Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Anonymous Legal Notebooks (Z/0025).
Creator/Collector: Anonymous.
Date(s): No date.
Size: 0.10 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, unknown year.
Provenance: Gift of unknown donor.
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: Anonymous Legal Notebooks (Z/0025), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Scope and Content Note:

Scope and Content Note to be completed at a later date.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Volume No. 1, Anonymous Legal Notes. 1821-1831.

Volume No. 1 (351 pages, 14 x 21 1/2 cm.) is entitled Anonymous Legal Notes. Possible authors are William W. Wyolle and "J. B. C. L.," whose signatures can be found in the front of the volumes. Many of the cases discussed took place in Obion and Davidson counties, Tennessee, and Perry County, Mississippi. Approximate dates are 1821-1831.

Besides many prominent lawyers of Tennessee mentioned, the following names can also be found: George S. Yerger (pp. 308, 33l, 339); Andrew Johnson (pp. 275-276); Judge Joshua Haskell (p. 273).

The following are subjects covered frequently in the notebook: References to British law; Biblical quotations used in court; Claims and other civil suits; Deeds and contracts. 

More specific entries are:

  • Slave trade (pp. 1-2, 46-49, 53-58, 108-112, 159, 175–177, 209-210).
  • The federal court of Philadelphia (p. 17).
  • Treatment of enslaved persons (pp. 42, 276-277).
  • Inheritance (pp. 53-58, 67-72, 120-124, 136-137, 325, 330).
  • Murder (pp. 85-90, 211-213).
  • Ejectment (pp. 125-131).
  • Insanity pleas (pp. 239, 255, 331).
  • Impeachment of Joshua Haskell (p. 273).

Series 2: Volume No. 2, Anonymous Legal Notes. 1856; n.d.

Volume No. 2 (257 pages; 15 x 23 cm.) is dated 1856 in some places within the content. Several cases recorded were located in Oktibbeha County and Lowndes County. There are references to British law, to Biblical quotations used in court and to civil suits. 

Specific subject entries include the following:

  • Treatment of enslaved persons (pp. 13-17, 39, 45, 84-88, 90).
  • Rights of an overseer (pp. 45-47).
  • Murder (pp. 22, 110-112, 116, 212).
  • Slave trade (pp. 30-31, 51-53, 61, 150, 242).
  • Written and oral agreements (pp. 25-29, 158-159).
  • Laws related to steamboat travel.
  • Parental responsibility (pp. 119-122).
  • Inheritance (pp. 138-141, 225).
  • Witness testimony (pp. 176-180).
  • Replevin (pp. 126-193, 202-203, 232-234, 236-239).
  • One loose item, part of a will by the wife of John Cross (father of C. Cross and John Cross).