A collection of 19th-century pa\u00adpers, recently donated to the J.D. Williams Library\u2019s Archives and Special Collections, provides insight into the unique history of the Natchez area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what is so significant about this collection is the size and early na\u00adture of the Mississippi materials,\u201d said Jennifer Ford, director of Archives and Special Collections. \u201cThe earliest mate\u00adrials start in 1821 and go through 1900 and represent the importance of the Natchez region to the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Leighton Lewis, who donated the collection, is an alumnus of the univer\u00adsity and son of the late Arthur B. Lewis, dean of the College of Liberal Arts in the 1960s. The papers are a collection of letters, receipts and business records from Lewis\u2019 great-great-great grandfa\u00adther and namesake, George Leighton.<\/p>\n
Leighton was initially from Glouces\u00adter, Cape Ann, Mass. In 1820, he moved to the Natchez area. He lived in Red Lick near Lorman and east of Rodney.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge Leighton was a pack rat,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cHe saved just about ev\u00aderything. The papers begin with him building gins and mills, and he has descriptions of the things that he buys to build them. He also built a Presbyterian meeting house, and he has the particulars for building that house in the papers. After that, he started keeping papers about farming \u2013 merchant receipts, receipts for cotton and some letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Leighton\u2019s time, Rodney was the business hub of the Natchez area. Nu\u00admerous transactions between Leighton and merchants in Rodney are outlined in the papers.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeighton would buy normal needs from them but also bulk supplies such as barrels of sugar, salt, flour, coffee, meat, etc., which the Rodney merchant would order from New Orleans,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cAfter all, he was feeding not only his family but 30 or so slaves and their families. Of course all of this was done \u2018on account,\u2019 both for Leighton and, I am sure, the Rodney merchants.\u201d<\/p>\n
During this time, business transac\u00adtions were conducted without money, which was fascinating to Lewis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen cotton was shipped, it was through one of the Rodney merchants,\u201d he said. \u201cThe cotton broker in New Orleans would notify Leighton directly of its value. Somehow this \u2018credit\u2019 was passed on to the Rodney merchant who would credit Leighton\u2019s account. It amazes me how they carried on com\u00admerce with no official currency, most of it being issued by local banks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The papers are in very good condi\u00adtion, considering they survived the Civil War, Lewis said.<\/p>\n
Ford said she is excited about the collection being at the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think these papers are so impor\u00adtant because they outline the history of the state in its early years \u2013 the antebel\u00adlum years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lewis said he knew that the papers should be donated to Archives and Special Collections.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like they needed to be pre\u00adserved somewhere, in a place where they could be of use to someone,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted them to be at Ole Miss because I love Ole Miss.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"