Dates: 1836-1931

Biography:

William Lewis Sharkey

William Lewis Sharkey, son of Patrick Sharkey, was probably born in Knox County, Tennessee, on August 12, 1798. Sharkey moved with his family, including younger brothers Jacob Rhodes and James Elliott, to Warrenton, Warren County, Mississippi, around 1800. Both of Sharkey’s parents had died by 1813, leaving him to support himself and his brothers by farming.

During the War of 1812, Sharkey enlisted in a Mississippi military unit that participated in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. After the war, Sharkey continued farming and began reading law. He became a member of the Mississippi bar in 1822 and thereafter established a law practice in Vicksburg, Warren County. Sharkey was elected to the Mississippi legislature in 1827 and served until becoming a circuit judge in 1831.

On March 15, 1832, Sharkey married Minerva Steele Wrenn, widow of Belfield Wrenn of Warren County, Mississippi. The couple divided their time between homes in Vicksburg, Warren County, and Jackson, Hinds County. They also spent time at Bogue de Sha, the Hyland family plantation near Yokena, Warren County. Minerva Sharkey had two children from her first marriage: Peterson Goodwin Wrenn (b. June 18, 1823) and Emily (Fannie) Steele Wrenn (b. January 14, 1825), whom William Lewis Sharkey adopted.

Sharkey served as an associate justice (and later as chief justice) of the Mississippi High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 until his resignation in 1850. He briefly served as consul of Havana, Cuba, during the administration of President Millard Fillmore in 1852. Sharkey returned to Jackson and resumed the practice of law before being appointed to an 1854 committee, including William L. Harris and Henry T. Ellett, which was responsible for revising and codifying the laws of the state Mississippi. The resulting work was the Revised Code of the Statute Laws of the State of Mississippi, 1857.

In 1865, Mississippi governor Charles Clark appointed Sharkey and William Yerger as commissioners responsible for proposing a state Reconstruction plan to President Andrew Johnson. After a plan was adopted, President Johnson appointed Sharkey as Mississippi provisional governor on June 13, 1865. He served in that capacity until December 14, 1865. Sharkey was later elected as a United States senator, but the Mississippi congressional delegation was never seated because of the state’s failure to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment and its passage of the Black Codes. William Lewis Sharkey continued practicing law until his death in Washington, D.C., in 1873. He was interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains the correspondence, legal documents, financial records, and printed materials of the Sharkey family of Jackson, Hinds County, and Warren County, Mississippi, and of their relatives, the Hyland family of Warren County, Mississippi, and Morgan City, Louisiana.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1:Correspondence. 1870-1908; n.d. 1 folder.
The correspondence consists of two letters, a partial letter, and four postcards. The first letter is dated 1870 and was written by William Lewis Sharkey to his wife, Minerva, while he was in Washington, D.C. In the letter, he related news of a legal case regarding their cotton. Sharkey also mentioned the imminent arrival of the newly elected congressional delegation from Mississippi. In closing, Sharkey briefly discussed the possibility of obtaining another judgeship in Mississippi. The other letter is undated and was written by attorney Clinton Rice to Minerva Sharkey regarding her war claim. The undated partial letter, probably written by Sharkey from Washington, is to an unnamed woman. In the letter, he responded to criticism of his absence from the city and discussed the federal government’s slowness in adjudicating war claims. The four unsigned postcards date from 1907 and 1908 and were addressed to Charles Augustus Hyland of Morgan City, Louisiana. They depict various locations in Biloxi, Harrison County; Greenwood, Leflore County; and Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi.

Box 1, folder 1

 

Series 2: Legal Documents. 1836-1852. 2 folders.
The legal documents consist of two land indentures of William Lewis Sharkey and a manuscript copy of a resolution of President Andrew Johnson. The 1836 indenture is for two lots in Vicksburg. The 1852 indenture is for a parcel of land that adjoined Hinds County property owned by Sharkey. The 1865 resolution divided Mississippi into three tax-revenue districts.

Box 1, folder 2
Box O/Z/2, folder 8

 

Series 3: Financial Records. 1847-1865. 1 folder.
The financial records include general-store statements, a bill of lading, and a payment order. The general-store statements were kept by Sharkey. The bill of lading is from Sharkey to Alonzo G. Mayers of Brandon, Rankin County. The payment order is from William Steele Hyland of Warren County and is made out to Lieutenant Stewart Eldridge.

Box 1, folder 3

 

Series 4: Printed Materials. 1929-1931. 1 folder.
The printed materials consist of a booklet and a program. The 1929 booklet concerns the cultivation of roses and was published by the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station, Starkville, Oktibbeha County. The 1931 program is from a Vicksburg “Billies” baseball game.

Box 1, folder 4