Shaw Family Papers

Papers of Thompson B. Shaw (1796-1854), plantation owner of Jefferson County, collected by the McKell and McCallum families.

The Shaw family papers document the history of Jefferson County, Mississippi, planter Thompson Breckenridge Shaw (1796-1854) and his family. The collection includes Civil War letters, bills of sale for enslaved people, records of the cotton trade and the family plantation, a scrapbook, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, autograph books, daguerreotypes, photographs, certificates for exemption from military service, paper currency of the Revolution and the Confederacy, correspondence, a velvet covered Bible, and a sampler.

The papers (1847-1867) include a receipt for the slave, Nancy, signed by Mary Shaw; a certificate of exemption from military service which includes a physical description of William Shaw and also notes that he owned at least twenty slaves; and a receipt for the following slaves: Sam, George, Abram, Alfred, Tom (who was in poor health), Amy (Tom’s wife) and her fourteen month old son Elijah, signed by Mary Shaw.

The newspaper clippings include numerous articles pertaining to Jefferson County history, families, and landmarks. Also included are: the “Just Whittling” column by Marie Farr Walker (1960-1961), an obituary for William Shaw, a wedding announcement for J. S. and Lelia Shaw and a tribute to Mary Ann McPherson McCallum written by A. J. McCallum.

One autograph album was owned by Kate C. Shaw, daughter of William Shaw, and includes clippings dated 1882-1934. The other belonged to Jennie McCallum, daughter of Samuel Davis McCallum and a teacher at the Union Church School. The autographs are those of her students, 1931.

Three daguerreotypes are of William Shaw (1845), Mrs. William Shaw and child (1855), and Maggie A. Shaw (undated).

Other items include an arrowhead from an Indian mound on William Shaw’s Jefferson County plantation, and early paper currency. The currency includes the following: five bills with handwritten signatures, dated 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779; seven bills issued by the Confederate States of America, a $500, a $100, a $50, a $20, a $10, a $5 all dated 2/17/64, and a $1 dated 6/2/62; currency issued by Mississippi counties: Claiborne fifty cents, Franklin $2.25 and $3.00, and Jefferson $10; currency cents, currency issued by the city of Natchez for twenty-five cents; and currency issued by the state of Mississippi for $10.