Z 1873.000
AYRES FAMILY PAPERS



MDAH only has microfilm.

Biography/History

Robert Martin Ayres and Sarah Macrery Ayres were the parents of Anna Milbury Ayres (b. ca. 1845) and John Richardson Ayres (1849–1924), who worked as an agent for the New Orleans cotton factor, John Phelps and Company, and was an Adams County, planter. He married Nellie Henderson (ca. 1859–1951), in 1886. Nellie Henderson Ayres, a published author of children's stories, purchased the Natchez house, Melmont, in 1912, making it the principal residence of her family and her sister, Corinne Henderson, who worked as a private tutor.

John Richardson and Nellie Henderson Ayres were the parents of twins John Henderson Ayres and Robert Martin Ayres (b. 1891); Samuel Newman Ayres (b. 1892), who was primarily responsible for the modernization of the plantation house at Roseland in the 1950s; and Richardson Ayres (1887–ca. 1969), who held degrees in engineering and served as a World War I field artillery major, an Arkansas district highway engineer, a road contractor, and as an oil jobber who settled in Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Richardson Ayres married Laura Archer Davis in 1917. They were the parents of Anna Ayres Packer, Archer Ayres Postlethwaite, John Richardson Ayres, and Josephine Ayres Haxton (b. 1921).

Josephine Ayres married Richard Kenneth Haxton, Jr., of Greenville, Washington County. They are the parents of Mississippi State Representative Ayres Haxton; poet Brooks Haxton; and actor, musician, and writer Richard Haxton. Josephine Ayres Haxton is a novelist who publishes under the pseudonym, Ellen Douglas.

Scope and Content

Series Identification

  • Correspondence. 1809; 1816; 1845–1957; n.d. Primarily the incoming and outgoing correspondence of John Richardson Ayres and Nellie Henderson Ayres spanning the years of their courtship and marriage. The correspondence documents the social history of Natchez and Adams County; life at the plantation, Roseland; the cotton trade of New Orleans; and the activities of Ayres family members. The correspondence also contains references to Haller Nutt family members of Longwood, Natchez. Of additional interest are a January 16, 1809, letter of Dr. Andrew Macrery, Natchez, Mississippi Territory, to George Poindexter, Washington, D.C., and an August 30, 1816, letter of Thomas Martin, Nashville, Tennessee, to Dr. Andrew Macrery, Natchez, Mississippi Territory.
  • Literary Papers. 1826; 1868–1869; 1876; n.d. Literary papers include manuscript, typescript, photocopy, or published versions of seventeen children's short stories written by Nellie Henderson Ayres. Various writings of or relating to Ayres and Macrery family members are also present. They include a devotional poem by Jane Macrery (1826); school essays and exercises of John Richardson Ayres (1868–1869; n.d.); and an extract of an 1876 sermon regarding the Reverend John Macrery.
  • Physician's Record and Plantation Journal. 1818–1819; 1833; 1842–1844; n.d. Physician's record of Dr. Andrew Macrery documenting patient visits and accounts (1818–1819), to which other material has been added, including lists of sermons and scripture (1833; n.d.); lists of supplies (1842–1843); lists of items from the plantation, Roseland; a cotton book (1842–1843); notes on planting (1844); and poetry and remedies (n.d.).
  • Plantation Journals. 1848–1860. Two plantation journals of Robert Martin Ayres. The first journal records cotton production from 1848 to 1853; plantation activities; slave names; and some slave births and deaths. The second journal, associated with the plantation, Roseland, records slave names; cotton production from 1853 to 1860 (except 1855); livestock; and contains clippings and recipes.
  • Household Inventories. n.d. One manuscript inventory and one typescript inventory of household contents, the latter listing items from the plantation, Roseland.
  • List of Cotton Shippers. n.d. List containing the names of and commentary on various planters and firms engaged in the shipment of cotton.
  • Adams County Board of Supervisors Election File. n.d. Manuscript speech and typescript petition (unsigned) nominating John Richardson Ayres as a candidate for election to the Adams County Board of Supervisors, Palestine District, in 1895.
  • Legal Records. 1873–1922. Included are wills (original and photocopy); the marriage certificate of John Richardson Ayres and Nellie Henderson (1886); a building contract; an abstract of title; and a mineral lease.
  • Financial Records. 1805–1947; n.d. Financial records include a statement signed by Dr. Andrew Macrery (1805); a slave valuation (n.d.); invoices; receipts; statements; promissory notes; and a certificate of assay (1911).
  • Mercantile Records. 1837–1845; n.d. Included are a daybook (1837–1840); a ledger (1837–1845), noting accounts receivable and payable, profit and loss, and interest; and an account book (1839–1841) from the general merchandise firm, Cannon and Ayres, Natchez. Also included are two untitled and undated invoice books containing the names of customers in Louisiana and Mississippi.
  • Social Papers. 1881–1919; n.d. Included are greeting cards, invitations, and mementos of social functions.
  • Genealogical Records. 1925; n.d. Included are lists of births and deaths of various members of the Ayres, Macrery, Wallace, Brooks, and allied families.
  • Cemetery Records. n.d. Plats of Ayres, Macrery, Britton, and Winston family burial properties.
  • Photographs. n.d. Included are a carte-de-visite photograph of William Young; a portrait photograph of Anna Ayres and John Ayres; a photograph of the Samuel Brooks Newman coffee urn belonging to the Ayres family; and photographs of a family trip to a mine in Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona.
  • Postcards. n.d. Included is a postcard of Lafayette Square, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Memorabilia. 1829–1954. Included are examples of Mississippi currency (1829; 1839) and Louisiana currency (1861–1862); a Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company ticket (1862); the membership certificate of Samuel Newman Ayres in the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; insurance cards of Ayres family members; a World War I service pin; and a clipping of a Woodrow Wilson portrait.
  • Printed Material. n.d. Included are miscellaneous advertising cards and printed brochures of the Fortune Mining Company, Prescott, Yavapai County.
  • Clippings. 1907–1992; n.d. Included are clippings pertaining to the careers and activities of Ayres and Henderson family members. Also included are clippings documenting World War I events and the involvement of Mississippians in the war.
  • Account Books. 1949–1955. Account books (1949–1955), some kept by Robert Martin Ayres and Samuel Newman Ayres, regarding the management and modernization of the plantation, Roseland.
  • Invoices, Receipts, and Canceled Checks. 1927; 1948–1955; n.d. Included are invoices, receipts, and canceled checks of Robert Martin Ayres and Samuel Newman Ayres. The majority concern routine expenditures from 1948 to 1955, and some document the management and modernization of the plantation, Roseland.
  • Miscellany. 1886; n.d. Lists, notes, and other items of a miscellaneous nature, some of which are in fragmentary form.