Mississippi Estate and Business Records

Collection

Identifier: MSN/EA 3201

Staff Only

Manuscripts of Early National and Antebellum America Digital Project

Go to file

Scope and Contents

The manner in which this group of records came to be assembled is unclear. The better part of the group consists of probate court records from Hinds County, Mississippi, running from the 1830s into the 1880s. Hinds County is located in west-central Mississippi; the county seats are Jackson and Raymond. Two hundred twenty-five of the probate records relate to the settlement of 12 local estates: those of Goodman Bass (3 records), Michael Blake (9), John Cook (12), Joseph Cooper (6), William Demoss (42), Edward Englehard (9), Wilkins Harvey (3), Cynthia Kerr (2), Perry King, Sr. (3), William Mower (22), John Raney (30), and Joseph Spengler (84). The collection also includes miscellaneous financial, business, and probate records from other, often adjoining, counties in Mississippi, as well as a few from Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee. The most significant record group from outside Hinds County is an accumulation of 49 personal and business records (1832-1871) of the Amite County, Mississippi planter Robert Patterson Smiley.

Dates

Creation: 1821-1902
Creation: Majority of material found in 1836-1872

Creator

Mississippi. Probate Court of Hinds County (Person)
Smiley, Robert P. (Robert Patterson), 1815-1877 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Extent

1 Linear foot (2 containers; 355 documents)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

About two-thirds of this collection consists of Hinds County, Mississippi probate records from the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras, pertaining to the settlement of 12 local estates. The remainder includes miscellaneous 19th-century court and business records from elsewhere in Mississippi, and from Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series: 1) Hinds County, Mississippi Probate Records; 2) Miscellaneous Records. Series 1 arranged alphabetically, by decedent. Multiple items per folder.