These and letters of 1859 and 1860 from overseers J. M. Stanbrough and J. J. Smiley at Homestead, Lewis Carter at Viamede, and A. M. Taylor at Backland, report on conditions at those plantations. A few financial papers are interfiled with the correspondence. 1865 About 120 items. Correspondence and other material of John Perkins about business of the Confederate government and in 1863 about Perkins's Cottonwood Plantation in Ellis County, Texas. Many of the letters in this subseries are from Confederate soldiers requesting assistance in getting transferred from one regiment to another or in getting discharged from the army.
Few letters describe camp life or military action.
A notable letter of 23 December 1862 from Thomas D. Day, aide to Brigadier General D. M. Frost, written to Perkins from a camp near Van Buren, Arkansas, describes recent military engagements in Arkansas. Other items concerning Confederate government business include some letters about legislation on passports in 1861 and 1862 and auditors' reports in 1863 and 1864 about settlement of claim for arrears of pay due from the Confederate States to deceased officers and soldiers. Letters from Henry Pannill and G. W. Smith to John Perkins in 1863 and 1864 report on weather, work, overseers, slaves, and stock at Cottonwood Plantation in Ellis County, Texas. About 100 items. Chiefly letters, reports, financial papers, maps, and other material of John Perkins related to his emigration to Mexico and his work as a colonization agent for the Mexican government.