Manuscripts

History:

The United States Congress passed the Swamplands Act on September 28, 1850. This act authorized states to sell swamplands or overflowed lands within their respective counties or districts. Swamplands needed drainage to make them more suitable for agriculture; overflowed lands needed embankments or levees to prevent flooding. The Mississippi legislature created the office of swamplands commissioner in 1875. This office was responsible for overseeing surveys and sales of swamplands or overflowed lands in the state.

Z 2176.000 S
ELIAS (CHARLES HARRIS) AND FAMILY PAPERS

Dates: 1865-1970.
Folders 8 and 13 are restricted; reference photocopies in folders 7 and 12 must be used instead.

Biography:

Alexander James Postlethwaite

Original is restricted; microfiche copy must be used instead. 

Biography:

Archibald Kirkland Jones

Dates: 1838-1903; n.d.

Box 6 is restricted; typescripts and photocopies in box 1 must be used instead.

Biography:

Daniel O. Williams, M.D.

Dates: 1795-1989.

Biography:

Routh-Williams-Smith Family

The Routh, Williams, and Smith families settled in Adams County, Mississippi, in the late 1700s. Through inheritance, marriage, and purchase, the three families eventually owned extensive plantations in Adams County, Mississippi, and Concordia Parish, Louisiana. All three families were primarily engaged in cotton farming and related enterprises.

Z 2171.000 S
WHITE (JACK HAMMONS II) AND FAMILY PAPERS

William Henry and Mary Ann Nail Hammons of Ain, Grant County, Arkansas, and Shelby, Bolivar County, Mississippi, had several children, including Lula Hammons Gilmer and Lucy Hammons White, who was married to Frank J. White. The Whites settled in Boyle, Bolivar County, where they had at least four children, including Herman, Jack Hammons, and Mary White and Lucille Hammons White Ryle.

Dates: 1893-1971.

Biography:

Cohn Family

Dates: 1844-1909; n.d

Access to diaries in boxes 4 and 5 is by permission of manuscript curator only.

Biography:

Cora E. Watson Carey

Dates: 1976-1987.

Biography:

William A. Pyle

William A. Pyle was a senior partner in the law firm, Pyle, Dreher, Mills, and Dye, P.A., of Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, as of 2002. He was married to Delia (Dee) Loyacono Pyle for twenty-four years prior to her death on February 26, 2000.