Z 0209.003 Percy Family Papers

Biography/History:

LeRoy Percy was born on the Percy plantation in Washington County, Mississippi on November 9, 1860. He was the son of Willliam Alexander and Nancy Armstrong Percy. LeRoy Percy was educated in the private schools of Greenville, Mississippi. He attended the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and received a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1881. In 1883, he returned to Greenville to begin his law practice. In December of 1883, Percy married Camille Generalie Bourges. He practiced law in Greenville until 1910, when he was elected as United States senator to replace Anselm J. McLaurin who died in office. He was defeated for reelection in 1911 by James K. Vardaman. Percy returned to Greenville to practice law and manage his plantation until his death on December 24, 1929.

William Alexander Percy, son of LeRoy Percy, was born on May 14, 1885. He also attended the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and then received a law degree from Harvard University. Percy returned to Greenville to practice law with his father. He also served on the Belgium Relief Commission and in World War I. Percy was a noted author who wrote and published poetry. He was also editor of the Yale Series of Younger Poets from 1926 until 1931. Perhaps his most important work was Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son (1941), an autobiography published shortly before his death on January 21, 1942. Percy never married.

Scope and Content:

The collection has been divided between the papers of LeRoy Percy and the papers of William Alexander Percy. Despite this physical division of the papers, it is difficult to separate much of the material into such distinct areas. Thus, one will often find much documentation on LeRoy Percy in the William Alexander Percy portion and vice-versa. The collection contains thirty series: series one through thirteen comprise the LeRoy Percy portion, and series fourteen through thirty comprise the William Alexander Percy portion. A detailed description of each series appears in Appendix 1.

While a large percentage of the original papers are available for research, a limited number of items have been registered to microfilm viewing due to their fragility or rare nature. In instances where originals have been restricted, a corresponding microfilm roll number is provided. The microfilm edition of the Percy Family Papers was created by the Hill Memorial Library at Louisiana State University prior to their donation to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Due to this fact, the order of the microfilm does not correspond exactly to the finding aid for the originals. If a portion of the microfilm is illegible, curatorial permission is required for access to the original.

Series Identification:

See Appendix 1 for Series Idenfication and Appendix 2 for Box List.