Dates: 1859-1920.

Biography/History:

In 1850, three Mississippi businessmen, C. S. Tarpley, J. D. B. DeBow, and James Bribble, met in Monticello to discuss the possibility of establishing a railroad from southwest Mississippi to Jackson. The first meeting was a complete failure; however, in 1851, a second meeting concluded with an agreement with the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana to establish a railroad.

With the success of the latter meeting, James Robb, a wealthy banker from New Orleans, began working to establish a railroad company to provide service from New Orleans, through Louisiana and Mississippi, and into Tennessee. The resulting New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad connected New Orleans with the rest of the nation before the Civil War.

Although the railroad company suffered from internal administrative strife, disputes between Louisiana and Mississippi, and the Civil War, it survived from 1851 to 1874, when it merged with the Mississippi Central Railroad to form the New Orleans, St. Louis, and Chicago Railroad.

Scope and Content:

This collection contains three items. The first is a letter from William Priestly, postmaster of Canton, Mississippi, to John Calhoun, president of the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad Company. The purpose of the letter is to register a grievance with the railroad company. The next is a printed form letter from J. R. Dowell, superintendent of U.S. Telegraph Company, to all the railroads explaining a telegraph upgrade. The last item is a canceled check payable to R. L. Fulton by the Illinois Central Railroad Company.

Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence. 1859; 1865. 0.10 c.f.

Series 2: Check. 1920. 0.10 c.f.