Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. N.C. Letters, 1880- 1886, chiefly relate to business matters, especially to the governance of the Western North Carolina Insane Asylum. Harper was president of the Asylum board in the early 1880s and served on its Building Commission beginning in the mid- 1880s. In 1881, there is a report to the stockholders of the Caldwell and Watauga Turnpike Company. Harper made almost daily entries, most of which are very short.
Entries usually begin with a weather report.
There is also periodic mention of Harper's activities on behalf of the Davenport Female College and, after 1876, the North Carolina Insane Asylum. Most of the diaries contain accounting sheets that document Harper's personal expenditures.