The Civil War Era Cotton Bureau Records At Fort Wayne

Cotton records were explained in an article by Melissa Shimkus at Fort Wayne's (Allen Co.) Library's online newsletter.  The "Records of the Cotton Bureau of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate War Department, 1862-1865" consist of a 50 reel microfilm set.  There is no comprehensive index, although partial indexes exist within the set.

Was Adelicia Acklin, a southern belle whose plantations were cotton producers, mentioned in the records?  It may be worth a look.  A glimpse of her life in Nashville.

As the Wren's Nest blog succinctly stated:

Adelicia Acklin was the kind of gal who used both Union and Confederate forces to ship her cotton from Louisiana to England without batting an eye.  She talked her way out of jail, had the good sense to keep her money in London until the end of the Civil War, and gave birth to ten children along the way.

Adelicia's cotton business records were part of an exhibit located in the Congressional Records: