A Guide to the Natchez Trace Collection Supplement, 1775-1965


Descriptive Summary
	Creator:	Natchez Trace Collection
	Title:	Natchez Trace Collection Supplement
	Dates:	1775-1965
	Abstract:	The Natchez Trace Collection Supplement, 1775-1965, consists of personal letters, plantation inventories, receipts, slave documents, business correspondence and documents, and family-related documents generated by early settlers of the lower Mississippi Valley. The bulk of the collection comes from antebellum Mississippi and Louisiana, with Natchez, New Orleans, and territorial material.
	Accession No.:	2008-146; 2010-240; 2012-075; 2012-245
	Extent:	5 ft.
	Language:	Materials are written in English.
	Repository:	The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents

The Natchez Trace Collection Supplement consists of personal letters, plantation inventories, receipts, slave documents, business correspondence and documents, and family-related documents generated by early settlers of the lower Mississippi Valley. The bulk of the collection comes from antebellum Mississippi and Louisiana, with Natchez, New Orleans, and territorial material.

Archivist's note: Numbers in inventory refer to original auction lot number, and consequently, items are identified by these numbers on the folders within the collection. This collection remains in the order received from the auction house, and by permission, uses edited descriptions provided by them. The original descriptions with more in-depth information about items and individuals may be obtained by contacting the repository.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.


Index Terms

	Subjects (Persons)
		Lyman, Thaddeus.
		Duncan, Stephen, 1787-1867
		Ellicott, Andrew, 1754-1820
		Hunt, Abijah, d. 1811
		Leverich, Charles P., 1803-1876.
		Marschalk, Andrew, 1767-1838.
	Subjects
		Decedents' estates -- Mississippi.
		Land titles -- Registration and transfer -- Mississippi.
		Slave records -- Mississippi.
		Slave records -- Southern States.
		Court records -- Mississippi -- Sources.
		Education -- Mississippi -- Sources.
		Business records -- Mississippi.
	Places
		Vicksburg (Miss.) -- History -- Sources.
		Natchez (Miss.) -- History -- Sources.
		Natchez (Miss. : District) -- History -- Sources.
		Adams County (Miss.) -- History -- Sources.
		Mississippi -- History -- Sources.
		Mississippi River.
		Warren County (Miss.) -- History -- Sources.
		United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources.
		Jefferson County (Miss.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.

Related Material



		Natchez Trace Small Manuscript Collections Natchez Trace Broadside Collection, 1785-1930 Natchez Trace Collection Photographs, ca. 1855-1920 Natchez Trace Map Collection Natchez Trace Sheet Music Collection

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Natchez Trace Collection Supplement, 1775-1965, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Laurel Rozema, February 2009.

Subsequent revisions were made by Laurel Rozema, October 2010, April 2011; and Bethany Anderson, September 2012

Detailed Description of the Papers

Thaddeus Lyman maps, 1775

Creator's sketch:

Thaddeus Lyman is numbered among the first Anglo settlers of what became known as the Natchez District, then a small outpost in the British province of West Florida. He, his brother Phineas Lyman, Roger Enos, and Israel and Rufus Putnam organized the Company of Military Adventurers made up of Connecticut veterans of the Seven Years' War and received vast land grants in the Natchez District from the British Crown. Thaddeus Lyman is most famous for being a British leader in the Natchez District, a haven for British loyalists during the American Revolution, along with Anthony Hutchins. Both men had their lands and property raided and plundered by James Willing, an American who had descended the Mississippi River aboard the Rattletrap with a hundred or so American patriots, adventurers, and rowdies.

On April 16, 1778, Hutchins and Lyman assembled British settlers and sympathizers to confront Lt. Reuben Harrison and his American supporters at White Cliffs (earlier known as Ellis' Cliffs) about five leagues below “the Natchez,” as settlers called it. Firing first, the British contingent succeeded in defeating the Americans, having killed Harrison and four others and taking the remainder as prisoners. For his bravery and leadership at the Battle of White Cliffs, Thaddeus Lyman was awarded a captain's commission, and was authorized by crown to raise two companies to help the established ones defend Natchez from the Americans. Weeks after their victory, Col. Hutchins and Capt. Lyman became embroiled in conflict over leadership with Capt. Michael Jackson, who was sent by British officials from Pensacola. They considered Jackson to be a horse-thief and rogue and had him arrested. In turn, Lyman found himself under the arrest of Jackson after the latter officer rallied his supporters. Eventually, Jackson was replaced by Capt. Anthony Foster, who reestablished stability. In the spring of 1779, Lyman and Hutchins regretfully disbanded their “companies,” consisting mostly of officers and non-commissioned officers, according to the order of British officials at Pensacola. In 1781, after suffering their own defeats at the hands of the British, the Spanish in the lower Mississippi Valley succeeded in wresting power from their colonial adversary.

See D. Clayton James, Antebellum Natchez (1968) and Robert V. Haynes, The Natchez District and the American Revolution (1976).

Scope and contents:

Note that these maps actually pre-date the official laying out of the town at the Natchez landing in February 1776, and they also pre-date the Natchez settlers' representation in the West Florida Assembly at Pensacola granted by the Crown in 1778.

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A dated 1775 map of the British land grant of 20,000 acres on Bayou Pierre originally granted by the Crown to Thaddeus Lyman. British West Florida, Bayou Pierre [pre-Natchez District], February 14, 1775

Scope and contents:

A 9” by 14” simplistic hand-drawn map on the left half of a large 20” by 16” sheet. A simple “C A” or “G A” watermark on the paper. This manuscript map represents the huge land grant of 20,000 acres on Bayou Pierre granted to Thaddeus Lyman by the British colonial government of the Natchez District. It is entitled at the top “20,000 Acres granted by M.D. to Thadeus [sic] Lyman.” It shows 10,000 acres that once belonged to Thaddeus Lyman, and land reserved to Lyman that includes 4,000 acres to Oliver Lyman, 1,000 each to Eleanor and Experience Lyman, and 3,000 acres to Thompson Lyman. There are five other lots designated, each with the name of an early colonial Mississippi settler. A representation of Bayou Pierre appears in the map, and although it is not named as such - it is called Bayou Piere on the companion map listed below. It is dated 14th Feby 1775, and is apparently among the earliest British hand-drawn maps of land in the colonial Mississippi Valley in existence.

The companion map of the Lyman British land grant of 20,000 acres of land on Bayou Pierre in the Natchez District during the American Revolutionary era. British West Florida, Bayou Pierre [pre-Natchez District], [circa 1775]

Scope and contents:

A 16” by 10” hand-drawn map of the property entitled, “Plan of 20,000 Acres of Land Originally granted to Thaddeus Lyman and divided by Deeds represented in the Plan surveyed by Silas Crane.” It shows 11,000 acres designed as belonging to Thaddeus Lyman, 4,000 acres to Oliver Lyman, 1,000 each to Eleanor and Experience Lyman, and 3,000 acres to Thompson Lyman. What makes the map so special is that it features a simply drawn representation of the waters inscribed above the drawing as “Bayou Piere Creek drawn by estimation” complete with the “South Fork.” The paper is watermarked with a crown and “G B” with “B” below. It seems plausible that the “G B” refers to Great Britain, and that although undated, this is the contemporary companion map to the 1775 map of the same tract of land featured above. Like the map above, this map is of singular importance in the history of the settlement of British loyalists at Natchez during the British colonial and American revolutionary eras.

Stephen Duncan Land Indenture, 1776

Creator's sketch:

Stephen Duncan was one of the first settlers of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, having received an indenture of land himself from King George III. A successful merchant, he became involved in local politics and government, and raised nine children with his wife, Ann Fox. His son John married Sarah Eliza Postlethwaite, in 1785, and the couple was blessed with five children, including the future Dr. Stephen Duncan of Natchez. In 1793, shortly before Stephen's sixth birthday, his father John was killed in a duel with James Lamberton over a political dispute. By 1850, Dr. Stephen Duncan of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, had become the largest cotton planter in the world. He resided at his mansion Auburn, located just outside of Natchez where he built a personal empire on cotton and slavery. Through his business connections with financiers Charles and Henry Leverich of New York, Duncan sold his cotton to British factors in Liverpool and elsewhere.

See the recent biography by Martha Jane Brazy, An American Planter: Stephen Duncan of Antebellum Natchez and New York (2006).

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A land grant from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, signed twice by Stephen Duncan, great-grandfather of Dr. Stephen Duncan of Natchez, March 25, 1776

Scope and contents:

This 15” by 19” indenture is partly printed, dated 25 March 1776, and signed by John Armstrong, his wife Rebecca Armstrong, William Lyon, and Stephen Duncan. In the indenture John Armstrong of Middleton Township in Cumberland County in the Province of Pennsylvania and his wife Rebecca sell to William Armstrong, a 200-acre tract of land in Derry Township in the County of Cumberland for the sum of five shillings.

Andrew Ellicott Letter, 1788

Creator's sketch:

Born in 1754 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the largely self-taught Quaker, Andrew Ellicott, received a commission to survey the southwestern boundary of disputed land in New York in 1784. In 1791, he surveyed out the ten square miles ceded by Maryland and Virginia for the creation of Washington, D.C. Following the 1795 Pinckney Treaty that approved the establishment of the frontier boundaries between the United States and Spanish Florida, Ellicott spent the next four years tramping the forests, fields, and swamps of Mississippi toward the Atlantic. He became embroiled in conflict with Governor Manuel Gayoso of Natchez in 1797 because of the Spanish administration's unwillingness to implement the transfer of the Natchez region to the Americans. For a short time, he served as one of the leaders of a self-governing group of men at Natchez who defied both Spanish and American authorities. Fortunately the Spanish finally ceded what became the Mississippi Territory without bloodshed, and Ellicott went about his work having escaped censure from his own federal government. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, Ellicott worked to survey the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia, but when the government refused to compensate him adequately, he retired from public service. During the War of 1812, Ellicott accepted a position on the faculty at West Point where he taught until his death in 1820.

See Andrew Ellicott, The Journal of Andrew Ellicott (Philadelphia, 1803; reprinted, Chicago, 1962).

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Andrew Ellicott writes a financial-related letter referencing “State Paper in Bank Notes,” Baltimore, 1788

Scope and contents:

Approximately 6” by 8” one-page letter on single sheet possible separated from its postal cover. Addressed to a “Dear Sir,” Ellicott mentions “Hard-Money,” but is willing to accept a payment of 22.10 in “State Paper or Bank Notes, - The discount on so small a sum I am willing to lose.” He also states, “Note By the Old Line of Stages Letters are carried Gratis.”

Mississippi Territorial Era Manuscripts, 1797-1817

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General David Forman Will, 1797, 1800

Creator's sketch:

General David Forman was the brother of Ezekiel Forman, an early sponsor of Natchez Settlement, and father of Sarah Marsh Forman, wife of William Gordon Forman. The Forman family members helped obtain well over a thousand acres of land granted by Governor Gayoso under the Spanish regime. The family hails from New Jersey, but this branch of the family was in Kent County, Maryland.

Scope and contents:

The will of General David Forman, written in Kent County, Maryland, with attached document signed by William Dunbar. Natchez, 1797, 1800. Dated 18 August 1797, it bears the attested signature of David Forman with paper-and-wax seal affixed. Also affixed by wax, is a separate document beautifully datelined “Natchez 10th June 1800,” and signed by William Dunbar, the most famous Natchezite of the frontier era. Another notation on the document indicates that William Gordon Forman, an executor, attested to the authenticity of the will of “General David Forman late of Kent County deceased.” The will begins, “In the Name of God Amen David Forman of this Town in the County of Kent and State of Maryland Gentleman being in health of Body and of sound mind memory and understanding, praised be God for the same, do make this my last Will and Testament in manner follow. . .” The document stipulates how Forman divides his property among his named daughters and mentions David's brother Ezekiel.

Thomas Tyler Papers, 1799-1808

Indenture that describes a 100-acre tract of land on the Mississippi River a mile from Fort Rosalie [described as “Natchez Fort”]. Natchez, August 10, 1799

Scope and contents:

The indenture, made on the 10th August 1799, “between Thomas Tyler of the town of Natchez in Adams County and Mississippi Territory of the one part, and William Wikoff Junior and William G. Garland both of the City of New Orleans, in the Province of Louisiana, Merchants, of the other part.” Tyler, for a debt of $600, mortgages his property to the men. The land being used as collateral is described as “containing one hundred Acres French Measure, Situate, lying & being in the Territory aforesaid one mile below Natchez Fort and bounded as follows . . .” The Mississippi River was the western boundary of the property. The indenture is also signed by the judge William McGuire, and by the prominent settler and merchant, John Henderson, as recorder. Thomas Tyler signs at the bottom of the page and seals it.

Document that describes Thomas Tyler's property in the Mississippi Territory, 1808

Scope and contents:

It provides considerable detail of lands, and mentions places like the “Natchez Fort,” “the River Mississippi,” “the then County of Pickering (now county of __),” “Bayou Pierre,” and “the waters of Cole's Creek.”

Abijah Hunt Papers

Creator's sketch:

Abijah Hunt, a native of New Jearsey, formed a business partnership with his brothers Jeremiah and Jess Hunt, and Elijah Smith. He came to Natchez in 1798 as a sutler, or licensed merchant, for the United States Army stationed along the lower Mississippi River. Hunt received shipments of goods from his brothers, imported, made purchases and transactions in New York, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati, and gained a good reputation as a reputable man of business. Hunt began planting cotton, and with Smith opened several stores and cotton gins at Natchez, Washington, Greenville, Port Gibson, Big Black, and his original base of operation, Bayou Pierre. Hunt eventually acquired a 3,645-acre plantation in Adams County, and even larger tracts of land in Jefferson and Claiborne Counties. He used vertical integration as a business philosophy, growing cotton, ginning it at his own gins, brokering cotton for himself and others, ang charging a commission of 10% of the cotton to planters for processing it.

The three Hunt brothers gained direct financial ties to England and became one of the largest commission mercantile entities on the southwestern frontier, supplying planters with all of their needs. They dealt in large quantities of cotton and contracted sales to British industrial consumers on behalf of their customers. Jeremiah would sometimes travel to Natchez to make plans with brother Abijah for the sale and shipment of hundreds of thousands of pounds of cotton to England.

Hunt was also involved with the incorporation of the Bank of the Mississippi in 1809 after receiving a charter from the territorial legislature. He received an appointment as Deputy Postmaster from United States Postmaster General Joseph Habersham in the fall of 1799, establishing mail services “to that distant portion of the Union.” Hunt, who began sending the mail in January 1800, was responsible for the service along the Natchez Trace from Natchez to Nashville about 500 miles away. Hunt immersed himself in local politics as an outspoken Federalist, and became embroiled in a conflict with George Poindexter, a Democratic Republican who later became Governor of Mississippi. The two fought a duel on the west bank of the river opposite Natchez in 1811, resulting in his own death.

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Abijah Hunt Papers, 1802-1819

Scope and contents:

Eleven of these 14 manuscripts relate to legal matters about the estate of Abijah Hunt, and include details about his business connections, referencing stores at Natchez, Loftus Heights, and the Walnut Hills. Two of the documents involve land acquisitions, including a detailed 1817 document that mentions Jerermiah, Abijah, and David Hunt.

Business document, 1803

Scope and contents:

An 1803 two-page document signed by the prominent and controversial merchant, Anthony Glass, indicating that “in the year 1799 a certain Mr. Vorhies did business at the Walnut Hills under the firm of Abijah Hunt & Co.,” and indicates that Glass contracted with Hunt at Loftus Heights for goods remaining at the Walnut Hills.

Document about store goods

Scope and contents:

One-page legal-size document signed by Benjamin Seamons, an employee of J. & A. Hunt's store at Cincinnati, who indicates that Hunt sent considerable quantities of goods from the store at Cincinnati to the one at Natchez, and that there was a 15% charge on “goods imported from the Eastward which was sent to Natchez.”

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Document about store goods

Scope and contents:

A two-page over-legal sized manuscript signed by Micheal [sic] Crozier, who worked with Hunt in 1798 and early 1799, referencing his job in making a record “of the numbers of the barrels boxes & packages sent from the Store at Natchez to the Walnut Hills under the Care of Vorhies.”

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A Tract of Land on St. Catherine Creek in Adams County is claimed by David Hunt and Jeremiah Hunt on behalf of the Estate of Abijah Hunt, deceased. Natchez, May 4, 1817

Scope and contents:

Five pages of manuscript text, including a legal-size page dated 4 May 1817 and signed by Peter A. Vandorn and attached to a larger lettersheet. The information relates to members of the Wright and McCoy families. The land transaction goes back to 1810 or earlier, and the piece of property was once owned by Daniel Maggett. The property was originally also possessed by Abijah Hunt, deceased.

A lot of eight manuscripts, that relate to a lawsuit involving Hunt, one dated as early as 1802, and a few being signed by famous Natchez attorneys Murray & Duncan and Lyman Harding.

Two legal-size manuscripts, documenting a land transaction in 1809 involving Hunt, Frazier & Mygatt, and Charles F. McCoy, 1819

Scope and contents:

There are references to the land being on St. Catherine's Creek adjoining land of the late James McIntosh; some dealings made at Abijah Hunt's residence in Natchez and his “counting room;” land owned formerly by Joseph Pannill; a description of part of the land being “Woodland,” making it more valuable; reference to an adjacent plantation; and a reference to the land sellers having “received a negro woman of . . . Abijah Hunt in part pay.” One of the documents has a signature of Elijah Smith.

Three documents about a land ownership dispute in Adams County between William Nichols and James Bolls. Natchez, 1802

Scope and contents:

One document dated at Natchez is signed by the prominent early settler, David Ker, au verso. Several early settlers are mentioned.

Two documents from Archibald Lewis to Catherine Surget and Charles Surget. Natchez, 1803

Scope and contents:

Two legal-size documents from the clerk of the Court of Equity in the Adams District of Mississippi Territory inform the Surgets of their required presence at the Court House in Natchez where the case between them and Anthony Calvit and others is being heard. Both documents are issued to them personally, not to their legal representatives, and are signed by Archibald Lewis.

A document relating to “a Suit of Samuel Hindmand [sic] Trustee for Nancy Oxbury otherwise called Nancy Nicholas.” Mississippi Territory, Adams District, 1803

Scope and contents:

Legal-size one-page document issued to Richard Beale and signed by A. Lewis.

Two documents relate to Thomas Austie's mortgage for 600-acre property “on Coles Creek about five Miles eastward of Huntstown” to John Allen, a Philadelphia merchant, for a debt. Jefferson County, Mississippi Territory, 1803

Scope and contents:

The mortgage is signed by Austie who affixes his seal, and attested and signed by James Wallace and James Dunlop. The second document is signed by Edmund Hall.

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Colonial and Territorial Jefferson County, Mississippi records documenting the sale of land and slaves, 1804

Scope and contents:

These original leaves, including transactions as early as 1768 and as late as 1804, were once part of a complete ledger that was apparently a hand-written copy made in the first decade of the 19th century of records that dated from that time as well as from the British colonial period. The volume of these early records was unfortunately broken apart and its pages dispersed among workmen when it was discarded following a fire in part of the Jefferson County Courthouse facility.

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Thomas Rodney Papers, 1804, 1810

Letter explaining why Rodney continued as a Judge in the Mississippi Territory, from Delaware State Supreme Court Judge John Fisher, Dover, to Honorable Thomas Rodney, Natchez, Mississippi Territory, March 6, 1804

Document from The Mississippi Territory of the United States, bearing the printing, “WITNESS, the Honorable Thomas Rodney, first Judge of our said Court at the Town of Washington . . .“, May 31, 1810

Robert and James Moore Papers, 1804, 1811, undated

Creator's sketch:

Brothers Robert and James Moore were prosperous early merchants in Natchez at the turn of the nineteenth century. Robert operated at least three cotton gins—one at Washington, another at Selsertown, and one on his own farm near Natchez. He took his ginning business seriously, once suing a man who had told several planters that ginned cotton at Moore's facility would not pass inspection in Europe, nor would it sell in Natchez. Moore asserted that he ginned cotton for neighboring planters to their great satisfaction.

Scope and contents:

Documents, including copies made by Adams County court clerk Theodore Stark, relate to a dispute over notes and debts involving the Moores and merchants, Montfort Calvit and William Hutcheson.

Natchez Hospital records, 1805, 1823

Audit of the Natchez Hospital for appropriations it received of over $3,300 from the Territorial Treasury, signed by Theodore Stark.

Memorial of the General Assembly of Mississippi, Praying A Donation of Public Land, for the Benefit of the Natchez Hospital, February 12, 1823

Scope and contents:

Ordered to be printed, together with the accompanying act, for the use of the Senate. Washington: Printed By Gales & Seaton, 1823.

Eight-page document about a mortgage of land in the “Town of Huntston or (Greenville)” involving William Clark and William B. Cotton of Jefferson County, Mississippi Territory, 1805

Scope and contents:

The document, which is signed by Natchez attorney Lyman Harding, is a detailed discussion of how Cotton owes Clark, and the mortgage of property in Huntston currently occupied by Mordecai Throckmorton.

Letter from William Clarke to Beverly R. Grayson about a legal matter in the Supreme Court of the Mississippi Territory, 1806

Scope and contents:

Au verso addressed to Grayson and apparently hand-delivered.

Letter from Horatio Jones, Philadelphia, about business to Cyrus Williams of Charleston. Philadelphia, March 2, 1806

Scope and contents:

Jones mentions that “There are a number of fine young Gentlemen here from Charlestown with some of whom you will become acquainted.”

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Land indenture mortgage and promissory notes for 70 acres on St. Catherine Creek, signed by numerous early Natchezites; and promissory notes for land. Natchez, 1807-1808

Scope and contents:

John Pearce mortgages the property to Benjamin Hoke that is indicated as being originally granted to James Stoddard by the Spanish government in 1788.

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Document recording a debt owed by Ebenezer Rees to Charles Norwood, Executor for John Turnbull, deceased, 1807

Scope and contents:

Document signed by territorial judges Thomas Rodney and Walter Leake indicating that a tract of land should be advertised in two Natchez newspapers and sold to satisfy a debt owed by Rees to the estate of John Turnbull.

Adams County, Mississippi, legal records, 1807-08, 1819

Scope and contents:

Two 1807 legal-size documents signed by Beverly Grayson with several names mentioned; two 1808 documents referencing William Connor and others; and an 1819 pre-printed and filled-in document signed by J. T. Griffith.

Joseph Dilworth of Philadelphia settles in Claiborne County as a merchant who is indebted to his Philadelphia connections. Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1807-1811

Scope and contents:

The documents contain detailed information, from men including Daniel D. Elliott, that reference early merchandising in the Mississippi Territory, namely the settling of Dilworth there, his purchase of land in Claiborne County, his business connections with Philadelphia, and the discrepancy over money that he owed for merchandise.

Letter from Nathaniel Wilson Merrell to his grandmother Mrs. Sarah Merrell indicating that his “Papa” bought an enslaved woman and her four-year-old son, Washington, Kentucky, January 17, 1808

Benjamin Kitchen papers, related to unwillingness to sell a slave to satisfy a debt as indicated in documents signed by him, Thomas Rodney, Charles B. Green, and Cowles Mead, Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1808

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Letter from Eleazer Allen, Jr., a New Bedford sailor in New Orleans, to his father about his voyage and business, January 29, 1810

Scope and contents:

Allen writes his father that he has safely delivered boats to Captain Allen at the Belize. He reports that “William is well likewise all the rest on Board,” and that stormy weather has delayed him in taking on cargo at New Orleans.

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The Nathaniel Knight Gibson estate papers, 1810-1822

Creator's sketch:

Orphaned as a youth, Nathaniel Knight Gibson lived with his uncle and aunt, Stephen and Patty Gibson, until his life was cut short in November, 1810, by illness before his twenty-first birthday. He spent his young life in the Warren County region of the Mississippi Territory. Port Gibson in Claiborne County is named for his family, who were involved in cotton agriculture and slavery.

Document stating last wishes of Nathaniel Knight Gibson, November 26, 1810

Copy of the January 1811 estate inventory, 1822

Copy from court records in Warren County, Mississippi, of an 1811 document regarding steers that were part of the Gibson estate, 1822

Document about the estate given by James Knowland, undated

Document with information from Martha Sharkey (wife of John Sharkey) about the Gibson estate, referencing the deceased youth's circumstances prior to his death, how he had been an orphan, his familial ties, and other details, 1818

Copy of an 1810 legal document regarding the case of James Gibson et al. v. Martha Gibson et al., issued by a court clerk of Warren County, 1822

Copy of “An Inventory of the Goods and Chattels of Nathaniel Knight Gibson deceased sold March 16th 1811,” 1822

Scope and contents:

Early Mississippi names include Stephen Gibson, William Bay, Robert Galloway, Claudius Rawls Abel Wright, Timothy Hatcher, and Johnson Sweet.

Document providing considerable detail about the estate of Nathaniel Knight Gibson, 1816

Copy of “An Inventory of the Crop of Nathaniel K. Gibson deced sold in 1811 by the undersigned [Stephen Gibson Admr],” 1822

Detailed account by Stephen Gibson of all the expenses and loans incurred by his nephew Nathaniel K. Gibson, [circa 1815]

Copy from court records, “A further Inventory of the Goods & Chattels of Nathaniel K. Gibson Decesd Appraised May 29th 1811 by the undersigned [Stephen Gibson, administrator, and named appraisers]”, 1822

Copy of an 1816 document about the Gibson family estate dispute, [ca. 1820s]

Document about the exact ownership of the slaves claimed by Nathaniel K. Gibson, undated

Copy of the “Deposition of Claudius Rawls” about the Gibson estate, [ca. 1810s-1820s]

Fragmentary copy of a document relating to the estate of Gibson, undated

Legal-related letter to James Gibson et al. from Patrick Sharkey about the Gibson estate case, undated

Au verso contains the autograph of Anthony Glass.

13 assorted documents connected to the Gibson estate and with attorney Edward Turner, 1818-1819

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Deed to Looe Baker for property of James Stout on Coles Creek twelve miles east of Natchez once owned by tavern-keeper Patrick Connelly, Mississippi Territory, 1810-1811

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Summons for John and Christiania Pearce to answer charge by Benjamin Hock, signed by D. Sea, Sheriff of Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1811

Document signed by Andrew Marschalk and David Kennedy with a newspaper clipping attached to it regarding the Estate of William Caldwell, deceased. Natchez, 1811

Two letters by William Kenner & Co. to Triggs & Morgan of Natchez about the sale of 64 bales of cotton and shipment of groceries. New Orleans, 1812

Bond for William Brooks and Ferdinand Claiborne to merchants Samuel Postlethwaite and William Shipp. Natchez, 1812

Document about a mortgaged piece of property made up of 1.5 lots on Main Street at Washington, Mississippi Territory, 1812

Scope and contents:

Details the testimony of Clinch Gray about a legal matter between him and Pierson and Martha Lewis over a debt and mortgage.

Document about attorney fees for William Brooks in a suit against Samuel Postlethwaite and William Shipp, signed by Cowles Mead and Theodore Stark in Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1812

Document pertaining to a legal dispute between Andrew Burt and William Sharp, signed by Anthony Campbell and others. Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1812

A document in which John Lombard of Ireland petitions for American citizenship in the Mississippi Territory, 1814

Scope and contents:

Lombard renounces his allegiance to "his majesty George 3.rd King of Great Brittain [sic] & Ireland."

Five tavern-keepers' petition documents from Greenville, Unionville, Bluff Springs, Petit Gulf, and Rodney, Jefferson County, Mississippi Territory and Statehood, 1815-1828

Scope and contents:

Tavern-keepers including Sarah Waters & John Odom, Michael Laughman, Armstrong Ellis, the Goosey brothers, and Philip Dixon, petitions governors like David Holmes and Gerard C. Brandon, putting forth the bond for the application.

A document signed by J.E. Clark, Jeremiah Watson, and Walter Leake about dispute over ownership of a tract of land sold by the United States Land Commission in Jefferson County, Mississippi Territory, 1817

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Document about how Wilford Hoggatt's property is scheduled to be sold at auction to pay a loan that he contracted with the President, Directors and Company of the Bank of the Mississippi. Natchez, October 21, 1813

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A document about the estate of Fleeharty. Warren County, Mississippi Territory, 1813

Scope and contents:

It is signed by Thomas DeWitt, Bartlett Shipp (who signs with an “X”), and John Evatt who post a bond for DeWitt, who is to act an executor in appraising the estate of Fleeharty. It is also signed “A. Glass,” by Anthony Glass, who underlines his own name.

Creator's sketch:

According to Robert M. Coates, author of the historical-fictional The Outlaw Years: The History of the Land Pirates of the Natchez Trace (1933), Anthony Glass was a prosperous merchant who also “filled the double rôle of ‘fence' and informer” for the notorious Samuel Mason Gang who robbed and murdered travelers along the Natchez Trace.

The will of Kentucky settler, Samuel Rogers, who bequeaths property to his wife Martha and stipulates that his minor sons John and James are to receive schooling. Bath County, Kentucky, 1814

Scope and contents:

The will stipulates that the children will each receive an equal share of the estate if Martha Rogers remarries.

Document in which Luke Carrol, a planter, pledges on his duties as a constable in Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1814

Scope and contents:

One page legal-size document bearing the signatures of Luke Carrol, James B. Madden, and Robert Turner – all early Natchez settlers.

A large document signed by Theodore Stark and Walter Leake that mentions a dispute over a sale of merchandise in Adams County, Mississippi Territory, December 26, 1814

Scope and contents:

The document is “a true copy of the proceedings had in a certain cause” between William Tharp and Alexander S. Lyle involving an unpaid loan for goods, wares, and merchandise. Signed by both Theodore Stark and Walter Leake

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Sixteen folio leaves recording the sales of land and slaves in Jefferson County, Mississippi Territory, 1815-1816

Scope and contents:

The earliest date for a transaction recorded is 30 March 1815 in which Abraham Scriber and his wife Jamima Scriber sells property on the waters of Fairchilds Creek. There are also parcels sold near the middle fork of Coles Creek, on Bayou Perre [Pierre], and other places. Parties involved in the transactions include Edward Turner, James Cowdon, David Ker, James C. Wilkins, Joseph and Samuel Bullen, Charlotte J. H. Claiborne, Joseph Calvit, Rush Nutt, Robert Cochran, Joseph Dunbar and others. One 1815 sale involves a piece of land on Chubbys Fork of Coles Creek that was originally granted to Anthony Hutchins by the Spanish government. In addition to property sales, there are a couple of people sales. Jane James sells “one Negro Woman named Betty or Bet and Child named Jack, the woman supposed to be twenty years of age, and child betwixt one and two years old” guaranteed as “slaves for life” to James Brown. Elizabeth Pervienne bequeaths her itemized property, including “six Windsor Chairs,” to Emily and Mary Jane McAlpin. In February 1816, George Forman gives his children “one negro Boy named Kit (alias) Christopher Eleven Years of age” along with cattle, oxen, horses, and plantation tools.

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Estate records of William Gordon Forman. Adams County, Mississippi, 1816-1817

Legal document directed to Joseph Forman, administrator of the Estate of William Gordon Forman, and others. Signed by Theodore Stark, Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1816

Document of recorded testimony given and signed by Gabriel Tichenor, about his knowledge of a controversy in which he sold over $12,500 of personal property from the estate of William Gordon Forman to Charles B. Green, one of the agents of the estate. From the papers of attorneys Green & Rankin.

Document with information from Tichenor in response to the complainants that include Margaret Forman and others, [circa 1817]

Document detailing Charles Green's knowledge about the property transaction from Forman's estate, [circa 1817]

Document referencing information provided by Green about the Forman estate. Mentions numerous individuals involved, [circa 1817]

Acts Passed at the Second Session of the Fourteenth Congress of the United States that contains an Act allowing the Establishment of a Constitution and State Government in the Mississippi Territory, and Treaties with Indians. Washington, D.C., 1817

Scope and contents:

A nicely bound copy of approximately 120 pages of federal legislation. The outer blue cover is inscribed “Clerk Com. Pleas Washington.”

Document connected with Mississippi families. Trenton, New Jersey, November 29, 1817

Scope and contents:

Involves people including Benjamin Price, Joseph Write, Matilda Wright, and five other named people.

Document from the Territory of Arkansas signed by early settlers who pledge to appraise the Estate of Isaac Runnell, deceased. Hempstead County, Arkansas Territory, 1820

Letter to William Lehman, apothecary at Natchez, from James Caesar. Philadelphia, [circa 1820]

Legal-related document signed by James A. Girault and mentioning Benjamin Lewish and Chapman White from the Western District of Mississippi Court. Natchez, 1821

Business letter to merchant William Brune at Natchez from Burk & Krumbhaar. Philadelphia, March 20, 1821

Creator's sketch:

William Brune, the recipient of the letter, was a native of a German city-state. He made a fortune as a Natchez merchant, ultimately returning to his native land where he purchased a barony.

Letter written by “Uncle Sam,” who mocks religion and the Church Revival, and who inquires whether Titus L. Bissell, Jr., has been having fun in Charleston with prostitutes. Savannah, Georgia, April 24, 1821

Creator's sketch:

Scope and contents:

Letter from a recent settler, John Grounds, in the new State of Missouri to Jacob Flander reporting on life there including the purchase of a slave. Madison County, Missouri, June 9, 1821

Scope and contents:

Grounds writes his brothers and sisters about family matters, and about his life in Missouri. He writes: “I have Bought a negro man of twenty 6 years of age at four hundred seventy dollars.” He names his children, indicating their ages, and indicates that, “My son John has sould out to move to the Spanish Dominion Where they can get Land give to them.” He also writes a lengthy religious poem on the third page.

Letter to John Forsyth at Natchez requesting his “Opinion aboute Flower and Negros,” from William Ater. Lexington, Kentucky, 1821

A record of Louisiana and Mississippi boys in the Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University in Cambridge. October 1821

Scope and contents:

Disbound pamphlet from Cambridge University includes the names of undergraduates Jephthah A.T. Bynam of Alexandria, Wikoff of Opelusas, Daniel C. Relf and Hilary B. Cenas of New Orleans, and Robert D. Percy of St. Francisville, Louisiana, and Robert Thomas Dunbar, John F. Bingaman, and Alexander C. Dunbar, and Calvin S. Smith of "Natches".

Legal document regarding the Estate of William Gordon Forman from attorneys Turner & Metcalfe. [Adams County, Mississippi], 1822

Document signed by James A. Girault who served as Chancery Court Clerk. [Adams County], 1822

Letter to Michael Fortier of New Orleans from F. A. Browder stating that he has “Delivered over the Negro Boy Tom” to a man named Tennent. Jackson, Louisiana, April 23, 1822

Bill for fabric, ribbons, buttons, and other things purchased from Foote, Huntington & Co. by Israel Smith with a document signed by Andrew Marschalk. Natchez, 1822

A pre-printed document summoning Peter P. Schyler, Jacob Eiler and Frederic Staunton [Frederick Stanton?] to attend Chancery Court. Adams County, Mississippi, 1822

Letter from the early capitol of Jackson from Will P. Puckett to Sheriff Elias G. Myers of Yazoo County, requesting the sheriff pay Perry Cohen [or Cohea?] out of money collected from two named men. Jackson, Mississippi, 1824

Letter from Cora Giovanoli of New Orleans, an Italian or Sicilian woman, to G. Powell, a Natchez commission merchant about a debt owed to the Estate of J. B. Duplantier. New Orleans, June 30, 1825

Scope and contents:

Giovanoli indicates payment of a debt owed to the estate of J. B. Duplantier, and Powell autographs a note on the back of the letter, indicating that he has received payments from Woodson Wren, the administrator of the estate, for J. J. Fox's account, and Giovanoli's account.

Letter to Mrs. Harriet O. Emerson of Natchez from her sister Pamela full of family news. Salem, Massachusetts, 1826

Letter from E. Kingman of Washington, D.C., to John Peck & Co. of Fredericksburg, Virginia, detailing politics including a speech by John Randolph about the subject of divorce. Washington City, 1826

Letter settling a debt owed to Daniel Bradford, a Lexington, Kentucky bookbinder, from James McDaniel representing an anonymous sender. Natchez, April 9, 1827

Letter from John H. Esty referring to a man named Cammack as a "Rascal" to Felix Huston that mentions Isaac Ross, Jr. Natchez, 1828

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "It seems he [Cammack] afterwards obtained a certificate from you and produced that with my receipt to Ross who paid him the money and I still hold Ross's note. If the Rascal is in Natchez I wish you would have him arrested in Ross's name and held to bail, and also criminally for deceit and swindling."

Letter from a gentleman in Charleston, S.C., to Nehemiah Cleaveland, Esqr., Newbury (Byfield), Mass., a man who may be his foster or adopted child living in New England, March 16, 1828

Scope and contents:

The writer pens a long letter to Cleaveland, whom he refers to as "Dear Child." The letter is of a personal nature, with details about his prospective plans to settle in Brooklyn, New York, spiritual advice, and other subjects.

Business letter to George Howard of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, from Woodson Wren, concerning a balance in favor of the recipient on the books of Perkins & Wren. Natchez, 1828

Bill for barrels of sugar, lading, commission, and interest issued to the Estate of Jeremiah Hunt by Breedlove Bradford & Robeson. New Orleans, September 15, 1825

Transcript copy of an 1823 marriage license issued to Thomas Stone and Amelia Watkins and signed by Peter A. Vandorn. Claiborne County, Miss., May 18, 1829

Scope and contents:

The marriage was celebrated by John H. Esty, Justice of the Peace, on 9 January 1823.

Six printed leaves of reports on the commodities market in Liverpool issued by Baring Brothers & Co. Liverpool, 1830

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Large docket book, labeled as "Orphan’s Court Docket," from Jefferson County, Mississippi, Probate Court listing hundreds of names of prominent planters and other residents and notations about estates, 1830-33. Contains names of administrators of estates and guardians as well as brief entries about the cases and fees incurred. Most of the entries are brief administrative notes, although there is the occasional interesting entry such as one relating to Joseph H. Newman, guardian of Claudius Newman, that indicates "Guardian authorized to sell all purocal [?] Estate (except negroes) on 12 mo. credit [and] authorized to sell the crop of 1829 at private sale." Most of them are more brief such as one for Isaac J. Ross, guardian of Martha A. Newman, "account allowed bal. due ward $1283.35," or an entry for Dunbar & Shields, administrators of William B. Shields, deceased, "bal due Estate of sale horse in Natchez of $1200.00 or fee 4.50." There are many prominent names of planters throughout including Blanton, Boles, Calvit, Dunbar, Hunt, McIllhaney, Robb, Ross, Selser, and Shields to name a few.

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Document that gives a detailed description of John T. Garner, accused of stealing a slave named Tom Porter and two horses. Pike County, Mississippi, 1833

Scope and contents:

James L. Smith, who signs it, indicates that Garner was from Yazoo County, and that he “had been commited to jail in that county on a charge of Grand Larceny and had broke out of jail some time last spring, and that he was retaken and from information in possession of Gen. Runnels steed horse was brought back and put in prison again and was afterwards taken up by a negro a waggoner who supposed he was in the act of robbing his wagon and from the Best information was taken to Manchester and thence to Ben jail again and broke out again . . . he is a man of notorious ill fame as a dishonest man in the County of Yazo and . . . believes him to be a Renagade from that County.”

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Publications about Senator Henry Clay, 1831-1853

Prentice, George D. Biography of Henry Clay. Hartford: Samuel Hanmer, Jr. and John J. Phelps, 1831

The Life and Speeches of Henry Clay. Vol. I. Philadelphia: J. L. Gihon, 1853

Speech of Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, in Support of His Propositions to Compromise on the Slavery Question. Revised Edition. In the Senate of the United States, February 5, 1854. [Washington, D.C.]: Towers, [1850]

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Letter from Aaron Stockton, Nashville, to William Tompkins, Kenhawa lake [?], Virginia, that reports "Mr. Abston is in the lower country with negroes," referring to the huge slave trade in the Deep South, Nashville, January 14, 1832.

A letter from James M. Daniels, Saint Moor Amherst [Va.], to Philip St. George Ambler, Richmond, that reports on the tobacco crop, and “on the Subjects of Mares & Colts, Fencing, Clover Seed Rye & Negroes.” Saint Moor, Amherst, near Lynchburg, Virginia, March 3, 1832

Scope and contents:

After commenting on having planted a group of trees, Daniels writes: “The Negroes are all well at this time though they have complain.d very much heretofore with colds – I seeded fifteen bushels Rye – I have had one end of the new house finished . . . .” He also refers to poplar and pine flooring, then continues: “The Colts are in good order and grow as fast as could be expected – the Sir Charles Colt has no Tumor or swelling about him . . . I have nearly done striping Tobacco and all that I can say is that it is a sorry crop. When I came to strip, it was much more fired than I expected, the quantity I cannot will come at but think there will be 7 or 8 hogsheds ˆ I have not yet carried Patsey to the horse as I think it Rather early to put ˆ I am convinced that the Timothy seed will never come up . . . The wheat looks very well. I did send for any Dr to see York neather did I think it necessary ˆ I have no dout about Susan being with foal ˆ I suppose I have cleared ten thousand Tobacco hills ˆ I always intended to put the flats in Corn above the Mill and I think I shall be able to make corn enough to serve the place. I wish to put the green bottom in Tobacco as I do not think I will have enough without ˆ” The remaining two paragraphs relate to his administration of an estate.

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Fourteen literary novels from the libraries of Mississippi slaveholding planters Richard T. Archer of Anchuka, and S. Sprague – and Dr. Stephen Duncan – whose home Auburn still stands near Natchez, 1832-1842

Eugene Aram. A Tale (Vol. 1) by the Author of "Pelham", "The Disowned", "Devereaux", &c. New York (1832)

Scope and contents:

Blank page at the front bears the autograph of Richard T. Archer (who built Anchuka near Vicksburg featured in a photograph in Mary Carol Miller's Lost Mansions of Mississippi (1996))

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Recollections of a Chaperon (Vol. 1) edited by Lady Dacre, New York (1833)

Scope and contents:

Inscribed “Duncan Auburn”

Tom Cringle's Log (Vol. 3) no author indicated, Philadelphia (1834)

Scope and contents:

The title page bears a ms. "Sprague" [local family name] notation

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Salmagundi. Second Series (Vol.1) by Launcelot Langstaff, New York (1835)

Scope and contents:

Bears Ex Libris plate of Lucius Bryan Dabney of Vicksburg and the penciled inscriptions "Salmagundy lay off my hand Turk Sprague," and "Sturges Sprague Winchester."

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Lives of Cardinal De Retz, Jean Baptiste Colbert, John De Wit, and the Marquis de Louvois (Vol. 1) by G. P. R. James, Philadelphia (1837)

Scope and contents:

Penciled inscription "Frank Winchester Natchez Mississippi Venton [?] Stanton" and "Thos. B. Kempe 1838"

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The Dutchman's Fireside. A Tale (Vol. II of two) by the author of "Letters from the South," the "Backwoodsman," and "John Bull of America," New York, 1837

Scope and contents:

Bears Ex Libris plate of Lucius Byran Dabney, and a 19th-century penciled inscription "Sprague & Winchester Adams Co. Natchez Miss."

Lights and Shadows of Irish Life (Vol. 2) by Mrs. S. C. Hall, Philadelphia (1838)

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "Duncan"

Kate Leslie (Vol. 1) by Thomas Haynes Bayly, Philadelphia, 1838

Scope and contents:

Inside the front cover is the penned inscription "S. H. B. Black / Natchez 1838"

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The Wife Hunter, By the Moriarty Family (Vol. 1) edited by Denis Ignatius Moriarty, Philadelphia (1838)

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "May 8th 1854 [signed] S. Duncan, Jr. Auburn Natchez Mississippi"

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Marian; Or, A Young Maid's Fortunes (Vol. 2) by Mrs. S. C. Hall, New York (1840)

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "Duncan Auburn"

Corse de Leon: Or, The Brigand. A Romance (Vol. 2) by G. P. R. James, New York (1841)

Scope and contents:

Penciled "Rowley" name on the cover page

The Ancient Régime. A Tale (Vol. 2) by G. P R. James, New York (1841)

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "Duncan Auburn"

Alice; Or, The Mysteries (Vol. 1) by the Author of "Pelham", "Rienzi", "The Student", "Eugene Aram", "Leila", &c., &c. New York, undated

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "D. R. Sprague Natch[ez]" and "H. G.[?] Lawrence"

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Cecil, a Peer, a Sequel to Cecil, Or the Adventures of a Coxcomb (Vol. 2) by "the Same Author," Philadelphia (1842)

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "Duncan Auburn Jan'y 24th 1860"

77A

Encyclopaedia Americana, edited by Francis Lieber, assisted by E. Wigglesworth. Vol. I-XIII. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1830

Scope and contents:

Complete set of encyclopedias, each volume bearing the large bookplate of the Duncan plantation.

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77B

Postcard featuring Auburn, residence of Stephen Duncan, about visiting colonial mansions in Natchez, sent to Mrs. D. McIntyre of Waldo, Wisconsin, from Paul [Buelle?], November 28, 1924

W. W. Calmes, the jailor of Adams County requests from the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Amite County a transcript of the State case against N. F. Felder as a voucher for the account of the prisoner's sustenance. Natchez, July 1, 1833

Letter from . G. H. McAllister, "Cottage" [Savannah, Georgia], to George W. Harris Esq.r, Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania, full of social and political discussion including the "Slave Question," the "Tariff Question," and education for blacks in the antebellum South. "Cottage," Savannah, Georgia, August 8, 1833

Scope and contents:

In this long letter, McAllister touches in some detail on the controversial topics of the day: "I am altogether pleased, in sum and substance, with Mr. Websters views on the slave-question-, and will be yet more gratified, if he and his admirers, act in accordance with them. . . ." He then discusses what he terms "the Tariff question" and its constitutionality. ". . . you ought not to be so much surprised, if the people of the South should be somewhat incredulous, as to the infallibility of Mr. W's opinions – or, tardy in admitting that eastern politicians are exclusively the friends of the Union. I most cordially unite with you on the subject of Slavery, and believe it to be, a stain on our National Character. . . ." He continues with fascinating comments on the “slave question” as it relates to North and South, then changes the subject to education for Blacks: "I cannot imagine a more interesting sight, than to enter a negro infant school room, and their to witness the Mistress of a family, or her Daughter, surrounded by 30, 40 and sometimes, 50 black children, humanely and affectionately instructing them in their duty to their God and to each other. Their proficiency, oftentimes, is wonderful, and their talent, for singing well, is proverbial. I have not mentioned this injustification of Slavery (or principles, I know no individual who pretends to justify it) but to give you some idea of their moral sate, and advantages with us, and that we are not ignorant of the very great responsibility attached to our situation. . . ."

Document being a beautifully penned United States land grant to Joseph and Mary Vidal [of Vidalia] for 422 acres on Lake St. Joseph in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, 1833

Scope and contents:

A 16” by 10” vellum document pre-printed "The United States of America . . ." with the customary stipulations for a land grant issued by the "Register of the Land Office at Opelousas in the STATE of LOUISIANA." The land grant to the Vidals – the founding family of the Vidalia region – bestows a little over 422 acres in the Parish of Concordia on Lake St. Joseph. It bears the seal of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., and is dated 1 November 1833 and signed "Andrew Jackson" by his secretary, A. J. Donelson. It is also signed by Elijah Hayw ard, Commissioner of the General Land Office. Small torn off lower left corner, otherwise in beautiful condition in bold attractive pen with a serrated paper seal with the impression of an eagle and inscription over red wax on vellum that still has a relatively fresh appearance.

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Mortgage deed/indenture record of 1,311-acre Smithland Plantation and 40 named slaves by John T. Griffith to David Hunt, arguably the largest slaveholder in the Old South. Jefferson County, Mississippi, February 1834

Scope and contents:

A folio type page (approximately 10” x 16”) from an old ledger. It is the record of a mortgage deed/indenture made in February 1835 between John T. Griffith and David Hunt. Griffith owes $26,000 to Hunt and mortgages a 1,311-acre plantation "in the County of Jefferson . . . on the margin of the Mississippi River . . ." The exact location is stipulated. Additionally, Griffith mortgages "the following forty negro Slaves for life towit Bell, Ailey, Henry, Dick, Judy, Jim, Nancy, . . ." and other enslaved individuals. Also included is "the stock of Mules horses Oxen and cattle belonging to said plantation which property is called and known by the name of the Smithland Plantation . . ." The text takes up most of both sides of the page and is in beautiful easily readable manuscript.

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A letter about $1,000s in business from Z. B. Toulmin to A. Bell & Co. of New York. Mobile, 1834

Scope and contents:

Relating to finances connected with the cotton economy.

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The Works of Mrs. Sherwood. Uniform Edition (vols. 1, 3, 5 and 7), New York, 1834-1837

Scope and contents:

Four green-cloth volumes of literature from the Auburn home of Dr. Stephen Duncan of Natchez.

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83A

Six volumes from the Auburn home of Dr. Stephen Duncan of Natchez, 1825, 1834-1849

83A

Astronomy and General Physics / Considered with reference to Natural Theology, by Rev. William Whewell, London, 1834

Scope and contents:

8 pp. advertising supplement of "Publications by William Pickering" bound in at front.

83A

On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man..., "Treatise II, Fourth Ed.", by John Kidd, London, 1836

83A

Second copy of On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man... , 1836

Scope and contents:

Bears the Ex Libris plate of Lucius Bryan Dabney of Vicksburg

83A

The History of the French Revolution, Vol. II, by M.A. Thiers, Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1842

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "H.P. Duncan"

83A

The Works of the Rev. Richard Cecil, M.A., Late Rector of Bisley, and Vicar of Chobham, Surrey; and Minister of St. John's Chapel, Bedford-Row, London: with a Memoir of His Life. Arranged and revised by Josiah Pratt, B.D. F.A.S., New York: John P. Haven. Broadway; Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1825

Scope and contents:

Bears Duncan bookplate.

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83A

History of Spanish Literature, Vol. II, by George Ticknor. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1849

Scope and contents:

Inscribed "Duncan, 'DM [Cansby?]'"

83A

Transactions of the New-York State Agricultural Society, with an Abstract of the Proceedings of the County Agricultural Societies; and of the American Institute, Vol. VI – 1846. Albany: C. Van Benthuysen and Co., Public Printers, 1847

Scope and contents:

Faint inscription, possibly includes "Dr. Duncan."

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Letter from Daniel Brown, an Ohio man who goes to Natchez to get away from his creditors to Messrs Hubbell & Sweney, Eaton Preble County, OH. Natchez, March 5, 1835

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "After being satisfied that my Creditors would not give me an opportunity to do anything I have thought best to do as I have. I might have staid at home have taken the jails bound or the benefit of the insolvent act, have been teased, perplexed, dimed [sic], tormented, &c &c &c and not have given satisfaction to half my creditors at last." He leaves what is left of his assets back home to his creditors including his share in a lottery ticket.

Leverich Correspondence

Creator's sketch:

Charles P. Leverich (1809-1876) born at Newtown, Queens County, New York; cotton factor, commission merchant, and banker, most notably for planters Stephen Duncan, William J. Minor, and Francis (Frank) Surget of Natchez. Surget was one of the wealthiest men in the antebellum South, owning thirteen plantations in Arkansas, Louisiania, and Mississippi, and over a thousand slaves. With his brother Henry S. Leverich, the firm of Leverich & Co's. business had two distinct but related components: the first was its activity as commission merchants. In this capacity, the firm arranged the import and export of goods between the United States and Europe, and the shipment from New York of domestically produced goods to other ports within the United States. The second component was its activity as cotton factors. In this capacity, the firm arranged the shipment and sale of Southern agricultural products to purchasers in the Northern states and in Europe, and in turn acted as purchasing agent for its clientele of Southern planters. The firm also provided financial services, investing money in the stock market on its clients‚ behalf. Two other brothers, William E. Leverich and James H. Leverich, were successful merchants and bankers in New Orleans.

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Fifteen letters from the New York Leverich & Company with cotton and sugar planter-clients, 1835-1870

James H. Leverich & Co., New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, with pre-printed "New-Orleans Wholesale Prices Current," August 29, 1835

Letter from F. Rernondy, New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, February 17, 1838

Scope and contents:

Comments on the sugar market, the Bank question, and the weather.

L. Millandon, New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, September 25, 1838

Scope and contents:

Content relating to sugar and cotton.

L. Millandon, New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, on a financial matter, New York, July 9, 1839

J. H. Leverich & Co., New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, January 3-4, 1840

Scope and contents:

Detailed content about several named customers‚ business, the shipment of hundreds of barrels of sugar, the cotton market in England, "fine prices" for cotton in New Orleans, and more.

Samuel S. Boyd, Natchez, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, August 4, 1841

Scope and contents:

Requests the acceptance of a draft and forward of it to Dr. John Merrill in Portland, Maine.

Joshua M. Johnston, New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, January 18, 1843

Scope and contents:

Writer adds to his previous order a request for $1,200-1,500 of "Woolsey & Woolsey's Fluted White Loaf Sugar. "

George E. Payne, New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, May 8, 1848

Scope and contents:

Relates to the dull cotton and sugar market, indebted customers, banking throughout the nation, and concludes with, "I think our cotton market is likely to become worse than has been seen for years. – I really hope you have been able to work off my sugar & will succeed in selling my tobacco very soon – as I would like to know how I stand before I take hold again."

Business letter from Robert L. Martin, Philadelphia, to H. C. Leverich, New York, December 9, 1848

Leverich & Co., New Orleans, to C. P. Leverich, New York, March 4, 1850

Scope and contents:

Content about the cotton and sugar clients referencing specific clients including Mrs. Williams, who is described as "a good manager" who has 700 acres of cane planted that will yield a 1,000 barrels of sugar, and 800 acres of cotton planted as well. These are large plantations being referenced.

William Taylor Palfrey, Parish of St. Mary's, to Charles P. Leverich, Merchant, New York, May 1, 1851

Scope and contents:

Palfrey writes about business and comments that a New York watchmaker has "humbugged" him in not repairing his watch, and that he would no longer let him do the work, even if offered his services for free. Palfrey was a planter, sheriff, and a judge, and also served as a state senator from St. Mary's Parish.

J. P. Parker, Port Gibson, to C. P. Leverich, New York, December 12, 1854

Scope and contents:

Report on the cotton crop and a shipment of cotton.

Katherine S. Minor, Natchez, to Messrs. Leverich & Co., New York, January 22, 1867

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "Charlie D. L. has gone to the Attakapas & speaks of investing in a sugar place I hear. I only wish he would come to Natchez an invest in one of our cotton place[s]. Our part of the world requires some of your energetic northern men among us to arouse our people now."

Mary L. McMurran, St. Paul, Minnesota, to Charles P. Leverich, Bank of New York, August 27, 1870

Scope and contents:

Report on the cotton season and business, and comments on the terrible effects of the European War. Mentions Mrs. Minor and Miss Beauchamp.

Mary L. McMurran, St. Paul, [Minnesota], to Charles P. Leverich, New York, September 28, 1870

Scope and contents:

Reports on her pleasant trip in St. Paul coming to a close, her anticipated trip back home, and expenses incurred including her hotel bill. References a great deal of rain that has hindered cotton picking, and mentions Miss Beauchamp and the Minor family.

An Act to Establish Boards of Police, and Define Their Powers and Jurisdiction, and for Other Purposes, printed by Stanton and Besancon. Natchez, 1836

Scope and contents:

This 18-page 5” by 8” booklet provides details of how the board meets, and the duties of overseers of the roads.

Letter from S. Holbrook, Danville, Va., to his wife Eliza Holbrook, Westborough, Mass., about the Holbrook Family that includes references to health, education, a financially-stressed family member's desire to take "his negroes" to the Southwest, and more. Danville, Virginia, November 14, 1836

Map and Description of Vicksburg, 1836

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Early map of Vicksburg and a 56-page document that detail the history of the founding of that city in the early 1820s with much information about the Vick family. Warren County, Vicksburg, 1836

Scope and contents:

These documents provide revealing details about the foundation and organization of the city of Vicksburg. One statement comes from the executor of Newit Vick's estate who was involved in the implementation of the will in 1821. He mentions "that part of the City of Vicksburg known and represented as Commons on the Map of said City – that in August 1819 said Newit Vick made a will and soon after died leaving Elizabeth his wife Executrix & Hartwell Vick & Willis B. Vick, his Executors. The said Elizabeth died in a few minutes after her husband . . ." The document is brimming with much description of the survey of the town, the most valuable lots, the layout of the various named streets, property in its proximity to Front or Levee Streets along the river, names of people who bought lots, references to the level of the land and flooding, the prices paid for lots in the new city, and activities that take place in the Commons and Levee Streets where occurs "the discharging and loading of boats and occupied by wagons, Drays & Carts." These are the recorded testimonies of the people who were present when Vicksburg was laid out in the early 1820s, and consequently of tremendous value in understanding the foundation of that famous city. It is signed by Sargent S. Prentiss, famous attorney, orator and politician from Vicksburg. The Mississippi River is shown along with the numbered lots, named streets of Vicksburg like Washington, Mulberry, and Levee Streets, and a "C. deep Ravine" and "Glass Bayou."

Assorted documents

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Lot of 7 items from the Charles C. Peck correspondence. Natchez, 1837-1840

Elizabeth Peck, Cincinnati, to her husband Charles C. Peck, to Care of Mitchell & Montgomery, Natchez, February 2, 1837

Elizabeth, Cincinnati, to Charles, Natchez, February 3, 1837

Scope and contents:

References family and children, relatives, church, a marriage and dinner party.

Henry Clark, Cincinnati, to Charles, Natchez, January 30, 1838

Scope and contents:

About business, friends and health, and several names mentioned.

R. C. Wetmore & Co., New York, to Charles, Natchez, March 9, 1840

Scope and contents:

"Free M. H. Grinnell M C" notation. References a received letter that was franked by A. S. Brown, a Member of Congress from Mississippi, and discusses business. The writer also states that "We hope that the State of Mississ.i will come to the conclusion to sustain the Union Bank, the currency Bank of the State Else we fear there will be great difficulty in coll.g . . . There is but little doing here. The Spring is fairly opened no ice in the river, yet little or no trade. Two or three Tuscaloosa Merchants are in . . ."

H. E. Peck, Cincinnati, to his brother Charles, Natchez, May 10, 1840

Scope and contents:

Charles's brother reports that he is relocating to Vincennes, Illinois, where he will operate a store. References to family.

Business-related letter from F. H. Conkling for J. W. & R. Leavitt, Vicksburg, to Charles, Natchez, March 7, 1841

D. C. Hitchcock Del. J. Archer S.c. Middleton Printer, [circa 1840]

Scope and contents:

Image on an octavo-size leaf entitled "Cincinnati," and showing the city and steamboats lined along the riverbank.

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Indenture documenting the sale of 843 acres along the Mississippi River in Bolivar County, Mississippi, December 1, 1837

Creator's sketch:

"Sold by Wm. H. Fox, Natchez" – Fox operated a prominent druggist business at Natchez.

Scope and contents:

The indenture is between Isaac W. Arthur and Margaret W. Arthur, New York City, and Zenas K. Fulton, Natchez, on the one part, and George W. Adams, Scott County, Kentucky, on the other part. The Arthurs sell Adams “that tract or parcel of Land laying on the Mississippi River in the County of Boliver . . .” containing about 843 acres for $17,000.

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Report from the Congressional Record referencing Indian Affairs in 1831 in Lowndes County, Mississippi. Washington, D.C., 1838

Scope and contents:

Extracted pages from the 25th Congress, 2d Session, House of Representatives printed reports. Included is a report entitled "The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the petition of John L. Allen, of the county of Lowndes and State of Mississippi." The brief report references John Walker and Marshall Goodman, merchants and partners, who are accused of illegal trafficking in the Indian trade in 1831 following a complaint from Chief Tishomingo of the Chickasaw Nation.

"Memorandum in Relation to Marriage Contract" between Henry A. Girault and his soon-to-be wife, the former Jane Dunbar. Adams County, Mississippi, 1838

Scope and contents:

Apparently some kind of prenuptial contract that references a piece of property and cites precedents in Virginia law.

Pre-printed receipt from the Barnard Family for the jail fees of Robert, a runaway slave. Natchez, 1838

Scope and contents:

"To S. B. STUTSON, Jailor of Adams County, To jail and other fees for Robert a runaway, committed on 11th day of June 1838 Dr. . . ." The receipt is made out to Mrs. Barbara Barnard, the owner of Robert, the runaway.

James A. Montgomery correspondence. Woodville, 1838-1839

Goble & Earl, New York, to James A. Montgomery, Woodville, August 24, 1838

Scope and contents:

Pre-printed and filled-in lettersheet with a ship vignette in the upper left corner, and an inventory of trunks and footwear purchased from them and shipped aboard the ship called Kentucky bound for New Orleans.

Benjamin H. Lillie, Natchez, to J. A. Montgomery, Woodville, May 16, 1839

Letter to Captain J. J. James of Mississippi River Steamboat Ambassador from passengers aboard the boat on a trip from New Orleans to Louisville, including former Mississippi Governor George Poindexter, Henry Austin of Texas, and planter Isaac R. Ross of Natchez. Steamboat Ambassador, June 10, 1839

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "Sir, The undersigned after a delightful passage from New Orleans and intermediate points to Louisville in your Boat, take occasion before leaving to express to you their high sense of the good order and discipline which characterizes the management thereof. . . . and, do most cordially recommend, the ‘Ambassador' as a Boat of the ‘first class' either in respect to the ability or the accommodations . . ."

Business letter from D. B. Downing, Vicksburg, to his brother J.C. Downing, New York, June 23, 1839

Scope and contents:

Content relates to the Benedict case and the difficulty of collecting debts.

R. G. Ramsden & Co., a New Orleans factor, purchases from John Stewart, Richmond, 363 bales of Mississippi cotton for the account of a customer but delays filling the remainder of the $20,000 order until he has received the accounts of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Natchez, January 27, 1840

Scope and contents:

Contents include: "We are disposed to go to the extent of your order say $20000, but after due deliberation have decided to wait the receipt of the 'Queens' accounts before we enter into any further operations for you, so as to give you the chance of any further decline . . . On receipt of the British Queens a/cs we shall advise you of our further proceedings . . ."

100

Love letter from William, New Orleans to his cousin, Katherine C. Glidden, New Castle, Maine, long and intimate, stating that if he has to go to Texas, he will not go without her. New Orleans, February 25, 1840

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "The next Item of importance is that you had been to the dancing (I wont say – waltzing) school! Did you really have a 'nice time'? – I wish I had been there. You know I never dance but I do think I should have been tempted on such an occasion! . . ." He mentions that he has children, so he must be widowed, remarking of Kate that, "I know Cousin Kate will think this a very silly letter – but tell her I have now as much confidence in her & as full and concise a belief in her charity &c. as I can ever have – & loving her, as I do, with a whole heart! Am I not right? . . ." He appears to be in the shipping business, as he tells some of his affairs, referencing Mobile.

101

Transcription of a record from the Land Office, Ouachita, that certifies the purchase of 250 acres of land on Red River by Samuel Davis for $1.25 per acre. Natchez, 1840

Scope and contents:

Bears seal of James K. Cook, a Justice of the Peace and Notary Public of Adams County, Mississippi.

102

Letter from Elias Ogden, Natchez, to H. Mosley, Princeton near Lake Washington, Mississippi, about a debt owed by the Ogden Estate. Princeton, near Lake Washington, Mississippi, March 4, 1840

103

Steamboat record for the shipment of “Twenty Square Bales Cotton” to Harwell Stewart & Co. Montgomery, Alabama, June 5, 1840

Scope and contents:

"FROM W. T. BIBB'S WARE-HOUSE, by T. S McFarley in good order, on board the Steam Boat called the John Duncan whereof Bullard is at present Master, now lying at MONTGOMERY, and bound for Mobile, to say: Twenty Square Bales Cotton. . . ." Signed by James H. Marsh.

104

John L. Lobdell, a West Feliciana attorney, writes Hon. Lafayette Saunders, the judge at Clinton, La., and provides him with a list of witnesses in the case of Perry & Wife. West Feliciana, January 13, 1841

Scope and contents:

The letter includes a list of thirteen people who are being called as witnesses for Lobdell's client.

105

Family letter from T. Dwight, Trinidad, to his sister Clarissa Dwight, New Orleans, January 30, 1841

Scope and contents:

The content refers to family and personal matters that include passing references to the recipient's deceased baby, Caroline in New Haven, the presidential question, and the weather.

106

Document that describes the sale of interest in the Steamboat Leander involving Pennsylvanians. Natchez, March 16, 1841

Scope and contents:

Copy of contract between "I Andrew Gregg of the Borough of Greenfield Washington County Pennsylvania . . . for and in Consideration of Five thousand two hundred and fifty Dollars in hand paid" sells his seven-sixteenths interest in the "Steam Boat called the Leander together with the seven sixteenth of all and singular her Engine Tackle apparel and Furniture as they now are . . ." to Joseph Buffington of the same place

107

Letter from S. F. Shipley, a professor at the College of Baton Rouge [later Louisiana State University], offering a position to his friend Charles H. Cragin Esq, Washington, D.C., in the French & Philosophy Departments. Baton Rouge, April 28, 1841

Scope and contents:

Shipley writes, "An am authorized by the President of the College of Baton Rouge to say to you that you can doubtless get the appointment of Professor in said College if you can be here soon. I was in the college about a year found pretty hard work but still not disagreeable – you will be required to take charge of the French department and Philosophy &c. the boys are not very far advanced so that there is nothing frightful – . . ."

108

Letter from Gab. Winter [?], a Donaldson, La., planter, to attorney Louis Sanders, Natchez, with political and economic references to John A. Quitman and “the Infernal Set,” being the Democrats in this case, August 19, 1841

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "I think that the Opposition you will meet with in attacking Quitman will be very great for it is like attacking all those who have lately been at the head of power and influence in the State. All the Infernal set who have bro‚t the Country to the brink of Ruin all those who would Countenance Swindling in all its various Branches so that on your part I trust that your Patriotism will be enlisted."

109

Letter from A. S. Swearinger, Louisville, Kentucky, to J. T. Swearinger, Saint Louis, detailing how William Swearinger became deranged while traveling aboard a steamboat on the Mississippi River accompanied by his 16-year-old "Negro Boy." Louisville, Kentucky, October 29, 1841

Scope and contents:

Swearinger writes that "a Mr. William Swearinger formerly from Virginia but now residing in Missouri arrived here on tuesday morning last from Virginia. He had with him a negro boy about 16 years of age and I also learn‚d he had several trunks or boxes of goods which he shipped on board of the Lebanon and intended taking passage himself but from some cause or other he has become entirely deranged. He was taken up as a lunatic and confined in prison. . . ."

110

William M. Rives, Raymond, correspondence about the business of Vicksburg-area estates, including that of John W. Jones and a Mr. Pendleton, featuring references to the sale of slaves. Raymond, Mississippi, 1842-1843

110

William M. Rives, Raymond, to John M. Chilton, Vicksburg, April 28, 1842

Scope and contents:

The letter refers to some issues that could "affect the lien on the negroes sold,""the ill health of Mr. Mills" who is "confined at my house, and is so much affected by a high fever," and indicates that "Dr. Jones informs me, that the thirty bales of cotton have been shipped sent to Messrs. Gwin & Aiken."

110

William M. Rives, Raymond, to John M. Chilton, Vicksburg, January 19, 1843

Scope and contents:

The letter refers to money to be dispersed to the children of Jones. "I shall be greatly pleased, & my trustees will consent, to settle the whole claim in land & negroes at fair prices." He also makes reference to his attempt to secure a "negro owned by Tidence [?] Lane."

111

Eliza R. Morris, who moved to Natchez in 1836, writes to William Imley, Allenton, N.J., about business and conflict with a stepson. Natchez, August 10, 1842

Scope and contents:

In addition to references to business, a sale of property, and a guardianship, contents include: "Mr. Paul Morris has been very ungentlmeny [sic] with me . . . When I new him he was quite a boy, but his Father was a good man, and so was his Brother, but him I never wish to know, again. He thought, I presume that I was left a widow, with out friends, in a Land of strangers . . ." She talks about her move to the South, first to South Carolina, then to Natchez, and gives the chronology.

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112

Map of Mississippi by surveyer A. Downing entitled “Diagram of the Surveying District South of Tennessee,” dated October 12, 1843 [possibly later 19th century printing]

Scope and contents:

It shows Choctaw and Chickasaw lands and boundary lines, detailed areas including Honey Island, and numerous town names.

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113

A letter from the Richard T. Archer correspondence. Natchez, 1843. Samuel S. Boyd, Natchez, to Richard T. Archer, Port Gibson, April 2, 1843

Scope and contents:

The content is business and financial-related, connected to a debt collected from Smith & Farrar. There is also the interesting notation that may refer to slaves: "Note by R. T. Archer the above fee was for suit by Garland for amt. purchase of Louisa & Julia by S. G. A."

114

Letter from Post & Main, New York, to Isaac W. Arthur, New Orleans about their latest business partnership, May 6, 1843

115

Letter from John R. Marshall, Natchez, to John McCrea, Houma, Parish of Terre Bonne, La., about debt and discrepancy over ownership of the "Bowie." Place purchased from Mr. Barnard by John McCrea. Natchez, June 6, 1843

Scope and contents:

Contents include: "When in N. Orleans Mr. [Ludlow?] informed me that none of your lands had ever been offered for Entry nor had any one ever been told that preemptions could locate on any of the lands owned by you or any one else called the Bowie or Mortimer grants. So you see not one of the squatters can have the least shadow of a right to one inch of your lands purchased of Barnard and you are ought therefore to order them off at once which I trust you will do without fail."

116

Letter from college student William Terrell, Staunton, Va., to his father Richmond Terrell Esqr, Charlottesville, Va., that tells of a fatal alcohol-related carriage accident that killed the driver and injured children who were passengers. Staunton, Virginia, September 15, 1843

117

Letter from S. Claiborne, Member of Congress, about a legal case, to C. Dabney of Lynchburg. Charlottesville, Virginia, October 17, 1843

118

Extract of letter by prominent merchants and cotton commission brokers, Buckner & Stanton of New Orleans. [Natchez], January 2, 1844.

119

Letter from Samuel R. Dunn to G. B. Kinkead of “Versails,” Kentucky, about estate matters of Samuel Parish, deceased, formerly of Washington County. Bachelor's Bend (near Vicksburg), Mississippi, 1844

Scope and contents:

Outer side also bears the stamp of Ben Edwards, Jr., apparently a philatelic collector.

121

"Naval Depot and Armory. Memorial of Citizens of Natchez and Adams County, Miss., asking the location of the contemplated naval depot and armory at that place," printed document from the United States House of Representatives, 28th Congress, 1st Session, February 15, 1844

Scope and contents:

Previously bound with other acts., this document contains a detailed letter datelined City Hall, Natchez, January 2, 1844, with a report by Colonel James C. Wilkins, chairman of the sub-committee. It states that, "The harbor of Natchez and the landing, for the space of a mile in front of the bluffs on which the city is built, are not surpassed by any on the Mississippi river in depth of water, good anchorage, or the permanency and security of its banks. . . ." The document is very detailed about the depths of the river at various points, the question of health at Natchez with a "Schedule of the statistical data on which the report of the physicians, in regard to the health of the city of Natchez, is founded" with population and mortality numbers from 1824-1843. It is signed in print by John R. Stockman, Chairman of the committee; Thos. S. Munce, Secretary, and 174 men of Natchez deemed "Selectmen of the city of Natchez."

122

Letter by James J. Rowan, a known slave-trader, to Messrs Doremus, Suydan & Nixon, New Orleans, about a legal matter connected with the Estate of William Chambers, deceased. Natchez, February 19, 1844

123

Letter from C. McLaurin, Covington County, Miss., to Col. J. F. Foute at Jackson about a legal case. Covington County, Miss., March 8, 1844

124

Letter from anonymous author in Charleston to James Gordon Bennett, Esq., of New York with attached newspaper clipping alleging that the Superintendent of a Georgia Female Institute took "Improper Liberties" with girls there. Charleston, May 4, 1844

Scope and contents:

The letter reads, "The accusation against 'Bishop' Fay is that he has taken improper liberties with Bishop Elliott's daughter and with the daughter of a Member of Congress." The 4” clipped newspaper articles gives the details that include: "The fathers of the young ladies now members of the school, ought to probe matters to the bottom. They are deeply and fearfully interested in maintaining the purity of the institution."

125

Letter from president John P. Walworth and cashier H. D. Mandeville of the Planters Bank to a court clerk in Hinds County about judgments in favor of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. Natchez, June 6, 1844

Scope and contents:

Attached is a copy of a letter from Governor A. G. Brown to Walworth and Mandeville from the Executive Chamber, City of Jackson, 2 June 1844, discussing pay of clerks.

126

Letter from H. Parker, Washington, D.C., to Mrs. Abigail Parsons, Gloucester, Mass., tells of a visit to the President, the ascendancy of Polk, a visit to the Slave Market, and a poignant description of an enslaved woman without her children. Washington, D.C., December 31, 1844

Scope and contents:

The writer reports to a friend about their recent travels returning to Washington. Content includes: "I am to call on the present With other friends being new years day, went to the Capitol at opening of Congress. I saw some grate men come into office and a few speeches. . . . Washington seems alive. I sopose that Mr. Parsons has heard that Jimmy Polk is to be president. I sopose he will be as good as Johny Tylor but it does not trouble me Much who reign, if they do right, to day is New Year. . . ." Parker then describes his visit "to the Presidents House. We was introduced to the President and his young and Beautifull Wife. . . ." He continues about his visit, describes his home and accommodations, then writes: "The house, well is one I will tell you a bout. Servants for so they are calld here you we and with Slaves here we have three in the family A Cook and a Nurse a Woman that takes care of Children is all ways Calld Nurse then we have a grate Black man to take car[e] of the horse And Cow and tend table and such like thing, and these are all Slaves. The gentelman [sic] that lives in the other house has twelve house-Servants. . . ." The writer mentions that the "gentleman" owns 60 slaves who are "Off the Collage [sic]," then continues about local slavery in detail. Then, the writer reports: "Mr. Bacon shew me the Market where they sold slaves oh I thought what a dreadfull thing for one Man to sale another these poor things that we have got cant Take any of their Ernings[earnings] . . .""The Cook that we have is brought Away from all her Children and never Expects to See them again. . . ." The writer includes considerable family news as well.

127

Members of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Mississippi of the Presbyterian Church attest to the moral and temperate life led by the Reverend Alonzo Potter, D.D. Natchez, [circa 1845]

Scope and contents:

Standing Committee of the Diocese of Mississippi with signatures of David Page, Daniel H. Deacon, Ayres P. Merrill, and Joseph Dunbar, Natchez, to Rev. Benjamin Door, D.D., President of the Standing Committee, No. 376 Arch Street. Upon the occasion of Potter being considered for Bishop, the members acceded to a pre-printed oath that indicated that Potter was not a person of "evil report," and that "he hath, as we believe, led his life for three years last past, piously, soberly, and honestly."

128

Letter to to Mrs. Francis Sprague, near Natchez, from a Mrs. Tetter who writes about her family life and gives some details about specialized slaves. September 24, [circa 1845-50]

Scope and contents:

Tetter writes about moving to a new home and her new baby, repeatedly inquires of Mrs. Dunbar to whom she sends her love, and reports on her desire to find a good, honest cook whom she will pay wages. Mrs. Tetter mentions that her 15-year-old slave Jane is a good worker. She also writes: "Mr. Tetter wants you to ask Mrs. Dunbar if she still wants a good waiter. If so there is one at Mr. Beards for sale; he is a fine party cook dancing room servant & carriage driver. He is considered one of the best in the [city/state?] although they ask a large price, one thousand dollars. He can be had on trial for a few weeks."

129

Letter from T. P. Bancroft, New Orleans, to Robert H. Ives, Providence, RI, about the cotton market in Liverpool and a reference to recovered health as a result of bloodletting. New Orleans, February 15, 1845

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "I am now quite well except I am hardly as shiny as ever & have lost some weight but by aid of bloodletting & calomel have entirely recovered from the disease which attacked towards the end of the year."

130

Letter from Thomas P. Bancroft, New Orleans, to E. Chadwick, Boston, about the market consumption of the crop of 1845. New Orleans, March 18, 1846

Scope and contents:

The lengthy letter details a 1,000-bale cotton order and the cotton markets in on the eastern seaboard and in England.

131

Letter from D. J. Gilbert, Wilmington, NC, to Messrs Boggs & Southmayd, New York, concerning the production and shipment of turpentine. Wilmington, N.C., April 17, 1846

Scope and contents:

The first part of the letter is business related, and Gilbert complains that he has run out of groceries and needs a resupply. The other half is concerned with the shipment of turpentine, and how "Mr. Grant is in a place where he sells more goods for Turpentine per mnths &c which he cannot get to market only when a vessel is sent around there."

132

Letter written from T. Davidson, Woodville, [Texas], to Quincy Davidson, Victoria, Texas, shortly following the Statehood of Texas. Woodville, April 27, 1846

Scope and contents:

Davidson writes his kinsman about steamboat travel, business, and personal matters. He discusses courtship, Woodville, "The Animal Show," and more.

133

Letter from Ann Seymour, Natchez, to Mr. A. G. Washbon, Esq., North New Berlin, New York. Natchez, June 4, 1846

Scope and contents:

She needs to sell her farm back in New York, and indicates that the Mexican War has affected her prospects for success.

134

Mary H. Ivey, Vicksburg, writes a personal letter to her friend back Miss Jane Jessup, Westhampton, New York,. Vicksburg, August 4, 1846

Scope and contents:

A chatty letter about her personal life and mention a rumor about a friend getting married.

135

Letter from E. B. Fuller, a Natchez member of the Presbyterian Church, to the Missionary Chronicle in New York regarding his contributions, desire to receive the Missionary Chronicle free of Charge, and referencing Natchez Presbyterian Church official John Henderson. Natchez, August 5, 1846

Scope and contents:

Fuller indicates that he does not wish to pay for a subscription to the Missionary Chronicle, believing that he should receive it without charge. To justify his assertion, he enumerates his contributions to the Presbyterian organization since 1843, and his contributions to the Presbyterian Church at Natchez.

136

Letter from J. L. Shuck, Nashville, to Rev. W. Cary Crane, Columbus, Mississippi, that references the Baptist Church in Mississippi, including a negative critique of the congregation at Vicksburg. Nashville, August 23, 1846

Scope and contents:

Shuck describes his recent travels home, reports about family through letters received from Virginia, etc.

137

Edward Bissell, New York, writes R. M. Latimer of Canton, Mississippi, about confusion over shipping the wrong parts for a "Buggy Waggon." Wall Street, New York, September 14, 1846

138

Two items from the papers of Aylett Buckner, prominent Natchez businessman, attorney and planter, consisting of a bill for legal fees due Buckner & Stuart by Van Winker & Potter, and a promissory note for $300 written out to Winker & Potter datelined Natchez but unsigned. Jackson and Natchez, 1846

140

Maria Lancaster, Jackson, writes her cousin Miss Louisiana Ferrell, Gallatin, TN, a lengthy letter about the family, a marriage, a family quarrel, and the incidental occurrences in her life. Jackson, April 17, 1847

141

Cotton commission merchant Whitaker & Sampson, Mobile, reports to Jon.a Thompson, New York, about Spring business. Mobile, April 24, 1847

Scope and contents:

Content includes: “We have passed through a dull week. The sales of Cotton barely reach 5000 Bales. . . . We have now a better supply of Am. Ships in port then for a long period & they have been much wanted for the Havre freight.”

142

Bills of sale issued by slave-traders to Samuel Campbell for an enslaved woman, girl, and baby, who are described by name, age, and are warranted by the sellers. Rutherford County, Tennessee, 1847 and 1856

142

Bill of sale for a slave

Scope and contents:

Bill of sale datelined Rutherford Co. Tenne. Rec.d, and recording the sale of "a Negro Girl (Caroline) aged about nine years slave for life. . . ." She is warranted as being "sound & sensible." Signed by the slave-trader John E. Dromgoole and attested by J. E. Campbell.

142

Bill of sale that records Campbell's purchase of slaves, August 4, 1856

Scope and contents:

Bill of sale that records Campbell's purchase of"a negro woman & Chile the woman name Ellen about thirty Two years old & Chile name Sam Thirteen months old the Said negroes I warrant Sound in body and mind and Slaves for life this 4th day of August 1856." Signed by the slave-trader M. H. Brady, and attested by C. M. Brooks and J. W. Binford.

143

A. F. Cochran, New Orleans, writes to Mess Silas Peirce [sic] & Co., Boston, about shipments of raisins aboard the Brigs Argo and Sunbeam. New Orleans, May 31, 1847

Scope and contents:

The whole letter relates to the business of raisins including 162 boxes that were damaged and had to be sold at a lesser price. He writes, "We are now receiving these from the 'Sunbeam' they are in good order & a good article."

144

John Brownson, New Orleans, writes his wife Mrs. Caroline Brownson, Brooklyn, about his business affairs in south Louisiana. New Orleans, June 3, 1847

Scope and contents:

Brownson indicates that he has been at St. Martinsville and is now attending court at Lower Vermillion where he will be detained several days before starting for home via the "Southern route." He expresses concern for his daughter's health, mentions financial matters, and gives his greetings to friends and family, particularly his children.

145

Letter from . H. S. Eustis, Natchez, to Messrs. A. & J. Dunnestown & Co., New Orleans, about shipping cotton from the Bluff Place on Cole's Creek and the need for supplies for that plantation. Natchez, August 20, 1847

146

Financial-related letter from druggist W. H. Fox, Natchez, to Messrs. Lindsay & Blackston, Philadelphia. Natchez, August 3, 1847

Scope and contents:

The druggist informs the recipient that there is a balance on his books in their favor, and that he encloses his check on the Phenix Bank of New York to settle the debt.

147

Two letters from the Robert C. Hamer correspondence. South Carolina and North Carolina, 1847 and 1857

147

Edward B. Wheeler, Marion C.H. [Courthouse], S.C., to R. C. Hamer, Marion, S.C., December 30, 1847

Scope and contents:

Wheeler writes Hamer on behalf of Capt. Godbold, the sheriff, about the settlement of a claim between Hamer and Godbold.

147

J. H. Hamer, University of N.C., to his father R. C. Hamer, Little Rock, S.C., March 23, 1857

Scope and contents:

Hamer complains that he does not receive nearly as much correspondence from home as he sends and talks about his health, a dying student, and asks for money, explaining why he needs it.

149

Priestly & Mosby (Canton, Miss., druggists) correspondence, 1848

149

Mitchell & Rammelsberg, Cincinnati, to Priestly & Mosby, Canton, Miss., May 29, 1848

Scope and contents:

The document records the shipment of furniture about the steamboat Martha Washington via their agent, Laughlin Searles & Co. at the Port of Vicksburg.

149

D. Hausbrough, Graefenberg Company, New Orleans, writes about the shipment of medicine to Priestly & Mosby, Canton, Miss., December 19, 1848

150

Planter's Bank President H.D. Mandeville of Natchez to R. S. Holt, Benton, Miss., discusses bank stock and the books of the bank branch at Manchester, Mississippi. Natchez, September 4, 1848

Scope and contents:

Mandeville provides testimony about his knowledge of the business affairs of John Colglazer, a stockholder in that institution.

151

Harrison & Babington of Springfield, La., inform their customer, N. Baylies, Greensburg, La., that the box containing “the Banner” has not yet arrived by Steamer. Springfield, La., September 7, 1848

152

Jas. E. Heath, Richmond, reports to Revd. John Cooke, Aetna P.O., Hanover, Va., the death of a friend in New Orleans from cholera, and discusses the baffling symptoms of cholera, a telegraphic message that he sent, and the mourning of the loss of their friend. Richmond, April 10, 1849

153

Letter from M. C. Blair, Springhill [Mobile], to Mrs. Mary Ann Nicholson, New Orleans, that references the cholera epidemic in New Orleans. Mobile, December 28, 1849

Creator's sketch:

Scope and contents:

154

Letter from Dudley C. Hall, New Orleans, to George Howe, Boston, about the cotton crop of 1848 and quotes on freights to Liverpool and Boston. New Orleans, January 15, 1849

155

Letter from William C. Comfort, Memphis, to Mrs. C. Miller, Panola, Miss., recommending Dr. Brian for his skills and pain-free methods in dental work. Memphis, February 11, 1850

157

Letter from John C. Joor, headed home to Louisiana, to his wife Mrs. Alice S. Joor, Watertown, Jefferson County, New York, about Ohio and Mississippi River travel aboard steamer William Noble, "25 miles above Vicksburg." Mississippi River near Vicksburg, June 17, 1851

158

Letter from S. G. Hillyer, Secretary of the Faculty, Mercer University, Penfield, GA, to Thomas Ferguson, Cairo, Edgefield Dist., So. Ca., that includes the printed progress report of Whitfield Ferguson of the Scientific Class while attending Mercer University. Penfield, Georgia, December 15, 1851

159

Maryland Colonization Journal, Vol. 6, No. 13. Baltimore, June 1852

Scope and contents:

Among the articles are "State Convention of the Free People of Color of Maryland,""Emigration of the Colored Race,""Address to the Free Colored Population of Maryland,""Free Negroes in Virginia,""Mr. Stanley's Bill,""Latest from Liberia,""Negro Preaching,""Slave Trade on the Eastern Coast of Africa,""Slave Trade on the West Coast," etc.

160

Letter from William S. Thomas, Lexington, Mo., heading to Jackson County, that references cholera and his life lately, to Col. Robert Bartu of Town House, Va., a father figure to him. Lexington, Missouri, June 1832

161

Letter from M.O.L., a woman at the Cumberland Iron Works in “Bell Vue”, Tn., to her cousin Martha, which provides a detailed account of widespread cholera outbreak in the area that killed several people including the cook, Aunt Sarah, whom she described as “Lady like” and a “faithful Servant.” Bell Vue, Tennessee, July 8, 1852

162

Three documents about estate advertising issued by the Yazoo Democrat and the Yazoo City Whig newspapers. Yazoo City, 1853-1856

Scope and contents:

Newspaper clippings attached of the estates of the Nicholas O'Reily, Lester Lamb, and Benjamin Lewis.

163

Letter from A. M. Bigelow, Richmond [Virginia], to Miss Mary A. Smith, Wayland Female Institute, Upper Alton, IL, that references a duel and details about a slave cook who was accused of setting houses on fire, Richmond, January 15, 1854

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "While I was at Mr. Royalls Roberts house was fired. My loss was more than a hundred dollars. The cook whom they suspected told me if I had been at home it would not have happened. It was thought she fired the house of the Gentleman she lived with the years before. She would have been emancipated if Eliza had gone to Court. She done it for no bad treatment. They were to easy with her & when E. told her to do such & such things she did not do them so R. told her she must mind his wife or he would punish her. She was kindly treated. She told the Court she never was better treated in her life but she was so dirty I could not eat her cooking." Much family news including a report that the writer's brother-in-law has died, leaving his sister an estate worth $30,000.

164

Letter from William D. Gagger, Mobile, to his nephew, describing a visit made by former President Millard Fillmore to Mobile, Alabama, April 7, 1854

Scope and contents:

Contents include: "I have seen your cozin Millard Filmore and see the countenance and features of your father wich broat to mind youthful Days that never will return . . .Every one speek of his Being a fine looking man and mutch pleased with his address To the people in Mobile . . . ."

165

Letter from Mary M. Pugh, [Charleston, S.C.], who writes to her sister [Sue E. Furman], family news including reports of the loss of "one negro Cholera," plans for Fourth of July, "an interestting Sabbath School both for whites & negroes," and the Baptists in Charleston. [Charleston, S.C.], June 5, 1854

166

Sale record of nearly $5,500 worth of sugar mill equipment from the succession of Alvarez Fisk by auctioneer George Palfrey. New Orleans, 1854

Scope and contents:

Purchasers of the property included Bayard Milligan, Laurent Millandon, Robert Ferguson, and Thompson Harrison. The sale occurred in New Orleans at the Bramah Cotton Press.

167

Letter from William Staples, Chicago, to Dr. D. L. Broom to Dr. D. L. Broom of Woodville, Miss., giving an update on his own family. Chicago, August 14, 1854

Scope and contents:

A young man writes that his father is unwell with a sore hand and unable to write, and he indicates that five people, mostly emigrants, have died in Chicago within the past day.

168

Letter written by O. C. Powell, Caddo, La., to his friend Dr. J. Pownall, Motezuma [sic], CA, about local news and inquires about his success "in the Land of Gold." Keachie, Louisiana, September 22, 1854

Scope and contents:

He mentions marriages at Keachie Methodist Church, the recent deaths of elderly neighbors, crops, and inquires about his friend's life in California, noting that "Your gold Stories look like tales of fiction more than fact. I should like to know how much of the shining metal my old friend could command and call his own."

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Broadside advertising the sale of an estate belonging to the Huggins Brothers, minors, by their guardian Hugh Torrance. Coffeeville, Mississippi, November 18, 1854

Scope and contents:

The broadside indicates the description of the auction and what is to be sold including 680 acres, farm animals, “farming utensils,” and crops.

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170

Five printed anti- or pro-slavery speeches. [Washington, D.C.], 1855-1863

170

"Speech of Hon. Erastus Brooks, In The Senate, Feb. 7th, 8th, and 13th, 1855, The Lemmon Slave Case and Slavery – Secret Societies and Oaths – Grounds of Opposition to Mr. Seward – The Common Schools of New York – The Bible in our Schools – The Pure Franchises – A Better System of Naturalization ˆ American Ambassadors Abroad – American Rulers at Home"

170

"Speech of William H. Seward, Against Mr. Douglas‚ Second Enabling Bill, And In Favor Of The Immediate Admission of Kansas into the Union, In The Senate Of The United States, July, 2, 1856," Washington, D.C.: Buell & Blanchard, Printers, 1856

170

"Are Working-Men "Slaves?" Speech of Hon. Henry Wilson, Of Massachusetts, In Reply To Hon. J. H. Hammond, Of S. C., in the Senate, March 20, 1858, on the Bill to Admit Kansas under the LeCompton Constitution."

170

"Speech of Hon. Thomas L. Clingman, Of North Carolina, Against The Revolutionary Movement Of The Anti-Slavery Party, Delivered In The Senate of fhe United States, January 16, 1860. "

170

"Unconditional Loyalty," by Henry W. Bellows, D.D. New York: Anson D. F. Randolph, No. 683 Broadway, 1863

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171

Sale record of the estate of Patrick Murphy, deceased. New Orleans, 1855

Scope and contents:

The auction was held by George Palfrey at Banks Arcade on Magazine Street on Saturday, March 31, 1855.

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173

Letter from R. McInnis of the Office of the True Witness and S.W. Presbyterian to David Jones about a subscription. Jackson, 1855

174

Documents of the brothers George and Daniel Rathbone, who attend the Kentucky Military Institute, near Frankfort, 1855-1857

174

Bill for George's school uniform, 1855

174

Bill for George's socks, a toothbrush, sundry items, “Book of Sports,” and a towel

174

Report card for Daniel for the session ending November 17, 1855

Scope and contents:

Contains detailed information about the curriculum and environment of the institute.

174

Report card for George for the session ending June 14, 1856

174

Report card for George for the session ending January 26, 1856

174

Letter from D. W. Morgan, Military Institute, KY, to Hon. S. I.[?] Ghalson about the good progress of Daniel and the poor progress of George, partly due to ill health, June 26, 1856.

174

Report card for George for the session ending 23 January 1857.

174

Report card for Daniel for the session ending 19 January 1857.

175

Female education collection, Mississippi and Louisiana, 1855-1891

175

Part of a letter to Mr. Jno. P. Darden from an administrator of Franklin Female College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, September 20, 1855

Scope and contents:

Includes 4” x 3” steel-plate engraving of the actual building at Franklin Female College, as well as carriages, men, and women.

175

Three receipts for the December 1858-February 1859 tuition and enumerated expenses of Miss Louise, issued to Mrs. Johnson, from the Young Ladies' Institute, [New Orleans]. Expenses include an English literature book, a pattern, stamps, coal, songs, and guitar picks.

175

Receipt for the expenses of Lizzie issued to Mr. E. F. Moody from Bascom Female Seminary, Grenada, Mississippi, July 11, 1859

175

Expense sheet from Hubert P. Lefebvre to Mr. Wm. Bataille for the expenses of his daughter that include board, washing, fuel and lights, use of piano, English tuition, etc. [New Orleans, La.?], October 11, 1860

175

Pamphlet from the Presbyterian Female Collegiate Institute of Pontotoc, Mississippi, printed by Public Ledger Steam Job Printing House, Memphis, 1869

Scope and contents:

Information includes members of the board of trustees and faculty, description of female education, the school, and its policies, religious influence, boarding, dress, and the rates for various classes and expenses.

175

Letter written from “Cousin Kate” to her “dear Brother” A. K. Couger on a pre-printed lettersheet of the Presbyterian Female Collegiate Institute, Rev. J. D. West, Principal. Pontotoc, Miss., January 22 and 25, 1870

Scope and contents:

Kate writes of her visit home over Christmas, her health, and frustrations over her possibly leaving Pontotoc and not continuing to study music.

175

East Mississippi Female College commencement program, 1882

Scope and contents:

Includes names of the eight graduates, exercises, guest speakers and where they are from and their topics. Printed by Methodist Print, Meridian, Miss.

175

Receipt acknowledging payment of $10 for "3rd Quarter in Music for Venia Tarn[?]." Issued by Irwin Miller, Secretary of the Board of Trustees. Walnut Grove, Miss., May 21, 1883

175

Letter to Mr. E. M. Witherspoon of Tupelo, from the accountant of Poplar Springs Normal College, Poplar Springs, Mississippi, March 30, 1891

176

Letter from Eleanor J. Gwin, Jackson, to Edward D. Hicks, Nashville, about purchasing a servant man for $600 on credit and repaying the debt for a slave. Jackson, November 27, [circa 1855-60]

177

R. C. Pearson, Jr., Morganton, N.C., writes his cousin Sam about a beautiful woman's visit, love gossip, and cockfighting during the Christmas season. Morganton, North Carolina, January 6, 1855

178

Letter from J. T. Walker, Pettis Co., Mo., to Turstil [I.?] Carter Esq., Adams Mills, Pulaski Co., KY, that describes the massacre of pro-slavery settlers by John Brown in Kansas. Pettis County, Missouri, July 8, 1856

Scope and contents:

He also discuss his opinion of emigration to Kansas and Missouri, and is very descriptive of the country.

179

Two letters from Nallo Summers & Co. of N.O. about cotton sales and account information to W. B. Prewitt, a Lake Bolivar, Mississippi cotton planter. New Orleans, 1856

Scope and contents:

The factor informs Prewitt of cotton prices, the sales of his cotton, a $2,000 debit balance, and the payment of two drafts to a Mr. Perkins.

180

Letter from Felix Huston by E. F. Huston, near Natchez, to Mr. Godbold, Port Hudson, La., and hand-carried by the slave Harry. Natchez, July 14, 1856

Creator's sketch:

Felix Huston was a lawyer, military adventurer, Commanding Officer of the Army of the Republic of Texas, and a Mississippi secessionist.

Scope and contents:

Felix is “dangerously ill” and refers to the administration of his property.

181

Twelve items from Francis Surget, a 4,000-bale planter worth over $2 million at his death. Natchez, 1857-58

Creator's sketch:

Surget, once described by an Arkansas newspaper editor as the "nabob from Natchez" [who was] "as rich as Croesus," was also given the description of having been "the most extensive and successful planter Mississippi had ever seen," according to Mississippi historian J. F. H. Claiborne. For brief profile of Surget, see David G. Sansing, Sim C. Callon, and Carolyn Vance Smith, Natchez: An Illustrated History (1992).

181

11 bank checks drawn on W. A. Britton & Co. of Natchez on the account of the estate of Francis Surget. The checks are pre-printed and filled-in by either sons, Francis II "Frank" Surget or Eustace Surget. These are to different people and entities including Luke & Dononhue, Walker & Collins, the Concordia Intelligencer, the Natchez Ferry Association, to A. C. Ferguson for taxes in Mississippi, to Frank himself, and others.

181

Envelope addressed "Francis Surget Esqre, New York Hotel" in beautiful ink pen, and a pencil notation on the side indicating "Arkansas Lands."

182

Letter from J.M. [Crudd?] the leading cypress tree lumberman who gives a report on business, fear of charges of "Cruelty to Animals,""a Murder of a Negro by a Negro," and the local "Negro Ball" of enslaved Africans referred to as "the Darkies," to his friend Alfred. Moss Point, [Mississippi], 1859

184

Letter from C. B. N., Washington, D.C., to Thomas E., that refers to the Kansas issue "Lecomptonism," the tariff, and political losses in Pennsylvania, as well as a Charleston, Missouri, friend's visit. Washington, D.C., October 29, 1859

185

A stampless cover to Hon. Alexander K. Farrar at Kingston, near Natchez, Mississippi. Summer of 1860

Scope and contents:

This envelope bears an inscription “Gus. H. Wilcox 1860.”

186

Letter from Surge Flournay of Flournay & Caste, Austin, Texas, to Col. D. W. Bozman, Central Institute, AL, mentions the dry weather and bad crops throughout most of the state during the last Summer before the Civil War. Austin, August 3, 1860

Scope and contents:

Content includes: "We are all making very poor crops of corn & cotton all over Texas, except in the Northern part of the State." During the summer before the breakout of the Civil War, he writes that "Politics are quite high here. Just now our election comes off next Monday."

187

Aventine Plantation records. Adams County, Mississippi, 1862-1868

Creator's sketch:

Aventine Plantation on Second Creek in Adams County, Mississippi, was once part of Francis Surget's vast cotton barony. It became the property of Major Gabriel Shields, who married into the family. Shields was the wealthiest of four sons of William Bayard Shields, a former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice. He resided at his mansion estate "Montebello" near Natchez, and Aventine furnished food and goodsfor him there, as well as shoes for Confederate soldiers. In recent years, historian Winthrop Jordan documented the now-famous slave conspiracy along Second Creek in Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: An Inquiry into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy (revised edition, 1995). Charles Sauters, a native of the Netherlands, worked as overseer on the plantation partway through the Civil War.

187

Overseer's book of handwritten medical cures, 1868, undated

Scope and contents:

Some of the cures are quite detailed. There are recipes for cures to treat ailments and diseases like “fever for a child,” “bowel complaint,” nettle rash, “colic in horses,” dyspepsia, dysentery, small worms, chapped hands, yellow fever, cholera, and much more. Two affixed newspaper clippings bear an 1868 date.

187

Small note about "Leather for Negro Shoes," signed by Gabe B. Shields, January 7, 1862.

187

Small note to Mr. Schroder from [T.S.?] Metcalfe about corn for Ingleside Plantation, October 31, 1862

187

Slave pass for Willis to go between Aventine and Montebello, signed by Charles Sauters, Deceber 18, 1862

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188

A Shiloh-Mississippi Valley related large Civil War document from the 63rd Regiment of Ohio Volunteers under Captain Charles E. Brown listing their arms, accoutrements, and ammunition on hand in the last quarter of 1862. Corinth, Mississippi, April 6, 1863

Scope and contents:

This document, entitled "Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores received, issued, and remaining on hand in Company (B) Sixty-third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for the Quarter ending December 31st 1862," is signed by Charles Brown, Captain Commanding Company.

189

Vellum diploma for Sophia Steadman from the Natchez Institute, founded 1845 by Alvarez Fisk, with a vignette of the building during the Civil War. Natchez, July 25, 1863

Scope and contents:

Engraved and printed by C. Craske, New York, the diploma is signed by president Josephus Hewett, superintendent Alexander G. Wilson, and secretary John Fleming.

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190

Press-printed blank "Oath of Allegiance to the Union," purportedly found in Alabama, 1864

Scope and contents:

The famous language on it is as follows: "I, ________, do solemnly swear in presence of Almighty God that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress, or by decision of the Supreme Court; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion, having reference to slaves, as long and so far as not modified or declared void by decisions of the Supreme Court. So help me God. Sworn and subscribed before me, this ____ day of ____ 1864." There are also two blanks where witnesses signatures would appear on a filled-in document.

191

Statistics of the Operations of the Executive Board of Friends‚ Association of Philadelphia and its Vicinity, for the Relief of Colored Freedmen. Philadelphia: Inquirer Printing Office, 1864

Scope and contents:

33 pp. Includes "Report of Samuel R. Shipley, President of the Executive Board, of His Recent Visit to the Camps of the Freedmen on the Mississippi River," which gives the estimations of freedmen encamped at 30 places along the Mississippi River and describes in detail the living conditions of freedmen. Shipley writes that, "A voyage down the Mississippi is at all times one of interest, but since the war has placed its indelible marks on the country through which it flows, it is more so than ever. Frowning fortresses and earthworks, gun-boats, and here and there a long line of dismantled plantations, soon made it evident that I was entering upon the theatre of war." There are details about the situations of specific plantation camps. Helen James, in her printed letter, relates how the freed women no longer wear thick, gray-flannel dresses: "The negroes have a great repugnance to wearing them, especially those who have been for sometime free. They will not buy them, preferring to give the same money for a half-worn garment, of different fabric, that would not do one-quarter of the service. We can give them away to those who have just come into our lines; but they do not give the comfort that a cotton dress would, made of strong material, that would cost no more than this stuff. The reason why they dislike this material is, because they have worn it as slaves. They say, 'We's free now, missis, isn't we? Den we don wan to war dat kind o' stuff no more. We's allers had to war dat, and we wans to dress like de white folks now.'"

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192

Carte de visite by photographer N. H. Black. Natchez, [circa 1865-1870]

Scope and contents:

This CDV portrays a young woman standing next to a young man who is seated in a chair. There is a penned inscription that reads "Miss Nona Schrober's Mothers Cousin Rodney, Miss."

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193

Letter written during Reconstruction by B. P. Williamson to his brother Beverly Williamson, Clarksville, Va., that describes the loss of his shops by fire, believed to be arson. Raleigh, North Carolina, July 19, 1867

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194

Life and Death in Rebel Prisons: Giving a Complete History of the Inhuman and Barbarous Treatment of our Brave Soldiers by Rebel Authorities, Inflicting Terrible Suffering and Frightful Mortality, Principally at Andersonville, GA., and Florence, S.C., Describing Plans of Escape, Arrival of Prisoners, with Numerous and Varied Incidents and Anecdotes of Prison Life. By Robert H. Kellogg, Sergeant-Major 16th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. Prepared from his Daily Journal. Hartford: L. Stebbins, 1867

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195

Obituary for Roberta (Young) Brown, widow of Mississippi governor Albert G. Brown, [circa 1886]

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196

A remarkable large volume, entitled "Minute Book – Jefferson County" that documents the establishment, administration, and maintenance of children’s schools, including black children, in Reconstruction-Era Jefferson County, Mississippi, 1870-1873. The first page is headed "Board of School Directors, Nov. Term 1870," and states: "Be it remembered that on the 7th day of November A.D. 1870, the Board of School Directors of the County of Jefferson and State of Mississippi, met at the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of said County & State, for the purpose of organizing said Board under an Act of the Legislature of the State of Mississippi entitled an 'Act to regulate the Supervision, Organization, and Maintenance of a Uniform System of Public Education for the State of Mississippi‚' Approved July 4th 1870, at which time and place these present [signed] W. G. Millsaps, President; Thos. Reed, E. G. Wood, Robert Cox, Merinian [?] Howard, Calvin B. Richardson, Members; Leroy L. Key, Secretary; and absent, Daniel G. Buie." The 97 pages are generally filled with information about land purchases for schools, the names of elected teachers, salaries for named teachers, a subscription to the Mississippi Educational Journal, school-related issues, and even a passing reference to education for black children in the county.

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197

A large volume, entitled "Road Docket" of Jefferson County, Mississippi, Overseers of the Roads Records from the era of Reconstruction that mentions many road names, plantation and land owners, plantation and community names, road overseers, and even some names of black "hands,"1875-1894 (bulk 1870s). Entries detail the roads in Jefferson County, the overseers of the roads, and numerous plantations and places throughout the area. There are many names of plantation and landowners, road overseers, and a couple groups of named "hands" in a latter-date entry. The data includes entries for work on such roads as "Bethesda Church to 15 miles on Blue Hill,""Union Church to the Copiah County Line,""Lincoln County Line to Road Leading from Mrs. Beateys to Steam Saw Mill,""Forks of Road near Graveyard to Hurricane Bridge,""Mitchells Gin House to Union Church,""Sloppy Hollow in John Torreys Lane to Mitchells Gin House,""Church Hill & Rodney Road to the Mississippi River,""Ashland Plantation to Black Creek,""Coon Box to Terrys Ford of Coles Creek,""Mississippi River to William Holmes Residence,""Sunny Side Plantation to Church Hill," and many more. Roads connecting communities like Fayette, Hamburg, Union Church, Red Lick, Port Gibson, Rodney, and Natchez are also mentioned, and places like "Bowies Place,""Uniontown Ford Coles Creek,""the Place of James Stowers,""A. E. Greens 'Gayoso Place,'" are included along with many others.

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197A

A large volume of Jefferson County, Mississippi, "Motion Docket." 1871-Feb. 1885, undated.

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198

Original presentation copy of the "United States Senate Journal for the First Session of the Forty-Fourth Congress" (1875-76) given by Senator J. R. West of Louisiana to Charles H. Fontaine, Justice of the Peace of Vicksburg during the 1880s. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1876

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199

Letter from Miss Carrie Webster, near Lexington, Holmes Co., Miss., an impoverished woman who makes a heart-rending plea to another woman, Mrs. A. S. Stewart, for help. Holmes County near Lexington, Mississippi, April 27, 1875

Scope and contents:

Carrie, whose parents are deceased, writes that she suffers from neuralgia and cannot work. She makes an emotional plea for money to have her roof repaired and "old clothing the crumbs from your table, anything to help me live."

200

M. & A. Fischer, Wholesale and Retail Dealers in General Merchandise, Bayou Sara, write a brief business letter referencing Mayer Weis & Co.'s N.Y. check to E. D. Hicks, Nashville. Bayou Sara, January 3, 1878

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201

Photograph of 24-year-old E. C. Crockett taken in Jackson, June 30, 1878

Scope and contents:

Au verso is the pre-printed and filled-in information indicating that the image was taken for himself and his wife in the "Photographic Studio of Seutter, Jackson, Miss."

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202

Letter from James of Franklin, NC, to his cousin Addie, [Hope, Arkansas?], that references 4,000 cases of Yellow Fever in Memphis. Franklin, NC, September 21, 1878

Scope and contents:

In addition, James provides family news and making anticipatory plans for visiting family over the upcoming Christmas holidays.

203

Lizzie Moulds writes her mother, via Thomas Walker of Water Valley, Miss., about the yellow fever epidemic, hog-killing season, and the cotton-picking season. Enterprise, Mississippi, November 23, 1878

204

Receipt from Lawrence & Bunning, New Drug Store for Chas. Dana's purchase of a German syrup. Natchez, February 19, 1879

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205

"A Year of Wreck. By a Victim" by [George C. Benaham]. New York: Harper, 1880

Scope and contents:

472 pp. viii. A colorful and detailed account of the life and experiences of a couple of "carpet-baggers" following the Civil War on Hebron Plantation and along the Mississippi River.

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206

Cabinet card of a bearded man. Natchez, [circa 1880s-1890s]

Scope and contents:

The card bears the back-stamp "H. C. Norman, Jr. 525 Main Street, Natchez, Miss."

207

Three cabinet card photographs of children taken by local photographers. Natchez, [circa 1880s-1890s]

Scope and contents:

Each one is an individual standing portrait of a young boy; each wear bowties, and two have their hair bottle-curled in the little lord Fauntleroy style. The unidentified lads appear to be around six or seven years of age. Two of the cards bear the from marking of H. C. Norman, Natchez, and the other has a back marking of L. D. Simmons, Natchez.

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208

Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1882-83. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1884

Scope and contents:

872 pp. Book on education owned by W. W. Matthews, Bayou Sara, La.

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209

Letter written by N. M. Clark, a Mississippi Methodist evangelist, to Miss Joe with good social content. Williamsburg, November 6, 1885

210

Eagle & Phoenix Mfg. Co. correspondence

210

Business letter from Adolph Rose, Wholesale Dry Goods, Vicksburg, December 2, 1886

210

Business letter from Francis Murphy, Manufacturer & Jobber of Men's and Boys' Clothing, Charleston, S.C., January 10, 1887

211

Funeral notice for Kate Marlow, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Marlow. Crystal Springs, Mississippi, October 20, 1887

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212

Property deed for taxes by Isidor Gross, a Jewish resident and merchant of Canton, Mississippi, 1889

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213

Mounted photograph of Creole lady identified as Miss Bedou of New Orleans, [circa 1890]

214

Two cabinet cards, each of an African-American boy; one is by A. W. Judd, Chattanooga, TN, and the other C. A. Brownell, Cincinnati, Ohio, [circa 1895]

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215

Jefferson Military College (J.M.C.) photographs. Washington, Mississippi, [circa 1890-1895]

215

Photograph, labeled "Norman Natchez, Miss.," of the twelve-man J.M.C. baseball team, including two African-American boys.

215

Cabinet card of Wilmer Gideon, Clondike, Louisiana, in J.M.C. uniform, by "H. C. Norman, Jr. Natchez Miss.," undated

215

Cabinet card of unidentified J.M.C. student by "H. C. Norman, Jr. Special Natchez, Miss.," undated

215

Cabinet card of E. S. Davenport in J.M.C. uniform. Inscribed "From E. S. Davenport to Miss Watson."

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216

Advertising notebook from liquor dealer J. Livelar & Co. Canton, [circa 1900]

Scope and contents:

Contains someone's figures, shopping lists, and little notations. The red cover is printed "J. Livelar & Co. Canton, Miss. W. L. Williamsons Old Long Horn and Rose Glen Whiskies. Louisville Kentucky."

217

Postcard from Day & Bailey Grocer Co., with picture of little boy, addressed to C. L. West, executor, Saltillo, Miss. Memphis, December 26, 1900

218

Handbill advertising a reward offered by parents, for the "Capture" of their 13-year-old son Everett Smith, who apparently ran away from home. Meridian, Mississippi, April 14, 1904

219

Nine letters and receipts from W. H. Pritchartt & Co., Wholesale Grocers, to the Rayville Mercantile Co. in Louisiana. Natchez, 1913

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220

Three large photographs of the Cotton Ginnery and Compress of Jewish merchants, the Cohn Brothers. Lorman, Mississippi, [circa 1915]

220

Photograph of building bearing the letters "COHN BRO'S. IMPROVED GULLETT GINNERY, AND MUNGER COMPRESS." In the background can be seen another building, railroad tracks with an Illinois Central Railroad car, stacks of cotton bales, wagons of cotton, and men.

220

Photograph of the same buildings from a different angle.

220

Close-up photograph of an Illinois Central Railroad car that bears the "Central Mississippi Valley Route" logo, packed full of cotton bales, stopped at the loading dock by five African-American men.

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221

Postcard entitled "A Group of Maskers on Canal Street During Carnival." New Orleans, [circa 1915-1920]

Scope and contents:

This hand-tinted photo postcard portrays about a dozen revelers dressed in their colorful Mardi Gras costumes with onlookers in the background. Published by J. Scordille, New Orleans, La.

222

Sheet music for a vocal solo, entitled "Li'l Black Nigger", Copyrighted by E. Morris Music Co., New York City, 1924

Scope and contents:

Illustrated with a caricature of a frightened little boy portrayed in stereotype, in bed surrounded by scary Halloween characters. Bears owner's inscription from Chicago, Ill.

223

Document called a "Crop Note," in which W. L. Holt borrows $45 against his entire upcoming cotton crop and pledges "1 mouse-colored mare mule named Ada about 10 yrs. Old" to J. R. Newman as collateral. Tallapoosa, County, Alabama, November 2, 1926

224

"Fifth Negro Fair" booklet, full of advertising and African-American genealogical information. Jefferson County, Fayette, Mississippi, 1930

Scope and contents:

84 pp. It is full of advertisements of both white and black merchants, and includes a photograph of H. D. Moore, the President and Promoter. It is officially entitled "Premium List Rules and Regulations Fifth Negro Fair – held in – Jefferson County – at – Fayette, Mississippi Thursday, Friday and Saturday, NOVEMBER 20th, 21st, and 22nd, 1930." Several of the advertisers were descendants of former large slave-holding cotton planters like Stowers, Wade, and Bisland. The booklet is filled with dozens of African-Americans‚ names and the categories of agriculture that they won at the fair, everything from cattle, pigs, chickens, vegetables, sheep, pantry goods, crochet, and much more.

225

Joe Louis memorabilia collection

225

Copy of the African-American magazine The Negro South (formerly The Sepia Socialiste) with article "Joe Louis By A.K.O. In 5th Is Prediction" about Louis's victory over Billy Conn. New Orleans, June 1946

Scope and contents:

Other articles include "The South's Blues Singer" about bluesman Joe Turner, "Forum: Negroes should leave the South – Negroes should stay South & work" article with letters from numerous African-Americans, "Is it True what They Say about Dixie" about Madame Frances Joseph Gaudet, a Black social reformer of New Orleans, socio-political comics, and local businesses' advertisements. The cover shows Joe Louis and a headline "White Students on Racial Outlook."

225

Chesterfield cigarette card featuring the Louis, undated

226

Illustrated menu from the "Eola Hotel Grill Natchez Mississippi, 'Where the Old South Still Lives.'" Natchez, [circa 1950]

Scope and contents:

This document gushes pseudo-nostalgia: "NATCHEZ . . . history has made her rich in romantic and colonial reminders . . . gracious with the splendor of breath-taking mansions. Here was the first capitol of the State of Mississippi. Above her walls have flown the flags of six nations. While here, take time . . . and enjoy the enchantment of America's golden past." The cover shows Auburn, the home of Dr. Stephen Duncan, while the back features other antebellum Natchez homes

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227

Forty issues of a White Citizens' Council publication, entitled The Citizen. Jackson, Mississippi, 1961-1965

Scope and contents:

Some issues are devoted to an exclusive report or theme, while other issues contain numerous articles from segregationists like Governors George C. Wallace and Ross R. Barnett. They also contain photographs and advertisements for racist books and signs.

227

November 1961

Scope and contents:

featuring "Race and Reason Day in Mississippi!" and "Full Text of Carleton Putnam's Address" ("Mistress of the Mansion" front cover), 46 pp.

227

December 1961

Scope and contents:

featuring "Why The ‘Freedom Rides' Failed Newburg Vs. The Welfare State" (Front cover photograph of the interior of the Mississippi Capitol rotunda entitled, "Patterns" by William A. Bacon)

227

January 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "There Is No Substitute For Victory! By Gen. Edwin A. Walker" (Front cover photograph entitled, "Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker speaks to a cheering crowd in Jackson, Miss.")

227

February 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "Special In This Issue – How Memphis Is Organizing To Combat The Mixers!" (Front cover photograph of "Mississippi's ‘Miss Hospitality,' Joan Watts, with a Colonel in the Mississippi Greys on lawn of Governors Mansion in Jackson," wearing a Confederate uniform and hoop skirt respectively)

227

March 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "The Councils and Politics" (Front cover photograph of boy reading a Confederate monument, cannon in the foreground, entitled, "Tourists find rich heritage of history in the South, as one small boy discovers at monument marking 1864 battle at Brice's Cross Roads in Northeast Mississippi")

227

April 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "A New Orleans Catholic Tells The Real Story Of His Excommunication!" (Front cover photograph of speakers on a stage addressing a crowd, entitled, "Thousands of indignant New Orleans residents attend Citizens‚ Council rally to protest plans to integrate the city's Catholic schools")

227

May 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Comprehensive Study of Negro Migration And Population Trends" (Front cover photograph of two young men walk on a pier as four other young men dock a sailboat, entitled, "In sailboat and seaplane, vacationers frolic on Mississippi‚s famed Gulf Coast")

227

July-August 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "Carleton Putnam Discloses New Evidence On Evolution And Race!" (Front cover photograph entitled "Vacation time is fishin‚ time! And this youthful Mississippian is an apt subject for the cover of our combined July-August summertime issue")

227

September 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "Mississippi Still Says ‘Never'! by Governor Ross Barnett" (Front cover photograph of a jubilant, open-mouthed Barnett waving a Confederate flag entitled, "Governor Ross Barnett of Mississippi acknowledges cheers from Ole Miss boosters who greeted him with Rebel yells at the Ole Miss-Houston football game")

227

October 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Minister Tells Why – Oxford Clergy Wrong In Calling For ‘Repentence'!" (Front cover photograph entitled "Negro Army sergeant leads white troops at Oxford, Miss., in bayonet drill during Federal occupation of University of Mississippi. James Meredith insisted that negro troops be used in this manner, despite fact that their presence inflamed residents of Oxford area," Photo by Selma (Ala.) Times-Journal)

227

November 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Judge Points Out – ‘Integration Amendment' Was Never Legally Adopted!" (Front cover photograph of Ole Miss campus building entitled, "The historic Lyceum at the University of Mississippi. This is the building which U.S. Marshals surrounded needlessly before they incited a riot by shelling students with gas")

227

December 1962

Scope and contents:

featuring "Three Authorities Look At Africa" (Front cover photograph of winter scene on the Natchez Trace near Jackson entitled, ". . . and may all your Christmases be white!")

227

January 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Methodist Declaration Of Conscience On Segregation" (Front cover photograph of church with a high steeple entitled, "A Symbol of Faith")

227

February 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "Can Conservatives Unite To Save Our Nation?" (Front cover photograph of man ascending a ladder to a petrol-chemical tank entitled, "Southern Industry On The Move!")

227

March 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "Three Significant Addresses By Carleton Putnam" with bizarre speeches about "superior evolution" of whites compared to blacks (Front cover photograph of flamingos in Florida)

227

April 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Case History Of Racial Agitators At Work" (Front cover photograph of statue of Jefferson Davis in front of the Alabama State Capitol, Montgomery)

227

May 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "The Black Muslims: A Critical Analysis" (Front cover photograph of white couple canoeing among cypress trees at Ponce de Leon Springs near Deland, Florida)

227

June 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "The Un-American Revolution!" (Front cover photograph of people enjoying Lido Beach, near Sarasota, Florida)

227

July-August 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "Communist Involvement In Racial Demonstrations!" (Front cover photograph of fishing at dawn on Suwannee River, Florida)

227

September 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "What The ‘Civil Rights' Bill Would Do To You!" (Front cover photograph of Mississippi's State Capitol Building, Jackson)

227

October 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Northerner's Views On Race!" (Front cover photograph of autumn sunset off Marquesas Key, Florida)

227

December 1963

Scope and contents:

featuring "Strength Through Unity" by Governor Ross R. Barnett and "Highlights Of The Leadership Conference" (Front cover photograph entitled "After the Snow Storm," snow on a split rail fence along the Natchez Trace near Jackson)

227

January 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "More Highlights Of Leadership Conference" (Front cover photograph of winter scene in Jackson, Mississippi)

227

April 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "How The ‘Civil Rights' Bill Would Affect Your Life!" (Front cover photograph of Georgia Confederate monument, Chickamauga National Military Park, Georgia)

227

May 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "More On The ‘Civil Rights' Bill And Its Impact On Your Life!" (Front cover photograph of Stanton Hall mansion, Natchez)

227

June 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Community Plan To Defeat The Agitators!" (Front cover photograph of boating enthusiasts on the Mississippi Gulf Coast)

227

July-August 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "Ross Barnett Tells Why The South Will Win!" (Front cover photograph of summer circus clown)

227

September 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "How To Start A Private School!" (Front cover photograph of sunset over boat off the Florida shore)

227

October 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "Governor Wallace Tells Why – We Must Regain Control Over Our Public Schools" (Front cover photograph entitled, "Goodbye to Summer. A shapely Alabama miss strikes a pensive pose at lakeside as she is silhouetted by an early Autumn sun")

227

November 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "What Does The Election Prove?" (Front cover photograph of hunter sending his black retriever into the water from his duck blind, Florida)

227

December 1964

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Close-Up Look At COFO In Mississippi" (Front cover photograph of Governor's Mansion in the snow, Jefferson City, Missouri)

227

January 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "Noted Scientist Says Mixed Schools Harmful!" and "Visiting European Journalists Say South Africa's Blacks Never Had It So Good!" (Front cover photograph of Balboa Park, San Diego, California)

227

March 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "Highlights of the Leadership Conference" (Front cover photograph of Governor George C. Wallace and former Governor Ross Barnett shown waving to the CCA Leadership Conference, Montgomery, standing behind the logo that features the American and Confederate flags)

227

February 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "The Communist Plot To Take Over Mississippi" (Dunleith, an antebellum mansion outside Natchez)

227

April 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "Why the Reds Say Mississippi Must Go!" (Front cover photograph entitled, "The Shadows," antebellum home and draping Spanish moss, New Iberia, Louisiana)

227

May 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "Northern Professor Lists Reasons for Segregation" and "Senator Eastland Reveals More Detailed Proof Of Communist Involvement In The Mississippi Invasion" (Front cover photograph of "Hi Rebels!" featuring a little white boy waving a Confederate flag and Civil War adult re-enactor on a cannon at Fort Morgan, Mobil Bay)

227

July-August 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "The School That Can't Be Mixed" (Front cover photograph of classroom scene at Council School No. 1, Jackson, Miss.)

227

September 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "The Majority Must Mobilize!" and includes "LBJ: Architect of Anarchy?" by Jesse Helms (Front cover photograph of man fishing at Bald River Falls, Tennessee)

227

October 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "Noted Educator Reveals What Mixing Really Means!" (Front cover photograph of Williamsburg)

227

November 1965

Scope and contents:

featuring "A Preview of the 1966 CCA Leadership Conference" (Front cover photograph of Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee), 16 pp.

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228

Copy of "ASPECT," A Project of the Information & Education Committee Jackson's Citizens' Council, May 1965 Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 10, that contains the names of 75 officers of the racist organization. Jackson, Mississippi, 1965

Scope and contents:

Bears the logo portraying the American and Confederate flags with the inscription, "Citizens' Councils • States' Rights • Racial Integrity." This report of the 10th Annual Meeting of the Jackson Citizens' Council contains a list of people deemed "outstanding citizens of Jackson [who] were elected to serve on the board of this cities [sic] largest organization as directors for 1965-1966."

Mississippi River Valley Addenda

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228A

Newspaper clipping about Confederate Capt. Jno. Shorter, upon his capture near Jackson, Miss. Possibly from a Columbus (Ga.?) newspaper.

228B

Two letters about life in Mississippi

228B

Chesterfield, Miss., September 29, 1897

Scope and contents:

"I see yellow fever is steadily on the increase in New Orleans, and as it has at least six weeks or two months yet to spread there...I believe now the disease will become epidemic in the city...Better run out to Atlanta or St. Louis...."

228B

December 22, 1912

Scope and contents:

"Dear children...I have my hands full. Killed some of my hogs...We went to Coxburg...& Talarville...I fear we will have a dull Xmas. It has been raising a day & night, and oh how muddy Old Santa will have bad weather...John is with us...He told us of his narrow escape Tues. night in Starksville when that Hotel burned...He got his clothes and dressed on the street...."

228C

Booklet, Natchez, Mississippi, U.S.A., Natchez imprint, [circa 1935]

Scope and contents:

"Land of Romance - Home of Eternal Spring - Above her walls have flown the flags of six nations...." 12 pp.

228D

"Bill of complaint" concerning Walnut Grove Plantation in Wilkinson County. Litigated in Adams County, Miss. October 8, 1844

Scope and contents:

Commercial Bank of Natchez and West Feliciana Rail Road Co. among parties. Involves land, and that defendants refrain from "selling 300 bales of the cotton raised during the present year, on the lands described as follow...," this being 1,275 acres in Wilkinson County, Miss., "generally known as the 'Walnut Grove Plantation.'"

228E

Promissary note to pay Carradin & Newman $533.32 in six months, "payable at the Agricultural Bank of Natchez," signed by merchants, March 30, 1839

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228F

The Comprehensive Bible; containing the Old and New Testaments..., third ed., Robinson & Franklin, N.Y., 1839

Scope and contents:

Belonged to the Outlaw family, The Cedars Plantation, Starkville, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, and contains "Family Register" with marriages, births, deaths, and newspaper obituaries. The earliest marriage recorded is that of (Rev.) D.A. Outlaw, in 1835, whose signature appears on front flyleaf; his 1870 obituary is pasted on the opposite page. The earliest birth recorded was in 1811, the last in 1979; the earliest death recorded was in 1837, the last in 1959. Twentieth-century typescript of information from headstones in Oaklaw family cemetery.

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229G

Seven photographs of Old Port Gibson, Miss., [circa 1878-1890s]

229G

Cabinet photo of "Kelley's Store, Port Gibson, Miss."

Scope and contents:

In pencil on verso, "Store operated by Robert Capers in Port Gibson 1880-1895. Man with arms folded is John J. Kelley. Man with hands on hips is Geo. Naasson (Jr.)."

229G

Photograph of Port Gibson, 1878

Scope and contents:

Photograph identified in pencil on verso, "Main St., Port Gibson in snow, 1878."

229G

Tintype of R.C. Kelley of Old Port Gibson.

229G

Cabinet photo of R.C. Kelley, by Souby Art Gallery, New Orleans.

229G

Cabinet photo identified in pencil on verso as "Tom Foot(e) & Nat Day."

229G

Cabinet photo identified in pencil on verso as "Mr. & Mrs. Foote, Port Gibson, Miss.," likely the parents of the preceding Tom.

229G

Cabinet photo identified in pencil on verso as "A School in Port Gibson," showing an assortment of 23 men, women, boys, and girls.

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229H

The Mississippi River and its Source. "A Narrative and Critical History of the Discovery of the River and its Headwaters, accompanied by the results of detailed hydrographic and topographic surveys." By Hon. J.V. Brower, Minneapolis, 1893

[AR 2010-240]:

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2. 17 New Orleans letters. 1804-1865. Including a letter from John Nicholson, representing New Orleans citizens, to U.S. Senator Edward Livingston of Louisiana in Washington, DC, about the usage of public lots on Levee Street, January 6, 1830.

3. An 1804 copy of the bill of sale for African-born children purchased by old British Colonel Anthony Hutchins at the Fort of Natchez just prior to the adoption of the United States Constitution. April 5, 1804, copy of original dated November 5, 1788.

4. Affidavit concerning the use of iron collars on enslaved Africans in the Mississippi Territory during the War of 1812. Andrew Simmons, Natchez, addresses the mayor Samuel Brooks about a neighbor who repeatedly removes an iron collar from his slave. Despite the heaviness of the collar, the slaveholder argues that he is justified in forcing the enslaved young man to wear it because he repeatedly runs away from the plantation. Signed by Simmons and Brooks, August 19, 1812.

5. Letter from Daniel T. Patterson, Commander of Naval Forces, about "a black man named Moses," a deserter from the United States Navy, who is in prison in the Mississippi Territory. One-page detailed letter gives instructions on how to obtain the release of Moses as the Navy wanted him back. Signed by Patterson as commander and addressed to George Davis of the Navy, dated New Orleans, . February 1, 1814

6. Marschalk (Andrew) Papers, Natchez, 1820-1821, 1828
7 items

Scope and contents:

Among the items are rare handwritten documents, being advertisements that are notices for runaway slaves from William Walker, the local jailor, who sent them to the editor Andrew Marschalk to be published in his Natchez newspaper.

Manuscript advertisement for "Runaways in Adams County Jail," describing two men, including Billy who has his big toe nearly cut off, 1820.

Manuscript notice for the "Negro man named John says he belongs to Thomas Brabston in Washington...," [ca. 1820].

Manuscript notice concerning "A Negro man named John Says he belongs to Isaac House near Petitgulf. He is About 36 or 37 years Old, about 5 feet high, has A large flesh Mould on the left side of his jaw. The Owners of the Above negro are requested to Come forward Comply with the law and take him Away." 1821.

Manuscript advertisement about "a negro man named John. Says he belongs to Mr James Nelson of Bayou manchack...he has a scar above his left Eye...." 1821.

Manuscript notice, "Committed To the Jail of Adams County on the 1st January A Negro man named Martin. Says he belongs to Moses Moore on Shappipaela near Madisonville. He is About 35 years old, About 5 feet 5 inches high, he has A Scar on the right side of his head and one of his fingers on the right hand is broke...." 1821.

Manuscript notice announcing the marriage of Mr. William T. Walker to Miss Maria Preston of Natchez by the Reverend J. Carson, and addressed to Colo. Marschalk au verso.

Partly printed receipt from Andrew Marschalk for advertising done in the Statesman & Gazette, Natchez, 1828.

7. French American Louisiana manuscript about the sale of "un Moulin a Vapeur," a mill used in the production of sugar, and all its parts, for 2,000 piastres. Signed by former Commandant José Vidal, former Governor Carlos de Grand Pré, and Ju: Gravier, dated a la Nouvelle Orleans, . 27 Juin 1821

8. Three Woodson Wren letters to his plantation slave overseer in the "land of Goshen." Southwest Mississippi, 1834.

Woodson Wren writes A. D. Lancaster, his overseer at Wren’s Woodyard, Goshen [Plantation], telling him not to push the slaves too hard during their first year of "being in the country," dated May 5, 1834.

Woodson Wren, Natchez, writes A. D. Lancaster, his overseer at Goshen Plantation, inquiring about progress on the plantation, giving instructions about how they should proceed with work, and specifically telling him "to be lenient with the negroes," May 12, 1834.

Woodson Wren in Natchez writes A. D. Lancaster, his overseer at Goshen Plantation, expressing concern about reports that he is frequently intoxicated and "abuse[s] the negroes shamefully," and inquiring about Tom Cook and Bull, two enslaved men, June 18, 1834.

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9. A copy of the Louisiana Advertiser newspaper, featuring graphic news of the Texas Revolution, Vol. XV, No. 272, New-Orleans, Friday Morning, December 25, 1835.

Scope Note:

Front-page 3/4 column proposal for purchasing large quantities of Live-Oak timber by United States Navy. Inside, an "Extract of a letter from Tampico, dated December 9th," containing an article about the Texas uprising and detailed list of 28 American men shot by Mexican firing squad. Also, column-length "An Appeal. To the Ladies of the City of Baltimore," detailing the support for the Texan War for Independence in the city. Also, poem entitled, "Reflections on Christmas Morn." A third of page two devoted to "Shipping List for the Port of New Orleans Ships." Hundreds of advertisements, including a few detailed runaway slave ads. Also, article about an Irishman who fought in Texas, and a letter from him published in the paper. Large woodcut of the hydrogen balloon Star of the West, and detailed advertisement for "Mr. Clayton, the Western Aeronaut."

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10. A pre-printed receipt with handwritten annotations from S. B. Stutson, Jailor of Adams County, issued to Mrs. B. Bernard for the jail fees of Robert, a runaway slave, Natchez, July 6, 1838.

11. Three letters from attorneys Sanders & Price about the case of Virginia-native Wilson Cousins, a free man of color, jailed and charged with being a runaway slave while at Natchez, dated Virginia, 1843.

Charles W. Fitzgerald, Nottoway, Virginia, to Messrs. Sanders & Price, Attorneys at Law, Natchez, relating to history of the free black family known as the Cousins who lived in Nottoway County, June 22, 1843.

P. Williams, Postmaster, Nottoway Court House, Virginia, to Messrs. Sanders & Price. The postmaster indicates that several people in the neighborhood of Nottoway know the Cousins family. June 25, [1843]

Nancy Cousins, [a free woman of color], written by Jos. M. Fowlkes, Nottoway, to Messrs. Sanders & Price, Natchez. Nancy Cousins, a free woman of color, communicates to Sanders and Price through her neighbor, stating that she understood her brother was taken as a runaway slave and was in jail even though he was a free man. July 20, 1843

[AR 2012-075]

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20. Six pages from the Frog More plantation overseer’s (George Woodruff) ledger plus two letters from the overseer to the owner with an inventory of the plantation’s 183 slaves, 1858-1860. The six pages of ledger notes and letters describe the workings of the Frog More plantation.

Four pages of ledger notes inventory the 183 slaves on the Frog More plantation on Christmas Day 1858. Listed are the names, values, and ages.

George Woodruff to Mr. J. P. Bowman. Woodruff describes the sugar cane crop, supplies, and requests more tools. March 10, 1858.

George Woodruff to J. P. Bowman. Woodruff describes finishing corn planting and the selling of molasses and shoes. He also describes the ailments of Simon, a slave struck with pneumonia as well as a child found smothered in slave quarters.

Ledger entries provide daily descriptions of plantation life in July 1858.

[AR 2012-245]

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01. A letter from William Chandler Brent, a tobacco planter, to a Mr. Blair that indicates the equivalency of tobacco as a financial medium of exchange, to Port Tobacco, which may be today, the smallest incorporated community in the United States. Port Tobacco, Maryland, 1793.

02. William Vousdan Papers from eighteenth-century Cotton Field plantation on Second Creek, just south of Natchez: A land transaction dated Christmas Eve, 1798, that details the purchase of 1,600 acres of land on Bayou Sara in Spanish West Florida; a 1799 letter about the plantation; a 1799 financial instrument denominated in Spanish Dollars, and issued at Natchez, 1798-99; and an 1818 manuscript copy of the 1802 will of William Vousdan, that stipulates provisions for the welfare of his wife, Elizabeth Vousdan, and the distribution of plantation and property, including named slaves and terms of their future emancipation. 5 items.

03. A map drawn by pioneer William Vousdan, of his Spanish Land Grants located on Bayou Sara, just below the Line of Demarcation between Spanish Louisiana and the newly formed Mississippi Territory, that also shows a section of the Native American "Chacta Path." Probably near Natchez, ca. 1798.

04. A piece of eighteenth-century Mississippi postal history: A letter from William Vousdan to Colonel Anthony Hutchins, datelined Cotton Field [plantation] and addressed to White Apple Village [original site of the Natchez Indians], that refers to "large Tea Party in opposition to the Rebe an Bak [?] as its called;" the sanctity of original land grants that are guaranteed by Spanish Governor Miro, including a tract of his own former property; and remarks on his plan to visit William Dunbar and the recipient, and news about his corn crop. Adams County, Mississippi Territory, 1799.

05. James Smith, a tobacco planter, binds himself to the Kentucky governor for £150 current money as a pledge to duly collect and record all moneys, tobacco, and fees put in his hands—indicating tobacco as a medium of exchange. Pendleton County, Kentucky, 1801.

06. A Natchez-postmarked 1801 letter by famous settler, Anthony Hutchins, to his nephew, Peter Marsalis in New Jersey, in response to his query about the prospect of settling on the Homochitto River, that may be the earliest United States postal marking from Natchez in existence. Natchez, Mississippi Territory, 1801.

08. Bethany Hains, a Virginia farmer, leaves his worldly property, including his land and "mantion hous," to his sons and his wife, Morning Hains. Surry, Patrick County, Virginia, 1805.

09. Liquor and grocer merchant’s bill that reflects heavy consumption of alcohol in frontier Natchez, during the fall at the time of the Burr conspiracy. Natchez, 1807-08.

10. Rodney (Thomas) Papers. Mississippi Territory, 1810.

11. Reports on the southern cotton market and international politics from Liverpool, England, with references to the Bills of Exchange financial system, including suspension of credit during the Panic of 1837, 1811-1837.

12. A financial-related letter that mentions bills drawn on Antigua, and the law requiring the use of "stamp paper," to Colonel Henry Skipwith of Williamburg. Richmond, 1814.

13. Poindexter (George) correspondence, 1814.

14. Feeding the United States Army during the War of 1812 era. New Orleans, 1815.

15. A Savannah physician's wife reports about an outbreak of flu in New York, the vaccination of her children against small pox, and her efforts to return home to the South. New York, 1815.

16. General William Barton, who seeks his deceased son’s effects, is informed not to expect much "from this quarter." Savannah, 1817.

17. Philanthropists advocate making farmers out of native peoples, and seek congressional action and President Monroe’s support to "assist the poor neglected and friendless Indian." Georgetown, 1818.

18. A letter and accompanying forged slave pass that was carried by an enslaved man called, "Tom Green," who made an unsuccessful run for freedom. Natchez, 1818.

19. Receipts for the education of free children of color in Mississippi at the beginning of statehood. Natchez, 1818.

20. The purchase of slaves in Virginia by a South Carolina slave trader. Camden, South Carolina, 1820.

21. Marschalk (Andrew) receipts for runaway slave advertising, 15 items, ca. 1820-22.

01. Manuscript invoice for advertising expenses in the hand of Andrew Marschalk, and signed by him, incurred by Colonel William T. Walker.

02. A well laid out handwritten advertisement from William T. Walker, Jailor of Adams County, who writes "Committed."

03. William T. Walker, who signs below, writes a bold heading of "Committed."

04. Advertisement in the handwriting of William Walker that includes: "Committed" at the top, and below, "To the Jail of Adams County on the 30th August"

05. Handwritten advertisement that is signed and dated, "Wm. Walker Jailor A.C. Natchez October 12, 1820," and refers to the runaway slave Gilbert.

06. Handwritten and signed advertisement from Adams County jailor, Colonel William T. Walker for "A negro man named Jim."

07. "Committed To the jail of Adams County on the 25th October A negro man named Dick."

08. Handwritten and signed broadside type manuscript document with an impressive visual presentation, and headlined, "Thirty Dollars Reward," and below: "Runaway from the subscriber in the Citty of Natchez on the 14th Inst. A Negro man named William about 26 years of age 5 feet 9 or 10 Inches high slim built quite black thin visage vary sensible in conversation and is extreamly fond of ardent spirits."

09. Handwritten manuscript regarding slavery.

10. "Committed to the Adams County jail on the 31st Inst A Negro Woman named Louisa about 22 or 23 years of age 5 feet 2 Inches high and of A yallowish Coular — The said Girl says she was purchased 2 Days previous by A Mr Brittain (Liveing some place up the Country were she knows not) of A Mr Tompson at the Natchez Landing and she absconded when on her way home..."

11. Handwritten advertisement for person described as "A Negro Boy named Barton."

12. William T. Walker, jailor, drafts another formal advertisement by hand.

13. Handwritten and signed advertisement for "A Negro man named Simon Says he belongs to Phoebe Chambers living in Jersey settlement M.T...."

14. Headlined in large lettering: "Committed To The jail of Adams County on the 21st March 1821."

15. An engraving of an eagle with its wings spread, clasping an olive branch, shield, and arrows in its talons, rays above, at left; the pre-printed test reads, "The Natchez Gazette (Established in April, 1802)"

22. A white man is accused of "inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on negro woman slave Fanny." Adams County, Mississippi, 1821.

23. Ross and Wade Families papers, 18 items, which include the most historic letter about Prospect Hill mansion house and the Slave Conspiracy, 1824-1912.

01. James T. Wade, Columbia, South Carolina, to Captain Isaac Ross, Gibson Port, Mississippi, 31 January 1824.

02. Alison Ross, Jefferson County, Mississippi, to James T. Wade, Columbia, South Carolina, 20 January 1825.

04. John C. Ricks, New Orleans, to Dr. Walter Wade, care of William W. Evans, Esq., Rodney, 8 November 1841.

05. Two letters in one since Richards used the same lettersheet bearing Dr. Walter Wade’s letter to respond back to him: Dr. Walter Wade, [near Port Gibson, to Maj. Robert Garland, Vicksburg, 26 February 1842.

06. B. F. Young, Beauprés [plantation], Natchez, to Dr. Walter Wade, near Port Gibson, 24 December 1842.

07. Letter of Dr. James T. Wade, writing from Rosswood plantation, provides information about the burning of the mansion on Prospect Hill plantation, that resulted in accusations of a sensational slave conspiracy and the lynching of some of them alleged named perpetrators. He was sleeping at the house that night and discovered the fire. Natchez, 1845.

08. Buckner and Stanton, New Orleans, to Dr. Walter Wade, care of Drake Ennis and You, Rodney, 4 December 1845.

09. Bucker and Stanton, New Orleans, to Dr. Walter Wade, care of Messrs L. H. Drake and Col, Rodney, 12 February 1848.

10. Bucker and Stanton, New Orleans, to Dr. Walter Wade, care of Messrs L. H. Drake and Col, Rodney, 8 May 1849.

11. Buckner and Stanton, New Orleans, to Dr. Walter Wade, care of L. H. Drake and Co., Rodney, 19 January 1850.

12. James R. Wade, Prospect Hill plantation, to his brother, Dr. Walter Wade, Lancaster Village, Lancaster, South Carolina, April 1853.

13. Maggie Young, Rose Hill plantation, Natchez, to her uncle, Dr. Walter Wade, Lancaster Ville, Lancaster District, South Carolina, 14 April 1853.

14. B. F. Young, Baltimore, to Dr. Walter Wade, Lancaster Court House, South Carolina, 12 July 1853.

15. Washington and Co., Rodney, to Dr. Walter Wade, Rosswood plantation, 30 January 1854.

16. Francis Smith and Co., Mortgage Brokers, Vicksburg, to Walter R. Wade, Millikens Bend, Louisiana, 29 December 1885.

17. Mr. Gibson, Hamilton, Brown Shoe Co., St. Louis, to Miss Connie Wade, Clifton Ave., Natchez, 6 June 1912.

18. Map of Africa, 1844.

24. Joseph E. Davis, elder brother of the future Confederate president, signed manuscript about a "man of colour" who is held as a slave. Adams County, Mississippi, 1825.

25. A letter about cotton and bank regulations including the "discounting of paper." Savannah, 1825.

26. Letters from 1820s New Orleans cotton factors that describe market conditions and future outlook, 1826-28.

27. A letter from a Mississippi Gulf Coast county wherein Nathan P. Smart describes his journey through the Choctaw Purchase and Calcasieu country with impressions of the land and land prices in the newly opened region, and report s family news. Marion County, Mississippi, 1826.

28. Frederick Stanton writes that he owns the slave woman known as Matilda, whom he acquired from Adam L. Bingaman. Natchez, 1830.

29. A detailed letter that describes travel, career plans, and a proposal to manufacture and distribute Cyrus McCormick’s patented plow in Tennessee. Greenville, Tennessee, 19 December 1830.

30. Leverich and Co. correspondence, 1831-49.

01. James Colles, New Orleans, to Henry S. Leverich, New York, May 1831.

02. Carriere & Bordurat, New Orleans, to Messrs Leverich & Brinckerhoff, New York, 7 October 1833.

03. W. F. J. H. Leverich, New Orleans, to his brother, Henry S. Leverich, care of Mess Peter Renisen & Co., 9 November 1833.

04. Joseph Lallande, New Orleans, to Henry S. Leverich, Messrs Peter Renisen & Co., New York, 12 April 1834.

05. J. H. Leverich & Co., New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 13 September 1836.

06. G. W. Pritchard & Co., New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 22 November 1836.

07. J. H. Leverich & Co., New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 1 May 1837.

08. J. H. Leverich & Co., New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 6 November 1839.

09. J. H. Leverich & Co., New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 13 March 1840.

10. E. Dawson, Mobile, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 11 March 1844.

11. Charles P. Leverich, New Orleans, to Henry S. Leverich, New York, 8 December 1845.

12. Charles P. Leverich, New Orleans, to Henry S. Leverich, New York, 28 March 1846.

13. Charles P. Leverich, New Orleans, to Henry S. Leverich, New York, 14 April 1846.

14. Stephen Duncan, Natchez, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 20 May 1848.

15. Dudley & Nelson, New Orleans, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 13 July 1848.

16. Frith Sands & Co., London, to Henry S. Leverich, New York, 5 April 1849.

17. William J. Minor writes about the effects of the low river and late frost on the sugar market, and reports on the cholera epidemic that killed about 20 slaves on Dugal’s plantation nearby and sickened others on his own place. New River, 1849.

18. George Green Son & Co., Liverpool, to Charles P. Leverich, New York, 18 May 1849.

31. A letter that describes a foiled slave insurrection in grisly detail, with names of alleged conspirators who were shot or hanged and decapitated, and contains much local and social news. Wilmington, North Carolina, ca. 1831-32.

32. Nathan Wooster writes his mother back in Connecticut about health, the peddling business, and includes a proposal to raise sheep, and life on Sunday. New Iberia, Louisiana, 1832.

33. Reverend William R. Bowman of St. Francisville receives family news from back East, 1833.

34. A letter from John Rust to his brother in Boston that describes his visit to a Virginia coal mine. Richmond, 1833.

35. Bell & Co. (Abraham) Correspondence, 1834-35.

36. A young woman’s letter in French, that provides a glimpse into home life and child-rearing in south Louisiana. Donaldsonville, 1834.

37. A letter to R. W. Israel, agent for Great Falls Manufacturing Co., concerning the shipment and consumption of cotton in New England. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1835.

38. Description of a South-to-North travel route. Alexandria, Louisiana, 1835.

39. A French-speaker writes his kinsman at the Agronomy School of Grignon in France, from New Orleans, 1836.

41. James Sewell letter regarding that his lands have been sold to a Mr. Sterling in a letter postmarked at Elkton, a small town just a few miles from the Chester County, Pennsylvania, border at the Mason-Dixon Line. Elkton, Maryland, 1836.

42. Letter on the Alabama cotton crop and low rivers. Mobile, 1836.

43. An Irish priest, M. C. Malony, writes about his love of Irish culture, including reverence for Saint Patrick; his trans-Atlantic passage from Black Rock, County Cork, Ireland; and news of the parish flock, friends, and a Miss Woulfe, a prospective nun who must choose between a secular life or a religious one. Charleston, 1837.

44. The ship Archimedes clears customs and "goes down the river this evening" with a consignment of cotton for a Liverpool buyer, and money borrowing is necessary to pay Mr. Edward Austin, at the beginning of the Panic of 1837. New Orleans, 1837.

45. Elias-Goodin Family Philadelphia-to-Port Gibson correspondence, 1837-43.

01. Henry Elias, Philadelphia, to his daughters, Matilda and Amanda Elias, care of William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 22 September 1837.

02. Henry Elias, Philadelphia, to his daughter, Matilda Elias, care of W. F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 12 October 1837.

03. Raymond and Harriet Damman, Philadelphia, to William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 23 October 1837.

04. Henry Elias, Philadelphia, to his daughter, Matilda Elias, Port Gibson, 3 November 1837.

05. Henry Elias, Philadelphia, to his daughter, Amanda Goodin, care of William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 18 November 1837.

06. Henry Elias, Philadelphia, to his daughter, Amanda Goodin, care of William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 31 December 1837.

07. Caroline, Philadelphia, to her sister, Amanda Goodin, care of William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 3 February 1838.

08. Henry Elias, Philadelphia, to his daughter, Amanda Goodin, care of William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 18 February 1838.

09. Isophine, Philadelphia, to her sister, Amanda Goodin, care of William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 8 March 1838.

10. Harriet, Philadelphia, to her sister, Amanda Goodin, care of William F. Goodin, Port Gibson, 18 April 1838.

11. Charles H. Elias, Philadelphia, to his brother-in-law, William Goodin, Port Gibson, 16 March 1841.

12. Isophine, Philadelphia, to her sister, Mrs. Amanda Goodin, Port Gibson, 17 January 1843.

46. Financial information connected to John Hamden Randolph from the Buckner (Aylett) papers, 1837.

47. A travel letter from W. P. Yates to his brother Thomas in Mobile. Gainesville, Alabama, 1837.

48. A Virginia cotton and tobacco broker, A. P. Patterson, provides his business associate in Kennebunk, Maine, detailed expenses for a trans-Atlantic voyage from Cardiff, Wales, and reports on prospects for the barque Nimrod to sail a shipment to the port of Havre. City Point, Virginia, 1838.

49. Christopher, a South Carolinian a young man studying abroad, writes a lengthy letter to his sister about his quest for knowledge in Europe that includes his mastery of three languages and study of a fourth, his homesickness, and family news. Paris, 1838.

50. A letter from Watson Chapin, who reports on yellow fever and asks for money since "it is three months since I parted with my last bit." New Orleans, 1838.

51. James Furlong relates the circumstances of their brother George’s death and refers to Yellow Fever. Mobile, 1838.

52. Letters about the banking crisis, commodities prices, and contracts on hogs, from the Dorsey & Stackhouse Correspondence. New Orleans and Cincinnati, 1839.

53. The Vaughans, who are tobacco traders, make sales of Kentucky tobacco, including a lot of tobacco from a "William Falkner" [sic] of Tennessee, and strategize their business in a bad economy and election year, 1840.

54. Mrs. Shields of Natchez, receives news from her cousin at the University of Virginia, 1840.

55. A shipment of New England cider is too hard to sell for cider, and not sour enough for vinegar, and must age several months. Savannah, 1840.

56. A young man named William, writes his sweetheart, Miss Georgia Browne, writes, "I never had the blues dear love worse in my life," and reports on his arduous business travel and work. Fredericksburg, 1840.

57. Letter from Thomas M. Johnston re: social history that includes news of smallpox and marriages in the Huckabee and Croom families. Greensboro, Alabama, 1841.

58. A college student, J. H. Browning, who has purchased a horse, writes a letter to his guardian, Col. Daniel Stickley, a report of his needs and plans. Gayewood, Virginia, 1841.

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59. Thomas Henderson describes the agony of the slave woman, Bathsheba, who suffered from pregnancy complications. Natchez, 1841.

60. Letter from a Natchez merchant’s correspondence, 1842.

61. A letter from John B. Ogden of New Orleans, reporting banking news, that was sent aboard steamboat Ambassador to Thomas Henderson of Natchez, 1842.

62. A license for Joseph Cornish [who was a "free man of color"] to remain in the State. Adams County, Mississippi, 1842.

63. Kimball (Henry W.) correspondence, 1842-43.

64. A lengthy, graphic description of the death of Dr. Truman H. Woodruff, late of Tuscaloosa, at New Orleans, 1843.

65. A French-speaker of New Orleans writes his father back in France about his family life, including the birth of his son, Aristide Ricau. New Orleans, 1843.

66. A young man seeks employment in New Orleans as a clerk. Koscuisko, Mississippi, 1843.

67. A letter from an attorney on behalf of his client, William Ford, to a Kentucky lawyer about a case involving foul play and forgery. Independence, Missouri, 1843.

68. A schoolmaster, A. H. Clark, writes to a recent "steam Boat acquaintance," who is a fellow teacher in Sartartia, with whom he hopes to establish a better friendship. Yazoo City, 1844.

69. The postmaster of Bolivar, Mississippi, receives information about a family who borrowed $1,000 from Union Bank of Tennessee to pay their family medical expenses, 1845.

70. A prominent merchant reports about shipments of coffee and flour to Brazil, indicating that numerous vessels are sailing for Rio. New Orleans, 1845.

71. James Hamilton Couper, of Darien, Georgia, who found the first mammoth remains in the United States, receives goods that include Sperm whale oil, from his cotton factor. Charleston, 1835.

72. Shipping cotton to market aboard the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad. Petersburg, 1846.

73. W. Clark reports to William Thomas of Vicksburg, that there mutual friend, W. C. Stoker, is on his death bed. Memphis, 1846.

74. Eugene Weld, who aspires to be a physician, writes his sister back in New York, about family and the sporadic nature of medicine as profession in the South. New Iberia, 1846.

75. A letter from Dr. S. C. Snyder, a physician, to a physician friend in Virginia, about a failed attempt to purchase Council Bend plantation, which was in financial difficulty, and the economic hard times in the Memphis area during the Depression that had already lasted ten years. Memphis, 1847.

76. Barnes (Robert A.) correspondence, 1846 and 1849.

77. William Waller, a State Engineer for Louisiana, writes his brother Henry, an Assistant State Engineer, who is at Donaldson, about news of the 2nd Dragoons’ march to Texas, surveying projects for planters, and the importance of protecting survey equipment. Baton Rouge, 1845.

78. A letter written on July 4th from a Mr. J. Lynch to a Mrs. Walch in Ireland about the state of her residential property on St. John the Baptist Street, guardianship of a minor, and the July southern heat. New Orleans, 1846.

79. Cotton brokers report to Eben Chadwick, a Boston buyer, of cotton sales and market conditions. Savannah and Mobile, 1846-47.

80. South Carolina social history. Charleston, 1847.

81. A letter from A. T. Wedderbure who describes the Charity Hospital and new Medical Department at the University of Louisiana. New Orleans, 1847.

82. Dr. William N. Mercer declines an executorship of the estate of Judge Butler, deceased. New Orleans, 1848.

83. A letter from the Farrar family correspondence that describes Samuel Alexander Smith’s second attempt to aid slaves in escaping to freedom by boxing them up and sending them on the train to Philadelphia. Richmond, 1849.

84. A rare antebellum business card for John Stroud & Co., Marble Warehouse. New Orleans, ca. 1850.

85. The sale of cotton belonging to Mrs. Nancy Tate of Alabama. New Orleans, 1850.

86. Watt & deSaulles Correspondence, 1852.

87. A Frenchman writes his sister back in France. New Orleans, 1852.

88. J. B. Craighead & Co. Correspondence, 1852-54.

01. Burbridge & Adams, New Orleans, to Messrs J. B. Craighead & Co., Iberville, 13 December 1852.

02. Burbridge & Adams, New Orleans, to Messrs J. B. Craighead & Co., Iberville, 4 January 1853.

03. Burbridge & Adams, New Orleans, to Messrs J. B. Craighead & Co., Plaquemine, 14 January 1854.

04. J. W. Burbridge, New Orleans, to J. B. Craighead, Plaquemine, 8 May 1854.

05. J. W. Burbridge, New Orleans, to J. B. Craighead, Iberville, 11 May 1854.

89. C. B. Wheeler letter with social history content to Sumter, South Carolina, from Sumter County, Alabama, 1853.

90. Milroy family letters from an extinct community called Carson’s Landing, located in Washington County in the Mississippi Delta, with insight into perceptions of old age, feelings of loss with the death of parents, and belief in an afterlife. Greenville, 1854 and 1858.

91. A business relationship between a Mobile cotton factor and the de Rothschild Brothers of Paris, France—based on cotton—that continued after the Civil War. Mobile, 1856 and 1869.

92. The sale of cotton from Judge Alonzo Snyder’s Villa Clara plantation. New Orleans, 1856.

93. A pre-printed slave bill of sale for 13 young women, aged 14-20, all having last names, including Queen Barksdale (age 15), sold as a group for $16,000 to planter Benjamin Roach by slave-trader J. M. Wilson. New Orleans, 1857.

94. Agricultural business conducted in French with Alexander Latiolais of Vermillionville. New Orleans, 1858.

95. Olcott Family Correspondence, 1821, 1842 and 1859.

P-01. Letter to Susie Leigh, Thibodeau, LA., 1871

P-03. Photograph and receipts, F. H. W. Davis, 1882, 1884

P-04. Tintype, Russum, Mississippi, ca. 1890

P-05. Two Stereo Views of Steamer "City of Natchez," 1891

P-06. Two receipts, 1893, 1894

P-07. John A. Boyd, Confederate Pension Application, 1901

Patrons of Husbandry

Printed material

Journal of Proceedings of the Ninth Session of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, 1875

Songs for the Grange, 1873

Manual of Subordinate Granges, 1873

Constitution and By-laws, 1873, 1875

Instructions for Subordinate Granges, ca. 1870s

Bethany Grange, Warren County, Illinois

Financial records, 1873

Legal documents and certificates, 1874-1875

Correspondence, 1876

Secretary’s Quarterly Reports, 1875-1876

Address of Prof. J. B. Turner, ca. 1870s

O. M. Daymude Dentist Advertisement, ca. 1870s

Obituary, 1953

State Grange of Illinois Life Insurance, ca. 1870s

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Patrons of Husbandry certificates, 1873, 1874

Letter to Mrs. Martha Wade from her husband, Columbia, South Carolina, 1845

07. A manuscript map that shows land tracts on both sides of the international 31st parallel line, "including 90 acres under Cultivation" that probably represents one of the earliest cotton plantations established in the Old Southwest. West Florida/New Feliciana, Spanish Louisiana, 1803.

A travel letter written by Tracy R. Edson of New York at the height of "Flush Times" during the 1830s, describing New Orleans life in detail, and providing a first-hand account of a busy market of slave auctions, including his conversation with a teenage girl who was sold on the auction block. New Orleans, 1836.