Z 2115.000 Aldridge (Francis Marion) Papers, Accretion

Z 2115.000 S
ALDRIDGE (FRANCIS MARION) PAPERS, ACCRETION

Francis Marion Aldridge was born in Russell County, Alabama, on August 9, 1823. He was the son of Lewis Aldridge (1800-1863) and Louisa W. (Collins) Aldridge (1805-1874). The Aldridges moved to Yalobusha County, Mississippi, in 1832. Francis Marion Aldridge attended Georgetown College in Kentucky from 1843 to 1847. He married Elizabeth Minter (1828-1896), who was the daughter of William Minter, around 1848. The Aldridges had at least two children: Francis (Frank) Minter and Lulu. They lived in Grenada, Grenada County, Mississippi, but Francis Marion Aldridge practiced law in nearby Coffeeville, Yalobusha County.

In April and May of 1861, Captain Francis Marion Aldridge helped to organize the Yalobusha Rifles, which was mustered into service in the Confederate army as Company H, Fifteenth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. Captain Aldridge fought at Corinth, Mississippi, and Cumberland Gap, Kentucky. He was killed in the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, on April 6, 1862.

Francis Minter Aldridge was born in Grenada in 1849. He later became a merchant and planter in Leflore County, Mississippi. On November 25, 1875, he married Kate George, who was born in Carrollton, Carroll County, Mississippi, on August 2, 1852. They had seven children: Betty, Francis Minter, Jr., George C., Louis P., Lulu, May L., and Minter Young. Francis Minter Aldridge, Sr., died in Leflore County in 1919.

Lulu Aldridge married Samuel B. Jones, Jr., who owned Deermound Plantation in Leflore County. He was the founder of Minter City, which was named for his daughter, Minter Jones, who later married William G. Somerville, M.D., of Memphis, Tennessee.

This collection consists of black-and-white photographs and an account book pertaining to various members of the Francis Marion Aldridge family.

There are three annotated photographs of the following: Captain Francis Marion Aldridge, Francis Minter Aldridge, and J. M. Aldridge. There are also two tintypes of the following: James Minter and William Minter (?). A photograph of Greenock Church is also present.

The account book is bound and paginated, and the entries are infrequently recorded in the first half of the volume. There are entries for automobile insurance, home furnishings, and "receipts from practice for 1902." The "practice" and its location are never specified, except for a reference to Alabama in a list of investments, liabilities, and rents. Farming expenses, mainly for cotton production, are listed for the years 1936 to 1940. Letterhead inscribed "William G. Somerville, M.D., Exchange Building, Memphis, Tennessee," accompanies the account book.

1. Photographs. n.d. 1 folder.
2. Account Book. 1902; 1925-1927; 1936-1940; n.d. 2 folders.