Aldrich Collection. The Aldrich Collection contains the papers of a family that settled in the northeastern Mississippi towns of Lamar and Davis Mills (now Michigan City). Among the correspondence dating from the 1840s -- 1850s are letters discussing politics in South Carolina (Box 2, Folder 5), New York (Box 2, Folder 45A), Mississippi (Box 2, Folder 46 & Box 3, Folder 47), & North Carolina (Box 2, Folder 97) as well as six nineteenth-century electoral tickets for both national & Mississippi public offices (25 boxes). The first six boxes of the collection are available as a digital collection.
Adelbert Ames Speech. This photocopy of a published speech entitled Message of Gov. Adelbert Ames to the Legislature of Mississippi, in Extra Session Assembled, Thursday, December 17, 1874 addresses the Vicksburg race riots during Reconstruction. Location: Small Manuscripts 2003-1 (1 folder).
William Atwood Reconstruction Documents. This collection consists of official documents (and one handwritten letter) issued by William Atwood, Acting Assistant General of Headquarters 4th Military District (Department of Mississippi), in 1869 regarding the registration of voters for the upcoming election. Location: Small Manuscripts 92-1 (1 folder).
Audubon Mississippi/Strawberry Plains Finley Collection. Circa 1830 to 1980, this collection consists of material related to several Marshall County, Mississippi families and includes civil war claims correspondence of Martha Greenlee Davis dating from 1896 through 1901 (Box 2, Folder 2) as well as an 1865 pardon for former confederate E.M. Davis signed by President Andrew Johnson (Box 3). 32 boxes & 128 ledgers.
F.A.P. Barnard Collection. F.A.P. Barnard served as a professor at the University of Mississippi for two years prior to becoming president of the institution. Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, he resigned his position to return to the North. Among his photocopied correspondence are several letters from Jacob Thompson, a Mississippi politician and original board member of the university [the originals are in the possession of the Columbia University Library and photocopies are not permitted without the permission of that institution]. The collection also includes a photocopy of Barnard's published Letter to the President of the United States by a Refugee (Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott & Co., 1863). Finding aid available in Special Collections (2 boxes).
William T.S. Barry Letter. William T.S. Barry represented Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1849 to 1851 & again in 1855 when he was Speaker of the House. In 1861, Barry was president of the Mississippi Secession Convention and a member of the Provisional Confederate Congress from 1861 to 1862. Dated 13 October 1858, this handwritten letter by Barry concerns a shipment of law books from New York. Transcription available. Location: Small Manuscripts 82-1 (2 folders).
Lionel Baxter Collection. This collection consists of books, prints, and manuscripts about American history, and the Civil War in particular, amassed by the donor Lionel Baxter. Box 1 contains original nineteenth-century documents including the following: an 1839 letter by Albert Sidney Johnston while he served in the War Department; a December 1860 letter from R.F. Crenshaw in Pontotoc, Mississippi discussing secession and the upcoming Mississippi convention; an 1887 letter from U.S. Representative William H. Forney of Alabama; an 1877 letter from U.S. Senator John Tyler Morgan of Alabama to President Ulysses S. Grant; an 1867 letter from General E.O.C. Ord, military commander of the 4th District with two attached 1867 telegrams to Ord from U.S. Grant and President Andrew Johnson; & a 1908 letter from U.S. Representative John Sharp Williams regarding the election of William Howard Taft. Box 4 contains a presidential pardon signed by Andrew Johnson for John Fleming who was convicted of robbery; an 1851 land grant signed by Virginia Governor John B. Floyd; a facsimile of the Mississippi Secession Ordinance of 1861; and a partly printed 1855 War Department document signed by Jefferson Davis concerning a West Point Academy appointment. The collection also includes engraved portrait prints of politicians, as well as the Bureau of Printing & Engraving Series on the Presidents, Chief Justices, and Government Buildings. 9 boxes.
Bill for the Relief of Richard Tervin et al. Dated 7 January 1811, Bill No. 27 of the U.S. House of Representatives is a private relief bill regarding the Mississippi Territory land claims of Richard Tervin, William Coleman, Edwin Lewis, Samuel Mims, Joseph Wilson, and the Baptist Church at Salem Meeting House. Location: Small Manuscripts 80-1 (1 folder).
Blanton-Smith Collection. This collection contains the personal letters (and transcriptions) of Dr. Orville Martin Blanton and his wife Martha Rebecca Smith Blanton from Greenville, Mississippi. Among the correspondence is an 1865 letter discussing Andrew Johnson's administration; an 1896 letter from Mary Elizabeth Curry in Terry, Mississippi which addresses current national politics, the currency debate, & women's rights; and a 1908 letter from Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan to Dr. Blanton on their shared youth as well as Harlan's family and career. The finding aid is available in Special Collections. 2 boxes & 2 binders.
Book of the Presidents. Mrs. E.C. Walthall presented this scrapbook of clippings on U.S. Presidents to Nellie O'Callaghan in 1889. Location: Small Manuscripts 79-3 (1 folder).
William S. Burny Letter. Dated 12 October 1838, William S. Burney of Oxford, Mississippi requests from State Auditor Colonel A.B. Saunders $2,000-$2,500 from the public revenue. Location: Small Manuscripts 99-1 (1 folder).
Aaron Burr Essay. This original essay by Judge George Adams (a personal friend of Henry Clay) is a contemporary character sketch of Vice President Aaron Burr. Transcript available. Location: Small Manuscripts 79-1 (2 folders).
Brent-Braidwood Letters. Daniel Brent, Chief Clerk of the Department of State, sent a 20 December 1818 letter soliciting information on behalf of the British Minister, regarding the fate of John Braidwood and Braidwood's brother who once resided on William Bolling's plantation in Virginia. Location: Small Manuscripts 79-1 (2 folders).
Roane Fleming Byrnes Collection. Roane Fleming Byrnes was president of the Natchez Trace Association for over twenty-five years. At least half of the material in the collection dates from 1934 to 1970 and relates to her efforts to establish the Natchez Trace Parkway which runs through Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. Among the family correspondence in Box 1 is a copy of an 1840 invitation to Andrew Jackson's inaugural ball. Box 36 contains letters from Theodore G. Bilbo as well as campaign material for Carroll Gartin. 46 boxes.
Josiah A.P. Campbell Letter. Josiah A.P. Campbell served in the Mississippi legislature in 1851 and 1859 when he became Speaker of the House. Elected to the Provisional Confederate Congress, he served as president pro tempore of its senate. Campbell received an appointment to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1876 and served as Chief Justice from 1891 to 1894. In 1878, the legislature appointed him to codify the state laws. In this letter dated 9 January 1890, Campbell discusses fellow members of the Provisional Confederate Congress: W.P. Harris, J.A. Orr, E. Barksdale, W.J. Holder, and J.W.C. Watson. Transcription available. Location: Small Manuscripts 82-1 (2 folders).
"Census of the State of Mississippi for 1850" Broadside. Containing two tables for the northern and southern districts of Mississippi, this broadside provides a breakdown of census data per county, as well as a printing of a 25 November 1851 communication from Secretary of State J. Bell to Governor James Whitfield regarding the broadside. Location: Oversized Small Manuscripts 92-2 (1 folder).
Chancellors' Collection: Robert Burwell Fulton. Chancellor of the University of Mississippi from 1892 to 1906, Chancellor Robert Burwell Fulton's papers include files on the following subjects: Department of Public Education; Treasury Department; Board of Trustees; Naval Reserve Lands; correspondence with the Alabama State Geologist Eugene A. Smith; correspondence with U.S. Court of Claims Judge Charles B. Howry concerning Mississippi Governor James K. Vardaman; & other material related to Vardaman. In 1904, the university surveyed its alumni for an historical catalogue, and the form included a request for information on elective or appointed public positions. The respondents included numerous mayors, city & county attorneys, presidential electors, commission & board members, judges, Mississippi legislators, and other public officials. Significant individuals include: John M. Allen (U.S. Representative from Mississippi 1885-1901); Laurence Newton Buford (Deputy Auditor of U.S. Treasury in Washington, DC 1886-1889); Ezekiel Samuel Candler Jr. (Presidential Elector 1888, U.S. Representative from Mississippi 1901-1921, Mayor of Corinth, Mississippi 1933-1937); Thomas C. Catchings (Mississippi Senator 1875-77; Mississippi Attorney General 1877-85, U.S. House of Representatives 1885-1901, Mississippi Code Commission); Presley Kithridge Ewing (Mississippi Supreme Court); Wilson Hemingway (Arkansas Supreme Court 1889-93); Samuel M. Howry (Internal Revenue Collector 1879, U.S. Marshal 1880-85, Postmaster at Oxford, Mississippi 1889-93, Special General Land Officer for Louisiana & Mississippi); Monroe McClurg (Mississippi Attorney General 1900-03); Frank Alexander McLain (U.S. Representative from Mississippi 1898-1901, State Supreme Court Commissioner 1910-12); Thomas Sheldon Maxey (U.S. District Court Judge of Western Texas 1888-1916); Robert Burns Mayes (Special Agent for U.S. Treasury Department); Henry Lowndes Muldrow (U.S. Representative from Mississippi 1877-85); John Henry Rogers (U.S. Representative from Arkansas 1883-91, U.S. District Court Judge of Western Arkansas 1896-1911); & Leroy Branch Valliant (Missouri Supreme Court). 24 boxes.
"Circular to the World" Broadsheet. Hand addressed to U.S. Representative Hugh White, a Whig from New York, Richard W. Anderson of Aberdeen, Mississippi appeals to members of Congress on the topics of further territorial annexation, the Mexican War, the value of money, and cotton. Circa 1847, the title on one side reads "Circular to the World," and "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives" on the other. Location: Oversized Small Manuscripts 79-2 (1 folder).
J.W. Clapp Collection. J.W. Clapp resided in Holly Springs, Mississippi before the Civil War and afterwards moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Clapp served as a Representative of Marshall County in the 1855 Mississippi legislature; a delegate to the 1861 Mississippi Secession Convention; and as a Representative of the 1st Congressional District of Mississippi in the first Confederate Congress. The collection consists of a handwritten volume containing accounts of Clapp's travels between 1834 through 1892 and includes a description of a "grand Whig rally" in Cumberland Gap in 1840; a contested seat on the circuit court of Holly Springs in 1841; the 1855 Mississippi legislative session; reaction to the 1860 national election; the 1861 state Secession Convention; his service on the Confederate Congress from 1861 through 1865; service as senator in the Tennessee legislature in 1879; attendance at an American Public Health Association conference in 1879; representing the Kansas City Railroad Company to obtain a charter from the Mississippi legislature in 1886; representing Memphis cotton interests opposing a bill introduced by the U.S. Senate in 1888; representing the Kansas City Railroad Company with regards to a bill in the Tennessee legislature in 1889; and serving as a Tennessee delegate to the Executive Committee of the Mississippi River Improvement & Levee Convention in Washington, DC. The second half of the collection is a scrapbook of printed speeches delivered by Clapp between 1840 and 1869, including an 1841 eulogy for William Henry Harrison, an 1844 address before Whigs in Holly Springs on the candidacy of Henry Clay, an 1856 newspaper clipping account of debate in the Mississippi legislature on taxes, an 1858 discourse on John A. Quitman, an 1861 speech before the Mississippi State Convention on ratification of the constitution, an 1863 campaign speech, an 1864 address on the Confederate Congress, and a clipping showing the organization of committees in the first Confederate Congress. Location: Small Manuscripts 78-5 (3 folders).
Clark-Freeman Papers. These papers include correspondence and items related to Cary Freeman Clark, the widow of E.D. Clark (a former law partner of L.Q.C. Lamar). Among these is a photocopy of an undated handwritten letter from Varina Davis, the wife of Jefferson Davis, postmarked New York. Inventory available. Location: Small Manuscripts 76-2 (1 folder).
Judge Alexander M. Clayton Letter. Dated 25 October 1887, Clayton's letter recounts his role in the Provisional Congressional Congress as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and his service as a Confederate District Judge. Clayton served on the Mississippi Supreme Court from 1842 to 1851 and was a delegate to the state secession convention. Transcription available. Location: Small Manuscripts 82-1 (2 folders).
C.E. Colbert Collection. Included in this miscellaneous group of papers is a facsimile of a handwritten letter by statesman Henry Clay dated 13 September 1842 to Jacob Shattan on the goals of the Whig Party (Folder 4). Another item of interest is a map that indicates the spot where the donor's great-grandfather witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (removed to Map Collection, #149). The collection also contains land deeds signed by presidents John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren. Also present are several 1870s letters from out-of-state friends to George W. Campbell, Justice of the Peace in Noxubee County, Mississippi: one discusses Mormonism in Utah; another mentions the Loyal League, Grange, and Good Templar temperance society in Tennessee (Folder 2). Folder 8 contains a partly printed document dated 4 November 1879 certifying the election of G.W. Campbell as Surveyor of Noxubee County. 1 box.
Confederate Currency Collection. Includes Mississippi and Confederate currency issued between 1861 and 1865 (1 box). Also available as part of the Civil War Archive digital collection.
Confederate Government Documents Collection. Documents published by the Confederate government, most notably by the Office of the President, the Department of the Treasury, and Congress. Also includes Statutes at Large, and private laws (6 boxes).
Courier Broadside. Dated 21 March 1876, the "Extra" from this Enterprise, Mississippi newspaper condemns G.M. Massingale, Clarke County's representative in the state legislature, for supporting the removal of the county courthouse to another location despite campaign promises otherwise. Location: Small Manuscripts Oversized Broadsheets & Broadsides (1 folder).
Dancing Rabbit Creek Treaty Broadside. In this 14 November 1835 broadside, George W. Martin (Locating Agent under the Treaty) requests information regarding claims made under the provisions of the government's treaty with the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi. Location: Small Manuscripts Oversized Broadsheets & Broadsides (1 folder).
Daughters of the American Revolution (David Reese Chapter) Collection. This collection contains the correspondence and records of the Oxford, Mississippi chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution from 1897 through 1974. Among the records are material related to legislative lobbying efforts on matters such as child labor and historic preservation. 18 boxes.
Jefferson Davis Address. This address is Confederate President Jefferson Davis's 1861 inaugural address. Location: Small Manuscripts 78-15 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Broadside. This 1865 broadside is entitled "Jeff Pettycoats." Location: Small Manuscripts 78-15 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Broadside. Copyrighted in 1863 by D.C. Johnston, the broadside "The House that Jeff Built" parodies Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy. Location: Oversized Small Manuscripts 79-2 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Broadside. Robert P. McHugh, editor of the Gulfport-Biloxi Daily Herald, is the author of this broadside entitled "Jefferson Davis: An American Patriot," which requests the addition of Jefferson Davis' name to the National Hall of Fame roster. James O. Eastland presented the text in the Senate on 9 June 1971. Location: Small Manuscripts Oversized 95-7 (1 tube).
Jefferson Davis Casement Pamphlet. Early to mid-twentieth century tourism pamphlet by the Committee for the Fort Monroe Museum and the Jefferson Davis Casement is entitled "Visit the Jefferson Davis Casement at Fort Monroe on Old Point Comfort, Virginia." Location: Small Manuscripts 95-1 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Engraving. Engraved portrait of Jefferson Davis is by William Sartain of Philadelphia from a Matthew Brady photograph circa 1859-60. Location: Small Manuscripts Oversized 95-7 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Letter. Photocopied letter from former Confederate President Jefferson Davis to Captain William Delay dated 6 December 1869 and commenting upon the recent election. Location: Small Manuscripts 77-1 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Letter. In this transcript of a letter dated 6 December 1869 from Jefferson Davis to Captain William Delay of Oxford, Mississippi, Davis mentions his reaction to Mississippi's recent state elections in which Republicans won by a large majority. Location: Small Manuscripts 2001-2 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Letter. This 1858 handwritten letter by Samuel C. Burr, Clerk of the Committee, invites the "Board of Directors" to accompany the mayor in meeting with Jefferson Davis during his visit to the [Boston] harbor. Location: Small Manuscripts 78-3 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Letter. In this 1888 letter to N.S. Walker of Staten Island, New York, Jefferson Davis discusses Walker's family, the Davis home on the Gulf Coast, and the health and activities of Davis family members. Location: Small Manuscripts 2005-1 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Letter and Cabinet Photograph. In this letter dated 30 August 1886, Jefferson Davis writes to "Mrs. Kell" regarding an enclosed photograph of himself and the death of his brother-in-laws. Both the letter and the signed cabinet photograph produced by Lowenthal & Co. in New Orleans are mounted together on mat board. Location: Oversized Small Manuscripts (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Letters. These photocopied letters and documents dating from 1866-68 concern the forthcoming federal trial of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis and includes official correspondence with the U.S. Attorney General. [The originals are in the possession of the University of Chicago Library, and permission from that institution is required to make photocopies]. Location: Small Manuscripts 78-5 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Material. This small collection contains two programs for unveilings of Jefferson Davis monuments (1940 in in Montgomery, Alabama and 1964 in Memphis, Tennessee's Confederate Park). It also includes a December 1972 issue of Wisconsin Then and Now with an article entitled "Jefferson Davis: The Wisconsin Years." Location: Small Manuscripts 94-4 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Memorial Ribbon. This file contains a 1966 letter from J.C. Hathorn providing background information on Col. J.J. Williams, the author of the memorial ribbon's obituary text. Williams served in the Mississippi Legislature for at least one term during Reconstruction. The file also contains a copy of the ribbon. Location: Small Manuscripts 96-1 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Poem. Undated poem by DeWolfe entitled "The Capture of Jefferson Davis." Location: Small Manuscripts 78-15 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Speech. This speech by Davis is a reply to one made by Senator Douglas in 1860. Location: Small Manuscripts 78-15 (1 folder).
Jefferson Davis Speech. This speech by Davis is the Confederate Presidential Message of 1864. Location: Small Manuscripts 78-15 (1 folder).
Joseph E. Davis Collection. Joseph E. Davis was the brother of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Box 1 of the collection contains correspondence from Benjamin Montgomery, a former Davis slave and overseer of his master's Hurricane and Briarfield plantations located near Vicksburg, Mississippi. Dating from 1865 to 1870, the collection documents both Montgomery's and Davis's efforts to work with the reconstruction governments and the Freedmen's Bureau. Box 2 contains material related to Joseph Davis's efforts to regain land seized by the government after the war (3 boxes).
Varina Howell Davis Letter. Handwritten letter dated 16 January 1893 from Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis, to Mrs. Gregory, regarding Gregory's manuscript Transcription available. Location: Small Manuscripts 79-7 (2 folders).
Varina Howell Davis Letter. Handwritten letter dated 5 July 1890 from Varina Howell Davis to Colonel Lucius B. Northrop of Charlottesville, Virginia concerning the publication of letters from her husband to Northrop without her permission. Location: Small Manuscripts 88-2 (1 folder).
Charles Dean Collection. The papers of this Holly Springs, Mississippi family includes a copy of the 1854 Laws of the Corporation of the Town of Holly Springs (Box 11, Folder 1). 32 boxes.
Deupree Scrapbook. Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings of articles and letters by J.G. Deupree on Mississippi and Noxubee County topics, including politics. The clippings date from 1865 to 1873 with two articles about Deupree dating from 1917 & 1930. Location: Small Manuscripts 78-1 (1 folder).
Ora Iona Dilley Manuscript. Dated 1984, Ora Iona Dilley's typed manuscript is entitled "Why President Abraham Lincoln Was Assassinated and What Became of John Wilkes Booth." The essay focuses on the possibility that John Wilkes actually escaped and died in Enid, Oklahoma in 1903. Location: Small Manuscripts 85-1 (1 folder).
James E. Edmonds Collection. James E. Edmonds of Rosedale, Mississippi attended the University of Mississippi between 1896 and 1900. His correspondence during this period include discussions of the 1896 national election as well as local reaction to the defeat of William Jennings Bryan and the onset of the Spanish-American War (3 boxes). Selections are available as a digital collection.
Edmondson/Bray/Williams/Stidham Collection. This family collection includes the following: an 183[7] letter from R.W. Edmondson in Pontotoc, Mississippi discussing [Jacob] Thompson and federal court (Box 1, Folder 9); an 1850 letter from Sophia Bridges in Oxford, Mississippi discussing E.C. Walthall (Box 1, Folder 22); & an 1855 letter from M.L. Byee to her son, John Anderson in Austin, Texas, regarding Anderson's attempts to gain a veteran pension and land warrant (Box 1, Folder 27). Another 1855 letter to Anderson mentions Sam Houston and Anderson's land claim (Box 1, Folder 28). A September 1855 letter describes E.C. Walthall's marriage to Sophia Bridges; and a December letter that same year discusses her death ( Box 1, Folder 28). A July 1856 letter from H.C. Williams to Anderson includes political news regarding Congress, campaigns, Seward, Millard Fillmore, and Preston Smith Brook's caning of Charles Sumner (Box 1, Folder 30); a publication entitled Speech of the Hon. J. Patton Anderson on the Indian War in Washington and Oregon (1856) is in Box 1, Folder 30 [as John A. Anderson (one of the major correspondents in the collection) was the brother of J. Patton Anderson, it is possible that the collection contains more correspondence and information regarding this Mississippi legislator, U.S. Marshal for the Territory of Washington, and U.S. Representative from Washington]; an 1856 letter and manuscript discusses the Know-Nothing Party (Box 1, Folder 30); another 1856 letter from Cara A. Buckley in Northhampton, New York to her brother John A. Anderson mentions the area's "Black Republicanism" and abolitionists (Box 1, Folder 30); an 1858 letter expresses fear of Greenbacks (Box 1, Folder 32); and Box 33 contains two circa 1847 albums (one autograph, one poetry) owned by Sophia Bridges (E.C. Walthall's first wife). 43 boxes.
Evans Collection. The collection contains early nineteenth-century documents related to the Mississippi Territory and early statehood including an 1821 letter from William P. Gould to Eden Brashears which discusses Chief Puckshunubee, treaty arrangements with the Choctaws, and John McKee (at times a U.S. agent to the Choctaws and future U.S. Representative from Alabama). 1 box.