The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1913-09-19
HISTORICAL LIBRARY
GETS VALUABLE GIFTS
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND
HISTORY RECEIVES OLD DATA.
Letters of Men Prominent in Early His.
tory of State, as Well as Valuable
Records, Are Secured-Appeal
For Family Records.

The Mississippi department of archives
and history has just received a very val
liable and interesting collection of his
torical documents relating to the early
settlement and development of the state
of Mississippi, which will be of very
great value to the historians of the Unit
ed States who are interested in the his
tory of the lower south from 1878 to
1925. This collection consists Of the
papers of Levin Wales, who was sur
veyor general Of the territory south OF
Tennessee, or the present states of Mis-
sissippi, Louisiana and Alabama.
The collection contains letters from
some of the most prominent men in the
United States who were active in public
affairs from 1875 to 1928 such as Thorn
as jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Aaron
Burr, Albert Gallatin, William w. Craw-
ford, David Holmes, Thomas B. Reed Of
Mississippi, Cowles Mead, who was act.
ing governor of Mississippi territory
when Col. Aaron Burr was arrested near
Natchez for his socalled conspiracy
against the United States government;
Hartman Blennerhassett, Ferdinand l..
Claiborne, Thomas H. Williams, Manuel
Gayoso De Lemons, and several others
Of equal prominence. The collection alse
contains what, DIR. Rowland, the director
of the historical department, says, Is
the most perfect descriptive manuscript
map of Fort Minis, the scene of a terri
BILE massacre by the Creek Indians in
1913, in existence. There are also some
early Spanish land grants, with the or
iginal seals upon them, in the collec-
ton. Another interesting series of pa.
pers are the original papers and note
books of B. L.. C. Wales, who made the
first geological survey of the state of
Mississippi.
The papers were located and secured
by DR.. Rowland after a long and persist
ent search, which extended over many
states, and they were finally found to be
in the possession of a descendant of the
Wales family in Atlanta, Ga.
Since the establishment of the Mis-
sissippi department of archives and his
tory in 1902 some OF the most valuable
collections of historical documents in the
United States in private hands have'been
secured and filed in the unofficial arch
ives of the state of Mississippi, at little
or no cost, through generous donations
blythe owners This has made the Mis-
sissippi historical department a center
Of historical information which is unri-
vailed. Nowhere else, perhaps, are the
same facilities offered to historians en-
gagged in the investigation of southern
history as are found in jackson. \. ISIS.
From the early explorations of DeSOto
the administration of Gov. Brewer there
is on file, chr~onologically arranged, a
complete chain of manuscripts dealing
with every phase of Mississippi history.
These documents from 1910 to 1898 have
been secured from England, from Spain,
and from France. From 179s to the
present time the collections represent the
original, official archives of the state of
Mississippi. The unofficial collections
have been secured from the garrets of
ante bellum homes throughout MISSISSIPPI
pi, where they have been stored for a
century and forgotten even by their OWL
ers.
The department of archives and his
tory il now making active efforts to
save from destruction these family rec
ords which are SO highly priced by the
historian. The director of the depart
ment is preparing an appeal to the peo-
pie Of Mississippi to save from destruc-
tion the letters of Confederate soldiers
of Mississippi written from 1861 to 1885,
and other correspondence of that period.
These letters contain valuable historical
facts which can be obtained from no 9th
err source, and if they are collected now
and placed in the possession of the state,
all the close, intimate facts which touch
ed so closely the lives of the people may
be preserved for future generations. 1t
is stated that half of the families in
Mississippi have letters of this nature
which should be preserved in the depart
ment of archives and history.
The people of Mississippi will be urged
to cooperate with the director of the
department of archives and history in
preserving these valuable historical doc.
uments.