[Mississippi Territory Laws and Statutes] A Rare and Important Mississippi Imprint: Being The Only Known Complete Copy Of The Laws and Acts Passed By The First and Second General Assembly Of The Mississippi Territory, 1801-1803 E12000-18000 Laws passed by The First General Assembly Of The Mississippi Territory during the First and Second Sessions; Began and held in the town of Natchez on Monday the twentieth day of July in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and One; and of The Independence of the United States, the Twenty- Sixth. Published by Authority. Natchez: Printed by Andrew Marschalk, 1802 (William C.C. Claiborne, Governor: John Ellis, President of the Council: Henry Hunter, Speaker of the House of Representatives.) Approved December 03, 1801- February 02, 1802 [61 Pages] Acts passed of the Third Session Of The First General Assembly Of The Mississippi Territory; Began and held at the town of Washington, on Monday the third day of May, in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Two; and of the American Independence, the Twenty- Sixth. Published by Authority. Natchez: Printed by Andrew Marschalk. Approved, May 10, 1802 William C.C. Claiborne, Governor of the Mississippi Territory. [13 pages] Laws passed by The Second General Assembly Of The Mississippi Territory during Their First Session: Began and held in the town of Washington, on Monday the sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Two; and of the Independence of the United States the Twenty-Seventh. Published by Authority, Natchez, printed by Andrew Marschalk, 1803 (William Gordon Foreman, Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Ellis, President of the Council; William C. C. Claiborne, Governor of the Mississippi Territory.) Approved January 26, 1803-March 12,1803 [62 Pages (Including Erata)] Note: The First and Second Sessions of the First General Assembly including laws governing Trespass, Usury, Court System, Territorial Militia, Criminal Punishment, Road and Bridge Construction, Property Taxes and Their Collection, Annulling Previous Territorial Laws, and Election of Representatives. The Third Session of the First General Assembly comprising acts where the future sessions of the General Assembly will meet (Washington), Appointment of Jurors, Securing the Rights and Interests of the Citizenry, Assessing Taxes, Jails and Prisons, Counsel and Attorneys at law, Establishment of a College in the Territory, Addressing Smallpox, and providing an additional sum of $750 for the completion of the Jefferson County Court House and jail. The First Session of the Second General Assembly including Laws concerning Indians, Notaries, Hunting, Conveyances, Tavern Hours, Cattle Brands, Making Natchez a City, The Poor, Appointment of Attorneys General and their Salaries, and the Suppression of Vice and Immorality. The three separate imprints bound as one in its original period wrap-around stitched leather cover and having glued end papers. Quarto with marginalia in ink. Table of contents for Third Session, First Assembly and First Session, Second Assembly (there was no table of contents printed for First and Second Session, First Assembly) Provenance: Samuel Sidney Mahon, Natchez, Mississippi, and Concordia Parish, Louisiana. William Conway, 1806, Gift of above. Robert Lawes, 1826, Son-in-law of above. B.W. Lawes, 1838, Son of above. Wilham Lawes, 1860, Brother of above. Thence by family descent to the present owner. Note: The names of the previous owners up to 1860 are recorded on the inside flyleaf Samuel Sidney Mahon has inscribed the title page of the First General Assembly. William Conway has inscribed the first page of the text, together with the date 1806 McMurtrie (Mississippi Imprints) Numbers 18, 19, and 21 Reference: Notes: In A Bibliography of Mississippi Imprints, 1798- 1830 by Douglas C. McMurtrie, which was published in 1945 (Heartman's Historical Series No. 69), the entry for No. 18 states that there is no copy known The imprint is known only from an advertisement in the Mississippi Herald newspaper dated September 1802 Andrew Marschalk the printer of all three of the present imprints, was also the publisher of the Natchez newspaper where He priced the First General Assembly, lst and 2nd Sessions publication at $1.50 To date, we have been unable to locate another extant complete copy. Imprint No. 19 is known from a copy that is in the collection of the Jefferson College Library, Washington, Mississippi (now in the Mississippi Department of Archives.) The size of that copy closely corresponds to the present copy being offered, which appears to contradict the Octavo size quoted in Thomas McAdory's A Bibliography of Mississippi published in 1899 (McAdory's article actually refers to imprint No. 21.) Imprint No. 21 is known only from three fragment leaves containing pages 3-4, 11-12 and 29-30 which are in the Mississippi State Department of Archives and History, Jackson, Mississippi. Douglas McMurtrie published an article on these leaves in 1939 The leaves were reproduced in Fragments of the Mississippi Session Laws Passed at the First Session of the Second General Assembly of Mississippi Territory, December, 1802 to March, 1803 It is also interesting to note that in a letter dated March 15, 1803, Governor William C.C. Claiborne wrote to James Madison, Secretary of State of the United States, that following the adjournment of the legislature, "The Laws which were passed are now at the press, and so soon as they are printed a copy shall be transmitted to you", see Official Letter Books of W.C.C. Claiborne, 1801- 1806, vol. 1, page 280 (we are left to speculate whether a copy was ever received by Madison.) Following His election to the Presidency, Thomas jefferson informed the then-Governor of the Mississippi Territory, Winthrop Sargent, that He was to be replaced as Governor. His successor was to be William C. C. Claiborne who arrived in Natchez on November 23, 180 1, convened the legislature on the first of December and addressed the body on the second. It would appear from the title page of Imprint No 18 that the First General Assembly had already been convened prior to Claiborne's arrival. However, the date of the first law approved is December third, 1801, the day following the new Govemor's address to both houses of the Legislature. In a further letter to Madison dated February 5, 1801, Claiborne writes that the people are ignorant of the law, the only printer a novice, and nothing will be printed for several months. He was most likely referring to james Ferrall, who with Andrew Marschalk (the printer of all three of the present imprints) shared the official Territorial publications from time to time, depending on political patronage. Andrew Marschalk came to Mississippi by way of Ohio where He had fought the Indian Wars. He was with Meriweather Lewis at the Chickasaw Bluff garrison and afterward stationed at Walnut Hills. A printer by trade who reportedly bore a remarkable resemblance to Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Marschalk is considered the major pioneer in Mississippi printing. His earliest imprint is dated 1798 and the Mississippi Gazette first appeared in 1800, although He apparently was not discharged from the army until June, 1802 He was later active in the Militia, attaining the rank of Colonel in 1811 Andrew Marschalk, was following the Constitutional Convention of 1817 and Mississippi's admittance to the Union, the first state printer. He died in 1837 His last imprints appear to have been printed in the early 1830s. The original owner of the present three imprints, Mr. Samuel Sidney Mahon, is undoubtedly the same Samuel S. Mahon, Clerk of the House of Representatives of the Mississippi Territory in December 1802 Samuel Sidney Mahon was also a signatory to a petition regarding land claims sent from the Mississi