Biography/History:

The law firm of Gwin and Mounger was founded in Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi, in 1901, by Samuel L. Gwin and Edwin L. Mounger, fellow graduates of the University of Mississippi Law School; the partnership lasted until Mounger’s death in 1924. Though the firm dealt primarily with local business, insurance and real estate matters, it also took on divorce, inheritance, guardianship, and other cases.

Samuel L. Gwin (1872-1941) was born in Lawrence County, Mississippi, but spent most of his early life in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. He moved to Greenwood in 1895, after graduating with “special distinction” from the University of Mississippi, Oxford, Lafayette County, Mississippi. In Greenwood, he formed his first, brief legal partnership with future Congressman Benjamin G. Humphreys II. When the Spanish-American War began in 1898, Gwin joined the Third Regiment of the Mississippi Volunteer Infantry and attained the rank of captain at age twenty-six. After the war, he returned to Greenwood, where he and Edwin L. Mounger founded their law firm, and where he spent the rest of his life.

Edwin L. Mounger (1865-1924) was born in Yazoo City, Yazoo County, Mississippi. He attended the University of Mississippi, from which he graduated with honors. Mounger worked as an assistant professor of physics at the university and as superintendent of public schools in Yazoo City before setting up his first law office in Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi. Upon moving to Greenwood in 1901, he and Samuel L. Gwin began their partnership. Mounger also became chairman, and later, president, of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Greenwood in 1920, and he served on Greenwood’s Water and Light Commission from 1904 until his death.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists primarily of the case files of the law firm of Gwin and Mounger, based in Greenwood. The files feature a variety of documents, including official court records, contracts and bills of sale, correspondence, and stenographic transcripts, dated from 1870 to 1920. Cases involving real estate, insurance policies, fraternal benefit societies, various corporate matters, and agricultural products like cotton and timber make up a substantial portion of the collection. The firm also dealt with other issues, such as divorce, personal injury, inheritance and guardianship, as well as the occasional dispute over patent medicines or food poisoning. A number of cases prominently feature African Americans: one suit revolves around the complainant’s family history, and another was filed by a man thrown from a moving train. References to several notable Mississippians, including James Kimble Vardaman and Major R.W. Millsaps, appear among the papers.

Other files in the collection contain paperwork relating to the law firm’s internal workings, such as cancelled checks and balance sheets. Samuel L. Gwin’s personal affairs are also represented herein, from financial papers and insurance policies in his name, to maps and resort pamphlets he obtained while planning a summer vacation. In addition, expense reports, official memoranda, and other documents from Edwin L. Mounger’s service on the Greenwood Water and Light Commission are included.

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