Library
Home Special
Collections Home Manuscripts
Home| |
|
| Library
Home Special
Collections Home Manuscripts
Home |
Lovely County and Other Business Papers, 1824-1885
Manuscript Collection 6
Lovely County was created in 1827 by the Arkansas Territorial Legislature. The county included most of a large purchase of land, in present-day northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma, made by Indian agent William Lovely in 1816. The county seat was Nicksville, near the present location of Tahlequah. In 1828 the western border of Arkansas was moved to its present location, and a special session of the Arkansas Territorial Legislature "extinguished" Lovely County and incorporated its Arkansas lands into Washington County.
Five original business papers, 1824-1831, were donated to Special Collections by Mrs. Melvin (Maggie) Smith, Siloam Springs, January 11, 1980. In addition, Mrs. Smith had already donated photocopies of material she had used in preparing her article, "The Nicks and Gibson Papers and Lovely County" (Benton County Pioneer, vol. 12, no. 4, October, 1967, pp. 86-95).
The collection includes legal documents, descriptions of parcels of land, correspondence, inventories, accounts, and advertisements. The papers pertain to the business of merchants Nicks & Gibson, to the estate of John Nicks and the activities of his heirs, and to land claims and sales, especially following passage of "An Act to Aid the State of Ohio in Extending the Miami Canal from Dayton to Lake Erie, and to Grant a Quantity of Land to Said State to Aid in the Construction of the Canals Authorized by Law; and for Making Donations of Lands to Certain Persons in Arkansas Territory" (May 24, 1828). Most of the Act pertained to canals in Ohio. Sections 8 and 9, however, provided for land grants in Arkansas to settlers displaced by the first article of the treaty between the United States and the Cherokee Indians west of the Mississippi, ratified May 23, 1828.
A collection of papers was found in the dump near Watts, Oklahoma. These papers, which had been stolen from the residence of Robert S. Gibson, Siloam Springs, in 1913, were taken to Jack Gregory, then the Watts school principal. He apparently gave some of them to Maggie Smith (she in turn donated them to Special Collections). The remainder were given to the Gilcrease Institute, Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Dr. Caldeen Gunter. At the request of Maggie Smith, copies of these papers were given to Dr. Walter A. Brown for the Arkansas Historical Quarterly files, and were deposited by Dr. Brown in Special Collections.
NOTE: Items marked with an asterisk are those original documents in Special Collections. The remainder are in Special Collections only as photocopies. Some of them are dry-process photocopies; some are wet-process, apparently made around 1967 or before. These are brown and faded. Dry-process photocopies were made of these, usually at two or more different exposures, during July and August, 1986. In addition, copies of many of the documents (or portions of the documents) in the Gilcrease Institute, Tulsa, were donated to Special Collections by the Gilcrease Institute in April, 1987. These are marked with "G." Most of these copies are additional copies of especially faded photocopies that were already in Special Collections. One of them (item 12a), however, is new.
All the copies of each document are clipped together as one item.
Processed by Nan Lawler, Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in May 1987.
RESTRICTED. Items 3, 9, 14, 18, and 28 (original documents) are fragile. Positive photocopies available for research. Use of original material requires special permission.
CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION (42 items)
Folder 1. Papers, 1824-1828.
1. January 19, 1824. Invoice from Phelps & Babcock to Nicks & Rogers for various types of cloth and items of clothing.
2. January 24, 1824. Invoice from Lauve Freres [Holedanof] Co. to Nicks & Rogers for cloth, clothing, and condiments.
* 3. January 24, 1824. Invoice from [Richard O. Ritchard] to Nicks & Rogers for alcohol, tobacco, and condiments.
4. January 26, 1824. Invoice from Pennoyer & McKean, Booksellers, to Nicks & Rodgers [sic] for books and office supplies.
5. January 27, 1824. Invoice from Lane, Lovell & Co. to Colonel Nicks for produce.
6. February, 1827. Memorandum of money, drafts, notes, and accounts taken to New Orleans by Colonel Nicks.
7. June 20, 1827. Invoice of notes, orders, book accounts, and money belonging to the late firm of Nicks & Rogers at Fort Gibson.
8. June 20, 1827. Statement of goods, notes, accounts, and money (less claims and due bills) belonging to the late firm of Nicks & Rogers at their store at Fort Gibson.
* 9. June 23, 1828. Bill of sale for land claims, Elizabeth McCollom to B[enjamin] L[ouis] E[ulalie de] Bonneville and Thomas MacNamara.
10. July 10, 1828. Bill of sale for land claims and power of attorney, Michael Girard to B[enjamin] L[ouis] E[ulalie de] Bonneville and Thomas MacNamara.
11. July 19, 1828. Statements by John H. Capps and Robert Sinclair before John Moore, Justice of the Peace, regarding residency, age, and marital status of Powell Weaver.
12. July 24, 1828. Power of attorney, Ira Millspaugh to John Nicks.
12a. [July 1828.] Bill of sale for land claims, Ira Millspaugh to John Nicks (fragment).
13. July 28, 1828. Power of attorney, Michael Girard to B[enjamin] L[ouis] E[ulalie de] Bonneville and Thomas MacNamara.
* 14. July 29, 1828. Power of attorney, Alonzo C. Sadler to John Nicks, and transfer of land claim of Thomas Gist to Nicks.
15. August 19, 1828. Sworn statement of James Matthews concerning William Bleving's sale of land in Lovely County to John Nicks.
16. September 10, 1828. Land claim of Powell Weaver.
17. September 11, 1828. Land claim of Trustram Adair.
* 18. November 8, 1828. Bill of sale for land claims, John Davis to John Nicks.
19. December 2, 1828. Power of attorney and transfer of land claim, Richard Robinson to Robert Bell.
Folder 2. Papers, 1829-1839.
20. January 10, 1829. Printed notice of public sales of land in Arkansas Territory.
21. January 27, 1829. Power of attorney, Moses Summers to John Nicks.
22. January 27, 1829. Power of attorney, Jesse Summers to John Nicks.
23. February 2, 1829. Power of attorney, David W. Killop to Robert Bell.
24. February 2, 1829. Power of attorney, Richard Robinson to Robert Bell (two handwritten versions).
25. February 21, 1829. Bill of sale for lands (unsigned), Robert Crittenden to John Nicks.
26. July 13, 1829. Letter from William Pelham, Batesville, A. T., to ? concerning plats of land (descriptions of plats of land, item #59, may be related to this letter).
27. January 18, 1830. Petition of Richard Owen Pritchard and George Pritchard, New Orleans, regarding debts owed by John Nicks, Cantonment Gibson, Arkansas Territory.
* 28. July 20, 1831. Letter from Muir & Wiley, Louisville, to John Nicks, Cantonment Gibson, reporting on sale of beef hides.
29. August 9, 1831. Letter from ? Rogers, Fort Smith, to John Nicks, Cantonment Gibson, regarding obtaining land patents from the Land Office.
30. [1831]. List of merchandise for various purchasers, including tallow, hides, beaver fur.
31. January 20, 1832. Appointment of Sally P. Nicks, Robert S. Gibson, and Thomas Moore as administrators of estate of John Nicks, deceased.
32. [1834]. Statement of money due the estate of John Nicks for hire of slaves belonging to the estate.
33. [1834]. Inventory of estate of John Nicks, with amounts collected since his death.
34. April 1838. Writ of attachment and affadavit, Robert S. Gibson, administrator of estate of John Nicks, concerning debts owed estate by Jefferson M. Walker.
35. September 29, 1838. Certification of recording of land claim by Robert Stuart Gibson, entered December 3, 1834.
36. September 29, 1838. Certification of recording of land claim by Robert Stuart Gibson, entered February 16, 1836.
37. [February] 22, 1839. Bill of sale for land, Samuel D. McGrady to John Quinton Nicks and [Elizabeth] Nicks, heirs of John Nicks (document incomplete).
38. November 23, 1839. Letter from W. Nash, Nashville, regarding bill for music lessons for E. Nicks, with receipt for money received from Robert S. Gibson to be paid to W. Nash by Samuel Tagert, January 28, 1840.
Folder 3. Papers, 1840-1847.
39. January - September 1840. Accounts of Elizabeth Nicks to W. D. Parks for purchases of cloth, clothing, and toiletries.
40. March 14, 1840. Letter from Samuel Tagert, Nashville, to Robert S. Gibson, [Van Buren], regarding Elizabeth Nicks and business affairs, including receipts for bills paid to Walter D. Parks, March 11, 1840, and to ? & Martins Co., March 10, 1840.
41. September 12, 1840. Bill of sale for land, John M. Perkins to Joseph Morse. Document incomplete; reverse contains a numbered list of eighty-one names.
42. August 31, 1842. Letter from [M ? Crawford], War Department, Office of Indian Affairs, to [Harrell?] E. Cross, concerning claim of Joel Harille [Harrell].
43. February 21, 1843. Letter from agent Wm. E. Woodruff, Little Rock, to Col. R. S. Gibson, Van Buren, regarding payment of back taxes and redemption of land forfeited to the state in 1843; with a printed advertisement for Woodruff.
44. February 21, 1843. Bill of sale, to Robert S. Gibson, of lands forfeited for taxes. (Printed form with blanks filled in.)
45. April 22, 1843. Certified copy of a subpoena for John Drennen, Robert Gibson, and others, to appear before the Judge of the Circuit Court, Pulaski County, May 29, 1843, to answer charges against them by Robinson Lytte, Lydia Louisa Lytte, and others.
46. August 22, 1843. Bill of sale for land, Matthew Moore (including quit claim of Rachel Moore) to Robert S. Gibson. Also certification of record filed July 5, 1847.
47. June [6], 1845. Summons for the heirs of Robert S. Gibson to answer charges of Augustus B. Paschal. (Printed form with blanks filled in.)
48. November 1, 1845. Bill of sale for land, Joel Harrell and Elizabeth Harrell to the lawful heirs of William W. Gibson.
49. November 19, 1845. Bill of sale for land, Irvin Stewart and Nancy Stewart to Sarah P. Gibson, with certification of filing January 22, 1846 (page missing).
50. September 9, 1846. Letter from ? , War Department, Office of Indian Affairs, to Sarah P. Gibson, Van Buren, concerning a claim involving Captain Rogers.
51. April 10, 1847. Bill of sale and quit claim to land, George W. Paschal and Sarah Paschal to Sarah P. Gibson, with certification of filing April 26, 1847.
Folder 4. Papers, 1856-1885, n.d.
52. January 2, 1856. Letter from S. I. [Howel?], Pittsburg, Arkansas, to Sarah P. Gibson concerning money owed to Gibson.
53. March 4, 1857. Receipt by Morrill & [Moseau] for $260 from Sarah P. Gibson.
54. June 23, 1858. Certification of entry of land claim by Robert Stewart Gibson. Cross-written note that patent had been "so mutilated that the description of the land cannot be read having been nearly destroyed by the mice," September 1, 1860.
55. December 18, 1865. Quit claim and transfer of land, Samuel S. Griffith and Elizabeth P. Griffith to Mary A. Gatlin and Richard C. Gatlin.
56. March 20, 1885. Notice of receipt of claim from Richard C. Gatlin for Mexican War pay. (Printed form with blanks filled in.)
57. August 26, 1885. Letter from Richard C. Gatlin, Fort Smith, to Treasury Department regarding Mexican War pay, with attached reply August 31, 1885. (Reply a printed form with blanks filled in.)
58. No date. List of parcels of land, "Entries made by R. S. Gibson."
59. No date. Descriptions of parcels of land (front and reverse of one sheet, another sheet; possibly related to letter, item #26).
60. No date. Description of parcels of land.
61. No date. Page addressed to Col. Robt. S. Gibson, Van Buren, postmarked [Nashville].
62. No date. Page addressed to Col. Robert Gibson, Van Buren, postmarked Nashville, November 26.
63. No date. Bill of sale for land, Benjamin Hales to D. McGee (document incomplete).