Archive of approximately 150 items related to the Abram Maury and Carey Harris families of Middle Tennessee. Abram Poindexter Maury Sr. (1766-1825) was a Revolutionary War major from Virginia who settled in Middle Tennessee in 1797. In 1799 he donated the land for what would become Franklin, the seat of Williamson County and, as a surveyor, laid out the plan for the town. His son in law, Carey Allen Harris Sr. (1806-1842) and son, Abram Poindexter Maury, Jr. (1801-1848), founded the Nashville Republican Newspaper in 1824. The younger Maury was a Tennessee state representative, senator, and later U.S. Congressman. Harris went on to prominence in Andrew Jackson's circle and was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1836. He was involved in the forcible removal of Native Americans from the Southeast, and was forced to resign and return to Tennessee after evidence of his role in a scheme to speculate in Indian allotments came to light in 1838. He died a few years later at the age of 36. (Note: although his political career ended in disgrace, Harris is also remembered for his role in printing "The Western Harmony" in 1824, which marked the beginning of music publishing in Nashville). This archive includes an 1805 land document in which John Purviance (of Bourbon Co, KY) appoints friends John Mitchell and Abram Maury his attorneys to dispose of his interest in 12 lots in the town of Franklin "which all adjoin and compose a square at the east end of in the town"; an 1853 copy/transcript of a land indenture between Nashville founder James Robertson and Franklin founder Abram Maury (1766-1825) for 120 acres in Williamson County plus at least 2 dozen other land indentures and early copies of land indentures; 1810 will of Abram P. Maury granting his wife Martha his "original tract of land of about 210 acres" and "her choice third of all my Negroes" and requesting that his "stock furniture and utensils of every kind may be kept together" (note: this will was eventually superseded by an updated will, not included); an estate document regarding the bequest of a "negro boy named Godfrey commonly known by the name of Gent" by Mary Eliza Tennessee Maury to James P. Maury in 1852; an unsigned 1859 document (draft) appointing John A. Linton of Washington DC power of attorney on behalf of Edward Breathitt, William H. Carroll and his wife Eliza of Franklin TN, and John H. Handy, and Edward and Maria Crutcher of Memphis, in the settlement of the estate of John H. Eaton (1790-1856), the controversial Andrew Jackson cabinet member and Secretary of War; a few personal letters to and from Sarah (Sally) Claiborne Maury Reid regarding her son William Steptoe Reid; Reid family 1853 document regarding an estate transfer of "slave property"; a petition to an Arkansas judge to reclaim $4,000 from a business deal, signed John C. McLemore; and more than 100 receipts/financial records including tax and insurance payments and for household goods including an 1850 "House and Family Expenses" record (the largest expense listed was "clothing for negroes" at $54.09). The receipts pertain to Carey A. Harris Sr. and Jr., Abram Poindexter Maury Sr. and Jr., James P. Maury; James and Martha Harris. Land indentures mention Robert White, G. White, John Porter, Abel Garrett, Thomas Craighead, and others, in addition to various members of the Maury family. Signatures include Carey A. Harris Sr. and Jr., Abram Poindexter Maury Sr. and Jr, and other Maury family members. This archive also includes approximately 2 dozen documents relating to the establishment of the ill-fated Mississippi Cotton Company. The company was incorporated in Natchez and even hired a Scottish Textile expert to build the mill, but the 1837 Financial Crash forced the company to abandon its plans before construction could begin. Includes two printed pamphlets: AN ACT TO CREATE AND ESTABLISH THE MISSISSIPPI COTTON COMPANY (Mississippi State Legislature, 1831); handwritten draft of the company Bylaws (tear to edge); and undated handwritten draft of a resolution to begin operations, including a proposal that “members pay up the amount of their stock by giving notes secured by mortgages on plantations and negroes." NOTE: SEE RELATED LOT #511 and #577 IN THIS AUCTION.

PROVENANCE: By descent in the families of Abram P. Maury and Carey A. Harris.

CONDITION: 2" area of loss to Abram Maury's will, both this document and the 1805 Purviance – Maury indenture are fragile with fold line separations. Mary Maury/"Godfrey" estate document has significant losses at edges, up to 2". Other items in the archive with expected toning and light discoloration, scattered losses and stains, some faded sections, overall good condition.