Found 4 collections related to Southern States -- History -- 1865-1877

Robert Simmons was a teacher and elected official in the Reconstruction government of Holmes County, Mississippi. In 1875 he was elected sheriff and tax collector and in 1876 he was appointed supervisor for the registration of voters. Simmons lived in Prichard, Mississippi, New York City and Long Island, NY and owned property in Tunica County, Mississippi. He died in or before 1923. The Robert A. Simmons Collection documents his teaching and political careers during the Reconstruction era, as well as some aspects of his personal life and real estate ventures. Correspondence between Simmons and his friend John R. Porter discuss securing teaching positions in Holmes County, Mississippi, 1870. Correspondence with friends and relatives discuss personal matters, 1887-1915. There are also certificates of appointment as sheriff (1875), tax collector (1875), and supervisor of registration of voters (1876). less

John Payne was a veteran of the Civil War and agent of the Freedmen's Bureau. The John Payne Civil War collection consists of correspondence and military certificates documenting the Civil War service of Payne, a volunteer of African descent who rose to the post of second lieutenant in the Union army and became an agent of the Freedmen's Bureau after the war. The collection includes letters exchanged between Payne and his uncles, Samuel and William Rees from 1862 to 1868, four military orders (1865), Payne's letter of appointment as second lieutenant in the Lousiana Volunteers of African Descent (1864) and a pension certificate (1923). Payne's letters provide substantive details on the participation of African Americans in the Civil War and their enfranchisement during the Reconstruction period. (15 originals and 7 duplicates). less

John Alcott Carpenter (1921–1978) was a historian, history professor, and public speaker. He published biographies of Oliver Otis Howard and Ulysses S. Grant. This collection includes manuscripts, typescripts, research notes, and printed matter used by Carpenter for various writing. less