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Arizona State University
April 3, 2003
Hancock County Historical Society C/O Mr. Charles Harry Gray
Dear Mr. Gray:
It was nice talking to you a few weeks ago. Since returning to Tempe I have gathered information on the homestead of my great grandfather, William Alexander Whitfield, who lived in Bay St. Louis from 1849 to 1891. I think you will find it interesting, and I trust you will add it to the Hancock County Historical Society?s files, and keep it handy for others interested in the history of Bay St. Louis.
You will find enclosed:
1)	a copy of a page of the 1860 census of Harrison county. Unfortunately, it is a bit hard to read, but on the next page you will see where I have ?explained? it. W. A. Whitfield was listed as a farmer of 43, with a value of his real estate at $10,000, and the value of his personal estate at $12,000. In the order of visitation, the neighbor just above him was an ?I. (???) B. Spence,? and I can not decipher the name of the person next on the visitation, but he was an ?In Keeper.? The youngest son, Alston, is listed as ?A.? on the next page, which should help you in locating him on any census records you might have (if you have a clearly read copy. I wish you would send me a copy, as the one I have is largely undecipherable!
2)	also enclosed is what his plantation home looked like. It is a painting that he commissioned, and now hanging on a wall in my home. The painting is 20 by 30 inches, with a large gold gilt frame. It is painted on a tin sheet, and unfortunately, some of the paint is peeling off. We were told the painting was done before the Civil War, but...
3)	there are two pictures of William Alexander Whitfield. One of them was used in the newsletter.
4)	another enclosure is a Xeroxed copy of a newsletter put out by the Oblate Fathers who owned the property at one time. There is an article on the history of the place, with the information provided by my aunt, Yvette Whitfield (born in 1899). The date on that newsletter is 1961. You will note that the photograph of the plantation home was in all probability taken from my painting. I have no quarrel with the information provided in this newsletter. (However, I always assumed the plantation was named ?Shelly,? whereas she says the house was named Shelly, implying the plantation did not change its name, and was still called ?the Shell Bank Plantation???)
Main Campus
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Geography
PO Box 870104. Tempi, AZ 85287 0104 (480) 965-7533 Fax: (480) 965-8313