Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Simeon Roe Adams and Family Papers (Z/0006)
Creator/Collector: Simeon Roe Adams and others.
Date(s): 1842 - 1875; n.d.
Size: 0.30 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH Staff, 1951; Reprocessed, September 1981; Redescribed by Laura Heller, 2023.
Provenance: Gift of Jacqueline H. Wright of Berkley, CA, on July 20, 1950.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Simeon Roe Adams and Family Papers (Z/0006), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

Simeon Roe Adams

Simeon Roe Adams was born October 8, 1812, and died April 3, 1860. His business transactions carried him to almost all of the southern states. He was editor of the Eastern Clarion in Paulding. His son, William Joseph Adams, also a journalist, was associated with the Times Picayune of New Orleans and served as editor of the Enterprise Journal in Enterprise. Another son, Charles Rufus Adams, attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and later fought in the Confederate Army.

 

Scope and Content Note:

The bulk of the collection contains correspondence between family members of the Adams family. There is a large amount of correspondence from Simeon Roe Adams to his wife, Isabella. Other family correspondence includes letters of William Rufus Adams (brother of Simeon Roe) and letters of Simeon Roe Adams' sons: Charles Rufus Adams, William Joseph Adams, Francis Erwin Adams, Simeon Roe Adams, Jr., and Henry Pickney Adams.

References by Charles Rufus Adams to the Civil War can be found in folders 1 and 6. References to the yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans, a steamboat fire in New Orleans in 1871, and reports on economic conditions in New Orleans during reconstruction can be found in the family letters. In the letters written by Adams to Isabella, he reports on his frequent business trips selling advertising in the Eastern Clarion.

Business correspondence includes three letters from W.B. Heathcock about "Jim," apparently a formerly enslaved person of the Adams family.  Other correspondence in the collection includes two letters from John J. McRae of Enterprise and Belmont, Mississippi (February 3, 1858, and May 1, 1860); one letter from Albert G. Brown of Washington, D.C. (March 29, 1858); one letter from Thomas R. Govan of Westville, Mississippi, (April 14, 1860); and an offer to purchase the Eastern Clarion from Isabella Adams after the death of Simeon Roe, written by J. J. Shannon (May 15, 1860). There are numerous letters of sympathy written to Isabella after the death of her husband. The correspondence is arranged chronologically.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence. 1842-1863; 1866-1867; 1869-1875; n.d. 110 items.

Most of the correspondence is from Simeon Roe Adams to his wife, Isabella. There are also letters of William Rufus Adams, Charles Rufus Adams, William Joseph Adams, Francis Erwin Adams, Simeon Roe Adams, Jr., and Henry Pickney Adams. Other correspondence in the collection includes two letters from John J. McRae (February 3, 1858, and May 1, 1860); one letter from A. G. Brown (March 29, 1858), and one letter from Thomas R. Govan of Westville, Simpson County (April 14, 1860). Of interest is an offer to purchase the Eastern Clarion from Isabella Adams after the death of Simeon Roe, written by J. J. Shannon (May 15, 1860). There are numerous letters of sympathy written to Isabella after the death of her husband. The correspondence is arranged chronologically.

Box 1, folders 1-8

 

Series 2: Calling cards. n.d. 15 items.
Box 1, folder 9

Series 3: Tax receipt. 1872. 1 item.  
Box 1, folder 10

Series 4: Summerville Institute business card. n.d. 1 item.  
Box 1, folder 11

 

Box List:

Box 1 
Folder 1: Correspondence, 1842–January 1859. 10 items. 
Folder 2: Correspondence, June–September 1859. 18 items.
Folder 3: Correspondence, November–December 1859. 13 items.
Folder 4: Correspondence, 1860. 19 items.
Folder 5: Correspondence, 1861–1863, 1866. 12 items.
Folder 6: Correspondence, 1867, 1869–1871. 14 items.
Folder 7: Correspondence, 1872–1875. 12 items.
Folder 8: Correspondence, n.d. 12 items.
Folder 9: Calling cards. n.d. 15 items. 
Folder 10: Tax receipt. 1872. 1 item.
Folder 11: Summerville Institute business card. n.d. 1 item.