John H. Esty was probably born in Auburn, Cayuga County, New York. The
names of his parents and his date of birth are unknown. Esty had a brother,
Joseph, who later lived in Ithaca, New York, and a sister, Sally, who lived
in Auburn, Cayuga County. It is not known when Esty left New
York to settle in Claiborne County, Mississippi. However, he was commissioned
as a justice of the peace for Claiborne County on February 22, 1820. Esty
had a successful law practice in Port Gibson, and he also served as a county
clerk, sheriff, and plantation agent during 1824. It is not known if Esty
married and had children, when he died, or where he was buried.
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains four letters written by John H. Esty to his family
in New York between 1822 and 1825. Esty's October 19, 1822, letter to his
brother, Joseph, written from the Choctaw Agency mentioned that he was
currently living among the Indians and that he was safe from a yellow fever
epidemic in Port Gibson. Esty's November 7, 1822, letter to
his sister, Sally, written from Monroe County, mentioned that
he was accompanying Judge Stockton who would hold court in that part of
the state and that he was safe from the continuing yellow fever epidemic
in the Port Gibson area. Esty's August 15, 1824, letter to his mother and
sister, Sally, mentioned a newly emancipated slave named Aunt Coty who
devoted herself to nursing yellow fever victims in the Port Gibson area.
Esty's February 13, 1825, letter to his mother and sister, Sally, mentioned
that he would soon be managing three plantations and 200 slaves belonging
to Mr. Murdock of Claiborne County. The letter also mentioned the failing
health of General C. Haring who had recently suffered a stroke. The collection
also contains a November 17, 1873, letter written by C. C. Esty of Framingham,
Massachusetts, to Joseph Esty of Ithaca, New York. It concerns the genealogy
of the Esty family.
