Plantations

McGehee, James Stewart, 1860-1945. Collection, 1724-1929 (bulk 1862-1880). 5 ms. vols. Location: H:1. Planter and businessman of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, and St. Louis, Missouri. James' grandfather, Edward McGehee, owned Bowling Green Plantation in Mississippi, and was president of the West Feliciana Railroad. Collection contains typewritten copies of McGehee family papers including reminiscences, biographical sketches, genealogical notes, diaries, and obituaries. Includes an account of the Veal family, a family of slaves associated with the McGehees. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 326.

McGehee, James Stewart, 1860-1945. Papers, 1826-1912 (bulk 1903-1904). .25 linear ft. Location: C:26, OS:Mc, VAULT:21, VAULT MRDF 6. Planter and businessman of Wilkinson County, Mississippi. His grandfather, Edward McGehee, owned Bowling Green Plantation in Mississippi and was president of the West Feliciana Railroad. Papers include family letters, McGehee's autobiography, the history of a slave family, and financial documents. Includes items related to the destruction of Bowling Green Plantation in Mississippi by Union and African American troops. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2302, 2789.

McKowen-Lilley-Stirling Family. Papers, 1797-1921 (bulk 1877-1901). 829 items (on microfilm). Location: MSS.MF:M. Thomas William Lilley founded Springfield Plantation in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. His daughter Edith married John Stirling. John McKowen, an Irish immigrant, was a resident of Jackson, Louisiana. Papers include Lilley-Stirling legal documents and financial papers; McKowen family correspondence; and legal papers, and medical correspondence of John C. MacKowen, a Louisiana physician. Other papers relate to McKowen's property in Anacapri, Italy. Some items in Spanish, Italian, French, and German. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4356.

McMurran, Alie Austen, d. 1899. Journal, 1856-1889 (bulk 1856-1878). 1 v. Location: G:18. This typescript copy of the journal of Alice "Alie" Austen McMurran recounts her marriage in Maryland and subsequent life in antebellum Natchez, Miss.; her life in Natchez and Maryland during the Civil War; political and social events at the close of the war; and family affairs in Mississippi and Maryland during the three years after the war and sporadically recorded through 1878. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4304.

McMurran, John T. and family. Papers, 1820-1895. 0.2 linear ft. Location: S:121. Planter, lawyer, and state senator of Natchez, Mississippi. Correspondence and business and legal papers of John McMurran, his wife, and their daughter, concern travel, social life, and the administration of the Woodlands and Killarney plantations. Letters mention judgeships in Mississippi, the funeral of Henry Clay, the sale of the plantation of a mulatto politician, the effects of Reconstruction, and problems of plantation management during Reconstruction. Also included are estate papers of William B. Griffith and papers of William T. Griffith while a student at Oakland College, Mississippi. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 3, Reel 18. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1403.

McMurran-Austen Family Papers, 1846-1878; 1942, undated (bulk:1856-1868). 0.6 linear feet. Location: U:298, OS:M. John T. McMurran family of Melrose in Natchez, owners of Louisiana plantations, son John, Jr., married Alie Austen of Maryland. Primarily correspondence related to family matters, the Civil War, home life, politics, plantation operation, and attitudes toward federal forces. Newspapers clippings, cartes de visites of family members, a household inventory, J. T. McMurran, Jr.'s discharge from the Confederate army in 1862, and military passes are also present. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4795.

Meade, George G. (George Gordon), 1815-1872. Letter, 1867 November 5. 1 item. Location: Misc.:M. Union army general in the Civil War. Letter to the Commissioner of Agriculture seeking employment for his niece indicating that her family's plantation in Mississippi, on the direct route of Grant's army, had been destroyed. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2761.

Mercer, William Newton. Papers, 1789-1936 (bulk 1827-1874). 2 linear ft., 2 microfilm reels. Location: U:1, UU:79-81, VAULT:1, OS:M, MSS.MF:M. Surgeon and planter of Adams County, Mississippi; Louisiana; and Illinois. Collection includes slave records, diaries, business and personal correspondence, and financial documents. Correspondence includes letters from Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Butler. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 6061 and 5322: University Publications of America Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 4, Reels 9-10, and Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series I, Part 3, Reels 1-3. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 292, 1051, 1233, 1364.

Mercer, William Newton. Slave List and Inventory, 1846-1848. 2 items. Locations: Misc.:M, OS:M. Plantation owner of Adams County, Mississippi. A booklet titled "List of Negroes" lists the names and ages of slaves, and in some cases the names of parents and other family members at William Newton Mercer's Buckhurst, Ellis Cliffs, Ormande, and Laurel Hill plantations (1846-1848). Lists date from 1846 with later notations in 1847 and 1848. Also included is an inventory of clothing distributed to sailors aboard the USS Jamestown (ca. 1845-1847). Inventory is signed by Master Wilmer Shields who later served as the manager of Mercer's plantations. Mss. 5210.

Merrick, Edwin Thomas, 1808-1897. Papers, 1830-1917 (bulk 1866-1871). 0.3 linear feet (229 items; 1 printed vol). Location: C:45, 99:M. Lawyer of New Orleans who served as chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He married Caroline Thomas of Cottage Hall Plantation, East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Letters (1830-1838) from Merrick to his mother, Ann Merrick, and his brother, William Winston Merrick record Merrick's activities as a prep student in Wilbraham, Mass., and his law studies and early legal career in Ohio. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1137, 1752.

Merrill, A. P. and Aylett Buckner. Papers, 1787-1870 (bulk 1830-1860). 0.5 linear ft., 1 volume. Location: U:228, M:19, OS:M. A. P. Merrill of Natchez, Mississippi, was a physician and the cashier of the Agricultural Bank. Aylett Buckner settled in Natchez around 1830, where he was an attorney, cotton factor, and director of the Commercial Bank of Natchez. Collection primarily consists of financial and legal papers of Merrill, Buckner, and Jane Dunbar Ferguson, a planter of Washington, Adams County, Mississippi. Other items include plats of the property of Abner Green and the deed to Patesi Plantation and its slaves. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 598.

Meullion family. Papers, 1776-1906 (bulk 1776-1866). 0.2 linear ft., 1 microfilm reel. Location: U:230, OS:M, MSS.MF:M. Free African American family of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Louis Augustin Meullion and his son Jean Baptiste (whose mother was a slave) were slaveholders; the son owned a plantation on Bayou Teche. Collection includes slave bills of sale, land sales, and other financial records; manumission papers for Maria Juana and her son Baptiste Meuillon; and an amnesty oath taken in 1865 by Miss Belazaire Meuillon. In French, English, and Spanish. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 243, 294.

Mignon, Francois. Papers, 1939-1970, 1992. 17,000 items (on 41 microfilm reels). Location: MSS.MF:M. Journalist, horticulturist, and curator of Cammie G. Henry's Melrose Plantation, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Correspondence, journal, writings, and subject files describe and relate to thirty years spent by Mignon at Melrose, which also served as an artists and writers colony. Among his correspondents are African American artist Clementine Hunter and Louisiana writers Lyle Saxon and Harnett Kane. Many ideas expressed in the journal later appeared in 'Cane River Memo,' Mignon's column in the Natchitoches newspaper Enterprise. Microfilm reels are of originals at the University of North Carolina. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4484.

Millard, Albert and Company. Account, 1834. 1 item. Location: Misc. Statement of account for plantation supplies from Albert Millard and Company, Thibodaux, La., to Messrs. Oulerbridge (?) Horsey and John Lee. For further information, see onine catalog. Mss. 2186.

Millikin, James Shaw. Scrapbook, [1874]-1917 (bulk 1881-1898).11 items, 1 ms. vol. Location: U:238. Merchant and planter, of Millikin near Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana. Scrapbook. For further information, see onine catalog. Mss. 1990.

Mills, John. Letters, 1795, 1807. 2 items. Location: MISC:M. Planter and merchant of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, founder of Bayou Sara, and a leader of the West Florida Rebellion. In letters to Gilbert Jackson of New York, John Mills refers to a slave insurrection and the indigo harvest (1795). He discusses the treatment of slaves, destruction of the cotton crop by the cut worm, and the considerable amount of commerce on the Mississippi River (May 19, 1807). He also states that severe weather caused the Choctaw Indians to kill planters' livestock for food. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1375.

Minor family. Papers, 1774-1914 (bulk 1774-1891). 24 items, 1 printed volume, 1 microfilm reel. Location: T:35, OS:M, MSS.MF:M. Planters of the Concord Plantation and governor of the Spanish district of Natchez. Collection includes correspondence related to plantation and family matters in Mississippi and Louisiana; a sugar producer's license; a printed item signed by President John Adams; and a will. Includes land titles for and personal correspondence of the Stephen, William J., and Henry C. Minor families of Natchez and Terrebonne Parish. Some letters in Spanish and French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 859, 947.

Minor family. Photograph collection, 1885, undated. 6 unique copy prints, 9 35mm negative strips. Location: MISC:M, E:65. William J. Minor was a sugar planter of Terrebonne and Ascension Parishes, Louisiana. His father, Stephen Minor, owned a plantation and a home in Natchez, Mississippi. Ayres P. Merrill was the U.S. Minister to Belgium. Collection contains formal portraits of William J. Minor, John Minor, Mrs. Minor (probably the wife of William J. Minor), and Ayres P. Merrill II. Included are photographs depicting Oakland, the Minor family home, and Elmscourt, the Merrill family home, also in Natchez. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3173.

Minor, Henry C. Papers, 1846-1956 (bulk 1918-1956). 1,263 items, 86 volumes (85 printed volumes, 1 manuscript volume). Location: T:8-9, X:87-88, F:5. Sugar planter of Southdown Plantation, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Papers relate to the estate of Henry C. Minor and contain letters, maps, photographs, reports, and items reflecting the management, reorganization, and financing of sugar plantations, including the Southdown Plantation, especially during the 1930s. Many materials relate to sugar technology and the revival of the Louisiana sugar industry in the 20th century through the introduction of fungus resistant P.O.J. sugarcane. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1509, 1607.

Minor, John. Account book, 1815-1823. 1 volume [on 1 microfilm reel]. Location: MSS.MF:M. Executor of the estate of his brother, Stephen Minor. Journal listing the income received from cotton and other produce on Concord Plantation, Adams County, Mississippi; Waterloo Plantation, Ascension Parish, Louisiana; and Lake Plantation, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1035.