Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: William N. Whitehurst Papers (Z/0015).
Creator/Collector: William N. Whitehurst and others.
Date(s): 1845-1889.
Size: 2.00 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, 1910.
Provenance: Gift of Jackson Reeves of Lynnville, TN, on March 15, 1909.
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: William N. Whitehurst Papers (Z/0015), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

William N. Whitehurst

William Nicholas Whitehurst was born circa 1822 in Washington of Adams County, Mississippi. He was the son of Elizabeth Whitehurst (-1885), and the husband of Mary E. Whitehurst (1825-). He attended Jefferson College, and later became a trustee, secretary, and librarian for the college. During the June 1850 elections in Adams County, William was appointed an inspector of the general election in district 5, serving the Washington precinct, and he held this role again in August 1855. He also served as Receiver of Public Moneys and Disbursing Agent for the United States at Washington, Mississippi. By 1860, William was working as the Land Office Commissioner. In 1861, he became Receiver of Public Moneys for the State of Mississippi at Washington. He later served as registrar and justice of the peace of Adams County.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of mostly business and personal correspondence and financial papers. Many of the papers pertain to the affairs of the Land Office at Washington. One letter of July 6, 1863, to John Pettus is the resignation of J. G. G. Garrett, Registrar of the Land Office, and of Whitehurst as Receiver of Public Moneys.

Correspondence is arranged chronologically as follows:
Undated, 143 pieces.
1845–1849, 55 pieces.
1850–1859, 757 pieces.
1860–1869, 481 pieces.
1870–1879, 223 pieces.
1880–1889, 111 pieces.

Letters of interest filed in separate folders are as follows:

T. Otis Baker (October 5, 1869).
William Barksdale (February 27, 1855).
Albert G. Brown (12 pieces, 1854–1860).
Hiram Cassedy, Meadville and Brookhaven (11 pieces, 1855–1872).
T. C. Catchings (June 27, 1881).
James R. Chalmers (3 pieces, March 28, April 4, May 28, 1878).
F. L. Claiborne (21 pieces, 1848–1865).
J. F. H. Claiborne (34 pieces, 1858–1883).
M. E. Claiborne, (2 pieces, June 7 and 23, 1863).
Henry S. Van Eaton, Woodville (13 pieces, 1855–1886).
Joseph E. Davis (June 6, 1850).
Lyman C. Draper, Madison, Wisconsin (2 pieces, March 20 and 25, 1871).
John S. Holt, Jr. (March 7, 1855).
Henry Hughes (3 pieces, May 25, August 10, and November 15, 1859).
J. P. T. Ingraham (brother of J. H. Ingraham), Indianapolis, Indiana (2 pieces, May 24 and July 18, 1860).
John R. Lynch (2 pieces, January 10, 1876, and April 12, 1882).
John J. McRae (5 pieces, 1855–1863).
W. B. Norman, Portland, Oregon, and H. Andreas, California (24 pieces, 1867–1872).
John A. Quitman (September 20, 1854).
William L. Sharkey (6 pieces, 1859–1868).
Oscar J. E. Stuart (March 30, 1859).
T. M. Tucker (February 9, 1856).
E. Turner (September 24, 1854).
Levin Wailes (3 pieces, 1871).
Robert J. Walker (July 1, 1847).