THE DR. SAMUEL ALEXANDER MIMS AND FAMILY LETTERS
THE MIMS LETTERS
Dr. Samuel Alexander Mims lived in Dancyville and Walnut Ridge, near Dancyville, from early 1849 until late 1853. In Dancyville he lived very near the Methodist Church, close enough to hear the singing and the preacher. Judging from the date he finished medical school, Dancyville probably was his first practice. The letters were written by Dr. Mims, his wife Harriett McIver Mims and Rev. William Nolen, the Baptist minister. All were written to Dr. Mims' brother, James S. Mims, a professor at Furman Institute, now Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina and to Sarah McIver Mims, wife of James and Sister to Harriett.
THE FIND
Margaret Ann Mimms Ward, great-granddaughter of Dr. Samuel A. Mims and sister of John Allen Mimms Jr., found the letters while searching for information on James S. Mims at Furman University. James was a professor at the college, later to be named Furman. An employee of the Furman Library told Margaret about a box of James Mims papers and let her look through the box. She found about 100 letters, 18 from Dancyville, starting in 1843 and ending about the time of James death in 1855. It took the family 2 years to transcribe the letters because the penmanship was so difficult to read. The original letters are in the archives of the Furman University Library, Greenville, South Carolina.
The transcriptions of the Mims Letters are Copyrighted© and the exclusive property of John Allen Mimms Jr. They may be used for personal genealogy purposes only. Commercial use without written permission is prohibited.
I greatly appreciate John Allen Mimms Jr., great-grandson
of Dr. Samuel A. Mims, providing and permitting the letter transcriptions to be
published to this site.
Note: Some of the Mims family, in later generations, added the second 'm' to the
name.
All the letters are presented from the transcriptions, as is, without editing.
The Letters
START THE MIMS LETTERS
HERE
Dr. Samuel Mims to his brother James S. Mims (9 Letters)
Dr. Mims to his sister-in-law Sara McIver Mims (2 letter)
Harriett McIver Mims to her twin sister Sara McIver Mims (3 Letters)
William Nolen, Baptist Minister, to James S. Mims (4 Letters)
See the Dr. Samuel A.
Mims Profile
See the Dr. Samuel A. Mims Photo