Eliza Ann Barry Ricks, a native of Mississippi, was born in 1820 and died in 1898. She was first married to Barry Benson on December 14, 1837, and subsequently widowed. They apparently had no surviving children. Eliza Barry Benson was married a second time on June 9, 1846, to Benjamin Sherrod Ricks, Sr., a native of North Carolina. Mr. Ricks had seven children by a previous marriage to Frances Winter, daughter of William Winter of Tuscumbia, Alabama. They were Florida (b. 1830); Annie (b. 1832); Mary Fort (died young); Olive (b. 1834); William Winter (b. 1837); Frances (b. 1840); and Benjamin Sherrod, Jr. (b. 1843). Eliza Barry and Benjamin Sherrod Ricks had two children. They were William Barry (b. 1847) and Barry (died young).

Benjamin Sherrod Ricks, Sr., was a graduate of Chapel Hill College, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He relocated to Mississippi in 1830 and bought land in Madison County that had previously been known as old Livingston. Ricks appears to have been a shrewd businessman and planter, having acquired real estate worth $60,000 by 1850. He had accumulated real estate worth $400,000 and personal property worth $619,000 by 1860. Ricks lived at the Madison County plantation home, Bellevue, where he died after a lengthy illness in 1876.

The Rickses were related to prominent planting families in the Yazoo Delta area. Their relations included the Britton family of Ingleside Plantation in Madison County and the Willis and Johnson families of Panther Burn Plantation in Sharkey County.

Eliza Barry Ricks’ stepson, Benjamin Sherrod Ricks, Jr., served the Confederacy as a lieutenant in the Twenty-Eighth Regiment, Mississippi Cavalry. After returning from the war, he achieved wealth and prominence through the successful management of his Yazoo County plantation, Belle Prairie, accumulating at least 18,000 acres of land, 6,000 of which were in cultivation. He married Fanny Jones of Charlotte, North Carolina, in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1873. They had no children. In 1880, Governor Robert Lowry appointed him a major general in the state militia. Benjamin Sherrod Ricks, Jr., died in Yazoo City in 1899.

This collection contains correspondence, a diary, a transcription of the diary, genealogical records, and a will, and it spans the years from 1847 to 1978. The correspondence covers the years 1847 through 1862. This series contains four letters, three of which were written by Eliza's sister, Amanda, from her home, Prairie Cottage, near Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi, to Eliza Ann Ricks, Livingston, Madison County, Mississippi. Amanda often writes of her love for her sister, how she longs to visit with her, and how they each manage the conflicts inherent in running their households. The first letter, dated January 28, 1847, reveals Amanda's struggles in her new duties as a wife and mother along with her desire to be a faithful steward of God. She also writes of her love for her twenty-one-month-old son. The other two letters are undated and concern family matters, local news, and gossip. In one, Amanda writes of local citizens purchasing the home of a Mrs. Moore for the purpose of opening a female seminary in Columbus. In both of these letters, she describes her son’s language and motor development, through which the reader can estimate the date of composition. The fourth letter, dated January 25, 1862, was written by A. Ricks and Sallie of La Grange, Alabama, to their Aunt Betsey. Ricks wrote on one side of the page and Sallie on the reverse. Ricks mentions his fear that the slaves whom they had sent away may have been captured. He also records a call for shotguns and rifles and mentions the suffering of the soldiers at Tuscumbia, Alabama, from various diseases. Sallie mentions general family information and also records that the capture of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River was a false alarm, updating A. Ricks’s earlier assertion that it had in fact been taken by what he termed \"the Lincolnites.\" She also mentions that her father had just left Fort Henry.

The holographic diary of Eliza Barry Ricks covers the period from March 1, [1874], to August 30, 1878, in scattered entries. The diary is written in pencil on the pages of a ledger. Included in the diary are accounts, copies of letters, and household notes from the 1850s through the 1880s regarding the daily operations of Ricks' plantation, also referred to as Christmas Place.

The diary presents an interesting and revealing picture of domestic life on a Mississippi plantation. The entries recount the hardship and fatigue Ricks faced as she nursed an invalid husband; her preoccupation with the myriad domestic tasks necessary to make a large plantation household run smoothly; the pleasure she had in entertaining relatives and friends during holidays and extended visits at Bellevue; the comfort and solace she found in her Christian faith; her concern over the health of various family members; the great sorrow she experienced at the loss of a grandchild; and her descriptions of and commentary about the activities of her relatives, friends, and neighbors.

The diary is also of interest because of the numerous references to Mr. Britton, a relation who lived at Ingleside, a historic Italianate-style mansion near Livingston in Madison County that is no longer in existence. Britton was a frequent guest at Bellevue. Also noteworthy are the numerous references to Annie Ricks Willis, wife of John Willis, who lived at Panther Burn Plantation in Sharkey County and was a frequent visitor at Bellevue.

The next item is a photocopy of a three-part, typewritten transcription of a large portion of the diary of Eliza Barry Ricks. It was transcribed by Sara Ricks Caldwell, a great-granddaughter of Ricks, in 1978.

The next group of items includes photocopies of a typescript of genealogical and historical information on Eliza Barry Ricks and her husband, Benjamin Sherrod Ricks. The typescript also identifies the various neighbors mentioned in the diary. It was compiled by Sara Ricks Caldwell. There are also excerpts taken from A History and Genealogy of the Ricks Family of America that was compiled by Guy S. Rix of Concord, New Hampshire. The biographical data begins as early as 1638 and ends in 1945.

The last item in the collection is the will of Eliza Barry Ricks. It was filed in the Chancery Court of Madison County, Mississippi, on March 19, 1900. In it, Ricks bequeathed to her son, W. B. Ricks, the plantation, Christmas Place, and the plantation house, Bellevue. She also specified that at W. B. Ricks' death these properties should be divided among his five sons. Ricks also bequeathed a number of household furnishings to her stepdaughter, Fannie.

The Eliza Barry Ricks Papers provide a window into plantation society in Lowndes and Madison counties during the middle and late nineteenth century. It presents a revealing self-portrait of an affluent plantation mistress within the context of her own surroundings.

1. Correspondence. 1847; 1862; n.d. 4 items.
2. Diary. 1850-1881. 1 item.
3. Diary Transcription. 1978. 3 items.
4. Genealogical Records. n.d. 1 item.
5. Will. 1893; 1899-1900. 1 item.