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Menefee-Timmons-Mitchell Family Papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS142

Scope and Content

The collection contains the papers of the Menefee, Timmons, and Mitchell families of Georgia. Included are correspondence, application materials to the Daughters of the American Revolution (D. A. R.) and Daughters of the War of 1812, printed materials, legal records, scrapbooks, and other ephemera.

Correspondence includes letters between F. N. Menefee, Maggie (Menefee) Dean Warden, Josephine Menefee, and Aline Timmons regarding their family genealogy. Application materials for the D. A. R. and Daughters of the War of 1812 were compiled by Aline Mitchell Timmons and Willis Menefee Timmons, Jr. to document the families. Also included are materials about George Menefee's (1760-1840) grave marker from the D. A. R. as well as Franklin Garrett's research on Willis Pentecost Menefee (1814-1855) for the Old Campbell County Historical Society in 1980.

Legal papers include land grants, contracts, deeds, blueprints and maps, and wills. The collection contains land grants from 1827, 1828, and 1834; a number of indentures, and deeds (1828-1898); blueprints and maps of the property in Palmetto, Georgia; wills and deeds (1898-1918); inheritance tax information (1900-1917); and two slave bills of sale.

Included in the papers are photocopies of portions of History of Collinsworth Chapel; Virginia Carolorum; There was a Land: A Story of Talbot County, 1971; Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution; and Henry County, Georgia: The Mother of Counties that document the family. Also included are histories of Palmetto, Georgia and the Methodist Church of Palmetto, both of which Major Willis Pentecost Menefee (1814-1855) helped found. Miscellaneous materials include Confederate money issued by the Bank of Chattanooga, a Military Oath of Allegiance from 1865, and a ticket to the 1896 Republican National Convention as well as an autograph book from 1889.

Aline Timmons' scrapbooks (1929-1953) and Ora Sue Mitchell's scrapbook (1899-1929) contain letters, newspaper clippings, name cards, and photographs. Willis M. Timmons, Jr. also compiled four scrapbooks, titled "Plants, Places, and Things" comprised of clippings from Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin from the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Included with these notebooks is an index for each volume.

Dates

  • 1827-1980

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.

Administrative/Biographical History

George Menefee (1597-1655) came to Virginia from Wiltshire, England in 1623. His relation to the rest of the Menefee family mentioned in this collection is undetermined.

William Menefee, Sr. (1723-1797) and Mary W. Strother's children include George (1760-1840), a Revolutionary War soldier; John (1747-1824); and William Menefee (1750-1791). George Menefee married Elizabeth Tatum and had seven children including William Christian Menefee (1796-1875) who went on to be one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. George's second marriage to (Anne) Nancy Collier Hardeman (1771-1852) in 1807 produced five children, including Major Willis Pentecost Menefee (1814-1855) who is recognized as the "Father of Palmetto," Georgia. Major Willis Pentecost Menefee married Jeannette Leonard Watts (1820-?), and their five children included Margaret (Menefee) Wiley (1839-1917); Lucy Colquitt Menefee (1853-1886); and Willis Pentecost Menefee (1844-1863). Major Willis Pentecost Menefee's brother, Richard Alexander Menefee (1809-1893) and his wife, Mary B. Collins, also named one of their sons Willis Pentecost Menefee (1838-1912).

The Timmons family line joined the Menefees when Lucy Colquitt Menefee married Reverend Benson Ellison Lane (B. E. L.) Timmons (1845-1907). Their children included Willis Menefee Timmons (1882-1962) who married Aline Eliza Mitchell (1882-1956). Willis and Aline's children were Aline Mitchell Timmons (b. 1914); Willis M. Timmons, Jr. (1907-2000); and Russell Mitchell Timmons (1908-1981).

Aline Eliza Mitchell was the daughter of Russell Crawford Mitchell (1837-1905) and Margaret Deborah Sweet (1847-1887). Other children of Russell and Margaret included Deborah Sue (Ora Sue) Mitchell (1878-1908) and Eugene Muse Mitchell (1866-1944) who was the father of Gone with the Wind author, Margaret Mitchell.

Extent

2.5 linear ft. (3 document cases, 1 oversize box)

Language

English

System of Arrangement

Alphabetical according to titles supplied by staff

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Willis Menefee Timmons, Jr., 1980 (1980.232); 1981 (1980.70); 1982 (1982.34, 1982.127, 1982.381)

Description Control

Collection re-processed in 2011

Title
Menefee-Timmons-Mitchell Family Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Laura Starratt
Date
March 2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository

Contact:
130 West Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30305
404-814-4040