Time Period: The Antebellum South (1816 - 1860)

Pinckney Family Papers, 1708-1878

The Pinckney Family Papers, 1708-1847, collection consists of two bound volumes kept by members or for members of the Pinckney family. Several members of the Pinckney family have been distinguished for service to South Carolina and the United States. Eliza Lucas Pinckney helped make indigo a major cash crop; she was the mother of two …


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Journal of Samuel Wilson, 1854

The Samuel Wilson Diary is found in the Journal of Samuel Wilson, 1854 collection. Initially a Miller’s Planters & Merchants Almanac for the year 1854, Charleston (S.C.) physician Samuel Wilson (1791-1861), the son of Dr. Samuel Wilson (1763-1827) repurposed the almanac as a journal. Information found in the journal includes meteorological and weather observations, family …


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Benjamin H. Rutledge Family Papers, 1675-1867

The Benjamin H. Rutledge Family Papers, 1675-1867, collection includes a bound volume kept by politician and attorney general, Charles Pinckney, 1699-1758. Following the death of his first wife, Charles Pinckney married Eliza Lucas, 1722-1793, a successful women credited with the development of the Indigo industry in South Carolina. Together, the couple had four children: Charles …


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Springfield Plantation Journal, 1831 – 1864

The Springfield Plantation journal collection contains a bound plantation journal and loose papers pertaining to Springfield Plantation owned by Francis Withers (1769-1847) and later by Joshua John Ward (1800-1853) in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The journal (1831-1864) contains the names of enslaved men, women and children on Springfield Plantation as well as births, information on …


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Richmond Plantation Journal, 1859-1860

The Richmond Plantation Journal, 1859-1860 collection is comprised of a bound volume kept by Richmond Plantation overseer Anthony Weston between 1859-1860. Weston moved to the plantation on January 13th, 1859 under the supervision of the plantation’s owner Dr. Benjamin Huger. Weston began recording activities on the rice plantation related to rice cultivation, vegetable farming and …


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Phillips Family Papers

The Phillips Family Papers collection is comprised of typescripts and manuscripts created by members of the Phillips family, prominent members of Charleston’s Jewish community in the Antebellum period. The collection contains recollections and a memoir, both serving as accounts of the family’s daily activities prior to and during the Civil War. Notable from the collection is a typescript copy account …


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Mulberry Plantation Journal, 1853-1908 (bulk 1853-1889)

The Mulberry Plantation Journals, 1853-1908 (bulk 1853-1889) collection is comprised of four bound journals containing records of Mulberry Plantation in Berkeley County, South Carolina kept by plantation owners John B. Milliken, Thomas Milliken and overseers C.A. Ward and R. Meynardie. Volume One kept by Thomas Milliken between 1853-1858, reports activities on the rice plantation such …


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Mathurin Guerin Gibbs Plantation Register, 1824-1874

This is the plantation register by Mathurin Guerin Gibbs (1788-1849) for Rice Hope Plantation and Jericho Plantation. The plantation register primarily documents the cultivation and harvesting of staple crops such as corn, cotton, rice and potatoes, livestock, and building fences. Gibbs also writes about the use and management of enslaved labor and the movement of …


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Mary Lamboll Thomas Beach Papers, 1822-1890

The Mary Lamboll Thomas Beach papers, 1822-1890 (bulk 1822-1823), collection consists of sixteen letters written by Mary Beach (1770-1851), a member of the Circular Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina and wife of New Jersey native Samuel Beach (1761-1793). Sent to her sister Elizabeth Lamboll Thomas Gilchrist (1771-1852) of Philadelphia, (Pa.), the letters concern religious …


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Journal of Robert Barnwell Plantations, 1838-1859

The Robert Woodward Barnwell Plantations collection contains a plantation book (1838-1859) created by Robert Woodward Barnwell (1801-1882) listing the names of enslaved men, women and children as well as clothing and blankets given to slaves at Cotton Hope, Bull’s Point, Woodward and the Briars Plantation in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Loose papers in this collection …


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