Z 1731.000
COKER (J. E. AND FAMILY) PAPERS
1848 - 1892

Jeremiah E. Coker, born in Virginia in 1823, was a physician and a planter in the area of Livingston, Madison County. He purchased land there in 1859 and acquired more through his wife, Susan G. Hodge, whom he married in 1860. Susan Hodge, born in 1830 in Mississippi, was the daughter of John (?–1835) and Susan (?–1858) Hodge; her sister, Julia A. (1832–1912), married R. J. Goodlow (1830–1912). The census of 1860 shows a little girl, Anna Grave, living with the Cokers. The Cokers had five children of their own, Bessie (1862–1949), Birdie (1863–1885), John (1864?–?), Charles (1868–1933) and Mabel (?). Jeremiah E. Coker died in 1889, his wife, Susan, in 1895.

This collection contains the personal correspondence and the financial papers of Jeremiah E. Coker relating to his medical practice and the running of his plantation in Madison County between 1852 and 1888: notes and receipts for visits and purchase of medical books and medicine including whiskey; letters, receipts and invoices from merchants and dealers from New Orleans and Mississippi cities, notes from neighbors concerning farm affairs. In addition to these papers, some information about the early days of the plantation can be found in a selection of private agreements and certificates and commissions delivered by the state of Mississippi, the federal government and the Confederate and the U. S. armies, including a receipt for two slaves to be used for the fortification of Vicksburg in 1863. After Jeremiah E. Coker's death in 1889, the correspondence of his son, Charles M., contains a number of letters from George H. Harris who was running the plantation affairs from Memphis through his Helena Mercantile Company.

The rest of the papers consist mainly of family correspondence: letters from the Coker children, Bessie, Birdie and John, in college in Hazlehurst and Port Gibson, writing to their parents or to each other about school and asking about home; letters from Bessie when a teacher at Whitworth College and later at Rolling Fork (1885); from John on his job at Rolling Fork (1885). The correspondence contains also letters from collateral families, such as the Goodloes, the Harrises and the Bennetts, and from some schoolmates of the children, including Bessie Rundle of Vicksburg and Goodloe and Bennett cousins. The family letters give an interesting account of life in college, life at Livingstone—farming, hunting, fishing, visiting, their general way of life. The sickness and the death of both cousins Elise Greaves and Birdie Coker in 1885 are a moving example of health conditions at the end of the 19th Century. A special mention should be made of documents on school work including papers written by the Coker children on the subjects of their studies, translations, mathematics material and report cards.

Series:

  1. Correspondence. 1848–1892. 1 linear foot (266 items). Correspondence of Jeremiah E. Coker, wife, Susan G. Hodge, children, Bessie L., Birdie, John H., Charles M. and Mabel, sister-in-law Julia A. Goodlow, arranged alphabetically according to receivers and thereunder chronologically as follows: Bessie L. Coker (1877–1885): Letters from her mother, her cousin Anna Grave, her aunt N. J. Bain from Waterfield (VA), her brother John and her sisters Birdie and Mabel, letters from teachers and friends from school, including Alice A. Coleman (Raymond), Elise Goodloe, Bessie Rundle (Vicksburg), and Lula Champenois (New Orleans), all about home, college, mutual friends and family. Birdie Coker (1884–1885): One letter half finished to her aunt; one letter from her brother John. Charles M. Coker (1889–1891): Letters from brother, John, cousins, C. B. Goodloe (Panther Burn) and G. H. Goodloe (Mansdale); letters from George C. Harris running the plantation from Memphis (operations, fencing, purchases) and asking for weekly reports; letters from college friends, including A. P. Holt (Hazlehurst); in the fall of 1891, letters relating to eventual jobs, including an offer from Ino D. Durrel from Glenmore Plantation and one from James Simrall from the State Building and Loan Association of Jackson. Jeremiah E. Coker (1848–1888): Notes to Dr. Coker for house calls or medicine; letters from cotton factories and commission merchants Coleman, Britton and Wither, Sutton and Powell, and Temple S. Coons and Company, for New Orleans, and from dealers in agricultural implements in New Orleans, Baltimore and Jackson; notes from planters or overseers from the area of Livingstone including P. W. Tucker, Laura Jiggit, George W. Grant, R. W. Lambuth, Richardson, George C. Harris and concerning land transactions, rent, workmen, slave, use of mules, sale of cotton or corn; letters from the children, Bessie, Birdie and John from Whitworth College (Hazlehurst) and Chamberlain-Hunt (Port Gibson) about school, expenses; several related to the New Orleans exhibition of 1885. John H. Coker (1884–1892): Letters from sister Bessie and from schoolmates, including J. A. Bennett. Mabel Coker (1884–1892): Correspondence with brother Charles, with the Goodlow, Mann, Bennett and Harris families and with friends from school. Susan H. Coker (1880–1888): Letters from children Bessie, Birdie and John. Julia A. Goodloe (1883–1892): 2 family letters. Box 1: Bessie L. Coker (1877–1885) ff. 1–6.; Birdie Coker (1884–1885) ff. 7.; Charles M. Coker (1889–1891) ff. 8–16. Box 2: Jeremiah E. Coker (1848–1888) ff. 17–27; John H. Coker (1884–1892) ff. 28; Mabel Coker (1884–1892) ff. 29–33. Box 3: Susan H. Coker (1880–1888) ff. 34–40; Julia A. Goodloe (1883–1892) ff. 41.

  2. Commissions, Certificates, and Receipts. 1859–1873. .25 in. Appointments for overseeing the Livingstone to Jackson Road (1829–1868); summons to appear in court (1873); one military permit for guns (1865); one military permit for returning home (1865); one receipt for two slaves to be used in fortifying Vicksburg (1863); tax receipts (1859). Box 3.

  3. Private Agreements for Statements. 1867; 1874. .2 in. Agreements between J. E. Coker and Buck Harris, Fanny Harris, Jack Anthony, Green and Pompy Davis, Gustavus Johnson, R. Y. Coker and the Clinsey family; statement by S. R. Phillips about the amputation of his leg. Box 3.

  4. Financial papers. 1852–1891. 4 in. One statement concerning heir's shares due to Susan Hodge (1852); receipts for doctor's office rent to J. E. Coker (1852); receipts for various drugs, goods, books; receipts for Miss Susan Hodge (1859); invoices for goods and receipts for bales of cotton from New Orleans (Coleman, Britton and Withers, Sutton, Powell and Huey, J. C. and B. S. Ricks, Thornhill and Co. and J. R. Powell); receipt for 880 dollars for 88 acres in Madison County from James S. Baskin (December 1859); receipts for doctor's visits; receipts for slaves; receipts for cotton and corn; receipts for wages; subscriptions to newspapers; bank deposit receipts. Box 4.

  5. Schoolwork. n.d. 1 in. Arranged alphabetically under the names of the Coker children, Bessie, Birdie, John, and Mabel: essays, translations, mathematics data, French, music, one programme (188l); reports from Whitworth College (1883–1885). Box 5.

  6. Newspaper clippings. n.d. .1 in. Miscellaneous, including two marriage announcements and a scrapbook of clippings from women's magazines. Box 5.

  7. Printed Material. n.d. .5 in. Advertising material from dealers in goods, farming implements and machines, the Central Building and Loan Association and school material. Box 5.

  8. Miscellaneous. n.d. .1 in. One recipe, one calling card. Box 5.