1865: Jefferson Davis captured at Irwinsville, Georgia
1865: William L. Sharkey becomes Mississippi’s twenty-fifth governor
Governor William L. Sharkey
President Andrew Johnson appointed Sharkey provisional governor from June to December 1865.
Link to the catalog1865: Constitutional Convention abolishes slavery, repudiates secession, but denies civil rights to African Americans
1865: Benjamin G. Humphreys becomes Mississippi’s twenty-sixth governor
Governor Benjamin G. Humphreys
Humphreys served from 1865 to 1868.
Link to the catalog1865: Mississippi Legislature passes Black Code
The Black Code was the forerunner to the more formal Jim Crow “separate but equal” laws of the 20th century. Enacted following the Civil War, the laws varied from place to place and included such restrictions as curfews, poll taxes, and papers that certified employment.
1865: 13th Amendment abolishes slavery
Mississippi refused to ratify the amendment.
March 3, 1865: Freedmen’s Bureau created
The bureau provided assistance and aid for the transition from a life of enslavement to one of self-determination.
April 9, 1865: General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant
General Robert E. Lee
Lee’s meeting with Grant in Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, signaled the end of the Civil War.
Link to the catalogApril 14, 1865: Abraham Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth
Scene at Warren County Courthouse when they received the news of Lincoln's assasination
Andrew Johnson was sworn in as president of the United States on April 15.
Link to the catalogApril 26, 1865: Confederate forces begin surrendering
Crutch of a returning soldier
General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee to General William T. Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina. Shortly thereafter, Lieutenant General Richard Taylor surrendered all forces in the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana.
Image: This crutch belonged to Joseph Weatherly of Attala County who was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. Many returning veterans were amputees.