Manuscripts Department
           Library at the University of North Carolina
                         at Chapel Hill

                 SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

                              #543
                        JOHN NEVITT DIARY
                            Inventory

Abstract:      John Nevitt, fl. 1803-1832, lieutenant in the U.S.
           Navy and owner of Clermont Plantation near Natchez in
           Adams County, Miss.
               Diary kept by Nevitt between 1826 and 1832.  He
           recorded work on the plantation and planting, picking,
           ginning, and pressing of cotton.  He described the
           duties and health of his slaves.  Frequently, his
           slaves ran away, and he recorded their punishment when
           they were captured or returned of their own accord. 
           Nevitt also used the journal as an account book for
           his financial transactions, including payment on his
           gambling debts.  He also sometimes recorded personal
           and family activities in it.

Online Catalog Terms:
   Adams County (Miss.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
   Clermont Plantation (Adams County, Miss.).
   Cotton gins and ginning--Mississippi--History--19th century.
   Cotton growing--Mississippi.
   Fugitive slaves--Mississippi.
   Gambling--Mississippi--History--19th century.
   Natchez (Miss.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
   Nevitt, John, fl. 1803-1832.
   Plantation owners--Mississippi.
   Slavery--Mississippi.

Size:      3 items (About 1.0 linear foot).

Provenance:    Received from Victor Baker and Francis N. Baker of
               Natchez, Mississippi, on 12 March 1937.

Access:        No restrictions.

Processing Note:   This inventory is an edited version of an
                   inventory previously compiled by a member of
                   the Southern Historical Collection processing
                   staff.

Copyright:     Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
               or their descendants, as stipulated by United
               States copyright law.

Table of Contents:
   Biographical Note
   Description
   Shelf List

                        BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

   John Nevitt was the owner of Clermont Plantation in Adams
County, Mississippi, near Natchez.  Nevitt was in the U.S. Navy
as a midshipman in 1803, and retired in 1811 as a lieutenant. 
Tradition has it that he named his plantation for a ship that he
commanded.  Nevitt had at least two children, Matilda and Albert.

                           DESCRIPTION

   This collection consists chiefly of a diary kept by John
Nevitt between 1826 and 1832, and a typed transcription of that
diary.

   In the diary, Nevitt discussed at length activities on the
plantation, where cotton seems to have been the chief crop. 
Nevitt mentioned his slaves daily:  their duties, health, when
they ran away, their punishments, and when he sold, bought, or
hired them out, as well as when he hired those belonging to
others.  Many of his slaves ran away, but most were caught and
returned to him, or returned of their own accord.  He punished
them by whipping them and occasionally "putting the iron on their
legs."  He wrote about slave labor in the cultivation of cotton
including picking cotton, running it through the gin, and
pressing it into bales.  Occasionally he used Indian labor, and,
on 5 September 1832, he noted in his diary that he had paid the
"Indians" for picking cotton for him.  Other duties of the slaves
included hauling wood to Natchez to be sold.  Nevitt noted when
he hired and fired overseers.  He also reported on the weather
and winds daily.

   Many entries concern financial transactions, with Nevitt
noting the money he lent and borrowed, collected and repayed.  He
wrote in the entries about goods he bought and sold, and his
gambling debts, including his wins and losses in games of euchre,
brag, and billards, horse races, and bets on elections and other
events.  He mentioned a few social affairs, apparently chiefly
for men, and occasionally had visitors, sometimes travelers who
remained with him for some time.  There is some mention of
politics, chiefly elections.

   Nevitt's daughter, Matilda, and son, Albert, were apparently
away at school during most of this period.  He wrote to them
frequently and sent them money.  In 1830, his son entered
Princeton University.  On 5 and 24 May 1832, Nevitt mentioned
having his portrait painted by Bush (probably Joseph H. Bush).

   Also included in this collection are two maps, one of Napha
harbor, dated 1853, and one of the Coffin Islands, dated 1854.

Folder 1       Maps
       2       Original copy of the diary (volume S-1)
     3-10      Typescript

                           SHELF LIST

Box 1 (only)                       

Items Separated:
   V-543/S-1