Benjamin T. Watkins family papers, 1818-1920.

ArchivalResource

Watkins, Benjamin T. Benjamin T. Watkins family papers, 1818-1920.

Benjamin T. Watkins family papers, 1818-1920.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/192136967

The collection consists of the papers of Benjamin T. Watkins, his son John Hill Watkins, and James McMillan from 1818-1920. The papers include correspondence, military records kept by Benjamin T. Watkins, and miscellaneous land contracts and receipts. The military records are mostly from 1838, during the Cherokee removal in north Georgia. Benjamin T. Watkins was the commander of Fort Cumming, one of the forts in which Cherokees were gathered before leaving Georgia. The mostly handwritten military orders document troop movements and the military's treatment of the Cherokee. A printed order from May 17, 1838 is signed by General Winfield Scott. Also included are supply lists and a muster roll of the 2nd Regiment of the Georgia Volunteer Infantry from May to June 1838. Of particular interest is a letter from Benjamin T. Watkins to his commander in 1838 that discusses a financial dispute between a Cherokee and a white resident of Georgia. The papers of John Hill Watkins contain pharmaceutical advertisements from the early 1900s, postal receipts, a newspaper clipping concerning cholera, and correspondence. Two letters from 1857 and 1858 discuss the medical treatment of slaves in Newnan, Georgia. The remainder of the collection contains the papers of James M. McMillan, John Hill Watkin's son-in-law. The papers include a land contract, income tax worksheets from 1918-1919, and an undated page of handwritten notes discussing the planting of crops and other daily farming activities.

.25 linear ft. : (1 box and 5 OP)

Emory University. Special Collections and Archives