Scope and Content Note:

Letters, speeches, and business, legal, and miscellaneous papers principally of Samuel Mills Meek and of his father-in-law, William R. Cannon, of Columbus. Meek was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on November 11, 1835, graduated from the University of Alabama in 1849, soon came to Columbus to teach school, and was admitted to the bar at Columbus in 1854. In 1856 he married Mary L. Cannon, daughter of William R. Cannon of Oktibbeha County, who served in the House of Representatives from Oktibbeha County in 1846 and in the Senate from Oktibbeha and Chickasaw counties in 1848 and 1850. Meek was elected district attorney of the sixth district in 1858 and re-elected in 1862 and served in the Senate from Lowndes County during the term 1900–1904. He served as first lieutenant in Company C and as lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Regiment of Mississippi Infantry, Army of Ten Thousand; as first lieutenant and captain of Company H, Thirty-fifth Regiment of Mississippi Infantry, C.S.A.; and as captain of Company D and lieutenant colonel of the First Regiment of Mississippi Infantry, State Troops.

Many of the papers from 1856 to 1858 pertain to Cannon's Masonic business as grand master of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. Most of the letters are those which passed between Meek and his wife, Cannon and his wife, Mrs. Eliza Jane Cannon, and relatives. Among the early letters are a few from A. B. Meek. Some of the business papers pertain to the firms of "Simpson, Cannon & Co., Dealers in Fancy and Staple Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots and Shoes, Hardware, Crockery, Woodware, etc, " and its successor, "Simpson, Cannon & Merritt" of Columbus, during the years 1859–1862. These papers are distributed by dates as follows:

  • n.d., 115
  • 1839, 1
  • 1840–1849, 23
  • 1850–1859, 393
  • 1860–1865, 161
  • 1866–1869, 19
  • 1870–1879, 28
  • 1880–1889, 21
  • 1890–1899, 27
  • 1900–1901, 24
  • 1908, 1
  • 1924, 2

The twenty-seven volumes are as follows:

  1. "Private Diary of S. M. Meek of Columbus, Miss., for October, November and December, 1894," pp. 84, 20 by 28 cm.
  2. Volume of "Speeches of the Students of the I.O.O.F. Collegiate High School, July, 1854," pp. 52, 21.5 by 36 cm., and twenty-five addresses by Samuel M. Meek
  3. "Address before the Odd Fellows Collegiate High School at Columbus, Miss.," n.d., pp. 44, 20 by 25 cm.
  4. "The South and Her Literature," n.d., pp. 11, 20 by 25 cm.
  5. Address to "Ladies, Gentlemen and Knights of the Tourney," n.d., pp. 17, 20 by 25 cm.
  6. Address to "Sir Knights," n.d., pp. 11, 20 by 25.5 cm.
  7. Address to "Citizens and Soldiers," n.d., pp. 51, 19.5 by 24.5 cm.
  8. Address, n.d., pp. 2–17, 20 by 25 cm.
  9. Masonic address, n.d., pp. 32, 21 by 35.5 cm.
  10. Masonic address, n.d., pp. 41, 20 by 25 cm.
  11. Masonic address, n.d., pp. 32, 21 by 27 cm.
  12. "Non-intervention vs. Louis Kossuth and Intervention, Kossuth vs. the World, March, 1852," pp. 23, 18.5 by 24.5 cm.
  13. "Valedictory" to the Odd Fellows Collegiate High School, 1854, pp. 25, 19.5 by 25 cm.
  14. "Quamvis Velata Veritas, I.O.O.F., April 26, 1854," pp. 60, 19 by 24 cm.
  15. "Quamvis Velata Veritas, Masonry Is Progressive: An Address before Abert Lodge, Starkville, Mississippi, Upon the Anniversary of St. John the Baptist, June 23rd, 1855," pp. 27, 21.5 by 25.5 cm.
  16. Address on July 4, 1855, pp. 32, 19.5 by 25 cm.
  17. "Woman—Her Characteristics: An Address Delivered at Pickinsville, Alabama, July 26, 1855," pp. 35, 20 by 25.5 cm.
  18. "Quamvis Velata Veritas! Masonry Progressive: An Address Delivered before Columbus Lodge No. 5 and Lowndes No. 114 on the Anniversary of St. John the Baptist, June 24th, 1856, at Columbus, Mississippi," pp. 67, 20 by 25 cm.
  19. Masonic address, June 7, 1858, pp. 48, 16.5 by 20 cm.
  20. "Woman and Her Mission: An Address Delivered at the Commencement of the Tibbee Female Institute, Lowndes County, Mississippi, June 15, 1866," pp. 27, 20.5 by 24 cm.
  21. Address before the "Literary Societies of the University of Mississippi," 1878, pp. 62, 16.5 by 21 cm.
  22. Address before the "Philotecnic Society of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi," April 18, 1882, pp. 36, 17 by 21 cm.
  23. "Address delivered at Streator, Illinois, July 4, 1888," pp. 48, 20 by 25 cm.
  24. "Oration Delivered at the Reunion of the Survivors of the 35th Miss. Regt., Volunteers of the Army of the Confederate States, at West Point, Clay Co., Miss., July 10th, 1891," pp. 21, 21.5 by 35.5 cm.
  25. Address delivered before a reunion of Confederate veterans, Corinth, July 14, 1894, pp. 6, 21.5 by 35.5 cm.
  26. "Address before the 'Stock Breeders Association of Lowndes County' Delivered at a Barbecue, at Mayhew, Lowndes County, Mississippi, September the 24th, 1895," pp. 22, 21.5 by 36 cm.
  27. Address delivered at the Buena Vista Female College, Chickasaw County, June 15, 1896 (originally an "Address Delivered at Franklin Female College, Holly Springs, Mississippi, June 8th, 1887, pp. 50, 17.5 by 21 cm.