Z 0287.000 Stuart (Oscar J. E.) and Family Papers

Two hundred four letters, four diaries, and four broadsides concerning the family and connections of Colonel Oscar J. E. Stuart, lawyer of Summit, Pike County. One hundred fifteen letters (1861–1865) cover the period of the Civil War, and are from James Hardeman Stuart, who served in the Confederate Signal Corps; Oscar E. Stuart; and Edward Stuart. These young men, sons of Colonel Oscar J. E. Stuart, attended the University of Mississippi before the Civil War. Oscar E. and Edward served in the 18th Mississippi Regiment, CSA.

Some letters are addressed to Colonel Oscar J. E. Stuart, who was stationed at Summit in charge of home military affairs during the Civil War. The letters pertain to conditions during that period and during Reconstruction. One of the letters is from A. G. Brown, two are from Major Isaac Sherck, and two are from H. Cassidy. Their letters are to various members of the family, including their father, their aunt, Ann L. Hardeman, and their sisters, Adelaide, Bettie, and Annie Elizabeth. Four diaries (1850–1862) kept by Ann L. Hardeman reflect the troubled times in which they were written. Letters from Colonel Oscar J. E. Stuart to his sons-in-law, John Dimitry, who married Adelaide L. Stuart, and Robert B. Mayes, who married Annie E. Stuart, during the Reconstruction period, are of considerable interest.

Two interesting broadsides include one issued by Central Mississippi Female College, in 1867, where Miss A. L. Stuart was listed as a member of "the corps of teacher," and an advertisement issued by Colonel Oscar J. E. Stuart in 1860, announcing the establishment of a factory for the manufacture of double cotton scrapers at Summit.

James Hardeman Stuart and Oscar E. Stuart were killed in battle during the Civil War. Adelaide Stuart married John Dimitry, writer, who taught at the Colegio Caldas, United States of Colombia, South America, for a time, and who lived in Yazoo City. Annie Elizabeth married Hon. Robert N. Mayes, probate judge of Yazoo County in 1855–1858 and later from 1863 to 1867. In 1871, Colonel Oscar J. E. Stuart removed to Kentucky to escape the excesses of Reconstruction in Mississippi.