Z 1366.000
HUMPHREY FAMILY PAPERS

Biography/History:

William Guy Humphrey

William Guy Humphrey was born in New Berlin, New York, on April 6, 1898. At the age of two, his family relocated to Greenwood, Mississippi, where Humphrey would spend the remainder of his life. He served in the Marine Corps during World War I. Humphrey was a graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He later worked in the cotton industry and was an avid genealogist. Humphrey married Emily Woodson Barksdale of Jackson, Mississippi, on August 6, 1925. The couple had two daughters, Alice Woodson Humphrey Wasser Kent of Booneville, Mississippi, and Emily Hawkins Humphrey Davis of Como, Mississippi. William Guy Humphrey died of a heart attack on March 8, 1957.

Emily Barksdale Humphrey

Emily Woodson Barksdale Humphrey was born in Vaiden, Mississippi, on November 13, 1902. She was the daughter of physician and surgeon John Woodson Barksdale and Emily Meade Hawkins Barksdale. Humphrey was salutatorian of All Saints Episcopal School in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and she attended Goucher College in Baltimore and was a graduate of Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus. She lived in Vaiden, Winona, and Greenwood before the Barksdale family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1923. After separating from her husband, Emily Barksdale Humphrey worked for many years as the personnel manager of Kennington's Department Store in Jackson. Humphrey later retired from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 1967. She also wrote articles, essays, and short stories for various publications, including Delta Scene and Mississippi Magazine. Humphrey died of heart failure at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis on March 31, 1998.

Scope and Content:

The bulk of this collection is composed of family papers and records of William Guy Humphrey. Included are deeds and other records related to land and business interests of his family in the New Berlin, New York, area, as well as some personal correspondence. Also included are genealogical records that trace the lineage of the Humphrey and allied families back to the early seventeenth century. Essays and short stories written by Emily Barksdale Humphrey and some photographs and certificates form the balance of the collection.

Series Identification:

  1. Correspondence. 1822; 1837; 1847; 1882-1884; 1887-1888; 1891; 1893; 1898; 1911-1920; 1922; 1924-1925; 1928; 1931; 1933; 1951-1952; 1959; n.d. 4 folders.
  2. Legal Records. 1862-1896; 1903; 1913; 1922; 1931-1932; 1935. 8 folders.
  3. Genealogical Records. 1970; n.d. 4 folders.
      Box 1
  4. Financial Records. 1797; 1805; 1815; 1822; 1837; 1841; 1843; 1845-1850; 1854; 1859; 1870; 1887; 1896-1899; 1904; 1910; 1914; 1926; 1931-1932; n.d. 4 folders.
  5. Photographs. 1886-1887; 1898; 1941; 1951; n.d. 2 folders.
  6. Literary Papers. 1863; 1969; 1972; 1974; n.d. 2 folders.
  7. Social Papers. 1846; 1908; 1923; n.d. 1 folder.
  8. Newsclippings. 1905; 1908; 1916; 1921; 1933; 1936; 1938; 1940-1941; 1957; n.d. 1 folder.
  9. Certificates. 1918-1919. 1 folder.
      Box 2
  10. Oversize Material. 1811; 1918. 2 folders.
      Box 3