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Z 2172.000 S
ROUTH-WILLIAMS-SMITH FAMILY PAPERS

1795-1989

Biography/History:

Routh-Williams-Smith Family

The Routh, Williams, and Smith families settled in Adams County, Mississippi, in the late 1700s. Through inheritance, marriage, and purchase, the three families eventually owned extensive plantations in Adams County, Mississippi, and Concordia Parish, Louisiana. All three families were primarily engaged in cotton farming and related enterprises.

Job Routh came to Natchez from Kentucky in March of 1790. He married Ann Madeline Muller, and the couple lived on Routhland Plantation in Adams County. The Rouths had nine children: Anna, Caroline Matilda, Elizabeth, Francis, Jane, John, Mary (later Mrs. Charles Gustavus Dahlgren), Sarah, and Stephen.

Caroline Matilda Routh was born on September 14, 1798. She married Austin Williams about 1820. The couple lived on Ashburn Plantation in Adams County. The Williamses had several children, including Anna Elizabeth (b. October 1, 1820); Julia Augusta (b. August 11, 1822), later Mrs. Haller Nutt; Job Routh (b. November 22, 1829); Thomas A. (b. March 9, 1832); Mary Louise (b. July 27, 1834); Caroline Matilda, later Mrs. Joseph B. Stratton; Catherine, later Mrs. John Brumley; Irene S., later Mrs. Merritt Williams; and Johnston.

Anna Elizabeth Williams was born on October 1, 1820. She married Walton Pembroke Smith, formerly of Madison County, Virginia, about 1840. The couple lived on Saragossa Plantation in Adams County. Austin Williams Smith was one of their children.

Austin Williams Smith married Clara Anne Montgomery. The Smiths had three children: Anne Clothilde, Davidson Routh, and Willie Madison. Clara Montgomery Smith died in 1897. Austin Williams Smith married Friederike Quitman Ogden, widow of Francis E. Ogden of Natchez, on January 1, 1903.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of correspondence, journals, genealogical materials, a scrapbook, miscellaneous papers, photographs and postcards, legal and financial records, and printed materials of the Routh, Williams, and Smith families of Adams County, Mississippi, and Concordia Parish, Louisiana.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically from 1807 to 1934. The correspondents include Austin Williams Smith, Dr. John Davidson Smith, and Walton Pembroke Smith, all of Natchez, Adams County, and Dr. James Smith of Baltimore, Maryland. The letters discuss family news or various business matters affecting day-to-day operations of the plantations of the Routh, Williams, and Smith families in Adams County and Concordia Parish. Social invitations, primarily those sent to the family of Austin Williams Smith, are also included with the correspondence, as well as two circa 1898 address books.

There are two personal journals. The first is a narrative of Austin Williams Smith recounting his and brother Davidson Routh Smith’s military service in the Natchez Rifles during the Civil War. The second is a circa 1892 narrative in which an unknown writer reflects on various philosophical works and the recovery from a lengthy illness.

The genealogical materials include notes relating to the history of the Smith family and the origin of the Smith family crest. There is also a partial 1969 academic paper by Thomas N. Wickliffe based on some of the letters of Friederike Quitman Ogden Smith to her second husband, Austin Williams Smith, which had been previously transcribed and edited by Wickliffe. The footnotes in Wickliffe’s paper contain genealogical and personal information about the individuals mentioned in each of Smith’s letters.

The scrapbook contains mementos and newsclippings relating to various members of Routh, Williams, and Smith families or social activities in Adams County.

The miscellaneous papers consist of an anonymous, handwritten, and undated profession of faith, a typescript of song lyrics, hand-drawn plans and elevations for an unidentified house, and a list of names.

The photographs include six identified and unidentified images of Natchez-area people or locations, including one image of the Natchez cemetery. There are also six undated postcards of various Chicago, Illinois, locations.

The legal and financial records include land-sale records, land-survey maps, wills, and bills of sale for slaves and other property for the years 1795 to 1948. The land records and maps concern Routh, Williams, and Smith family properties in Adams County, Concordia Parish, and Maryland. Of interest are estate inventories and several bills of sale for the years 1795 to 1848, which mention slaves’ names. A photocopy of the 1862-1863 will of Caroline Matilda Williams and a 1905 will of Mary Louise Williams are included. There are also land-survey notes, bank statements, bills of sale, and receipts concerning various family members. Included are Davidson Routh and Marie Willard Foster Smiths’ 1912 marriage certificate and Smith’s 1913 draft-registration card.

The printed materials consist of a map of Adams County; newsclippings; funeral announcements; booklets; schoolbooks; music books; and advertising materials. The undated map of Adams County shows plantation property lines. The newsclippings include articles on family members and other topics for the years 1855 to 1989. There are also articles on Mississippi River flood control and social activities in Adams County and Concordia Parish and a partial typescript of a 1949 Natchez Democrat article about Saragossa Plantation. Of interest are two funeral announcements, one for Peter Walsh (1886) and the other for Washington Ford (1887). The booklets also contain articles on Mississippi River flood control for the years 1883 to 1909. The schoolbooks include a circa 1850 history-and-geography textbook. The music books consist of a circa 1853 volume of bound sheet music and an 1854 copy of Foster’s Social Orchestra. Among the advertising materials are business and calling cards from merchants and acquaintances in the North and South, as well as advertising ink blotters or leaflets and booklets from publishing houses.

Series Identification:

  1. Correspondence. 1807-1934; n.d. 18 folders.

    Box 1, folders 1-18

  2. Journals. ca. 1892; n.d. 4 folders.

    Box 1, folders 19-22

  3. Genealogical Materials. 1901-1969; n.d. 3 folders.

    Box 1, folders 23-25

  4. Scrapbook. 1902-1906; n.d. 1 folder.

    Box 4, folder 3

  5. Miscellaneous Papers. n.d. 6 folders.

    Box 1, folder 26-29

    Box 2, folder 4

    Box 4, folder 1

  6. Photographs and Postcards. n.d. 1 folder.

    Box 1, folder 30

  7. Legal and Financial Records. 1795-1948; n.d. 20 folders.

    Box 1, folders 31-46

    Box 2, folders 1-3

    Box 3, folder 2

  8. Printed Materials. ca. 1850-1989; n.d. 19 folders.

    Box 1, folders 47-60

    Box 2, folder 5

    Box 3, folders 1; 3-4

    Box 4, folder 2

    Box 5

Box List: