Z 1982.000 Barland (Charles H.) and Family Papers

Charles H. Barland was a cotton planter in Claiborne and Jefferson counties in Mississippi during the nineteenth century. Born in 1812, he was a member of the extended family of William Barland, one of the pioneers of the Natchez District. William Barland was a planter in what later became Adams County, Mississippi. He held three Spanish land grants, one of which included a large portion of the original Natchez town site. Charles H. Barland was married to Talitha A. Nance on December 24, 1839. Their son, Charles A. Barland, was born in 1840. When William Barlands eldest son, Andrew, died shortly before 1850, Charles H. Barland, his sister, Mary Ann Barland Hammett, and an M. (Margaret ?) Barland inherited part of his estate. Talitha Nance Barland also died before 1850. In February of 1854, Charles H. Barland purchased a house and land from Captain Joseph M. Magruder, near Brandywine Springs, a popular health resort in an area of Claiborne County about fifteen miles southeast of Port Gibson. The house had been built in the 1820s by D. D. Irwin. The area later came to be known as Barland, and a small town grew up. Charles H. Barland was appointed postmaster of Pattona in Claiborne County in 1858. He owned thirty head of cattle and twenty-two slaves in 1858 and twenty-five slaves in 1860.

In the late 1850s, Charles A. Barland attended Oakland College in Claiborne County (now the site of Alcorn State University). He joined the Confederate States Army as a private in the Twelfth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, and he served about a year. While Barlands military service record is incomplete, it is believed that he died in the Virginia campaign in the spring of 1862. His cousin from nearby Fayette, also named Charles Barland, joined the Nineteenth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. He also died in Virginia in June of 1862.

Charles H. Barland married his second wife, Mittia (Mittie) Smith, on December 18, 1867. The Barlands had three sons: another named Charles, Andrew who died young, and Edward. Charles H. Barland died between 1877 and 1880.

Scope and Content:

This collection contains papers of the Barland family of Claiborne County, Mississippi, including correspondence, essays, land, legal, and financial records, and printed material. The correspondence is divided into two groups: personal and business. The personal correspondence is primarily addressed to Charles A. Barland from his friends and his cousins from Claiborne, Jefferson, and Warren counties. One cousin is David Barland; most of the other cousins are the children of Mary Ann Barland Hammett, Charles H. Barlands sister. The letters written by his school friends and his cousins during that time relate not only anecdotes about family, studies, parties, dating, and a social fraternity, but also their growing interest in the antebellum war fever building across the region. Other letters describe the organization and training of the various military units the male writers joined. One of the letters from 1860 mentions that the last graduate of Oakland College, a Mr. Garret, was to deliver a Fourth of July speech at the Red Lick community in Jefferson County. One 1872 letter by Mary Ann Barland Hammett to Charles H. Barland remarks on the first examinations at "the colored school at Oakland," the present-day Alcorn State University. The business correspondence is from various in-state and out-of-state cotton brokers and other businessmen to Charles H. Barland. The financial records consist of monetary transactions, accounts for dry goods, and receipts for such items as medical services for family and servants, cotton, and college tuition. Charles H. Barland conducted business in many of the cities and towns near his plantation, including Fayette, Grand Gulf, Natchez, Port Gibson, and Rodney, as well as in New Orleans.

Series Identification:

1. Correspondence (Personal). 1850s-1890s. 6 folders.

2. Correspondence (Business). 1859-1869. 5 folders.
3. Essays. 1850s. 2 folders.

Two essays written by Charles A. Barland while a student at Oakland College.

4. Legal Records. 1824; 1840. 1 folder.

Two orphans court documents for Charles H. and Mary Ann Barland; one warrant for the arrest of Andrew Barland for detaining a female slave.

5. Land Records. 1820s-1830s; n.d. 5 folders.

One plat and several land surveys and deeds.

6. Financial Records. 1840s-1870s; 1890s; n.d. 9 folders.
7. Printed Material. ca. 1860s. 1 folder.