18 November 1867

Gibson, Randall Lee, 1832-1892

Autograph letter signed

Title: [to his sister Sarah Gibson]

Recipient inferred from content. He and Hart are going to the city to try to earn money, so the family must keep their hopes up and economize. Father cannot take Loula at the present time. He asks Sarah to send several of his old photographs to Miss Mary E. Montgomery (Randall's future wife) in Tremont, New York.

GLC04501.036

28 December 1867

Gibson, Randall Lee, 1832-1892

Autograph letter signed

Title: [to his sister Sarah Gibson Humphreys]

He is going to Live Oak plantation and make plans with Tobias for next year. He hopes things will be better and plans to go to New York in January. Randall Gibson married Mary Montgomery in New York on 1/25/1868. Written on "Gibson & Austin, Attorneys at Law" letterhead from Randall Lee Gibson's law office.

GLC04501.037

2 August 1866

Mosher, H.K., fl. 1861-1866

Printed document signed

Title: Notice of enrollment

Notice of enrollment informing Tillotson that he is "liable to military duty" unless he submit proof of exemption.

GLC04558.203

1861-1865

McSherry, Anna, 1833-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry F. McSherry [incomplete]

Written by Anna to her brother Henry. Updates him on friends and family. Says this will be the last letter he sends to Batavia, as he said he would leave in November. Will send next to China. Says their father will sell $1,000 of stock and sell Noble Tabb's house because the taxes are too much. Tells him "there is not so much business since the war. Mr Donnet(?) told Pa he had made a mistake in bringing such a stock of wines." Makes a reference to the citizenship oath in West Virginia. Letter ends mid-sentence on page 2. Unsigned, but creator inferred from content.

GLC03523.21.48

2 April 1864

Ward, Edward K., 1837-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister

Written from camp near Dalton, Georgia. Complains about not getting any correspondence from his family. Comments on the "abolitionizing" of his hometown. Chides his sister for associating with "blue coats" and abolitionists and advises her not to flaunt her associations as some people will hate her for it. He writes: I would rather see you fight open and above board against our cause than cloak your enmity under the treacherous disguise of reconstructionist." (As an individual state, Tennessee had entered its reconstruction period before the end of the Civil War). Discusses…

GLC02232.30

1865

United States War Department

Book

Title: General Orders

Printed by Government Printing Office. General Orders for 1865, but published in 1866.

GLC08646.07

circa 1868

Broadside

Title: [KKK broadside]

"KKK" surrounding large crude woodcut of coffin under skull and crossbones. "The Trial Is At Hand! / The appointed day and hour will soon come!! Fail not-& if thou dost-**** / At night when the clock strikes **…[inserted in Ms: "the Stars Means to night 7 o clock"] be ye faithful unto your trust- nor wind, nor hail, nor rain, nor storm, nor conscience, nor craven fear, shall excuse. / Dost Hear! Dost Heed! / Thus now do I call, and yet Once Again, and if ye heed not*****-***- / K.X.R.T.E.H.Y. / Cyclopean, Seeretary [sic]. / By order of the Grand Cyclops!!" Ryland Randolph, editor of…

GLC09386

12 October 1875

Manuscript document

Title: [Case history of the lawsuit over the "Mississippi Plan of 1875"]

Case history of a lawsuit over the "Mississippi Plan of 1875" brought against Gov. Adelbert Ames to prevent him from organizing two companies of "Colored Militia" to protect blacks during the 1875 election. The lawsuit charged that such "Troops kept in peace, in the fear or apprehension that a riot or insurrection will occur, or that the laws will be obstructed, are but a standing army" and thus illegal. The lawsuit was successful, and the Election Day violence was the worst in American history. Blacks were prevented from voting, effectively ending Reconstruction in Mississippi. Seven…

GLC09388

1869-1890

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898

Header Record

Title: [Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate] [Decimalized .001- .660]

Over 600 letters and documents received by the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate. Born into slavery, Bruce was elected by Mississippi and served from 1875 to 1881. Includes over 100 letters seeking appointments, political favors, etc.; several House Bills regarding the Mississippi River Improvement Commission; a broadside by James Redpath outlining "A Policy For the Blacks-Letter to a Colored Mississippian-The Present Policy Discussed;" and letters regarding crimes and incidents of a racial nature.

GLC09400

21 August 1865

Bryan, L.W., fl. 1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: [Letter about avoiding conscription...]

Leon County, Texas man writes about avoiding conscription and slaves being told of their freedom. "When I reached Palestine [Texas] last July a year ago, the conscript officer of that place notified me to take my place in the army or he should instantly conscript me…Hundreds of white men here are continually talking to negroes about there being free and fools to work for their former owners...the negro will never work for pay as he would through fear of the lash…"

GLC09411

1878

Wells, James M., fl. 1878

Book

Title: The Chisolm Massacre: A Picture of "Home Rule" in Mississippi

The Chisolm Massacre: A Picture of "Home Rule" in Mississippi. 2nd edition, published by the Chisolm Monument Association. In 1877, Judge Chisolm was accused of assassinating a Democratic political opponent. He, his son and daughter and two friends were killed by a 300-strong mob reported to be the Ku Klux Klan. No one was punished for the murders.

GLC09304

3 January 1867

Ramsey, Alexander, 1815-1903

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Dr. J.J. Wardlaw

Former Alabama slave owner comments on Reconstruction: "There will be in this country great distress and destitution; hundreds of men who were in good circumstances before the war are completely ruined. Suing and being sued is the order of the day.…And what the Radicals will do, can only be judged of by their former acts, and propositions now in their Congress. I believe they intend to give us a Territorial government, and place the negro over us in point of privilege. I hope however the good Lord may intervene and thwart their designs."

GLC09311

15 July 1865

Van Wyck, C.H., fl. 1865

Broadside

Title: General Orders No, 3

Brig. Gen. commanding Military District of Western South Carolina during the Southern Occupation period, orders equal rights for the newly freed black population. Recounts incidents of abuse of freedmen and threatens punishment if such acts continue: "Like offences will be severely punished some very wicked men by disregarding the rights of the freedmen render necessary the presence of military power to prevent that which they ought not do however obnoxious it may be, every man is free and must be treated as such you cannot expect the sudden change in your system of labor to work smoothly."

GLC09325

29 May 1865

Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Printed document

Title: [Amnesty Proclamation]

Circular issued by the Department of State, signed in type by William H. Seward as Secretary of State: "A copy of the President's Amnesty Proclamation of this date is herewith appended. By a clause in the instrument, the Secretary of State is directed to establish rules and regulations for administering and recording the amnesty oath, so as to insure its benefits to the people and guard the Government against fraud,"

GLC09326.01

1866-1868

Woodward, York A., fl. 1866-1868

Header Record

Title: [Collection of York Woodward] [Decimalized .01- .18]

15 letters written by a Freedman's Bureau Superintendent, from January 1866 to February 1868. Many are from Abingdon, VA, and reveal the personal responses and official actions of a Pennsylvania veteran who served throughout the Occupied South as a government agent. "Our court met and adjourned till 2 o'clock we disposed of 4 cases I am yet Monarch of all I survey. The folks pass me by on the other side of the way, but if they have any trouble. I am the one they apply to the farmers have been plowing nearly all the week; it looks strange to see people at their farms work in the month of Jan…

GLC09327

1867-1869

Thompson, Samuel K., fl. 1867-1869

Diary

Title: [Diary of Samuel K. Thompson]

Officer diary of a Civil War veteran who had served as lieutenant in the 54th U.S. Colored Infantry during the war. The three diaries were written during service in one of four "buffalo soldier" regiments created after the war, comprising African-American volunteers and white commissioned officers, to occupy the South during Reconstruction and to man frontier forts on the Plains. Each diary includes additional notes and small newspaper clippings and a copy of his will (written April 1867). They provide great insight into the early history of one of the most celebrated "colored" regiments of…

GLC09357

22 August 1871

Autograph letter signed

Title: to her cousin

Alabama woman writes to her cousin in Michigan about family news and her mother's illness, and how life has changed since Emancipation: "It does not seem possible that I could go through the same amount of labor and endure the anxiety and suspense of the past two months again. But one has not the most distant idea of what they can perform until circumstances forces them to exertion. Until our servants were freed, I was considered entirely too delicate to perform any kind of household work. And had any one told me that I could, or would in a few years, perform the entire work that was then…

GLC09375

25 July 1865

Fendall, Philip Richard II, 1794-1868

Autograph letter

Title: to James R.Y. Fendall

Discusses the possibility of James taking an appointment with the Post Office in New Orleans, but mentions that he would have to take an oath of allegiance to the United States, as recently mandated by Congress. Also mentions the provisional Governorship of William L. Sharkey in Mississippi.

GLC03135.11.06

3 September 1865

Fendall, James Robert Young, fl. 1838-1867

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Philip R. Fendall

Discusses the obvious impossibility of his taking an oath swearing that he did not help or support the Southern troops during the war. Argues that he knows many people who have received appointments and must not have taken the oath. Reiterates his desire for his father's help in obtaining work. Mentions matters of local politics and refers to Albert Gallatin Brown and Governor William L. Sharkey.

GLC03135.11.07

27 May 1866

Johnston, Witter H., fl. 1861-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Miss Dora Johnston

He describes his day, first stopping at the Falls for over four hours, then meeting, Mr. Kellog's in Jackson. He is sorry he did not see Hattie. Cousin Theodore died.

GLC02167.48

circa May 14, 1866

Johnston, Witter H., fl. 1861-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Miss Dora Johnston

He was admitted to the Angelica last night.

GLC02167.49

circa May 16, 1866

Johnston, Witter H., fl. 1861-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Miss Dora Johnston

He like a lot of others is upset over the demise of the butternut tree. His trunk arrived safely but he has not yet found a boarding place and will stay in a hotel. Attended church on Sunday. Hood wants to know if Dora has any beaus.

GLC02167.50

8 March 1879

Holden, G.W., fl. 1879

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Blanche Kelso Bruce

GLC09400.660

1877

Wright, Miller A., fl. 1861-1864

Newspaper clipping

Title: I Guess We have Had Our Day

A poem about the unfurling of the confederate flag at a reunion of veterans.

GLC02691.12.04

17 August 1897

Graves, John T., 1856-1925

Newspaper clipping

Title: Replies to Ex-Governor Bullock-Some Fearless Facts on the Race Questions

Author Graves feels the race problem is indestructible and universal, not likely to ever go away even with the appointment of Black people in Southern offices. He cites several examples where Black people are discriminated against in the North. Small advertisement on bottom left. Backside includes articles about George land grants and company debts.

GLC02691.12.09