Dates: 1811 - 1964; n.d.
MDAH only has microfilm. (MF Roll # 36333)

Biography:

The link in the Smith family and Cornelius family was made when William Richard Smith (1832–1906) married a daughter of Ira and Nancy Cornelius, Sarah Ann Cornelius (1822–1893). One of their children, William Ira Smith (1849–1905), became a Methodist minister. He married Esther Jane Lynch (1846–?), and they lived in the Corinth area.

Ira and Esther Jane Smith had several children, including Daisy Smith (1879–197?), Velma Jane Smith (1893–197?), and Charles Galloway Smith (1887–?). All of these children became schoolteachers. Charles Smith attended A&M College in Starkville, and then attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, with the intention of becoming a minister. Smith apparently changed his mind and became a teacher in schools in Tennessee and Kentucky. Velma Smith attended Mississippi Normal College in Hattiesburg.

 
Scope and Content Note:

To be written.

 

Series Identification:
Subgroup 1: Papers of Ira Ellis Cornelius.

Series 1: Journal. c. 1811–1812. 1 volume. 
Manuscript volume in which verses of hymns are written. Of particular interest in the volume are the entries in which Cornelius kept an account of the tremor and aftershocks of the series of earthquakes in 1811–1812 (known as the New Madrid earthquakes). 

Series 2: Deeds. 1832–1858. 9 items. 
The deeds document Cornelius' purchases of land in northern Alabama and Mississippi. Included in the deeds is a transfer of ownership of an enslaved person to Cornelius' son. 

Series 3: (Copy of) Will of Ira Cornelius. n.d. 1 item. 
Manuscript copy of Cornelius' will made by Daisy Smith. The original will was written in 1859.

Series 4: Copy of General Orders relative to uniforms for captains. n.d. 1 item. 
This document is not dated but has the name of Absalom Cornelius on the back. The relationship of the two Corneliuses is not known.

 

Subgroup 2: Papers of William Richard Smith.

Series 5: Correspondence received by William R. Smith. 1870, 1872–1873, n.d. 6 items. 
Three letters from William and Sarah E. Brazier (1870, n.d.) and three letters (1872–1873) from Smith's son, William Ira Smith. The letters are primarily from his son, William Ira Smith, while a student at Andrew College in Trenton, Tennessee. There is one letter after he became a Methodist minister in Mississippi. 

Series 6: Diary of William Richard Smith. n.d. 1 volume. 
Undated diary kept April 11–July 3.

Series 7: Legal Papers of William Richard Smith. 1855–1873 (scattered). 7 items. 
Receipts of payment as executor of the will of Ira Ellis Cornelius (1862, 1866), certification of witness duty (1868), receipt of land purchased for taxes due (1872), patent deed (1873), indenture (1876) and will of William Richard Smith (1855).

 

Subgroup 3: Papers of William Ira Smith.

Series 8: Correspondence received by William Ira Smith. 1867–1905. 20 items. 
Correspondence primarily from William Ira Smith's parents, W. R. and Sarah Smith, and from Methodist ministers. The correspondence (1867–1905) frequently mentions activities of different churches, revivals and news from Ira's family.

Series 9: Will of William Ira Smith. 1904. 1 item.

Series 10: Certificates as minister in Methodist Church. 1869–1876 (scattered). 4 items.

 

Subgroup 4: Papers of Charles Galloway Smith.

Series 11: Correspondence received by Charles G. Smith. 1904–1905, 1907, 1911. 7 items. 
Incoming correspondence in the Charles Galloway Smith papers is primarily from family members to Charles while he was a student at A&M College (c.1904–1907) in Starkville, Mississippi (Mississippi State University). The letters contain news of the family in Corinth. 

Series 12: Diaries. 1925–1926. 2 volumes. 
Diaries kept by Charles G. Smith while a teacher in Byrdstown, Tennessee.

 

Subgroup 5: Papers of Daisy and Velma Smith.

The papers of Daisy and Velma Smith contain letters sent to them while residing at the family home in Corinth. The bulk of the letters were written to Daisy and are from family members, including Charlie and Velma. Included in these papers are teachers' licenses and certificates of Daisy and Velma Smith, tax receipts for land (one poll tax receipt), a souvenir from Price School in Alcorn County, and genealogical notes (probably kept by Daisy Smith).

Series 13: Correspondence received by the Smith household in Corinth. 1903–1940. 61 items. 
Correspondence addressed primarily to Daisy Smith with some addressed to Velma, Esther Jane and others.

Series 14: Teachers' licenses, certificates and contracts of Daisy and Velma Smith. 1900, 1906, 1912, 1934. 5 items.

Series 15: Tax receipts. 1945, 1948, 1960, 1961, 1964. 5 items.

Series 16: Souvenir of Price School. 1904. 1 item. 
Pamphlet entitled "Souvenir" listing students at Price School in 1904. Included in the list is Velma Smith.

Series 17: Genealogical notes. n.d. 1 volume.

Series 18: Miscellaneous correspondence. 1920, 1952, n.d. 3 items. 
Letters received by unidentified person. The final series is miscellaneous correspondence in which the recipient could not be identified.