J.F.H. Claiborne Papers, 1797-1884

Collection Number: 00151

Collection Title: J.F.H. Claiborne Papers, 1797-1884

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2400 items)
Abstract	J.F.H. Claiborne was a white lawyer, U.S. Representative, editor, planter, and historian of Mississippi and Louisiana. The collection has relatively few items pertaining to Claiborne's personal activities but includes letters he wrote while a law student in Wytheville, Va.; records of the 1842-1843 commission on Choctaw Indian claims; a few papers of Governor John Anthony Quitman; diary of Willis Herbert Claiborne as a Confederate officer at Vicksburg in April-July 1863; J.L. Power's notes on the Mississippi secession convention; materials collected by Claiborne in preparation of his history of Mississippi, among them biographical and autobiographical material on prominent leaders, including photographs of Colonel William F. Dowd; writings of Claiborne and others on a wide variety of contemporary and historical subjects; and a Mississippi pocket map.
Creator	Claiborne, J. F. H. (John Francis Hamtramck), 1809-1884.
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], in the J.F.H. Claiborne Papers #151, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Received from Mrs. A. L. Bondurant of Oxford, Miss., before 1940. Additions received from Bryce Suderow in September 2004 (Acc. 99884); Arnie Dowd in April 2014 (Acc. 102028); and from David J. Morgan in January 2018 (Acc. 103314).

Sensitive Materials Statement: Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, July 1996

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated for digitization by Kathryn Michaelis, August 2010

Other revisions by: Nancy Kaiser, November 2018 and November 2020

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine ethnic identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual’s preference for ethnicity to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@email.unc.edu.

Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

Expand/collapse Related Collections

Quitman Family Papers (#616); Claiborne Papers, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne was a white lawyer, U.S. Representative, editor, planter, and historian of Mississippi and Louisiana. The son of General Ferdinand Lee Claiborne and nephew of William C. C. Claiborne, he was born near Natchez, Miss., on 24 April 1807. He studied law in Virginia, edited a pro-Jackson paper in Natchez, and served in Congress, 1835-1837. He moved back to Natchez to edit the Mississippi Free Trader, a Democratic paper. In 1842, Claiborne was appointed president of a commission to adjudicate the claims of the Choctaw Indians to several thousand acres of valuable land, which was also claimed by speculators. He moved to New Orleans in 1844 and edited the Jeffersonian in English and French, the Statesman in German and English, and the Louisiana Courier. In about 1853, Claiborne became a planter in Hancock County, Miss. He opposed secession and, after the war, while not an active politician, favored reconciliation and cooperation with the Republicans. He devoted the later part of his life to writing a history of Mississippi and published one volume. The manuscript of the second volume was burned shortly before his death on 17 May 1884. He also wrote Life and Times of Sam Dale and Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman .

[For further information see the Dictionary of American Biography and Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society , V and VII.]

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The J.F.H. Claiborne Papers have relatively few items pertaining to Claiborne's personal activities but includes letters he wrote while a law student in Wytheville, Va.; records of the 1842-1843 commission on Choctaw Indian claims; a few papers of Governor John Anthony Quitman; diary of Willis Herbert Claiborne as a Confederate officer at Vicksburg in April-July 1863; J. L. Power's notes on the Mississippi secession convention; materials collected by Claiborne in preparation of his history of Mississippi, among them biographical and autobiographical material on prominent leaders, including photographs of Colonel William F. Dowd; writings of Claiborne and others on a wide variety of contemporary and historical subjects; and a Mississippi pocket map.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

1. Correspondence and Related Material, 1797-1884.
2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876.
3. Writings, 1799-1884.
4. Clippings, 1831-1884.
5. Volumes, 1794-1863 and undated.
Microfilm.

Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence and Related Material, 1797-1884.

About 400 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Papers pertaining to Claiborne's own life and personal, business and political activity, including legal papers; papers collected by him in the course of his historical writing; and letters to him from a number of persons who were trying to help him gather information for his writings, especially for the history of Mississippi. These letters between Claiborne and friends discuss De Soto's expedition and conflicts with Indians, Indian relics, early battles, Confederate army officers, and several Mississippi counties, including Monroe and Adams counties, to be used in his history of Mississippi. There is also discussion of the poor credit the United States, and especially the southern states, had with Europe as a result of the mercantile revolution of 1837; political campaigns, 1838-1880; Mississippi law; the operation of Mississippi Manufacturing Co.; Civil War battles and campaigns; Jefferson Davis's trial for treason; the merits of President Grant; and a biography of Colonel Claiborne. Civil War items also relate to the right of secession; the 1st Mississippi Cavalry; the 24th Mississippi Regiment; the Sunflower guards; state sovereignty; slavery and secession; Brigadier General S. D. Lee's troops during the siege of Vicksburg; General Beauregard's family; and General Braxton's report of the Battle of Chickamauga.

Folder 1	1797-1839
Folder 2	1840-1859
Folder 3	1860-1875
Folder 4	1877
Folder 5	1878 January-July
Folder 6	1878 August-December
Folder 7	1879 January-May
Folder 8	1879 June-September
Folder 9	1879 October-December
Folder 10	1880 January-June
Folder 11	1880 July-August
Folder 12	1880 September-December
Folder 13	1881-1884
Folder 14	Undated

Expand/collapse Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Biographical information compiled by Claiborne pertaining primarily to figures important in Mississippi during the Civil War.

Folder 15	Biographical materials: Wirt Adams: report on the action of his command of the Mississippi cavalry near Boonville, Miss., 1 July 1862 #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 15 James M. Arnold: address, 26 April 1868, on the occasion of decorating Confederate soldiers' graves in Columbus, Mo. #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 15 Abraham Baldwin: biographical sketch of the Georgia member of the Federal Constitutional Convention, 1876 #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 15
Folder 16	Biographical materials: William Barksdale: an account of his Civil War service and activities of his brigade #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 16 Roger Barton (1802-1855): biographical sketch of this prominent lawyer #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 16
Folder 17	P. G. T. Beauregard: autobiographical sketch, letter by Thomas Jordan about Beauregard and the battle of Shiloh, and copy of a reply of Beauregard to Jeff Davis, 1862, about the battle and retreat from Corinth
Folder 18	Braxton Bragg: his report of the battle of Chickamauga, letter from Bragg to E. T. Sykes on that battle, and papers dealing with Bragg's suspension of Leonidas Polk
Folder 19	William L. Brandon: military reminiscences of Brandon, who was lieutenant colonel and colonel of the 21st Mississippi, which served in Hill's (later Magruder's) Division, in Griffith's (later Barksdale's) Brigade
Folder 20	Albert Gallatin Brown: reminiscences during the Civil War when he was captain of a company in the 18th Mississippi Regiment in Virginia until elected to the Confederate Senate
Folder 21	Biographical materials: John Brownrigg: account of the Battle of Egypt's Station, Monroe County, Miss., 28 December 1864 probably by Brownrigg #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 21 C. H. Campbell: speech prepared for the Centennial of Independence titled "Geographical Historical and Statistical Sketch of Attala County since 23 December 1833 up to 4 July 1876" #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 21
Folder 22	Charles Clark: two biographical sketches of the Confederate brigadier general, who was wounded at Shiloh and Baton Rouge, and was governor of Mississippi in 1862 and 1864
Folder 23-24 Folder 23 Folder 24	Alexander Clayton: "The Relations of the United States and Cuba in 1853-1854," "Jurisprudence of Mississippi," and "The Secession Convention"
Folder 25	Biographical materials: William F. Dowd: "Recollections of the Organization and History of the 24th Mississippi Regiment of the Confederate States Army" by Dowd who was colonel of the regiment and later a military judge #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 25 Thomas Edward: "Extract from the Life of Thomas Edward, a Scotch Naturalist" by Samuel Smiley about kitchen middens #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 25
Image Folder PF-00151/1	Photographic materials: Acquisitions Information: Accession 102028 (Addition of April 2014) William F. Dowd portraits #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Imagefolder PF-00151/1 Restored and enlarged copies of the only two known photographs of Colonel William F. Dowd.
Folder 26	Biographical materials: Winfield Scott Featherston: biographical sketch of the lawyer, Democratic congressman, colonel of the 17th Mississippi, and brigadier general, and letter from Featherston, 1878, on his Civil War career #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 26 Samuel Wragg Ferguson: sketch of his cavalry brigade by E. B. Fort #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 26 Joseph Harris Field: sketch of Field, private, lieutenant, captain in the Confederate Army, lawyer, and legislator #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 26
Folder 27	Henry Stuart Foote: information on and reminiscences of Foote
Folder 28	Biographical materials: W. D. Gibbs: address on 4 July 1876 #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 28 D. C. Glenn: "memoranda" on his activity in the Mississippi Secession Convention #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 28
Folder 29	William M. Gwin: biographical sketch
Folder 30	Biographical materials: H. S. Halbert: on Indian history and legend #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 30 Jeptha V. Harris: report of activity of Mississippi troops at Vicksburg #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 30 Issac F. Harrison: Civil War reminiscences of this major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel in Wirt Adams Mississippi Cavalry, in the trans-Mississippi area in the 15th Battalion Louisiana Cavalry, and the 3rd Louisiana Cavalry #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 30 Addison Harvey and Harvey's Scout: written by Wiley N. Nash #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 30
Folder 31	Biographical materials: Benjamin Grubb Humphreys: account of "The Sunflower Guards," 21st Mississippi, of which he was captain and later colonel #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 31 J. H. Jones: account of the Wilkinson Guards (later Company D of the 38th Mississippi) #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 31
Folder 92	Transcript of Benjamin Grubb Humphreys: account of "The Sunflower Guards," 21st Mississippi, of which he was captain and later colonel Acquisitions Information: Accession 99884 (Addition of April 2004)
Folder 32-33 Folder 32 Folder 33	Stephen Dill Lee: autobiographical data and reminiscences, including "Data for Sketch of Life of Stephen D. Lee," "Fort Sumter," "Vicksburg to close of 2nd attack" (the battle of Chickasaw Bayou), "From the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou to Siege of Vicksburg," "Review of Fall of Vicksburg," and two reports of Lee on the siege of Vicksburg, 1863, and a campaign in Mississippi, 1864.
Folder 34	F. A. Montgomery: "First Mississippi Cavalry" by Montgomery, who was a captain, later lieutenant colonel, of this regiment.
Folder 35	William S. Patton: writing on Wayne County, Miss.Franklin E. Plummer: two sketches of him.
Folder 36	Biographical materials: Hugh J. Reid and 22nd Mississippi Regiment, captain and later lieutenant colonel with the regiment #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 36 John Marshall Stone and 2nd Mississippi Regiment: history on both #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 36 Earl Van Dorn: autobiographical sketch and articles on Van Dorn's Mexican War activities #00151, Series 2. Biographical Information, 1860-1876., Folder 36
Folder 37	W. B. Wilkes: "Reminiscences of Monroe County, Miss.," sixteen articles primarily about Indians, and other articles about Indians and Monroe County

Expand/collapse Series 3. Writings, 1799-1884.

300 items.

Arrangement: topical.

Writings by Claiborne, primarily on historical subjects. There are papers from the Commission on Choctaw Indian Claims, 1842-1843, established by Congress to examine and adjudicate the claims of the Choctaw Indians under the 14th article of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit. Claiborne served as president of this board of commissioners. Folders 39-46 have been microfilmed. There are also two folders on the debts of the state of Mississippi due to bonds issued by the state for the Planters and Union Bank and sketches of M. G. P. Layman, Aaron Burr, William M. Gavin, Roger Barton, and Abraham Baldwin.

Folder 38	Poetry and non-historical writings Commission on Choctaw Indian Claims
Folder 39	"Journal and Field Notes, Levin Wailes, 1809, Boundary Line Survey under Treaty of Mt. Dexter; Journals and Field Notes on the Boundary lines between the United States and the Choctaw Nation of Indians Surveyed (pursuant to a Treaty concluded at Mount Dexter on the 16th day of November 1805) by Levin Wailes Deputy Surveyor"
Folder 40	Minutes 1842-1843, Part 1
Folder 41	Minutes 1842-1843, Part 2
Folder 42	Minutes 1842-1843, Part 3
Folder 43	Minutes 1842-1843, Part 4
Folder 44	Minutes 1842-1843, Part 5
Folder 45	Minutes 1842-1843, Part 6
Folder 46	Maps, Speeches, and Reports
Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-151/1	Maps
Folder 93	Mississippi pocket map Acquisitions Information: Accession 103314 (Addition of January 2018)
Folder 47-48 Folder 47 Folder 48	Mississippi state debts
Folder 49	Papers entitled "Natchez Lands in Old Times" but actually memoranda of property made by Palser Shilling, Natchez, 1799
Folder 50	Report of an expedition to Natchez and conflict with the Natchez Indians by a French colonial officer
Folder 51	"Proceedings and Debates of the Mississippi State Convention of 1861 Reported by J. L. Power"
Folder 52	Continuation of Proceedings and Debates for the Mississippi State Convention of 1861 (incomplete)
Folder 53	American Common Law
	Claiborne's History of Mississippi
Folder 54	Chapters 1-2
Folder 55	Chapters 3-5
Folder 56	Chapters 6-8
Folder 57	Chapters 9-10
Folder 58	Chapters 11-13
Folder 59	Indians of Mississippi and the vicinity
Folder 60	Reply to an unidentified anti-slavery treatise
Folder 61	Mississippi Regiments in the Civil War with reports from Confederate companies from Natchez and Adams County, Jefferson Davis Guards, Hurricane Rifles, Wilkinson Rifles, and Carnot Posey
Folder 62	Fragments and drafts on slavery, the origins of the Civil War, and conduct of the war
Folder 63	Manuscripts on secession
Folder 64	Notes and fragments on miscellaneous subjects including the Mexican War by Claiborne
Folder 65	Notes and lists of Claiborne's papers

Expand/collapse Series 4. Clippings, 1831-1884.

350 items.

Arrangement: topical.

Newspaper clippings relating to Claiborne's writings and on political and other issues.

Besides his books, Claiborne also wrote a series of newspaper articles for Louisiana newspapers, 1848-1850, under the pseudonym "Nota Bene." These discussed current events, campaigns, public men, public questions, and politics such as the French Revolution and the Mexican War. The first folder of this series includes complete issues of the following newspapers, most of which have articles on Choctaw claims: The Signal (Gallatin, Miss.) 1843; Vicksburg Daily Sentinel 1843; Sentinel and Expositor (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1843; and The Daily Clarion(Meridian, Miss.) 1865.

Folder 66	Newspapers
Folder 67	Clippings and other printed items by or about Claiborne or his writings
Folder 68	Clippings about Quitman or Claiborne's book on him
Folder 69	Clippings and other printed material on early Mississippi history, geography, Indians, and early settlers
Folder 70	"Reminiscences of the Chickasaw Indians"
Folder 71	Clippings on Mississippi history and politics, 1820-1840
Folder 72	Clippings and printed material on the Mexican War
Folder 73	Clippings on slavery and secession
Folder 74	Clippings on the Civil War
Folder 75	Clippings of Post-Civil war reminiscences
Folder 76	Clippings from the Reconstruction Period and later
Folder 77	Miscellaneous Mississippi material
Folder 78	Louisiana
Folder 79	Articles by "Nota Bene" and reactions to columns
Folder 80	Miscellaneous

Expand/collapse Series 5. Volumes, 1794-1863 and undated.

11 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 81	Volume 1: 1794, 16 pages Brief journal possibly of John Sevier or one of his sons, near Jonesboro, Tenn.
Folder 82	Volume 2: 1794-1795, 40 pages Journal of Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne while with the U.S. Army at Fort Wayne about events at the fort.
Folder 83	Volume 3: 1825-1826, 160 pages Notes on Blackstone's Commentaries kept by John F. H. Claiborne while studying law in Virginia with Alexander Smythe and notes on legal matters.
Folder 84	Volume 4: 1826-1828, 60 pages Copies of letters written by Claiborne in 1826 while in Virginia and clippings of editorial articles he wrote for the Natchez Statesman. The newspaper articles relate primarily to the Adams-Jackson presidential campaign.
Folder 85	Volume 5: 1837-1838, 17 pages Fragmentary accounts and notes and record of shipping cotton.
Folder 86	Volume 6: circa 1847, 100 pages Miscellaneous notes on Claiborne's research.
Folder 87	Volume 7: circa 1858, 30 pages Notes on John A. Quitman and other politicians, with historical extracts.
Folder 88	Volume 8: 1859, 18 pages Samuel A. Cartwright's comments on John A. Quitman.
Folder 89	Volume 9: 1863, 85 pages (including 10 pages looseleaf) Journal of W. H. Claiborne, son of John F. H. Claiborne, kept while serving in the Confederate Army in and near Vicksburg.
Folder 90	Volume 10: Undated, 23 pages Historical notes on Mississippi and Roman history.
Folder 91	Volume 11: Undated, 80 pages Extracts from historical writings relating to the history of Mississippi, especially to Phineas Lyman and Aaron Burr.

Expand/collapse Microfilm.

1 item.

Reel M-151/1

Microfilm

Expand/collapse Items Separated

Oversize Papers (OP-151/1-15, XOPF-151/1)
Microfilm (M-151/1)
Photographs (PF-00151/1)

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Collection Number: 00151 Collection Title: J.F.H. Claiborne Papers, 1797-1884