SOUTHERN: James HARRINGTON and son PINCKNEY C. HARRINGTON

[Sharon Herrington <sharonh@e-tex.com>]

Found the following information on MISSISSIPPI branch while surfing:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations

>From the Revolution Through the Civil War

Series J: Selections from the Southern Historical Collection
Part 6: Mississippi and Arkansas

http://www.upapubs.com/guides/plantj6.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------

PINCKNEY COTESWORTH HARRINGTON PAPERS, 1829-1893,
FRANKLIN COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Description of the Collection
This collection consists of papers and one volume relating to Pinckney 
Cotesworth HARRINGTON and his father, James HARRINGTON. The papers between 
1829 and 1849 consist chiefly of deeds and indentures for land that James 
Harrington acquired in FRANKLIN COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.

Beginning in 1853, many of the papers relate to Pinckney Harrington, who 
attended Oakland College in Mississippi that year. In 1854, he went to the 
University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Included are reports on Pinckney's 
progress in his studies, his attendance record, and his financial situation. The 
bursar at the University of North Carolina at this time was Elisha Mitchell, 
who kept accounts for students and paid out money for tuition, room rent, servant's 
hire, and other expenses they incurred. He wrote out these accounts on the reports 
and included personal notes. Also included are a few letters to James Harrington 
from Mitchell, and a few letters to Pinckney from friends. There is a typed 
transcription of a letter he wrote in 1857 to Carolina Grisham, who later became 
his wife.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Pinckney was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant 
in the Franklin Rifles in the Army of Mississippi. There are only a few papers from 
the Civil War era, one of which is a list of slaves and their values. These
slaves presumably belonged to James Harrington. Pinckney was paroled during 1865 and 
signed an oath of allegiance that same year.

After the war, the Harringtons continued to grow cotton using freedmen for labor. 
There are numerous agreements between them and their former slaves to work the land 
for food, clothing, shelter, and a percentage of the crops. There are detailed
lists of time missed by various workers. There are also letters and market reports 
to the Harringtons from factors at New Orleans.

James Harrington died in 1866, and, after this date, many of the papers relate to 
the settlement of his estate. The volume in this collection appears to contain 
estate accounts dated 1866. There apparently were some disputes related to this 
estate, and a complaint was filed against it in 1870. 

The remainder of the papers are chiefly business papers with a few personal letters. 
Included are notices of sales of land and circulars from cotton factors. At the end 
of the collection are a few personal letters to Pinckney requesting his aid. The 
first is from the widow of a man who served in his company during the war who needed 
proof of his enlistment in order to obtain a pension. The second is from the 
daughters of a former slave of Pinckney who were trying to obtain proof of their 
parent's marriage. 

There is also a volume, consisting of a plantation and estate account book, 
1858-1869. The volume is a COTTON PLANTATION RECORD and ACCOUNT BOOK, by Thomas 
Affleck, bought by James Harrington in 1858, but primarily documenting work of
freedmen and estate sales from 1865-1869.

Biographical Note
James Harrington (d. 1866) and his son Pinckney Cotesworth Harrington 
(fl. 1853-1893) were cotton planters in Franklin County, Mississippi. Pinckney 
studied at Oakland College, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of North 
Carolina in 1857. He served as 2nd Lieutenant of the Franklin Rifles of the Army of 
Mississippi during the Civil War and, at some point, reached the rank of major. He 
returned to Franklin County after the war to continue planting. He married Carolina
GRISHAM.

In the early papers, the name appears often as HERRINGTON; and later Pinckney also 
appears as Pinkney.