Dates: 

Biography/History:

Hugh Craft was born in Maryland about 1800. He was a dry-goods merchant with the firm, Craft and Fort, based in Milledgeville, Georgia. Craft married Mary Elizabeth Pitts of Connecticut about 1820. They had at least nine children, several of whom died very young: Edwin Curtis (b. 1820; d. 1823), Elizabeth (b. & d. 1822), Henry (b. 1822), Martha (b. 1826), Caroline S. (b. 1833), Addison (b. 1835), Heber (b. 1837), Stella (b. 1839), and Helen (b. 1847). Hugh Crafts frequent buying trips took him from Georgia to New York, where he had relatives. During the land rush following the Treaty of Pontotoc (1832) that released the Chickasaw tribal lands of north Mississippi to public settlement, Hugh Craft became a land agent based in Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi. Mary Craft apparently stayed in Georgia until sometime before the birth of her last child, when she and the rest of the family moved to Holly Springs.

Hugh Craft made considerable profits from his new business, accumulating $10,400 worth of real estate by 1850 and $55,000 by 1860. His personal estate was valued at $12,000 in 1860, and that of his wife was valued at $7,500. As the Craft children grew up, most of them became land agents, lawyers, or retail merchants. Henry Craft became a lawyer and a land agent with his father. Addison Craft also became a land agent. Heber Craft owned a bookstore in Holly Springs. Helen Craft married W. A. Anderson, a headmaster of Chalmers Institute in Holly Springs and later at the Holly Springs Public School that was built in 1879.

About 1845, Martha Craft, eldest daughter of Hugh and Mary Craft, married James Fort, a lawyer from Milledgeville, Georgia. They made their home there until 1847, when Fort decided to join his father-in-law as a land agent in Mississippi. For a year, Fort traveled between his various surveying jobs and his home, leaving his wife and their daughter, Mary, in Georgia. Martha Fort and her daughter moved to Holly Springs in 1848.

Hugh Craft built a large house for his family in Holly Springs in 1851. Now called the Craft-Fort-Daniel House, it remained in the family until the 1990s. It is presently a bed-and-breakfast inn.

 

Scope and Content Note:

The Craft-Fort Family Papers are photocopies of approximately 108 items that cover the years 1820 to 1878. The bulk of the collection is personal correspondence among various family members, but there are also many letters from friends. 

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence. 1820-1878. 8 folders.

Subseries 1.1: Martha E. Cheney and Mary Elizabeth Pitts Craft. 1820-1823.

The first group consists of letters between Martha E. Cheney, Coosawhatchie, South Carolina, and her girlhood school friend, Mary Elizabeth Pitts Craft of Milledgeville, Georgia, from the time just before the latter's marriage through the birth of her second child. 

Subseries 1.2: Hugh Craft. 1825-1828.

The second group consists of letters from Hugh Craft to Mary Elizabeth Pitts Craft after their marriage. During frequent trips to purchase goods for his store, Hugh Craft describes travel by stagecoach from Georgia to New York, inquires repeatedly about his wife's "melancholy" and other illnesses, and relays family news. 

Subseries 1.3: James Fort, Martha Craft Fort, and others. 1847-1848; 1852-1871.

Within the third group of letters (folders 3 and 4) are many from James Fort to "Mat" (Martha Craft Fort), describing the rigors of travel by stagecoach, steamboat, railroad, wagon, and horseback as he surveyed the new lands. He also inquires after Martha Craft Forts health and urges her to join him in Holly Springs. His letters also relate details of daily life and special events in Holly Springs. Within this group is one letter from Martha Craft Fort to James Fort and two others from Martha Craft Forts cousins to her. 

Subseries 1.4: Henry Craft, Mary Craft, and others. 1840-1878.

The fourth group of letters (folders 5 and 6), principally addressed to Martha Craft Fort, is written by Henry Craft, Mary Craft, and other family members and friends. 

Subseries 1.5: Miscellaneous Craft and Fort family members and others. 1822-1864.

The last group of miscellaneous correspondence (folders 7 and 8) includes letters from James Fort, Henry Craft, M. E. Cheney, Martha Blount, and Edwin Curtis, addressed to Hugh Craft, Mary Craft, and Martha Craft Fort, among others. 

Series 2: Marriage License and Accompanying Notes. 1847. 1 folder.

The last item is a marriage license for Henry Craft and Lucy Minor Hull; attached notes explain that the marriage did not actually take place.