Dates: 1940-1976.

Biography:

Mary Chapman Easterling

Mary Chapman Easterling was born near Hermanville, Claiborne County, Mississippi, in 1896. Her father, Edward Brent Chapman (1835-1903), was born in Hinds County, Mississippi, while her mother, Irene Hurlburt Eddins Chapman (1856-1944), was born in Claiborne County. Mary Easterling was one of two children born to the second marriage of Edward Chapman. Educated in the public schools of Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, and at Cumberland University in Tennessee, Mary Easterling found employment for over thirty years as a civilian attorney in the judge advocates office of the United States Army. She was also an adjudicator with the Veterans Administration, and she was stationed in Japan for several years. Easterling was a member of the American Bar Association, the Mississippi State Bar Association, the Hinds County Bar Association, and the International Association of Women Lawyers. She was also a member of the Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church, the Mississippi Genealogical Society, and the Fortnightly Club of Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi.

Wyatt Easterling was born in Newton County, Mississippi, on February 12, 1882. He was the son of Newton County natives Cleanthus Clay and Sarah Frances Caraway Easterling. After Wyatt Easterling completed his education at Meridian High School; Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi; and Cumberland University, he began practicing law in 1908. Easterling later became a senior partner in the Meridian law firm, Easterling, Bailey, and Easterling. He married Mary Chapman in Selma, Alabama, on July 23, 1912. The Easterlings lived in Meridian, and they had one daughter, Irene Frances Easterling, who was born on December 23, 1913. Wyatt Easterling died on June 30, 1928, and Mary Easterling moved to Jackson, Mississippi, several years later, where she engaged in genealogical research from the 1940s to the 1970s, in addition to her career as an attorney. Mary Chapman Easterling died on January 10, 1986.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection includes the correspondence of Mary Chapman Easterling and various friends, relatives, genealogists, and researchers; her research notes; and her documentation of genealogical sources. Most of the correspondence is chronologically arranged, but the Hurlburt family material in series three is in the original order in which it was once bound. Mary Easterling and others annotated much of the correspondence.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence (Easterling Family Research). 1940-1975. 0.54 cubic ft.
 

Box 1 (1940-1969): 

Folder 1 (1940-1959): This folder contains correspondence and postcards concerning the Barton, Brent, Chapman, Easterling, Hurlburt, Rail, and Saunders families. Andrew Jackson Chapman is a principal focus. The Chapman families here represented lived primarily in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Folder 2 (1962-1964): This folder contains correspondence concerning the Brent, Chapman, Gibson, Green, Oglesby, and Ship families. The principal Chapman families in this compilation lived in Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Folder 3 (1965): This folder contains correspondence concerning the Barton, Chapman, Crawford, Gibson, Hurlburt, Kirkpatrick, Powe, Sanders, Sprigg, and Traylor families. It also includes information from genealogist William D. Kizziah. The principal Chapman families here represented lived in Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and in England.

Folder 4 (1967): This folder contains correspondence of genealogist Edythe Whitley with researchers interested in the Chapman families of Tennessee and Virginia and with researchers interested in the Jones family.

Folder 5 (1967): This folder contains correspondence and a copy of Chapman Historical Workbook by Mary Chapman Easterling. The correspondence is primarily concerned with "Big John" Chapman and the Chapman families of Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. There is a small amount of information on the Barton family.

Folder 6 (1969): This folder contains correspondence concerning the Chapman families of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Box 2 (1966-1970): This box contains correspondence concerning the Chapman families of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, with photocopies of original records such as land deeds and wills attached. Also present is a small amount of correspondence concerning the Barton and Easterling family lines.

Box 3 (1971-1975; n.d.): This box contains several undated letters, and there is additional correspondence concerning the Chapman families. The genealogy of "Big John" Chapman was the primary research focus as Mary Easterling pursued a number of different lineal possibilities.


Series 2: Research Notes (Chapman Family). 1964-1976; n.d. 0.33 cubic ft.
These research notes concern the Chapman families of Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. There is also information on the allied families of Allen, Barton, and Jones, and there are a few lineage charts and items of lineage documentation such as wills. Also present is some of the research of genealogist Mrs. Leister Presley of Arkansas. One folder of Arkansas-related research includes notes, occasional correspondence, and copies of a few censuses such as one for Independence County, Arkansas, in 1890.

Box 4


Series 3: Genealogical Research (Hurlburt Family). 1949-1976; n.d. 0.33 cubic ft.
This series includes census information, Daughters of the American Revolution applications, and other genealogical information on Hurlburt-allied lines such as the Foote, Harris, Ross, and Sims families. Also included are research notes and lineage documentation such as land grants, marriage certificates, military records, and pension applications.

Box 5


Series 4: Genealogical Research (Miscellaneous). 1956-1973; n.d. 0.17 cubic ft.
This series includes genealogical research of Mrs. Leister Presley and informative bulletins and publications on various state archives and research organizations. There are also two 1966 Independence County Chronicle (Arkansas) journals and one photograph of unidentified people sitting in a restaurant. One pamphlet entitled "How to Collect, Record, and Compile Material into a Family Genealogy" is also present.

Box 6