Letter from Caroline Burrus to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 27, 1865
Item
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Caroline Burrus to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 27, 1865
Subject
Hotelkeepers
Mississippi. Governor
Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873
Taxation
War widows
Starkville (Miss.)
Women--1860-1870
Correspondence
United States--History--Civil War
Ames, David
Judges
Description
1865 letter on behalf of a Starkville, Mississippi widow, Caroline M. Burrus, to Governor Sharkey. Burrus or Burns appeared before Probate Judge David Ames and asked to be relieved of the tax on her inn. Ames testifies that Burrus is the poor mother of several children and the inn is her only means of support. On page 2 of the letter, Burrus' request was answered.
Creator
Burrus, Caroline M.
Source
Civil War and Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi -Sample Documents
Publisher
Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version)
Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version)
Date
1865-07-27
Contributor
Ural, Susannah J.
Rights
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Relation
Is Part Of Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection, Civil War and Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi - Sample Documents
Format
Correspondence
2 pages
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
mdah_771-955-07-11
http://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/78
Coverage
Starkville (Miss.)
1865
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Page 1:
Starkville Miss July 27th 1865
To the Honble of W. L. Sharkey
Rrovisional Govrnor of The
State of Mississippi
The petition of the widow Caroline M Burns would respectfully represent that she is The keeper of a public Inn in the Town of Starkville and that she is subject to the Tax under the provisions of the late Tax Bill and your petitions would further represent that she is a widow of very limited means with several children dependant upon her for education and support and that owing to the unsettled conditions of the and the scarcity of money in the equity her custom has been very limited [strikethrough]and[strikethrough]her outlay in indeavoring to keep her house being as great or greater that her income and ^her^ house being her only source of support for her family she regards the payment of said tax as a hardship and prays to be relieved from the effects of the same—Your petitioner makes This request from no desire To avoid The responsibilites and duties of a good citizen she always having been prompt in The payment of all taxes assessed To her when she was able to do so
All of which is respectfully submitted sworn to and subscribed before me
this 28th day
of July 1865
David Ames
Judge of Probate
Caroline M. Burns
Page 2:
Caroline M Burrus wishes to be relieved from the tax on her Tavern as She is very poor and does not make a living from it scarcely
[remit?] the tax
answered
Starkville Miss July 27th 1865
To the Honble of W. L. Sharkey
Rrovisional Govrnor of The
State of Mississippi
The petition of the widow Caroline M Burns would respectfully represent that she is The keeper of a public Inn in the Town of Starkville and that she is subject to the Tax under the provisions of the late Tax Bill and your petitions would further represent that she is a widow of very limited means with several children dependant upon her for education and support and that owing to the unsettled conditions of the and the scarcity of money in the equity her custom has been very limited [strikethrough]and[strikethrough]her outlay in indeavoring to keep her house being as great or greater that her income and ^her^ house being her only source of support for her family she regards the payment of said tax as a hardship and prays to be relieved from the effects of the same—Your petitioner makes This request from no desire To avoid The responsibilites and duties of a good citizen she always having been prompt in The payment of all taxes assessed To her when she was able to do so
All of which is respectfully submitted sworn to and subscribed before me
this 28th day
of July 1865
David Ames
Judge of Probate
Caroline M. Burns
Page 2:
Caroline M Burrus wishes to be relieved from the tax on her Tavern as She is very poor and does not make a living from it scarcely
[remit?] the tax
answered
Original Format
Correspondence
Citation
Burrus, Caroline M., “Letter from Caroline Burrus to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 27, 1865,” HUM 502, accessed October 19, 2026, https://kkbrawley.com/hum502/items/show/9.