From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Transcribed copy of a letter from W. W. Orme, a supervising special agent with the United States Treasury Department at Memphis, Tennessee, to Special Agent M. S. Jay, ordering him to collect Confederate cotton in Mississippi counties Noxubee, Winston, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Monroe, Pontotoc, Itawamba, Tishomingo, Tippah, and Marshall. Jay is ordered not to incur any unnecessary expenses, and to give reasonable compensation for the cotton.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Printed proclamation from Minnesota Governor Stephen Miller addressed to the people of Minnesota. Miller emphasizes the contributions of Minnesotans in crushing the late Confederate rebellion. He reminds Minnesotans of their duty to memorialize the dead and to care for the Civil War's survivors. Miller suggests establishing a soldiers' home for veterans with disabilities or illnesses.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Printed letter from Major General O. O. Howard, head of the Freedmen's Bureau in Washington, District of Columbia, offering advice to the assistant commissioners of the Freedmen's Bureau in the aftermath of the Civil War. The assistant commissioners are told to put faith in their government and follow all orders, and to not be excessive with military law. Howard declares that all assistant commissioners are vital to the progression past slavery.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Printed circular from M. S. Jay, a special agent of the United States Treasury Department, at Okolona, Mississippi, giving notice that he had been appointed an agent charged with collecting Confederate States cotton from Mississippi counties Winston, Choctaw, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Pontotoc, Tishomingo, Tippah, and Marshall, in light of the surrender of Confederate General R. Taylor to United States General E. R. S. Canby. Any person found selling cotton will be charged with embezzling public property.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Petition from citizens of Vicksburg, Mississippi, to United States Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch at Washington, District of Columbia, asking that John A. Klein be named collector for the port of Vicksburg. The petitioners claim that United States Army General William T. Sherman will vouch for Klein's loyalty.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Petition from citizens of Yazoo City, Mississippi, to United States Postmaster General William Dennison, asking to have Seaborn Pierce named Postmaster of the city.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Petition from citizens of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, sent from Woodville, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, recommending the appointment of M. M. Phares as the county sheriff, and William J. Keller as tax assessor.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Z. A. Philips, salt agent for the state of Mississippi, at Meridian, Mississippi, to Captain J. W. Miller at Jackson, Mississippi, giving a report of the work of the agency during the war. The salt works, located above Mobile, Alabama, on the west side of the Tombigbee River, has made an appropriation in manufacturing salt for indigent families. The white and African-American men employed at the works have all returned home, except for two white men. Transportation of salt will be required by boat on the Tombigbee River and the railroad. Philips also requests to disperse a sufficient amount of salt to pay off the debt of the works.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from former Confederate General William R. Peck at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Judge William L. Sharkey, requesting assistance in obtaining amnesty from President Andrew Johnson after being paroled by General Smith, as he is unable to present himself in Washington, District of Columbia.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from William C. Vernon Hicks, an assistant surgeon in the United States Army post hospital at Huntsville, Alabama, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey at Jackson, Mississippi, seeking a job with the state government of Mississippi. Hicks's service in the United States Army has earned him support from Major General William Tecumseh Sherman.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Thomas Y. Berry at Port Gibson, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, requesting an appointment to a state job as he has been "completely stript and peeled by the Civil War." Berry requests a job that will not require him to be away from his family too much. Though he is a loyal Unionist, Berry admits to accepting a tax assessor position in Claiborne County, Mississippi, under the Confederate government out of desperation. Berry has previously accepted a position as district attorney for Claiborne County offered by General Foote to replace D. O. Merwin. Berry lists several people as references.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Thomas W. Harris, Lieutenant Colonel of Ashcraft's Regiment, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey at Washington, District of Columbia, requesting his assistance in freeing the Mississippi field officers held at Johnson's Island Prison at Ohio.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Thomas Sadler at New York City, New York, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, requesting to appoint him commissioner of deeds of Mississippi for the state and county of New York. At the bottom of the page, Sadler's application is endorsed by Isaac Sherman.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Doctor Thomas H. Prince in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey at Jackson, Mississippi, recommending Larry W. Walker of Macon, Mississippi, for a job with the state government. Prince praises Walker as a loyalist to the Union.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from T. P. Ware in Brandon, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, recommending Doctor William R. Chew for a government job. Chew was a citizen of Port Hudson, Louisiana, at the beginning of the Civil War, and the desolation necessitated he leave with his large family, losing all his property in the process.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from S. E. Hunter, colonel of the 4th Louisiana Infantry and a prisoner at Johnson's Island, Ohio, to Judge William L. Sharkey at Washington, District of Columbia, asking for Sharkey's help in getting released from confinement, as Hunter knows of no Louisianians in Washington whom to ask for help and Louisiana Governor Wells has just left the city. Hunter states that he has been unable to take the oath of allegiance yet, and has been separated from his family for a long time.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from R. A. Hill at Jacinto, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, giving a statement on the conditions of the county officers and asking what course to pursue in regards to their allegiance.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Philip A. Hoyne in Chicago, Illinois, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, requesting an appointment as commissioner of deeds for the State of Mississippi.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from John B. Lewis in Steen's Creek, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey at Washington, D.C., requesting an appointment as State Treasurer. Lewis is an old man with many children, and wants an office job to help raise them. Lewis tells Sharkey to respond to him at Jackson, Mississippi.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from James Phelan in Aberdeen, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, requesting approval of his application for pardon, and explaining his personal reasons for supporting secession and the Confederacy during the Civil War.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from H. M. Congar in Buffalo, New York, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey at Jackson, Mississippi, seeking help in locating his sister, Mrs. J. D. Elliott, who lived in Jackson and was a neighbor of Sharkey's prior to the Civil War.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from George Whiting, acting chief clerk of the Department of the Interior at Washington, District of Columbia, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey at Jackson, Mississippi, stating that he is mailing copies of President Abraham Lincoln's messages from 1860-1863.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from F. L. Claiborne in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, recommending Robert W. James to be appointed collector of revenue for the seashore of Mississippi. Attached is a letter from James himself asking for the position, saying he has been a resident of Biloxi, Mississippi, for several years, and is acquainted with the citizens of Mississippi counties Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Aaron Jones at Peoria, Illinois, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey, discussing Unionist sentiment in Mississippi and asking about conditions in Jackson, Mississippi, since he left. Jones also states that his wife owns about five hundred acres of land adjoining Jackson and asks whether her title to the land is still good.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Copy of a letter from W. A. Strong, agent of state distilleries, to Captain J. Warren Miller, listing the property of the state used by the state distilleries. Included is a copy of a note from Miller authorizing Strong to retain possession of said property.