Calhoun-Kincannon-Orr Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS-23

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Calhoun-Kincannon-Orr Family Papers contain correspondence, estate papers, deeds, clippings, memorabilia, and genealogical material pertaining to the related families of Calhoun, Kincannon, and Orr, in Lee, Pontotoc, Lafayette, and Lowndes Counties, Mississippi, 1844-1938.

Land documents span the years, 1843-1908, and are primarily deeds for land in Lafayette, Lee, and Pontotoc counties in Mississippi. Many of the transactions were executed by trustees of the New York, Mississippi, and Arkansas Land Company. Names included in these documents are: ALLEN, CALHOUN, DIXON, GRISHAM, MCNEIL, MILLER, ORR, REESE, TANKERSLEY, TAYLOR, and WEATHERALL.

The legal documents include wills dating from 1837-1918 and a Civil War claim against the United States government for goods confiscated during the war. Names include: ROBISON, CALHOUN, DIXON, PARKER, ORR, COON, QUILL, HATCH, TANKERSLEY. References also mention enslaved persons, Phillis and Tully, and freedmen, Munroe and Rachel.

A few documents concern the of J.C. Calhoun and taxes paid by Lucia Tanksley 1832-1833.

Correspondence among family members includes the following: letter from Christopher Orr to his son-in-law William H. Calhoun concerning land transactions, 185; Civil War letter of Leroy T. Taylor from Auburn, Alabama concerning his illness, the war and family members; four letters of Jehu A. Orr to Jane Stewart Orr Calhoun, reflecting on family and events, 1895-1896; letter of letters of various family members concerning lives and deaths of extended family members, genealogy, and other matters. The collection also contains photocopies of letters from James L. Orr while he was Governor of South Carolina, 1850-1868 and photocopies of letters to John C. Calhoun from James L. Orr, 1844-1847.

Visual materials includes a group photograph of Erin Kincannon, Lucia Tanksley, and Nellie Taylor; several photos of the Calhoun House; a snapshot of White Zion Church; a snapshot of two unidentified women.

Genealogical material pertains to the Calhoun, Orr, and Taylor families, as well as related lines.

Miscellaneous materials include a scrapbook of W. L. Clayton's "Pen Pictures of the Olden Times," a newspaper column which provides information about life in the region; a small amount of printed material, and a box of World War II medals and ribbons.

Dates

1837 - 1959

Biographical note

The Calhoun, Orr, Taylor and Kincannon families were among North Mississippi's early settlers. These families produced planters, lawyers, legislators, doctors, merchants; and soldiers, who were among the prominent builders of Mississippi.

The Orr family

Robert Orr was born in Northern Ireland. He came to the United States in 1720 and settled first in Pennsylvania. He later moved to South Carolina. Robert had nine sons: Robert, Bunyan, Christopher, Jehu, Timothy, Jacob, Reuben, John, and William. Five settled in the South while the others moved north of the Ohio River. His fourth son Jehu became a planter and also fought in the Revolutionary War.

Robert's second son, Christopher (1794-1864) was born in South Carolina. He married Martha McCann (1798-1862), also of that state, in 1820. In 1843, the couple moved to eastern Mississippi, settling first in Chickasaw and then Pontotoc Counties. Martha bore five children: Jane Stewart (1820-1906) who married W. H. Calhoun; James L. (1822-1873), who became speaker of the Thirty-Eighth Congress, Confederate state senator, governor of South Carolina, and minister to Russia; Martha Eliza (1824-1864), who married General Joel W. Miller (1844); Henry Claiborne (1826-1872), a Lee County physician who married first Mary C. Weatherall (1849 ) and then Low Leavelle (1872); and Jehu A. (1828-1921) who married first Elizabeth Gates (1852) and then Cornelia Vandergraft (1857).

Jehu A. Orr was born in Anderson Co. South Carolina, April 10, 1828. He was fifteen when his family moved to Mississippi. He studied law at Princeton and opened his own practice in 1849. In 1850, he began a long succession of public positions. He assumed the duties of Secretary of the Mississippi Senate, served in the legislature 1852-1853, was United States District Attorney 1854-1855 and served as a presidential elector for James Buchanan. In 1857-1859, he was school commissioner for Chickasaw County.

He was a member of The Secession Convention in 1860 and then the provisional Congress of the Confederacy, 1861-1862. He helped to recruit men for the Thirty-first Mississippi regiment which he commanded until 1864. The regiment participated in the battles at Coffeeville, Baton Rouge, Vicksburg, Baker's Creek, and Jackson. Orr served as a volunteer aid to Generals Forrest and Lee at Harrisburg.Clark Taylor came to the United States from England near the end of the seventeenth century. In 1796 his wife gave birth to a son, Swepson. Swepson married Sarah T. Mitchell, the daughter of Randolph Mitchell, of Scot-Irish descent.

Taylor Family

Clark W. Taylor was born to Swepson and Sarah, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia in 1820. He received his education in Georgia and married Louisa J. Keys (1823-1906), the daughter of probate judge and planter James Keys (1799-1866) and Susan Mitchell (Thomas) Keys (1801-1866). In 1839, the family moved to Itawamba County, Mississippi and, in 1842, Clark entered the mercantile trade. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Baptist Church and before the war considered himself a Whig. He was elected to the State Senate. Clark and Louisa had nine children of whom six lived to adulthood. They were: Leroy T. (1844-1917, William C. (1847-1909), Samuel Mitchell (1852-1921), Lilla Dale (1854-1899), who married first John Armstrong and then W. C. Raymond, Charles Hopkins (1865-1923), James Swepson (1843-1862), who was killed at Fort Donelson, Zachariah Worth (1849-1877), Joseph Delette (1857-1888), and Louisa Tranquilla (1862-1873).

Leroy T. Taylor was a 2nd Lieutenant in Company I, 11th Consolidated Calvary, and was surrendered to General Canby and paroled in Columbus, Mississippi at the end of the war. In 1865, Leroy entered the mercantile trade at Mooreville and then at Shannon, Mississippi. Later, he sold the business and became a traveling salesman for B. Sonenshein and Brother of Memphis.

Leroy married Sarah "Sallie" Caroline Calhoun (1847-1898) daughter of Dr. William Henry Calhoun (1814-1869) and Jane S. (Orr) Calhoun (1814-1910), in 1868. She was born April 19, 1847. Her siblings included: Cornelia Keys (Calhoun) Tankersley, John C., William H., Louisa. Dr. William Henry Calhoun was born in South Carolina to James Calhoun, the brother of John C. Calhoun, and Sarah (Caldwell) Calhoun. He became a planter, a physician, and Pontotoc County's representative to the state legislature. Sallie's mother was a sister to Governor James S. Orr of South Carolina.

Leroy and Sallie had three children: Erin Lee (1870-1954) who married Vann Connor Kincannon (1864-1930), Nellie Louie (1873-1910) who married Stubbs Honnoll in 1898, and Swepson Delette (1875-1935).