The Kiger Family Papers offer insight into a southern family's antebellum and post-Civil War experiences. Who exactly were all of the souls buried in the cemetery lot in Vicksburg? Was Carrie Kiger the niece or sister of William McKendree Gwin, famous as one of the two �rst United States senators from the maiden State of California? The Kiger letters surfaced in 1985 when the University of Texas announced that it had bought them along with papers from ours and other antebellum homes. The entire group of papers is known as the Natchez Trace Collection. These writers never dreamed that anyone other than the intended recipients would read their letters, much less be interested in them. This makes them all the more valuable to us almost two hundred years later. This book, Part 1, covers the years 1833-1866; Part 2 spans 1867-1890.