Martin-Bates Law Firm (Atkinson) collection

Collection

Identifier: MSS-30

Staff Only

Dates

1836-1925

Conditions Governing Access

Open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

Any requests for permission to publish, quote, or reproduce materials from this collection must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian for Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Mississippi State University as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical / Historical

Thomas Nelson Martin, son of William Martin and senior partner in Martin & Bates law firm, was born in 1807 in North Carolina and died in 1886 in Huston, Mississippi. He and his wife, Parthenia Howser had a daughter, Susan Martin, who married into the W. S. Bates family. Thomas N. Martin came to Chickasaw County, Mississippi from North Carolina in 1836. Martin then became an editor of the Southern Patriot, 1846-1852. Later, in 1865, Martin was elected to State Senate.

William Stowt Bates, son of H. W. Bates and Bourland and junior partner in Martin & Bates law firm, was born in 1830, in Franklin County, Alabama and died in 1928, Houston, Mississippi. He and his wife, Susan Martin, had two daughters, Scottie W. W. Tabb and May W. A. White. Bates attended college in Tennessee. Operated a country store at Guntown. In 1854 went to Pontotoc to read law with firm of Fountain and Bradford. Admitted to bar in 1856. In 1858 elected probate judge of Pontotoc County. Temporary editor of Pontotoc Examiner, 1860-1862. Served in Confederate Army as private. Following the war he resumed law practice as junior partner of Martin & Bates, Houston, Mississippi.

Source: Goodspeed, Memoirs of Mississippi and Mississippians, Vol. 2, p. 407

Extent

2.66 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in three series: I. Correspondence II. Bound Legal and Account Records III. Artifacts

SERIES I. Correspondence Box 1-2

Covers the year’s 1838-1925., contain legal papers regarding civil cases in Chickasaw County and estate settlements. Also includes materials concerning the formation of the Chickasaw County Poultry Association, clippings from Times Post, and other miscellaneous items

SERIES II. Bound Legal and Account Records Boxes 3-7

Covers the year’s 1851 - 1915, contains court dockets for Circuit and Chancery courts of Chickasaw, Pontotoc, Calhoun, etc. counties and account books for the law firm.

SERIES III. Artifacts Box 8

Contains wallets, a purse, and a textile