Twelve (12) Tennessee documents, 1836-1887, including signatures of Confederate Generals Alfred Jefferson Vaughan (dated 1881, as Shelby County Court Clerk), William Young Conn Humes (dated 1875, as a principal of the Southern Life Insurance Company), Alexander Campbell (1858 court summons) and George Washington Gordon (on 2 documents, both dated from 1874, as notary). Also included are various other documents related to legal matters in Shelby, Madison, Henderson, and Gibson Counties, notably an 1886 judgment against the Memphis Bell and Telephone Company for $250 (plus $11.02). This scarce document likely relates to the "Telephone Cases" – a series of U.S. court cases in the 1870s and the 1880s related to the invention of the telephone. They culminated in the 1888 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the priority of the patents belonging to Alexander Graham Bell.

PROVENANCE: Estate of Gertude S. Caldwell, Nashville.

CONDITION: All items encapsulated or housed in plastic sleeves, with expected age-related condition issues: toning, fading, light foxing, discoloration, small tears/edge losses. Court summons signed by Campbell has 2 1/2" hole at fold line. Documents with Confederate Generals' signatures have later pencil inscriptions identifying them as such and a few other items also have later pencil inscriptions.