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Biography/History:
Daniel O. Williams, M.D.
Daniel O. Williams was born in Tennessee around 1806. He married Mary Jane Lacey, daughter of Samuel and Nancy Lacey, on July 30, 1827. The couple’s children included Elmira (b. ca. 1832), Sampson L. (b. ca. 1833), Cornelia (b. ca. 1836), Thomas J. (b. ca. 1837), Lucy (b. ca. 1839), Samuel Lacey (b. ca. 1839), Eliza (b. ca. 1841), Laura (b. ca. 1848), and Emma. Williams bought property in Hinds County, Mississippi, in 1834. He became a planter and pursued a medical career. He also owned property on Deer Creek, near Rolling Fork, Sharkey (formerly Issaquena) County, Mississippi. Active in local and state politics, Dr. Williams was elected to represent Hinds County in the Mississippi legislature in 1837, and he ran for the office of secretary of state of Mississippi in 1841. Dr. Williams also served as president of the Southern Railroad (1850), and he was a member of the board of trustees of Mississippi College (1852). Mary Jane Lacey Williams died in 1834. Dr. Williams married his second wife, Eliza Ann Young, in Independence, Missouri, on July 25, 1853. The couple resided in Hinds County for a time. They later moved to Camden, Arkansas, with two of Dr. Williams’s children in 1855. Dr. Williams died in Camden in 1856.
Sampson L. Williams, M.D.
Sampson L. Williams was born in Tennessee about 1833. He attended medical school in Cincinnati, Ohio. By 1853, Williams had moved to Danover Plantation, located on Deer Creek, near Rolling Fork, Sharkey County. Dr. Williams’s father owned the property, and the younger Williams managed day-to-day operations there. Dr. Sampson L. and Margaret (Mary) Ann Williams made their home at Danover after they were married in the early 1850s. Dr. Williams was justice of the peace of Issaquena County in 1860; a member of the board of police of Issaquena County in 1862; and worshipful master of Deer Creek Lodge No. 356 of the Masonic order in 1876.
Margaret (Mary) Ann Williams was declared to be of unsound mind by the circuit court of Sharkey County on January 12, 1877, and she was committed to the state insane asylum in Jackson, Hinds County. Dr. Williams died in June of 1879, and his wife died around 1881. Dr. J. C. Hall of Southdale Plantation, near Anguilla, Sharkey County, informed the circuit court of Sharkey County that he had purchased the property interests of the heirs of the late Margaret (Mary) Ann Williams in June of 1883. Her estate was settled by October of 1893, and Dr. Hall became sole owner of the Williams family properties, including Danover Plantation. Dr. Hall was apparently married to Sarah L. Hall, and they had a son, Joel Bernard, in 1869.
Scope and Content:
This collection consists of the papers of the Dr. Daniel O. Williams family of Rolling Fork, Sharkey County, Mississippi; the papers of the Dr. J. C. Hall family of Anguilla, Sharkey County; and miscellaneous papers.
Subgroup and Series Identification:
Subgroup 1: Williams Family Papers. 1838-1878; n.d. 60 folders.
This subgroup contains family correspondence, business papers, and biographical materials of the Williams family of Rolling Fork, Sharkey County.
This series consists of letters from Dr. Daniel O. Williams to his son, Sampson L. Dr. Williams offers advice on all aspects of the management of Council Bend and Danover plantations. He also relates family news and mentions the names of slaves owned by the family. The remainder of the letters to Sampson L. Williams are from various family members and friends. Topics of these letters include current agricultural market conditions and news of family and friends. Also included are a religious hymn written by Margaret (Mary) Ann Williams and empty envelopes.
Box 1, folders 1-22
Box 5, folder 1
This series consists of correspondence and legal and financial records, which are interfiled chronologically. The papers represent the business and legal dealings of the family, particularly Sampson L. and Margaret (Mary) Ann Williams regarding the Council Bend and Danover plantations.
Box 1, folders 23-53
Box 5, folders 2-4
Box 6, folders 1-2
This subseries consists of letters from business associates and acquaintances or attorneys of the Williams family. The letters discuss all aspects of family business matters, including the possibility of suing the federal government to recoup losses incurred during the Civil War and current market and port conditions. Also included are anti-tax flyers attached to one letter.
This subseries consists of freedmen’s labor contracts, deeds, wills, commissions, and plat maps. The freedmen’s labor contracts date from 1865 to 1875. Among the deeds and wills is a circa 1858 inventory of the estate of Dr. Daniel O. Williams that was made by Sampson L. and Samuel Lacey Williams and brother-in-law William Gibbons. Included in the inventory are the values of property and amounts paid to heirs of the estate. Two commissions, one for the board of police (1862), and the other for justice of the peace (1860), belonged to Sampson L. Williams. Also included are two plat maps, one original and one photocopy. The original map depicts the area around Rolling Fork, Sharkey County, and is undated. The photocopied map depicts Danover Plantation, which was near Rolling Fork.
This subseries contains accounting statements and receipts, primarily those of Sampson L. and Margaret (Mary) Ann Williams. The account statements were sent to the Williamses from various cotton brokers and merchants, primarily in Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, or New Orleans, Louisiana. The majority of the receipts are for shipments of cotton received at various Mississippi ports by cotton brokers, and they note how many bales were received, their weight, the amount of taxes and insurance on the shipments, and the amount credited to the Williamses’ accounts. Other receipts are for various household or medical items that the Williamses purchased.
This series contains handwritten notes taken from Mississippi newspapers, deed books, tax records, and published biographies, which primarily relate to Dr. Daniel O. Williams and other members of the Williams family. John Hebron Moore probably compiled the notes.
Box 2, folder 1
Subgroup 2: Hall Family Papers. 1885-1903; n.d. 8 folders.
This subgroup contains papers of the J. C. Hall family of Anguilla, Sharkey County, including a daybook, two account books, a ledger, and a letter of introduction.
This series consists of an indexed daybook recording purchases made at a mercantile store owned by J. C. Hall and operated by Mr. Dinkins of Canton, Madison County. Entries in the back of the daybook record the names of tenants and the amount of rent paid to J. C. Hall for areas of land on Danover Plantation.
Box 4
This series consists of a partially indexed volume, which includes a summary of accounts and some individual customer accounts, noting items purchased at a plantation store and listing cotton bales shipped to R. E. Craig and Company. Entries represent both the Danover and Southdale plantations. Also included are a list of tenants and rents paid at Danover Plantation, an inventory of farm equipment at Danover, and lists of log and lumber orders.
Box 3, folders 1; 4
This series consists of an unidentified mercantile ledger with an index of account names. Individual entries record purchases made and any credits and/or debits to each account.
Box 3, folders 2; 5-6
This series consists of a Southdale Plantation account book with a partial index. The volume records individual accounts at a plantation store, indicating purchases made and any credits to the account. The book also contains entries for the farmer, weight of cotton turned in, the amount of money obtained for the cotton, the amount of money paid to the farmer, and any balance due on the account.
Box 3, folders 3; 7
This series consists of a letter of introduction, which was written by a person who was residing on Georgiana Plantation, to a doctor, probably Hall, in Rolling Fork, Sharkey County, introducing another doctor, George Hunt.
Box 2, folder 2
Subgroup 3: Miscellaneous Papers. 1852-1879; n.d. 8 folders.
This series consists of several medical prescriptions, presumably filled by Dr. Williams or Dr. Hall.
Box 2, folder 3
This series consists of printed materials, which are divided into three categories: general, cotton, and medical. The general printed materials consist of three almanacs, business cards, circulars, and a proclamation. The almanacs date from 1854 to 1866. The business cards represent various Mississippi and Louisiana firms. The circulars are notices of new titles from book publishers. Of interest is an 1864 proclamation of Mississippi governor Charles Clark detailing acceptable exemptions from military service and advertisements for cotton-farming equipment such as bale ties and presses. The printed materials related to cotton farming consist of circulars, a prospectus, a price list, and newsletters. The circulars are from various cotton brokers and manufacturers in Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. There is an 1874 prospectus for the Planters’ Cotton Tie Association and a price list for A. M. Paxton and Company of Vicksburg. Also included are several issues of the New Orleans Price-Current dating from 1866 to 1876. The medically related printed materials date from 1852 to 1879 and include a course outline and an 1873 list of graduates of the medical department of the University of Louisiana; an excerpt from a medical journal; a catalog from a medical bookseller; and circulars from medical book publishers.
Box 2, folders 4-8
Box 5, folders 5-6
Box List: