Mississippi coin silver ladle and archive related to the Merrill-Ferguson families of Natchez. 1st item: American coin silver ladle, fiddle thread pattern with rounded fins, stamped "Coin" and worn incuse maker or retailer mark: "E. --- ," attributed to Emile Profilet, working New Orleans, Louisiana, c. 1822 and Natchez 1823-1866. Script monogram "Stewart" to handle. Length: 13 inches. Weight: 6.18 oz troy. Note: See 2nd item for documents related to Profilet. 2nd item: Archive of Charlotte Jane Ferguson Buckner family, including both personal and business documents related to plantation management, c. 1815-1850s. Buckner was the daughter of Jane Dunbar Ferguson, sister of Dr. George Cochran Ferguson, wife of William Aylette Buckner, and grandmother of Charlotte Pauline “Lena” Stewart Merrill, wife of A.P. Merrill Jr.'s son and namesake, Ayers Phillips Merrill III. Includes hundreds of receipts and tax-related documents, notably of medical and boarding schools, steamboats, and velocipedes. Documents address Ms. Ferguson as plantation household manager, significant for a widow of her time. Includes two signed c. 1855 receipts for items and repairs from Emile Profilet. (The ladle is not listed on the Profilet receipt; it was likely a gift or inheritance from Lena’s family.) The archive is housed in a three-ring binder and encapsulated in protective, transparent plastic coverings. 12 in. H x 11 1/2 in. W x 3 3/4 in. D. Note: A.P. (“Ayres”) Merrill Jr. (1825-1883), a southern planter, Harvard-educated lawyer (1845), and United States Minister to Belgium under the Grant Administration (1876-1877) was a Unionist native of Natchez, Mississippi. Merrill’s landholdings included Elms Court, the Hedges and Scotland plantations, and the St. Genevieve, an estate received through his wife, Jane Surget Merrill, daughter of Captain Frances Surget, a prominent Natchez landholder. For an archive of papers related to A.P. Merrill, see lot 484 in this auction.

Item 1 mark is worn. Shallow dents to bowl, up to 1/4 inch, otherwise very good condition. Item 2 with wear, toning, ink bleed, and dampstaining consistent with age and use. All with expected toning and creases, some with foxing and losses.

By descent through the family of Ayres Phillips Merrill, Jr.