for example the case of Joseph Etheridge's rejected claim, but even these proved incomplete.

Still, with the shortfalls and gaps, it can be said with certainty that the complexities of loyalties in the Chowan River Basin were significantly more variegated and complex than has been kept in the public record. Unionism may have been forgotten, but where it existed was a unique narrative not thoroughly enough remembered.