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  Andrew Jackson Edmondson War of 1812 journal

  42-page transcription of "A Journal of the Campaign of a Detachment of Volunteers to the Lower Mississippi under General Jackson in 1812 & 13" by Andrew Jackson Edmondson of Tennessee. Written around 1858, the journal actually includes memories through 1815. Edmondson volunteered in Nashville in December 1812 and served until April 1813, and again from October 1813 until January 1814, and finally from September 1814 to May 1815, according to a copy of an 1850 declaration of his service to a Mississippi Justice of the Peace. A copy of the first page of the journal can also be viewed.

  Andrew Jackson Edmondson (1793-1872), born in Davidson County, Tennessee, was the son of Robert (1753-1816) and Isabella Buchanan Edmondson (c.1761-1816). He married Jane Scott Walton (died 1819) and Mary Ann Howard (died 1861). Andrew died in Shelby County at his home just outside Memphis in 1872.

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  Personal Memoirs of James Norman Smith, 1871

  190-page typescript copy of a 1940 transcription by Edward Kinsey Voorhees of Atlanta, Georgia, of the memoirs of James Norman Smith (1789-1875) chronicling his life from his birth in North Carolina through his family’s move to Maury County, Tennessee, in the early 1800s, where he was a teacher and businessman. The family moved to Texas in 1839 and settled in DeWitt County where he was county clerk until 1865. Includes a note by William A. McLeod, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Cuero, Texas. The original 4-volume manuscript written in 1871 is at the University of Texas at Austin.

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  James W. Franks diary, 1883-1884

  107-page transcript by unknown transcriber of the diary of James W. Franks, originally of Giles County, Tennessee. The diary recounts his childhood, including schooling, and some family history. He describes his move from Marshall County to Hardin County in February 1883, a 100-mile journey which took seven days to complete. Franks comments on the weather, day to day work, neighbors and community news, politics, crops, prices, among other information. A microfilm copy of the diary is held by the Tennessee State Library and Archives (Mf.788).

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  Jesse A. Manuel Roland diary

  3-page transcription by Mrs. Ruth (Roland) Robinson, undated. A summary of the most important activities of Roland’s (1877-1929) life in Tennessee and Mississippi.

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  John P. Haggott journal, 1845

  Pages 1, 5-8 of a journal kept by Dr. John P. Haggott documenting his trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from his home in Franklin, Ohio, to Yazoo City, Mississippi, and back in 1845. Haggott (born circa 1810) practiced in West Chester, Ohio, from 1828 to 1830, in Franklin for 12 years and then moved to Sidney. In October 1861 he was appointed surgeon of the 57^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He fell ill after the Battle of Shiloh and died in April 1862, in St. Louis, Missouri. A transcription of the journal is included.

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  Philip Grymes handbill, New Orleans, 1808

  Reply in English and French, dated November 27, 1808, of Philip Grymes of New Orleans, Louisiana, to former judge James Workman’s claim that Grymes was a coward for not agreeing to duel with him after insulting Workman. Grymes offered an apology to the public along with a copy of Workman’s indictment and acquittal of the high misdemeanor charge in 1807 when Workman had been accused of supporting an invasion of nearby Spanish colonies. The handbill was printed in reply to one by Workman after an incident during a superior court case involving a fellow opponent of Governor Claiborne. Newly-appointed district attorney Grymes accused Workman, acting on behalf of Edward Livingstone, of having a deep-rooted enmity to the government. Workman denied the charge and Grymes threw an inkpot at him. Both men were brought before presiding judge Joshua Lewis and fined twenty-five dollars and imprisoned for eight hours. Workman then challenged Grymes to a duel and published an account of the courtroom dispute with Grymes. As a result of what he regarded as tantamount to contempt of court, Lewis disbarred Workman. An Irishman with legal training, Workman (177?-1832) had moved to New Orleans in 1804 and became a secretary to Governor W.C.C. Claiborne. He was appointed a judge in Orleans County and a probate judge of Orleans Territory in 1805. He supported the liberation of Spain’s North American colonies through the Mexican Association and was arrested but acquitted after a trial that was linked to Aaron Burr’s conspiracy trial. This also destroyed his relationship with Claiborne and he lost his appointments. After his disbarment in 1808, he could not find work and left New Orleans in 1809. He returned in 1817 after Claiborne’s death and became a successful lawyer and was elected to the state legislature in 1830. Source: Bradley, Jared W. (ed.), "Interim Appointment: W.C.C. Claiborne Letter Book, 1804-1805", Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2002, pp.389-414.