Back to TopDescriptive Summary
- Repository
-
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
- Creator
-
Jackson family.
Prince family.
- Title
- Jackson and Prince Family Papers, 1784-1947
- Call Number
- 371
- Language of Materials
- Materials in
English
- Extent
-
- Items: About 3400
- Linear Feet: 7.0
Abstract
The Rootes family of Fredericksburg, Va., and the Cobb, Jackson, and Prince families of Athens, Macon, and other locations
in Georgia belonged to the elite of the southern planter artistocracy. Henry Jackson(1778-1840) served as United States charge
d'affaires in France (1812-1818) and taught at Franklin College in Athens, Ga. (1811-1813 and 1819-1828). His wife, Martha
Jacquelin Rootes Cobb Jackson (1786-1853) operated her husband's Halscot Plantation outside Athens, Ga., and Cookshay Plantation
in Chatham County, Ala., for over a decade after his death. Jackson's son, Henry Rootes Jackson, a brigadier general in the
Confederate Army, also served as minister to Austria (1853-1858) and to Mexico (1885-1886). Oliver Hillhouse Prince (1823-1875),
Jackson's son-in-law, was a Democratic Party newspaper editor deeply involved in Georgia politics in the 1840s, who became
a large landholder and planter in Bibb and Baker counties.
The papers consist of family, business, and political correspondence, financial and legal papers, and miscellaneous collected
items. They include personal and plantation accounts; day books; slave records; deeds and indentures; diaries; scientific
notes; and genealogical materials. The papers document the social and religious life of ante-bellum aristocratic women, including
camp meetings and missionary activities, and offer insight into the economic and political life of Georgia. They also contain
information on early American foreign affairs.
Back to TopAdministrative Information
- Restrictions to Access
- No restrictions.
- Acquisitions Information
- Received in March 1937 from Sarah Thomas Watters, Florence Thomas Drane, George Thomas, and Marie Thomas, the great grandchildren
of Henry Jackson. Four items were added in 1943 and include account books for Martha J. (Cobb) Jackson, 1814-1817; Martha
and Henry Jackson, 1819-1853; and Henry Jackson, 1813-1818; and a volume containing two diaries.
- (The diaries were written by Henry Rootes Jackson, 1837, and Sarah Rootes (Jackson) Prince, 1854). One item, a letter to General
Henry Rootes Jackson, 21 July 1861, was received in 1948 from F. B. Voegele. Ten items, consisting of pamphlets and addresses,
were received in 1950 from Dr. London. One item, a letter to General Henry Rootes Jackson, 9 August 1861, was purchased in
1957. Received from Marie Colton in December 1995 (Acc. 95147) and in December 2000 (Acc. 98817).
- Processing Information
- Processed by: Manuscripts Department Staff.
- Encoded by: Jackie Dean, August 2007
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], in the Jackson and Prince Family Papers #371, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Copyright Notice
- Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright
law.
Back to TopOnline Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
- Athens (Ga.)--History.
- Baker County (Ga.)--History.
- Bibb County (Ga.)--History.
- Camp meetings.
- Cobb family.
- Confederate States of America. Army--Officers.
- Cookshay Plantation (Ala.)
- Democratic Party (Ga.)
- Diaries.
- Diplomatic and consular service, American--France.
- Family--Georgia--Social life and customs.
- France--Foreign relations--1814-1830.
- France--Foreign relations--United States.
- Fredericksburg (Va.)--History.
- Diaries.
- Genealogy.
- Georgia--Politics and government--1775-1865.
- Halscot Plantation (Ga.)
- Jackson family.
- Jackson, Henry, 1778-1840.
- Jackson, Henry R. (Henry Rootes), 1820-1898.
- Jackson, Martha Jacquelin Rootes Cobb, 1786-1853.
- Journalists--Georgia--History--19th century.
- Macon (Ga.)--History.
- Missionaries.
- Plantation owners' wives.
- Plantations--Alabama.
- Plantations--Georgia.
- Prince family.
- Prince, Oliver Hillhouse, 1823-1875.
- Rootes family.
- Slavery--Georgia.
- United States--Diplomatic and consular service--France.
- Women--Alabama--Social life and customs.
- Women and religion.
- Women--Georgia--Social life and customs.
- Women plantation owners--Alabama.
- Women plantation owners--Georgia.
Back to TopBiographical Note
Henry Jackson, American educator, diplomat, and planter, was born in Moretonhampstead, Devonshire, England, in 1778, the youngest
son of James and Mary Webber Jackson. He emigrated to America in 1790 and took up the study of medicine, graduating from the
Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1802. Unhappy as a physician, he pursued an academic career and became professor of sciences
and mathematics at Franklin College (later the University of Georgia) in 1811. In 1813 Jackson interrupted his teaching to
accompany William H. Crawford to France as secretary to the American Legation. He remained in Paris as charge d'affaires until
1818, when he returned to Franklin College. In 1828 Jackson resigned his teaching post and moved to Halscot (also called Henry's
Mount Farm), his plantation near Athens.
Henry Jackson's older brother James Jackson (1757-1806), a Revolutionary War general and political protege of William H. Crawford,
served as a U.S. congressman from Georgia in the early 1790s, as governor of Georgia from 1798 to 1801, and as a U.S. senator
from that state from 1801 until his death. Henry's older brother Abraham also lived in Georgia in the 1790s and served in
the Georgia House of Representatives circa 1803.
In 1819 Henry Jackson married Martha Jacquelin Rootes Cobb, the widow of Captain Howell Cobb (1772-1818). Martha was born
in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1776, the daughter of Thomas Reade and Sarah Ryng Battaile Rootes. Before she married in 1810,
she lived with her family in Fredericksburg. She then moved with her husband first to Washington City, then in 1812 to his
plantation outside Louisville, Georgia. One year after Cobb's death she married Henry Jackson and moved with him to Athens,
then later to his Halscot Plantation, where she lived until around 1850 or 1851. She died in 1853.
Martha's sister, Sarah Robinson Rootes (1792-1867), married Howell Cobb's brother, John Addison Cobb, and Henry Jackson's
nephew, William Henry Jackson, married Howell Cobb's sister, Mildred Lewis Cobb.
Henry and Martha Jackson had three children. Their son Henry Rootes Jackson (1820-1898) became active in politics, serving
as judge and minister to Austria, 1853-1858, and to Mexico, 1885-1886. He also served as a Confederate general in the Civil
War. One of their daughters, Martha, married Col. Hezekiah F. Erwin, and another, Sarah Maria Rootes Jackson, married Oliver
Hillhouse Prince, Jr.
A Georgia planter and newspaper editor, Oliver Hillhouse Prince was born 16 March 1823 in Bibb County, the son of Oliver Hillhouse
Prince (senior) and Mary Ross Norman Prince. The elder Prince, a founder of the city of Macon, died, along with his wife,
in a shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina in 1837. Orphaned, the young Prince became a ward of his uncle, Washington
Poe of Macon.
Prince received most of his education at Dr. Beaman's School in Milledgeville, Georgia, and at Yale College in Virginia. Around
1844 he began editing the Georgia Telegraph, an organ of the Democratic party. He left the paper in 1847 to serve as a lieutenant with the 13th U.S. Cavalry in the Mexican
War.
Following the war Prince became a prominent planter, operating several large Georgia plantations. In 1852 he married Sarah
Jackson. During the Civil War Prince served as a volunteer aide-de-camp, receiving a captain's commission and helping conscript
soldiers in Baker County, Georgia. His wife and children (Basiline, Henry, Marie Jacqueline, and Oliver) resided in Bath,
Georgia, during the war and for several years afterward while Prince stayed on his plantation in Baker County. Prince died
in 1875.
(Much of the information for these sketches came from the genealogical material contained in Subseries 9.1 of Subcollection
2. Sketches of James Jackson and Henry Rootes Jackson can be found in the Dictionary of American Biography.)
Back to TopCollection Overview
This collection consists mostly of family letters and plantation papers, but also contains business papers of Henry Jackson and Oliver Hillhouse Prince. Prince's papers offer substantial information on the politically turbulent decades leading up to the Civil War and on family genealogy, and they appear in a separate subcollection to facilitate their use. Note, however, that information on Georgia and national politics also appears in the Jackson subcollection.
The Jackson subcollection includes the papers of the widely connected Rootes, Cobb, and Jackson families, and the Prince subcollection contains the papers of Oliver Hillhouse Prince and other members of the
Prince, Hillhouse, and related families. Within the subcollections, divisions appear between correspondence, financial and legal papers, diaries, pictures, and other papers.
About two-thirds of the Jackson subcollection consists of correspondence (Series 1). Most of it is with family, though a considerable
portion, especially Henry Jackson's correspondence as charge d'affaires (1813-1818), is business related. Letters exchanged
among the members (mostly women) of the Rootes, Cobb, and Jackson families offer a wealth of information on the family, religious,
and educational life of the Virginia and Georgia aristocracies. Topics include camp meetings, missionary activities, church divisions, slave-master relations, courtship and marriage, the education and rearing of children, and financial worries (including those caused by the War of 1812 and falling cotton prices in the 1830s). Of particular interest are letters from Martha Rootes Cobb Jackson after the death of Henry Jackson in 1840, which document her management of their plantations in Georgia and Alabama for more than ten years. Correspondence between the American and English members of Henry Jackson's family provides insight
into immigration to America and early Georgia and national politics.
Henry Jackson's business correspondence relates to his service as charge d'affaires in France, to his connections with Franklin College (later the University of Georgia), and to his operation of plantations in Georgia
and Alabama (1828-1840). Jackson's correspondence as charge d'affaires is sketchy and illuminates little beyond his routine
activities; however, it does touch on sensitive issues surrounding American shipping rights. His correspondence pertaining to Franklin College (where he taught from 1811 to 1813 and from 1818 to 1828) chiefly provides information on his role in procuring scientific
supplies for the school, but it also discusses individual students. Later correspondence in the early 1830s, when Jackson
served on the college's board of trustees, addresses early conflicts over the school's administration.
The financial and legal papers in Series 2 and 3 of the Jackson subcollection chiefly document the operation of the Jacksons'
Halscot Plantation outside Athens, Ga., and their Cookshay Plantation in Chatham County, Ala. Some material also appears on the finances of the American Legation in Paris and on Henry's personal
expenses while a medical student.
Series 4 contains diaries and loose diary entries of Henry Jackson and Martha Jacquelin (Rootes) Cobb Jackson and of their
children Henry Rootes Jackson, Sarah Maria Rootes (Jackson) Prince, and Martha Rootes (Jackson) Erwin.
Of special interest among the subcollection's Other Papers (Series 5) are items documenting late eighteenth and early nineteeth-century
scientific disciplines and a number of miscellaneous items providing insight into religious thought, daily plantation life, and Georgia politics.
Series 6 contains 13 unidentified pictures of individuals, probably family members, and one unidentified house.
Correspondence (Series 7) accounts for about one-half of the Prince subcollection. Oliver Prince's personal and business letters,
chiefly 1839 to 1852, contain frequent commentary on local, state, and national politics. Topics include the contest between
George M. Troup and John Clark in Georgia in 1825; the election of James K. Polk, and the annexation of Texas. Of interest in his later correspondence is discussion of developments during the Civil War in Baker County. Other correspondence
belongs mostly to Prince's wife, Sarah (Jackson) Prince, his daughter, Basiline, and Basiline's cousin, Margaret P. Hillhouse.
Sarah's correspondence deals mostly with religious and family life, and Basiline and Margaret's, which comprises the bulk
of the subcollection after 1873, provides a rich source on the genealogy of the Rootes, Cobb, Jackson, Prince, Hillhouse,
King, Cary, Jacquelin, Thomas, and other families.
The financial and legal papers of Oliver Prince (Series 8) mostly document his plantation activities. Only scattered information
appears on personal expenses or on the finances of the Georgia Telegraph. Almost all of the material filed under Other Papers (Series 9) in the Prince subcollection is related to family genealogy.
Miscellaneous items pertain to Georgia politics.
Note: To clarify the family relationships of women in the collection, maiden names are generally included where appropriate.
Back to TopArrangement of Collection
Subcollection 1. Jackson Family Papers
Series 1. Correspondence
Subseries 1.1. 1784-1811
Subseries 1.2. 1812-1818
Subseries 1.3. 1819-1828
Subseries 1.4. 1829-1840
Subseries 1.5. Undated, ca. 1784-1840
Subseries 1.6. 1841-1859
Subseries 1.7. 1860-1880
Series 2. Financial Papers
Subseries 2.1. Charge d'Affaires Accounts
Subseries 2.2. Personal Accounts
Subseries 2.4. Plantation Accounts
Series 3. Legal Papers
Series 4. Diaries
Series 5. Other Papers
Series 6. Pictures
Subcollection 2. Prince Family Papers
Series 7. Correspondence
Subseries 7.1. 1830-1849
Subseries 7.2. 1852-1873
Subseries 7.3. 1874-1926
Series 8. Financial and Legal Papers
Series 9. Other Papers
Subseries 9.1. Genealogical Material
Subsubseries 9.1.1. Notes and Notebooks
Subsubseries 9.1.2. Clippings and Publications
Subseries 9.2. Miscellaneous
Back to TopItems Separated
OP-371/1-16
P-371/1-12 and P-371/14
SF-P-371/13
M-371/1
Detailed Description of the Collection
Subcollection 1. Jackson Family Papers, 1784-1880.
About 1800 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
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1. Correspondence, 1884-1880.
About 2400 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Personal letters exchanged between members of the Rootes, Cobb, and Jackson families, or between members of these families
and their friends, and business correspondence of Henry Jackson. A considerable amount of the correspondence belongs to the
women of these families. A small portion (about 125 items) of the correspondence was received by the Southern Historical Collection
already having suffered significant mold or physical damage or having deteriorated to fragments. These items have been interfiled
chronologically whenever possible. Most appear in Subseries 1.1 through Subseries 1.4
Back to Top
1.1. 1784-1811.
About 100 items.
Chiefly correspondence of Henry Jackson and Martha Jacquelin (Rootes) Cobb Jackson, with some correspondence of other members
of their families.
Between 1784 and 1811 the collection contains mostly letters received by Martha Rootes from women in her family, including
her aunt Lucy Thornton, who lived in Caroline County, Virginia, her cousin Martha M. J. Robinson of Winchester, Virginia,
and her friends Mary Cooke and E. Marion. Of interest are references to courtship, friendship, religious devotion and missionary
efforts, plantation life, the treatment of slaves, and the difficulties women encountered in operating a plantation.
Correspondence of Abraham Jackson (Henry's brother) is dated 1782 to 1805 and consists mostly of letters to or from his mother
and brothers. These letters contain primarily family news, but have scattered references to Georgia and national politics.
Of interest is a fragment, ca. 1789, from Abraham to his brother Samuel discussing the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.
(For additional correspondence of Abraham and other Jackson family members, see Subsubseries 9.1.1.)
Henry Jackson's correspondence for this period is scattered. Of note is a series of letters from mid-1811 to early 1812 concerning
the settlement of Joseph Webber's (his grandfather's) English estate. Correspondents include his brothers Joseph and Samuel
and his sister Eliza.
Folder
1
1784-1785
Folder
2
1786-1798
Folder
3
1799-1804
Folder
4
1805-1807
Folder
5
1808-1810
Folder
6
1811
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1.2. 1812-1818.
About 350 items.
Letters about equally divided between Martha's family correspondence and Henry Jackson's personal and business correspondence.
Letters to Martha from Lucy Thornton note church happenings, including splits occurring in the Baptist church in Fredericksburg,
Virginia. Letters from Martha's father mostly discuss the education and rearing of Martha's sisters, Laura and Sarah, who
lived with Martha from 1814 to 1817 and possibly afterward while her parents resided on their White Marsh plantation in Gloucester
County, Virginia. These letters are useful in illuminating the expected role of women in the church and family. Martha's father's
letters also describe the difficulties he and other planters around White Marsh experienced during the War of 1812.
Jackson's correspondence from 1812 to 1818 is mostly correspondence with the members of his family in England and his correspondence
as charge d'affaires. His most frequent correspondent was his nephew Jabez (in London and later the U.S.). They wrote about
family, Jabez's career, and politics (including the War of 1812 and various U.S. political figures). The most useful of Jackson's
charge d'affaires papers are copies of letters to the French government (contained in one letter copy book dated 1815-1816).
These chiefly concern American shipping rights and difficulties encountered by American citizens in France. Other official
correspondence includes letters of introduction, invitations, thank-you notes, financial correspondence, and pleas for help
from American citizens.
Folder
7
1812
Folder
8
1813
Folder
9
1814
Folder
10
1815
Folder
11-12a
1816
Folder
12b
Letter Copy Book, 1815-1816
Folder
13-15
1817
Folder
15-17
1818
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1.3. 1819-1828.
About 450 items.
Predominantly Henry Jackson's business correspondence, much of which relates to Franklin College. This correspondence concerns
the acquisition of laboratory and other materials, students, and the governance of the college. Jackson's personal correspondence
consists mostly of letters with his family, especially his nephews Joseph Webber Jackson and William Henry Jackson, and with
old acquaintances in Paris. These letters frequently discuss politics. There is also correspondence relating to Jackson's
land acquisitions.
Letters to Martha from her father, Lucy Thornton, and other family members concern family news and events, camp meetings and
other church news, and her marriage to Henry Jackson. For a first-person account of an interracial camp meeting see the 12
August 1819 letter to Martha from Mrs. Sherwood. A series of letters Martha and Henry wrote each other during their courtship
appears for 1819. Another series of letters they wrote each other in 1827 and 1828 while separated also appears. These letters
contain detailed information on daily life at Halscot.
Folder
18-23
1819
Folder
24-25
1820
Folder
26
1821
Folder
27
1822
Folder
28
1823
Folder
29
1824
Folder
30
1825-1826
Folder
31
1827
Folder
32-33
1828
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1.4. 1829-1840.
About 300 items.
Chiefly personal correspondence of Henry and Martha Jackson and their chidren, Henry Rootes Jackson, Sarah Rootes Jackson,
and Martha Rootes Jackson. Henry's letters discuss a broad range of topics, including Georgia politics, land acquisitions,
Franklin College, financial difficulties, and the education of his son, Henry Rootes Jackson. Among his most frequent correspondents
were his nephews Jabez and Joseph Webber Jackson. Martha expanded her correspondence to include an ever-widening network of
relatives and friends, including her sister Serena (Rootes) Lea, wife of Henry C. Lea of Alabama; Elizabeth Schley, wife of
Georgia governor William Schley; and a number of nieces and nephews. Of note among the childrens' correspondence are letters
by Henry Rootes Jackson to his family while he was studying at Edgehill Seminary in New Jersey (1834-1835) and at Yale College
in New Haven (1836-1839). They chiefly discuss his social life and campus events.
Folder
34
1829
Folder
35
1830
Folder
36
1831
Folder
37
1832
Folder
38-40
1833
Folder
41
1834
Folder
42-43
1835
Folder
44
1836
Folder
45-47
1837
Folder
47
January-September 1838
Folder
48
October 1838-1839
Folder
49-50
1840
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1.5. Undated (circa 1784-1840)
About 100 items.
Letters that do not bear dates, but that can be placed in this
period. They include few letters to and by Henry Jackson while
in France, a large number of letters exchanged between Henry and
Martha Jackson during separations (probably late 1820s and early
1830s), letters to Martha from Mary Ann Lamar, Sarah (Rootes)
Cobb, Sarah (Jackson) Prince, and other family members.
Jackson's French correspondence is mostly personal. Letters
between Henry and Martha and correspondence with other family
members provide information mostly on family matters and life at
Halscot. Correspondence with Henry Smith, overseer at Cookshay,
provides information on the operation of the plantation.
Folder
51-58
Undated
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1.6. 1841-1859.
About 500 items.
Mostly the correspondence of Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson and her children. Much of this correspondence documents Martha Jackson's
operation of the Halscot Plantation outside Athens, Ga., and the Cookshay Plantation in Chatham County, Ala., for over a decade
after her husband's death in 1840. A considerable number of letters with the overseers on the Cookshay plantation discuss
its operation in detail. Numerous letters from Henry Rootes Jackson and from Henry Jackson's nephew Joseph Webber Jackson
also concern plantation matters and finances. Martha's correspondence with her daughters and with other family members often
discusses the status of her crops and livestock.
Letters exchanged among Henry Rootes Jackson, Sarah Rootes Jackson (later Prince), Martha Rootes Jackson (later Erwin), and
their mother discuss mostly personal news. Sarah and Martha's letters with a number of cousins, including Mary Ann Lamar and
Laura Battaile Cobb, discuss religion, including missions to Africa, family, and society news. Several letters in the 1840s
pertain to Henry Rootes Jackson's service in the Mexican War.
Folder
59
1841
Folder
60-61
1842
Folder
62
1843
Folder
63
1844
Folder
64
1845
Folder
65-67
1846
Folder
68
1847
Folder
69
1848
Folder
70-72
1849
Folder
73
1850-1851
Folder
74-75
1852
Folder
76
1853
Folder
77
1854-1859
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1.7. 1860-1880.
13 items.
Chiefly Civil War correspondence of Henry Rootes Jackson. Included are two letters by Jackson concerning the retreat from
Sherman's army, one to Henry Rootes Jackson concerning his orders recalling the 1st Georgia Regiment to duty, and one to Jackson
from 1st Lieutenant Samuel Dawson reporting an exchange of prisoners and other military matters. Miscellaneous items, dated
1861, 1868, 1879, and 1880 are addressed to Mary Ann Cobb and General and Mrs. Jackson and concern family matters
Folder
78
1860-1880
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2. Financial Volumes and Papers, 1812-1896 and undated.
About 400 items.
Financial papers of Henry and Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson and
their children. The papers include personal accounts, records of
Jackson's service as Charge d'Affaires to France (1812-1818), and
plantation accounts.
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2.1. Charge d'Affaires Accounts, 1812-1818.
About 130 items.
Financial records of Henry Jackson while secretary to the American Legation and later Charge d'Affaires for the United States
in France. Personal accounts consist mostly of bills and receipts for living expenses. American Legation accounts consist
of bills, receipts, and records kept for postage, stationery, printing, salary, and miscellaneous expenses. Correspondence
related to Jackson's financial affairs in Paris may be found in Subseries 1.2.
Folder
79
1812-1815
Folder
80
1815-1816
Folder
81
1816-1818
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2.2. Personal Accounts, 1796-1820.
18 items.
Mostly Henry Jackson's personal accounts while attending medical school in Philadelphia (one volume dated 1796-1797) and while
working as a doctor (one volume dated 1809-1810 and five receipts for personal goods). There are also other miscellaneous
receipts for 1817 through 1820. A personal account book belonging to Henry and Martha Jackson appears for 1819-1820. (There
are plantation accounts for 1850-1851 contained in the back of this volume.) One undated item may relate to a commission received
by Jackson to buy scientific supplies from France for the University of Georgia.
Folder
82
Henry Jackson, 1796-1797
Folder
83
Henry Jackson, 1809-1810
Folder
84
Henry Jackson, 1812-1820 and undated
Folder
85
Henry and Martha Jackson, 1819-1820 and Plantation Account Book, 1850-1851 (in same volume)
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2.3. Plantation Accounts, 1816-1869 and undated.
About 250 items.
Plantation papers of Henry and Martha Jackson and of their son Henry Rootes Jackson. The earliest papers appear for the Louisville,
Ga., plantation owned by Howell and Martha (Rootes) Cobb (later Jackson) and dated 1816-1818. Subsequent papers concern the
Halscot Plantation of Henry and Martha Jackson, outside Athens (1818-1850s); the Cookshay Plantation (Chatham County, Ala.)
owned by the Jacksons (1838?-1852), and a plantation (location unknown) owned by Henry Rootes Jackson.
Papers include household and plantation account books, livestock records, plantation day books, receipts, accounts with cotton
factors, slave lists and value assessments, and tax records.
Folder
86
Plantation account book, 1816-1818 and 1817-1818
Martha (Rootes) Cobb's accounts for the Louisville, Ga., plantation
Folder
87
Plantation account book, 1819-1820
Henry and Martha Jackson's accounts, probably at Henry's Mount Farm (later called Halscot?) outside Athens
Folder
88
Plantation account book, 1823-1824
Henry and Martha Jackson's accounts at Henry's Mount Farm
Folder
89
Plantation accounts, 1824-1834
Memorandum Book, 1824-1826, recipes
Folder
90
Plantation account book, 1833-1834
Henry and Martha Jackson's accounts at Halscot, and day book, 1835-1837
Folder
91
Plantation accounts, 1835-1838
Folder
92
Account book, 1839
Henry and Martha Jackson's accounts for Cookshay Plantation (Chatham County, Ala.)
Folder
93
Plantation accounts, 1839-1840
Folder
94
Account book, 1841
Martha Jackson's accounts at Cookshay plantation
Folder
95
Plantation accounts, 1841-1842
Folder
96
Plantation accounts, 1843-1844
Folder
97
Plantation accounts, 1845-1850
Folder
98
Day book, 1847
Martha Jackson's notes on daily operation of Halscot? Plantation and Day book, 1849, Martha Jackson's accounts and notes on
operation of Halscot. See also accounts for 1850 and 1851 in the volume in folder 85.
Folder
99
Day book, 1851
Martha Jackson's accounts and notes on operation of Halscot
Folder
100
Plantation Accounts, 1851-1852
Folder
101
Plantation accounts, 1852-1853
Folder
102
Account book, 1852-1869 and undated
Martha Jackson's accounts at Halscot
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3. Legal Papers, 1818-1868and undated.
About items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Primarily papers of Dr. Henry Jackson, Martha Rootes Cobb Jackson, and Henry Rootes Jackson. Papers include land grants, deeds,
indentures (loan and property), bills of sale for slaves, employment agreements with overseers, bonds, and other legal items
related to the operation of the Jackson plantations. A considerable portion of the papers pertain to the settlement of Jackson's
estate after his death in 1840.
Folder
103
1818-1842
Folder
104
1843-1847
Folder
105
1848-1868 and undated
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4. Diaries, 1801-1854.
19 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Diaries kept by Jackson family members, mostly focusing on religion and daily life. There is one undated diary probably belonging
to Martha's father, Thomas Reade Rootes. Entries for Martha Jacquelin (Rootes) Cobb Jackson provide insight into the religious
life of an upper class Baptist woman. She commented extensively on sermons, the Bible, and her relationship to God. Childhood
diaries by Henry Rootes, Martha, and Sarah Jackson describe the family's farm and social activities on their Halscot Plantation
in the early 1830s. Henry Jackson's diaries contain ideas on scientific matters. Thomas Reade Rootes's diary offers
opinions on a variety of social and ethical topics.
Folder
106
Diary, 1801
Henry Jackson discusses school life at the Medical College of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), where Jackson studied medicine.
Diary and loose entries, 1806, Martha (Rootes) Cobb 16 pp. Diary, 5 pp. loose entries.
Records religious meditations and thoughts.
Diary, 1 Sept. 1811 to 11 October 1811, Henry Jackson, 35 pp.
Discusses scientific ideas and describes contemporary books and inventions.
Diary, 4 January 1813, Martha (Rootes) Cobb, 19 pp.
Records religious thoughts.
Diary entry (loose), 24 October 1815, Martha (Rootes) Cobb, 4 pp.
Records religious thoughts.
Diary, 13 October 1814 to 30 January 1817, Martha (Rootes) Cobb, 48 pp.
Records religious meditations and thoughts.
Diary 14 May 1816 to 10 September 1816, Martha (Rootes) Cobb, 20 pp.
Records religious thoughts.
"A Diary of Scripture Promises or The Soul's Every Day Feast," 1818, Author unknown, 38 pp.
Lists scriptural passages for reflection by day.
Diary entry (loose), 22 February 1821, Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson, 3 pp.
Records religious thoughts.
Folder
107
Diary, ? May 1830 to 29 March 1831, Henry Rootes Jackson, 41 pp.
Discusses daily life at the Jacksons' Halscot Plantations, including comings and goings and farm and other activities of his
parents and sisters.
Diary, 4 June 1833 to 4 September 1834, Martha Rootes Jackson, 76 pp.
Discusses daily life at the Halscot Plantation, including household and farm chores and leisure activities.
Diary, 13 May 1834 to 28 October 1835, Sarah Maria Rootes Jackson, 87 pp.
Discusses daily life at the Halscot Plantation, including household and farm chores and leisure activities.
Folder
108
Diary, March 1837, Henry Rootes Jackson, 157 pp. (Diary 2 January 1854 to 26 April 1854, Sarah Rootes(Jackson) Prince, 58
pp. contained in same volume.)
Written while he was a student at Yale, Henry Rootes Jackson's diary records mostly personal feelings and school notes. Many
of his early poems are included. Sarah (Jackson) Prince's diary discusses family, plantation activities, and her religious
feelings.
Folder
109
Diary entries (loose), Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson, 9 March 1834 and undated. 2 pp.
Comments on Bible chapters read.
Diary entries (loose), 12 February 1844 and 27 February 1844, probably belonging to Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson, 2 pp.
Records religious thoughts.
Diary, 10 March 1844 to 26 May 1845, Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson, 7 pp.
Comments on sermons heard.
Diary, 1846, Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson, 10 pp.
Comments on sermons heard.
Diary, undated, Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson, 15 pp.
Records religious thoughts.
Diary, undated, probably Thomas Reade Rootes, 51 pp.
(Labeled Laura B. Rootes, Federal Hill, but has only 4 pp. of doodling and calculations by her.) Offers opinions on a variety
of topics, including women wearing men's clothes and sensuous overindulgence.
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5. Other Papers, 1787-1854.
About 90 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by type.
Scientific notes and miscellaneous items collected by the Jackson and Rootes families. Notes on lectures Henry Jackson attended
in France in 1816 and 1817 and on medical school and
other classes Henry and James Jackson and others attended (around 1787-1788 and 1793-1794) cover the fields of medicine, botany,
optics, physics, mathematics, and economics. Other items of scientific interest are articles and prospecti for medical journals
and schools, Henry Jackson's notes on homeopathic medical remedies, and lectures and examinations he used in his teaching
at Franklin College.
A variety of miscellaneous items appear, including writings, addresses, school materials, and clippings. Among the literary
materials are a number of poems, manuscript and printed, by Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, Henry Rootes Jackson, Martha (Jackson)
Erwin, and others; a copy of the sheet music for "The Red Old Hills of Georgia," with lyrics by Henry Rootes Jackson; and a sketch by an unknown author entitled "Sentimental Journey Through the Pine Woods in Carolina." Several public addresses appear. Of interest is a 4 July 1832 presentation made by T. H.
Guenebault before the Phi Kappa Society of Athens, probably at Franklin College.
School and other educational materials include French exercise books for Henry Rootes Jackson (1832) and Martha J. Jackson
(1836); Henry Jackson's undated translation of Corinne; and Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson's undated, handwritten copy of a
Roman history. Other miscellaneous items include prints of the Lucy Cobb Institute; line drawings of family members; word
derivations; an art school advertisement; a recipe; an 1842 school report for Lucy Lea (niece of Martha Jackson); an 1870
description of an invention; a ticket to a lecture on animal magnetism; and a card for Miss Jane E. Terry. Nine broadsides
appear, and include announcements of concerts, business circulars, campaign posters for Henry Lea (1843), and a circular of
the American Baptist Society for Evangelizing the Jews (1845).
A copy of La Patria Illustria (1885, Mexico) with a picture of Henry Jackson, Minister of the United States in Mexico, on
the front (oversize) and an undated handwritten copy of the "Rules of Procedures in the Senate and House of Representatives of the U.S., Remarks" also appear.
Among documents illuminating religious life are the constitution of the Female Mite Society of Athens and Vicinity (ca. 1818,
Ga.), the minutes of the Trail Creek Sunday School
Society (1819, Ga.), and an account a split within the Baptist Church of Savannah (1846).
Clippings are all obituaries, except for an 1886 letter to the editor of an unidentified paper by Henry Rootes Jackson thanking
the Americans in Mexico for a tribute they had paid him.
Folder
110
Addresses, 1844, 1872, and undated
Folder
111
Broadsides, 1842, 1843, 1845, and undated
Folder
112
Calling cards (Dr. Henry Jackson, Henry Rootes Jackson, Sarah M. Jackson)
Folder
11
Class examinations (Dr. Henry Jackson, undated)
Folder
114-123
Class notes, Henry Jackson, ca. 1800-1827 and undated
Folder
124a
Class notes (Henry or James Jackson, 1793-1794)
Folder
124b
Class notes (Unidentified, 1787-1788)
Folder
124c
Clippings, 1855, 1866, 1868, 1886, and Undated
Folder
125
Miscellaneous, 1832, 1836, 1842, 1870, 1885, 1901
Folder
126
Miscellaneous, Undated
Folder
127
Poems (printed and manuscript)
Folder
128
Prints and drawings
Folder
129
Religious material, ca. 1818, 1819, 1850, and undated
Folder
130
Scientific and medical material (printed), 1808, 1814, 1832, 1837, 1845 and undated
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6. Pictures, undated.
14 items.
Thirteen photographs of unidentified family members and one unidentified photograph of a house.
Image
Image
P-371/1
Portrait of unidentified man.
Image
P-371/2
Portrait of unidentified man in uniform.
Image
P-371/3
Portrait of unidentified man.
Image
P-371/4
Portrait of unidentified man in Confederate uniform, possibly Henry Rootes Jackson.
Image
P-371/5
Portrait of unidentified man.
Image
P-371/6
Portrait of unidentified man.
Image
P-371/7
Portrait of unidentified man.
Image
P-371/8
Portrait of unidentified woman.
Image
P-371/9
Portrait of unidentified man.
Image
P-371/10
Portrait of unidentified woman.
Image
P-371/11
Portrait of unidentified man.
Special Format Image
SF-P-371/12
Tintype of unidentified woman.
Image
P-371/13
Picture of home of Thomas Reade Rootes II at Federal Hill, Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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2. Prince Family Papers, 1784-1947.
About 950 items.
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7. Correspondence, 1830-1926.
About 370 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Personal and business correspondence of Oliver Hillhouse Prince, family correspondence of his wife Sarah Jackson Prince, and
personal correspondence of his children, especially his daughter Basiline, and of Basiline's cousin Margaret P. Hillhouse.
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7.1. 1830-1849.
About items.
Personal and business correspondence of Oliver Hillhouse Prince from his youth through his editorship of the Georgia Telegraph and his service in the Mexican War. Prince's primary correspondent between 1830 and 1843 was his uncle and guardian, Washington
Poe. Letters exchanged while Prince was a student at Dr. Beaman's School (Milledgeville, Ga.) and Yale College (Va.) often
concern his education, finances, and career plans. Prince also received scattered letters from friends.
Most of the correspondence for 1844 through early 1847 concerns state and national politics. As a newspaper editor, Prince
received frequent reports regarding the issues of the day, including James K. Polk's defeat of Henry Clay, the annexation
of Texas, and the onset of the Mexican War. Letters from friends and contacts often comment on the political climate of various
regions, provide results of local elections, and give personal insights into local and national politics. Prince also received
routine office and scattered personal correspondence during these years. John B. Lamar and Sam Ray were the friends who wrote
most often. Of note for the year 1845 are two letters (5 May and 5 June) concerning Prince's hiring of a slave named Jefferson
to work in his print shop.
No correspondence appears for 1846, and only five letters appear for the years 1847 to 1849. These concern family, Prince's
role in the army, and politics. No letters appear for 1850 through 1851. Undated correspondence for this period includes discussion
of Oliver's education, politics, and family news.
Folder
132
1830-1843
Folder
133
1844
Folder
134
January-June 1845
Folder
135
July 1845, 1847-1849
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7.2. 1852-1873.
About 130 items.
Almost all family correspondence with scattered business letters. Between 1852 and 1858 the bulk of the correspondence belongs
to Sarah (Jackson) Prince. Frequent writers were her cousins Mary Ann Cobb and Laura Battaile Cobb, her mother Martha (Rootes)
Cobb Jackson, and her nephew Joseph Jackson. Topics include Sarah's marriage, family news and events, religious happenings,
and daily plantation life. The handful of letters received by Oliver Prince for this period concern politics, family news,
and plantation affairs.
A gap appears in the correspondence for 1859 and for 1861 and 1862, followed by scattered letters for 1863 and 1864. These
include correspondence between Prince and his wife and children, especially his daughter Basiline, while he worked conscripting
soldiers in Baker County and his family resided in Bath (outside Augusta). The letters express Prince's anxiety about his
family's safety and report developments of the war. Several business letters also appear.
For the late 1860s through the mid-1870s most of the letters are those exchanged between Oliver, Sarah, and Basiline, while
Oliver lived on his plantation in Macon and his family resided in Bath, and later while Basiline and Marie Jacqueline lived
in Atlanta. These letters often concern religion, farming, education, freedmen, and postwar fears and hardships. Of special
note is a 24 September 1869 letter to Prince from W. H. Sparks concerning the circumstances surrounding the 1825 Georgia gubernatorial
election.
Folder
136
1852-1853
Folder
137
1854
Folder
138
1855-ca. 1860
Folder
139
1862-1865
Folder
140
1866-1873
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7.3. 1874-1926.
About 140 items.
Mostly the correspondence of Basiline Prince and her cousin Margaret P. Hillhouse. Both women exhibited a passion for genealogical
research and wrote frequently to near and distant relatives of the Prince, Hillhouse, Cobb, Jackson, King, Green, Bulloch,
Thomas, and other families concerning their lineage. Basiline also carried on personal correspondence with her family, including
her father, her sister Marie Jacqueline, her brothers Oliver and Henry, her cousin Mildred Lewis Rutherford, and various other
cousins. Almost all the correspondence between 1918 and 1926 belongs to Margaret Hillhouse and concerns family genealogy.
Folder
141
1874-1889
Folder
142
1890-1910
Folder
143
1911-1917
Folder
144
1918
Folder
145
1919
Folder
146
1920-1926 and undated
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8. Financial and Legal Papers, 1808-1897.
About 300 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
The financial and legal papers of Oliver H. Prince, including scattered legal papers of his father and of Washington Poe.
The financial papers consist mostly of bills and receipts. They include Prince's personal accounts with clothiers, sundries
merchants, and others for the periods 1841 through 1843, 1847 through 1849, and 1863 through 1871. (Those for 1847 through
1849 reflect Prince's participation in the Mexican War.) Also included are business accounts for the Georgia Telegraph, 1844-1847, and Prince's plantation accounts with merchants and cotton factors, 1850-1858. For additional information on
Prince's plantation finances, see Subcollection 1, Series 2, which documents his dealings with Martha (Rootes) Cobb Jackson.
Some documents belonging to Prince may have also been filed there since ownership was not clear.
Legal documents include deeds, legal agreements, loan papers, and other items pertaining primarily to Prince. Of note is a
prenuptial property agreement made between Prince and his future wife Sarah Jackson in 1852. A few papers belong to Prince's
father (also named Oliver H. Prince), and to Washington Poe, who served as executor of the elder Prince's will.
Folder
147
1808, 1841-1845
Folder
148
1846-1854
Folder
149
1888-1897
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9. Other Papers, 1784-1947 and undated.
About 270 items.
Genealogical notes and materials, clippings, magazines, pamphlets, and miscellaneous items collected by Prince family members.
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9.1. Genealogical Material, 1784-1947 and undated.
About 210 items.
Notes, clippings, and publications related to the genealogy of the Cobb, Jackson, Jacqueline, Prince, Hillhouse, King, Thornton,
Thomas, Green, Rutherford, Barrington, Griswold, Cary, and other related Virginia and Georgia families.
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9.1.1. Notes and Notebooks, 1784-1940 and undated.
About 110 items.
Copious data and notes on family genealogy compiled principally by Basiline Prince and Margaret Hillhouse. Included are detailed
genealogical charts, biographical information, and family anecdotes. Considerable additional genealogical information can
be found in the correspondence of these two women in Subseries 7.4.
Of particular value is a notebook by Basiline Prince containing genealogical data and handwritten transcriptions of letters
and legal documents dating from 1784 to 1814. The transcriptions include the will of Joseph Webber, Henry Jackson's maternal
grandfather; correspondence of Henry Jackson with his family; and letters written to Henry's brother Abraham, mostly from
family members. Topics of interest are Tom Paine in England, Indian wars in Georgia, an 1803 treaty with the Creek Indians,
the issue of paper money, the War of 1812, and Georgia politics. A few of the transcriptions duplicate letters filed in the
collection, which are in a rapid state of deterioration.
Folder
150-152
Genealogical notes, 1889-1940 and undated
Folder
153-154
Genealogical notebooks
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9.1.2. Clippings and Publications, 1839-1947 and undated.
About 80 items.
Clippings and historical and genealogical magazines and pamphlets. The bulk of the clippings cover the 1890s through the 1920s
and chiefly concern members of the Prince, Thomas, Jackson, and Cobb families. Several clippings, taken primarily from the
Daily Georgian, appear from the 1830s and 1840s. They include editorials, poems, and miscellaneous articles. A few clippings appearing after
the 1920s pertain to Jordan S. Thomas of Charlotte, N.C. (husband of Marie Jacqueline Prince), and one clipping from 1947
relates to Henry Rootes Jackson.
Folder
155-157
Genealogical clippings
Folder
158-161
Genealogical publications
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9.2. Miscellaneous Items, 1812, 1838, 1857, 1866-1924 and undated.
About 80 items.
Miscellaneous political and family items. Of interest is a scrapbook kept by Oliver H. Prince, which contains copies of letters,
genealogical charts, original letters, clippings, pictures, and other miscellaneous items. In addition to the scrapbook, several
items clipped from newspapers, most likely by Oliver Prince, appear concerning political issues. Of note is a series of 1845
clippings from the Daily Georgian about the slavery issue, and an 1862 clipping of a letter Prince sent to an unidentified newspaper concerning the 1825 Troup-Clark
contest for governor. Other clippings pertain to politics in the Reconstruction period.
Additional items of political significance are election returns for the 8th district (Baker County, Ga.) probably from the
year 1857; a U.S. Senate speech on the tariff issue (1844) delivered by Mr. McDuffie; and an undated handwritten editorial
entitled "The State of Government," possibly for use in the Georgia Telegraph.
Other papers include the Prince childrens' school reports and Basiline's early compositions, cards (post, greeting, and calling),
and travel maps, brochures, and souvenir ribbons Basiline collected on trips to Virginia (for the Jamestown Exposition of
1907), to Florida (for the Key West Over-the-Sea Railroad Celebration in 1912), to Moretonhampstead, England, and to Wales.
Materials from the eulogy presented for Basiline Prince upon her death in 1924 also appear. Also included are Marie Jacqueline
(Prince) Thomas's catechism book (1868) and marriage license (1884), and an undated typescript description by Jordan S. Thomas
of two Glynn County plantations, Altama and Hopeton, being considered for development as a sportsman's retreat.
Folder
162a
Cards (Calling, post, and greeting)
Folder
162b
Clippings, 1839, 1841, 1845, 1862, and undated
Folder
163
Miscellaneous items, 1812-1900
Folder
164
Miscellaneous items, 1901-1912
Folder
165
Miscellaneous items, 1917-1924 and undated
Folder
166
Travel maps and brochures
Folder
167-170
Writings of Sarah Prince Thomas Watters, including poems, essays, and columns she produced for the Charlotte Observer, 1915-1916
Image Folder
2-4
Unidentified pictures circa 1896 from album belonging to Basiline Prince (Acc. 98817).
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