Dates: 1838-1849; n.d.

Biography:

Levin Wailes

Levin Wailes was born in Prince George's County, Maryland, on March 9, 1768, to Benjamin and Sarah Howard Wailes. At seventeen, Wailes made two voyages to England on a ship belonging to his uncle, Captain James T. Magruder. Wailes later became principal clerk under his brother Edward Lloyd Wailes, sheriff of Prince George's County, Maryland. He served his brother in the capacity of a deputy and assisted him in conducting the first presidential election of 1787. Wailes also studied law in the library of jurist William Kilty. Wailes married Eleanor Davies of Prince George's County, Maryland, on October 28, 1796. They were the parents of nine children including naturalist Benjamin Leonard Covington Wailes.

Levin Wailes and several of his family members later moved to Georgia where Wailes had received a position as an agent for Robert Morris, a wealthy land speculator and a financier of the American Revolution. After the collapse of Morris' financial empire, Wailes briefly operated a flour mill before undertaking a career as a land surveyor. Wailes moved his family toWashington, Mississippi Territory, in 1807. In 1808 Wailes was again employed as a land surveyor. His first major commission was to survey the northern boundary of the Choctaw lands ceded by the Treaty of Mount Dexter in 1805. The boundary line was not completed until 1810. Wailes was later appointed registrar of the federal land office at Opelousas, Louisiana Territory, from 1810 to 1822. Wailes returned to the Natchez district in 1822 to assume the duties of surveyor general of public lands south of Tennessee. Levin Wailes died on May 24, 1847, at Meadville, the home of his son, B. L. C. Wailes.

Ellen (Nellie) Wailes Brandon

Ellen (Nellie) Wailes Brandon was born to Levin Covington and Anna Harper Wailes on June 22, 1864, at Meadville, Washington, Adams County, Mississippi. Her paternal grandfather was planter, geologist, naturalist, historian, and diarist Benjamin Leonard Covington Wailes. Brandon grew up on the Wailes family plantation, Fonsylvania, located in Warren County. She later lived in Natchez, where she was an active member of the Trinity Episcopal Church, the Natchez Garden Club, and the Natchez Historical Society. She was married to Charles G. Brandon, grandson of Mississippi Governor Gerard C. Brandon. After the death of her husband, Brandon left Natchez and moved to Atlanta, where she shared a home with her sister, Susie Wailes, and her sister's friend, Maude Eberhardt. She died in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 7, 1959.

 

Scope and Content Note:

The collection was apparently assembled by Mrs. C. S. Wailes of Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. It consists of two photocopied typescripts, four land indentures, and genealogical information.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Typescripts. n.d. 2 folders.

Both of the photocopied typescripts are incomplete. One is of a Levin Wailes notebook, dated 1809, that he apparently kept while surveying the Choctaw lands included in the Treaty of Mount Dexter (1805). The other typescript is undated and is a history of Washington County, Mississippi, written by Ellen (Nellie) Wailes Brandon.

Box 1, folders 1-2

 

Series 2: Land Indentures. 1814-1840. 1 folder.

The four Adams County, Mississippi, land indentures date between 1814 and 1840. The 1814 indenture is between seller Charles Miles of Natchez and purchaser Philip Hoggat of Adams County, Mississippi. There is an 1829 indenture that details a sale of a land tract from Davis Cooper, serving as an administrator for the estate of Ferdinand L. Claiborne, to John Hoggat. The two 1840 indentures concern land tracts that were a part of the John Weast estate. Both tracts were purchased by Presley Davenport from Andrew J. Weast and his brother and sister-in-law, George W. and Caroline M. Weast.

Box 2, folder 1

 

Series 3: Genealogical Information. ca. 1874; 1902. 2 folders.

The genealogical information consists of a family record and a marriage license. The family record, circa 1874, gives birth and death information for the immediate family of J. T. Burns, Sr. The 1902 marriage license is for Samuel L. Nesbitt and Mollie M. Marsh of Effingham County, Georgia.

Box 1, folder 3
Box 2, folder 2