This collection is comprised of a genealogical survey with information dating back to 1675 and personal correspondence of three members of the James Hines Trulock family: James, his wife Amanda Beardsley Trulock and their daughter Victoria Beardsley Trulock Davis. The letters were written first from the Trulock plantation, called Magnolia Place, in Georgia and subsequently from various towns on the trail from Arkansas to Amanda’s family in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The letters cover the years 1837-1866.
The Trulocks lived on a Jefferson County plantation called Prairie Place, and owned several slaves. The later generations of the Trulocks were very influential in Pine Bluff. James Burton Trulock, son of James and Amanda, was a county treasurer in 1882. Walter Nichols Trulock, grandson of James and Amanda and son of Van Buren Nichols Beardsley Trulock, ran a prestigious hotel in Pine Bluff.
James Hines Trulock was born September 22, 1799 in Darlington District, South Carolina. He was the first son and second child of Sutton and Mary Hines Trulock. James married Amanda Beardsley, on October 4, 1837. Amanda was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on April 22, 1811. Amanda and James lived in Georgia after their marriage, and their children Victoria Beardsley Trulock, Van Buren Nichols Beardsley Trulock and Joseph Burton Trulock were born, respectively, in 1839, 1840, and 1842. In 1844, James and Amanda moved to Arkansas where they settled near Pine Bluff, Jefferson County. It was in Pine Bluff that two other sons were born: Marshall Sutton in 1848 and James Hines in 1849. It was also there that James Hines, Sr. died on December 18, 1849. Amanda continued to reside on Prairie Place until 1866 when she moved back to Bridgeport, leaving her children behind. It was also in 1866 that Victoria married Guernsey W. Davis. Victoria died in 1869. Van Buren married Marianna Phelps Lewis. Marshall married Juliet Hamnet, and James married Clara Libby. Amanda Trulock died in 1891.
Box 1
File 1 – “Trulock and Truluck to 1948” (book)
File 2 – Letters of Amanda Beardsley Trulock, 1837-1839
File 3 – Letters of Amanda Beardsley Trulock, 1840-1849
File 4 – Letters of Amanda Beardsley Trulock, 1850-1859
File 5 – Letters of James Hines Trulock, 1839-1848
File 6 – Letters of Victoria Trulock (Davis), 1850-1866
End of Box 1
End of Collection