Mary Elsie Chapman was born in Newton County, Mississippi, on January 9, 1908. She was the daughter of Clarence Chapman (b. February 3, 1878) and Minnie Victoria (Ritchey) Chapman (b. January 2, 1880), both of whom were from Newton County. Mary Elsie Chapman graduated from Hickory High School, and she later completed training to become a registered nurse at Laurel General Hospital.

Norman Newton Edmonds was born in Union, Neshoba County, Mississippi, on July 14, 1909. He was the son of Alexander Hamilton Steven Edmonds (1883-1965) and Mattie L. (Norman) Edmonds (1882-1964). Alexander Hamilton Steven Edmonds was the son of Newton Jasper Edmonds and Sinthia Eveline (Sansing) Edmonds, who moved to Mississippi with the Sansing family around 1860.

After attending Clarke Memorial College at Newton and Mississippi State College at Starkville, Norman Newton Edmonds began working for the Mississippi Steel and Iron Company of Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. He married Mary Elsie Chapman on November 25, 1936, and they had two children: Richard Norman (b. June 23, 1942) and David Stevens (b. November 14, 1945). The Edmondses were members of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Jackson. Mary Elsie Chapman Edmonds was a member of the Colonial Dames of America, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the First Families of Mississippi, the Mississippi Genealogical Society, and the Camenae Club of Jackson.

Norman Newton Edmonds and Lamar A. Hull formed the City Steel Company in Jackson in 1950. Edmonds died on June 19, 1982, and he is buried in Jackson.

The genealogical materials in this collection are related to the Chapman and Edmonds families, and the allied Allen, De Witt, Edwards, Graham, Haile, Jones, Lewis, Llewellyn, Morgan, Neblett, Powe, Sansing, Strachey, Waggoner, Watts, Wells, West, and Withers families. The collection also includes Chapman and Edmonds family genealogical correspondence and research, allied family genealogical correspondence and research, Haile family Bible records, maps, publications, and newsclippings.

1. Genealogical Research (Chapman Family). 1800-1983; n.d. 9 folders.
2. Genealogical Research (Edmonds Family). 1936; 1965-1983; n.d. 3 folders.
3. Genealogical Research (Allied Families). 1900; 1960-1995; n.d. 10 folders.
4. Bible Records (Haile Family). n.d. 1 folder.
5. Maps. ca. 1930; 1958; n.d. 1 folder.
6. Publications. 1934; 1966; n.d. 1 folder.
7. Newsclippings. 1970-1986; n.d. 1 folder.

1. Genealogical Research (Chapman Family). 1800-1983; n.d.
   1. This folder (1800; 1960; 1969-1976; 1978; n.d.) contains a photocopy of the 1800 will of William Chapman of Madison County, Mississippi Territory, and a photograph of the David Toole Chapman family. There is also genealogical correspondence and research on the Chapman families of Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia.
   2. This folder (1855; 1864; n.d.) contains genealogical information on Edward Chapman and part of an undated land grant to John Davis. There is a transcript of an 1855 letter to "Sister Chapman" from N. R. Morgan, and there is an 1864 letter from an unidentified person to David Chapman of Georgia.
   3. This folder (1849-1907) contains photocopies of unidentified church records, including baptisms and marriages, which focus primarily on the Chapman family.
   4. This folder (n.d.) contains photocopied information on the Chapman and Lewis homes in Virginia, and it includes photocopied pictures of several homes.
   5. This folder (1964-1971; n.d.) contains genealogical correspondence of Mary Elsie Chapman Edmonds, Norman Newton Edmonds, and others.
   6. This folder (1951; 1972; n.d.) contains photocopies of Bible records, deeds, and wills relating to the De Witt, Graham, Jones, and Powe families of South Carolina.
   7. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on John Chapman of Virginia, but there is also genealogical research on the Chapman family of Mississippi and South Carolina. Included are partial cemetery records for Bethel Baptist Church in Newton, Mississippi, and cemetery records for Old Madison Presbyterian Church in Madison County, Mississippi. There is also photocopied information from the Clarence Chapman and Thrashley Chapman family Bibles.
   8. This folder (1959; 1977-1983; n.d.) contains genealogical correspondence and research relating to the Chapman family of Virginia
   9. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on the Chapman families of England, Mississippi, and Virginia, along with material relating to the Edwards, Morgan, and Watts families.
2. Genealogical Research (Edmonds Family). 1936; 1965-1983; n.d.
   10. This folder (1965-1983; n.d.) contains genealogical correspondence, often from Gertrude Powe Stanton, concerning the Chapman and Edmonds families of Mississippi and Virginia.
   11. This folder (n.d.) contains Mary Elsie Chapman Edmonds’s application for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution and supporting genealogical information such as a transcription of the will of John Chapman of Virginia.
   12. This folder (1936; 1974; n.d.) includes a 1936 marriage license for Norman Newton Edmonds and Mary Elsie Chapman that is attached to her application for membership in the Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The other genealogical documents pertain to the Edmonds family of Mississippi and Virginia.
3. Genealogical Research (Allied Families). 1900; 1960-1995; n.d.
   13. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on the Edwards family of South Carolina, including photocopies of the Edwards family Bible.
   14. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on the Allen and Withers families. There is also a small amount of research concerning the Chapman families of South Carolina and Virginia; the Jones family of Virginia; and the Waggoner families of North Carolina and Virginia.
   15. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on the Jones and Llewellyn families of England, Tennessee, and Virginia.
   16. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on Dr. Robert Caldwell Neblett of Virginia and the Neblett families of Mississippi and Tennessee.
   17. This folder (1974; n.d.) contains genealogical research on the Sansing families of Georgia and Mississippi. There are also transcriptions of genealogical information from a Sansing family Bible.
   18. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on the Strachey families of England and Virginia.
   19. This folder (n.d.) contains genealogical research on the Wells family of Mississippi.
   20. This folder (1960; 1967; n.d.) contains genealogical correspondence and research on the West families of Louisiana and Mississippi.
   21. This folder (1900; 1963-1970; 1995; n.d.) contains genealogical correspondence and research on the Powe families of Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia, including a photocopy of the 1900 marriage license of Oliver Powe and Fannie Andrews.
   22. This folder (n.d.) contains miscellaneous family research-related documents from Mississippi and Virginia sources.
4. Bible Records (Haile Family). n.d.
   23. This folder contains photocopies of genealogical information from the Haile family Bible.
5. Maps. ca. 1930; 1958; n.d.
   24. This folder contains a circa 1930 postal map of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and a 1958 map of the same county. The undated maps are of eastern North Carolina, the Mattopony Valley of Virginia, and the West Augusta District of Virginia.
6. Publications. 1934; 1966; n.d.
   25. This folder contains the 1934 Minutes of the Eightieth Annual Session of the General Association of Regular Baptist [sic]; a 1966 reprint of the William and Mary College Quarterly, Volume XXV, discussing the Waddy family; and an undated index of the first sixteen volumes of Cemetery and Bible Records, published by the Mississippi Genealogical Society. Inside the front cover is a notation that Mary Elsie Chapman Edmonds was the chairman of the records committee of the Mississippi Genealogical Society.
7. Newsclippings. 1970-1986; n.d.
   26. This folder includes several newsclippings relating to members of the Chapman family of Mississippi.