Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

In this letter, R. B. Purdom asks Major John Childs about some deposits in favor of Robert Davis that were supposed to have been forwarded to Childs by way of William Bunch and Dr. Frost and then returned (apparently to Purdom) in Huntsville, Alabama. Since they have not been received, Purdom asks Childs to search for them and send them to Davis if they are found.

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection: On February 11, 1867, J. H. Lowenstein and Brothers petitioned the court in Memphis, Tennessee for a mandamus against John Logue, clerk of Shelby County. The wholesale dry goods company had paid their taxes with notes from the Bank of Tennessee, which Logue did not accept and therefore would not reissue the company's business license. Also included is a note from John Donovan, the clerk who transcribed these proceedings; an itemized Bill of Costs for $15; and a stained cover sheet dated...

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection: This transcription documents a series of lawsuits between the Memphis Gaslight Company and the Memphis Gayoso Gas Company between 1867 and 1872. On September 18, 1867, Thompson Dean of New York, principal shareholder in the Memphis Gaslight Company, sued the Memphis Gayoso Gas Company for infringing upon their exclusive right to supply gas to the city. In 1870, Special Chancellor Isham G. Harris heard and dismissed the case. In the same year, the Memphis Gayoso Gas Company sued Thompson Dean...

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

J. Colghborn wrote this letter to Thomas Hickman of Nashville, Tennessee after he returned from a sales trip in order to finalize a land contract between the two men.

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection: These fifteen documents from Davidson County, Tennessee include receipts for whiskey (March 1812) and for cotton (February 1857), bail bonds for John B. West (September 1819) and for John M. Cayce (July 1873), an indenture and a tax bill for Joseph and Robert Woods (1824), promissory notes and notarized demands for payment from W. Hassell Hunt (June 1835) and D.A. Cushman (January 1844), a fire insurance certificate from Mutual Protection Insurance of Nashville (December 1851), and letters...

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

John S. Brien wrote this letter to David Campbell of Franklin, Tennessee, to recover a tract of land in Hickman County for Colonel Richard R. Johnson of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

This document is a fragment of a letter that George Washington Campbell wrote to Andrew Jackson. The first paragraph mentions that William C. C. Claiborne's appointment as governor of the Territory of Orleans (later the state of Louisiana) has not yet been confirmed, and the second lists the managers of the impeachment as Joseph Nicholson, Randolph (which could refer to either John or Thomas Mann), Caesar Rodney, Peter Early, John Boyle, and Roger Nelson.

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection: This manuscript is a nine-page handwritten description of Amelia Bryan's personality based on the theories of phrenology. It includes no illustrations or charts depicting her head but makes numerous predictions about her future behaviors and tendencies. Among its observations are that "she has too much mentality for her vitality, that she will have only a fair amount of conjugal and parental love, and that she has boundless benevolence and practical goodness." She is also "just like her...

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

Robert Kepner wrote this letter to his sisters, Ellen and Mary, while he was stationed at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, during the Civil War. In it, he complains of being ill, thanks them for the books they sent, and informs them that he can buy books for 25 cents or just take them from the "Rebel camps" for free.

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

William Helsley wrote this letter to his wife, Mary (Yancer) Helsley, from Chattanooga, Tennessee between August 6 and 10 of 1864. The majority of the letter is very legible, but the final page is dark purple and therefore difficult to decipher.

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

The bulk of this book lists accounts held by such individuals as Avery Thompson, Luis Johnston, and J.W. Pangle. These records include entries regarding hauling, plowing, thrashing, work histories, and other financial matters. The end of the book contains a ballad entitled "The Home of the Soul" (written for Nancy Johnston by W. O. Ballew) and several pages listing vital information about Columbus Johnston's family.

Scope and Contents Note From the Collection:

This map, sketched on a sheet of notebook paper, shows a plan for a plantation with notes about how many acres are cleared and how many are still in pine, the locations of way roads to Macon and other towns, the railroad to Macon, a likely spot for a mill, and the proposed location of the house. A paragraph at the top of the page extols the spring and the fruit trees.