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Biography/History:
Stephen M. Foxworth was born in Georgetown District, South Carolina, around 1780. His first wife, Elizabeth Graham, was born between 1775 and 1794 in South Carolina. They married in 1807 and later had three children: Samuel G., Mary, and John. Stephen M. Foxworth moved his family to Marion County, Mississippi, and by 1813, Foxworth owned 640 acres near the Pearl River in Marion County as well as eleven slaves. Elizabeth Graham Foxworth died in 1824. Stephen M. Foxworth married Elizabeth Rumph Funches, a widow, around 1826 in Marion County. They had three children: Stephen Eldridge, Harriet P., and Julia A. Stephen M. Foxworth died on November 19, 1844, in Marion County, Mississippi.
Samuel G. Foxworth, eldest son of Stephen M. Foxworth and Elizabeth Graham, was born on January 8, 1808, in Marion District, South Carolina. Samuel G. Foxworth married Nancy Jane S. Ford Pope, a widowed North Carolina native, on October 31, 1831. They had seven children: John Pope (b. 1832), Steven Augustus (b. 1835), George Washington (b. 1837), Franklin William (b. 1839), Job M. (Lana) (b. 1841), Alexander Semphonias Edward (b. 1843), and Jerome (b. 1848). Samuel G. Foxworth inherited a large portion of his father’s estate in Marion County, Mississippi, that was valued at three thousand dollars in 1850.
Samuel G. Foxworth’s sons attended Zion Seminary in Covington County, Mississippi, where he was a founding trustee. He had a house built for his sons near the seminary and sent slaves to maintain the house while they attended school. Several of Samuel G. Foxworth’s sons served in the Confederate Army. Job M. (Lana) and Franklin William served in the Jeff Davis Sharpshooters of Marion County, Company D, Seventh Regiment, Mississippi Infantry as second lieutenants and Franklin William and Alexander Semphonias Edward Foxworth became captain and first lieutenant, respectively, in the Columbia Guards of Claiborne County, Company I, Thirty-Eighth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. All of the Foxworth sons except George, who died in 1861, established homes in Marion County. The original Foxworth estate was broken into smaller divisions and each of the children received a plantation and slaves to cultivate it.
Samuel G. Foxworth died on February 16, 1860, in Marion County, Mississippi, of typhoid fever. He is buried in the Samuel Foxworth Cemetery, Marion County, beside his wife Nancy, who died one week before him on February 10, 1860.
Job M. (Lana) Foxworth, son of Samuel G. Foxworth, was born on April 19, 1841, in Marion County, Mississippi. He married Frances Ball. The couple had ten children; Lilly (b. ca. 1867), George (b. ca. 1869), Olive (b. ca. 1872), Frances (b. ca. 1874), Samuel (b. ca. 1876), Mary (b. ca. 1877), Sophia (b. ca. 1880), Marvin (b. ca. 1882), Cornelia (b. ca. 1886), and Elbert (b. ca. 1889). Job M. Foxworth served in the Mississippi State Legislature representing Marion County in 1874 and again in 1890. He died on February, 28, 1916, and was buried in Hopewell Methodist Church Cemetery in Marion County, Mississippi.
Sophia Jane Graves, daughter of Amos R. Graves, founder of Zion Seminary, was born on April 19, 1840, in Mount Carmel, Jefferson Davis County (then Covington County), Mississippi. She married Stephen Augustus Foxworth, son of Samuel G. Foxworth, on April 19, 1859. They had five children: three daughters; Nancy Jane, Olive Oizella, and Clara Belle; and two sons, Claudius and Augustus, who died in infancy. After the Civil War, Stephen and Sophia Foxworth moved their family to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they both became teachers. By 1880, the family returned to Mississippi; they had moved to Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi, by 1900. Sophia Foxworth taught music and literature at Columbia High School. She also published a book of poetry entitled The Old Mansion and Other Poems in 1896. Stephen Foxworth became Marion County Superintendent of Education as well as the sheriff and tax collector. Sophia Jane Graves Foxworth died on July 25, 1932.
Scope and Content:
This collection is composed of correspondence; diaries; educational, legal, and financial papers; photographs; and published materials of the Foxworth family of Marion County, Mississippi. Of interest among the financial papers are seven slave bills of sale of Samuel G. Foxworth for Forrest, Marion, Newton, and Simpson counties, Mississippi, and Robeson County, North Carolina, as well as several in-kind receipts given to family members by the Confederate government. Also included in the financial records are war, tax, and store records and cotton receipts.
Series Identification:
This series consists of correspondence between Sophia Foxworth and her daughters, Belle and Oizella, as well as postcards that document the travels of Foxworth family members. The cards originate from several locations throughout Mississippi as well as Cuba, Costa Rica, and Montreal, Canada. Also included is a letter from Alex Young to his sister discussing his family and politics.
Box 2, folders 1-3
This series contains three diaries of Amos R. Graves, father of Sophia Graves Foxworth. The diaries contain daily entries with narratives noting Graves’s expenses and contacts on trips to raise money for the seminary. They also include lists of contributors, and amounts that were donated.
Box 1, folders 1-3
This series contains certificates, awards, and contracts relating to the careers of Stephen Augustus Foxworth and Sophia Graves Foxworth, both educators in Marion County, Mississippi. Of interest is a December 24, 1875, letter from the Mississippi Department of Education to Superintendent Stephen Augustus Foxworth recommending textbooks for use in Marion County schools.
Box 3, folders 1-2 (restricted originals)
Box 5, folder 2-4 (reference photocopies)
This series is composed of the legal papers of Steven M. Foxworth and Samuel G. Foxworth. The papers include correspondence, receipts, and account pages and statements. Samuel G. Foxworth was the executor of several estates, including the estate of Stephen M. Foxworth, his father.
Box 5, folders 5-6
5.1. Slave Bills of Sale. 1844-1857; n.d. 2 folders.
This subseries contains seven handwritten bills of sale of slaves of Samuel G. Foxworth from Marion, Newton, and Simpson counties, Mississippi, and Robeson County, North Carolina. The bills indicate the names, ages, familial relationships, and the original owners of the slaves.
Box 5, folder 1 (reference photocopy)
Box 3, folder 3 (restricted original)
This subseries is composed of the in-kind financial receipts of Job M. (Lana) Foxworth and his brother, Stephen Augustus Foxworth. The receipts are from the Confederate cavalry to Stephen Augustus Foxworth for furnishing the Confederate States Army with provisions. Also included are receipts for Job M. Foxworth that certified his tax payment to the Confederate States of America in beef and his reimbursement in bushels of corn.
Box 5, folders 7-8
5.3. Tax Records. 1836-1877. 3 folders.This subseries consists of the tax receipts of several members of the Foxworth family: including poll tax and United States Internal Revenue receipts as well as a county tax record from December 1877 detailing property owned and taxes owed by Stephen A. Foxworth.
Box 5, folders 16-18
5.4. Cotton Receipts. 1854; 1860-1861; n.d. 3 folders.This subseries contains receipts and correspondence relating to cotton shipments by the Foxworth family through the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana. Also included are cards that give shipping rates for the steamer Earl.
Box 4, folder 1
Box 5, folders 14-15
This subseries consists of accounts and receipts of sundries bought by members of the Foxworth family. Several of the accounts document both the cost and purchases of household items, books, and materials by the Foxworths. The subseries also contains a receipt for a subscription to the Weekly Delta (probably New Orleans, Louisiana) for Sophia Graves Foxworth.
Box 5, folders 9-13
This series contains a portrait of Sophia Graves Foxworth, two photographs of military formations, two World War II group photographs, and a picture of a statewide association of an organization led by James B. Small of Winona, Montgomery County, Mississippi.
Box 4, folders 2-7
This series contains two copies of The Old Mansion and Other Poems by Sophia Graves Foxworth.
Box 1, folder 4
Box List: