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Copyright is 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 Edmiston, Kelley and Flowers Family Papers #5230, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Paul C. Edmiston Jr. of Mobile, Ala., in October 2004 (Acc. 100176), and from Lee Edmiston in May 2007 (Acc. 100657).

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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.

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• African Americans--Louisiana--History--19th century.
• Bovina (Miss.)--History.
• Bovina (Miss.)--Social life and customs.
• Edmiston family.
• Families--Louisiana--Social life and customs.
• Families--Mississippi--Social life and customs.
• Flowers family.
• Kelley family.
• Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.)--Photographs.
• Mississippi--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Physicians--Louisiana--History--19th century.
• Rock Island Arsenal (Ill.)
• Soldiers--Confederate States of America.
• Tallulah (La.)--History.
• Tallulah (La.)--Social life and customs.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons.
• United States. Navy--Radiomen.
• Women--Education--Southern States.
• Yellow fever--Louisiana.

• Craig, Ferris, and Flowers Family Papers (#5323)

Oliver Flowers (1841-1884) and Uriah Flowers (1846-1870) fought for the Confederate Army in the Civil War. Oliver served with "Harvey's Scouts," composed chiefly of men from Madison County, Miss., and was captured and sent to the Union prison at Rock Island, Ill. While imprisoned, his mother, Seraphina Brooks Flowers (1824-1868), traveled by riverboat from Vicksburg, Miss., to visit him.

William Edmiston (1845-1907) was a corporal in the Union Army in the Civil War with the 132nd Regiment, Ohio National Guard. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1864, he started the Edmiston Lumber Company in Springfield, Ohio. In 1899, he moved to Hattiesburg, Miss., with his wife, Esther Cassil, and son Paul C. Edmiston.

William Kelley (1844-1897) was a physician and parish health officer in Tallulah, La. In 1885, he married Mary Seraphina Flowers Kelley (1844-1937), daughter of Seraphina Brooks Flowers (1824-1868). Their daughter, Olive Kelley Edmiston (1887-1979), married Paul C. Edmiston.

Paul C. Edmiston (1881-1927) of Hattiesburg, Miss., married Olive Kelley Edmiston (1887-1979), and helped organize the Pole Stock Lumber Company with his father William Edmiston.

Paul C. Edmiston Jr. (b. 1919) was the son of Paul C. Edmiston and Olive Kelley Edmiston. He married Betsy Collins Edmiston (b. 1925) and served as a naval radio officer during the 1940s and 1950s.

The papers consist primarily of family correspondence and genealogical materials relating to Edmiston, Kelley, and Flowers family members in Mississippi and Louisiana that were gathered by Edmiston family members. Correspondence chiefly consists of letters between Saraphina Brooks Flowers of Bovina, Miss., and her daughter, Mary Saraphina Flowers Kelley, 1867-1868; letters between William Kelley of Tallulah, La., and his wife, Mary Saraphina Flowers Kelley, 1878-1897; telegrams sent to William Kelley regarding yellow fever cases in Louisiana, 1880s-1890s; and letters between Olive Kelley Edmiston and her mother, Mary Saraphina Flowers Kelley, 1900-1915. Some letters are from girls in school in Mississippi or Louisiana in the mid-19th century and early 20th century; others relate to African Americans in 19th-century Louisiana. Also included is a 1864 letter from Saraphina Brooks Flowers regarding her visit to the Union Army prison in Rock Island, Ill., where her son, a soldier serving with a Mississippi regiment during the Civil War, was a prisoner; an autograph album of William Kelley containing signatures of friends and acquaintances; naval records and other papers of Paul C. Edmiston Jr. serving as a naval radio officer, 1940s-1950s; photographs of various Edmiston and Flowers family members, 1850s-1950s; and a photograph album belonging to Olive Kelley Edmiston, circa 1900-1910, with some images of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis, Mo. Genealogical materials include notes, prepared works, and a compact data disc documenting the lineage of the Edmiston, Kelley, and Flowers families.

• Oversize Papers (OP-5230/1)
• Oversize Volume (V-5230/S-1)
• Data Compact Disc (DCD-5230/1)
• Photographs (P-5230/Folders 1-3)
• Photograph Album (PA-5230/1)