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A. G. Smith wrote 9 letters to his sister, Mernie Smith Cone of Groton, Connecticut, while traveling to and living in Georgia and South Carolina from 1870-1871. As Smith and a companion had traveled south to restore their health, he commented on Southern life, African Americans, and fellow Northern travelers.

A. G. Smith wrote 9 letters to his sister, Mernie Smith Cone of Groton, Connecticut, while traveling to and living in Georgia and South Carolina from 1870-1871. Smith discussed his health and the health of his companion, "Sands," and reported on fellow Northerners, particularly in Aiken, South Carolina. He described his experiences on an Atlantic Ocean steamer from New York City to Savannah, Georgia, and on a river steamer from Savannah to Augusta, Georgia. He also mentioned aspects of Southern life such as the weather and food, recorded encounters with black Southerners, and noted white Southerners' attitude toward the United States government and, more specifically, northern politicians. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information.

Charles Geddings Rogers graduated from West Point in 1854 and served in the cavalry of the Army of the Tennessee during the Civil War. His pocket diary contains entries from February to May 1865, with a brief retrospective of his unit's movements in 1864. It also includes registers of pupils from his post-war teaching days, drafts of poems, and various other personal notes.

The pocket diary in which Rogers writes has on the flyleaf and in several other places the name Alfred Stout, but the entries begin in Rogers' hand on February 9, 1865, with a retrospective detailing briefly his unit's movements from September, 1864, through Tennesee and Alabama with General Forrest. Engagements noted include the capture of Athens and fighting at Sulphur Branch Trestle, Ala., and at Pulaski, Tenn., where he notes that he was within 400 yards of his family, but could not see them because of the presence of Union troops. Rogers apparently spent most of December and January visiting friends and family, but rejoined his unit in early February just in time to participate in the largely unsuccessful attempt to block Sherman's march through South Carolina. He mentions briefly the defense and evacuation of Fayetteville, skirmishing along the Black River, and the Battle of Bentonville, N.C. Disappointingly, he mentions Lincoln's inauguration and assassination with little more than a straightforward notation; Lee's surrender at Appomattox rouses him slightly more: "sad news indeed, " though he does inveigh briefly and bitterly against the men at home who are too cowardly to join the fight: "so much for the boasted chivalry of the South." By war's end he seems embittered by the fate of "our noble little army" whom he sees as having been "sacrificed on the altar of a ruthless and hopeless cause." His anger is seemingly directed against the C.S.A., and he notes, it seems without irony, on the day of his mustering out, "and now for home, and there forever as a truly loyal citizen of the great U.S." The diary ends shortly thereafter, although the notebook also contains registers of pupils from his post-war teaching days, drafts of poems and various other personal notes.

This collection consists of letters Fred Bach wrote to his wife and children in Delaware while he lived in Havana, Cuba, where he worked with the assistant auditor of customs accounts. He described his journey to the island, local culture and foods, as well as his daily life.

This collection consists of letters Fred Bach wrote to his family in Delaware while he lived in Havana, Cuba, where he worked with the assistant auditor of customs accounts. He wrote most frequently to his wife Anna, and also wrote to his daughters, Ethel, Barbara, and Winifred. In February 1899, he travelled to South Carolina prior to his departure for Cuba, and shared his impressions of the local people and scenery in Charleston and Orangeburg. Throughout August 1899, he composed a lengthy composite letter in which he described his journey to Havana, and after his arrival he concentrated on his daily activities, which frequently included reading and listening to music. He also wrote of the foods he ate and of the local buildings and culture. One letter from 1892 documents Bach's request for a transfer to the United States Post Office Department, where he had worked before leaving for Cuba. Also included is a public letter of recommendation for Mr. Abraham L. Lawshe for the position of first assistant postmaster general, addressed to the editor of the Star in Washington D.C. (August 21, 1900). In another letter, addressed to Joseph L. Bristow, the fourth assistant to the postmaster general, Bach provided examples of how partisan politics affected his position, and in the same letter he shared his desire to leave Cuba (September 21, 1900), though he did not submit a formal transfer request until April 15, 1902. The collection additionally holds several undated letter fragments, a short poem, and an essay entitled "In Perpetua," about the longevity of republics. Anna Bach also wrote two letters to her husband, dated February 14, 1899, and August 12, 1899.

This letterbook contains the outgoing correspondence of the mercantile firm Leger & Greenwood in Charleston, S.C. leading up to the American Revolution. The letterbook also contains correspondence regarding William Greenwood's attempt to receive compensation after fleeing America as a loyalist.

First Half: Leger & Greenwood, 1770-1775: The first section of the letterbook (pp. 1-194) documents several matters of importance for historians of the history of commerce in late colonial South Carolina. The firm's correspondence, though outgoing only, provides an important perspective on rice and indigo production and marketing in the years immediately preceding the American Revolution, 1770-1775, and it presents a fairly detailed depiction of trade networks, protocols, and the mechanics of trade. Leger & Greenwood were also major importers of British goods, and their willingness to supply luxury goods has resulted in a fascinating portrait of the tastes of wealthy Charlestonians, as well as the sources for supplying those tastes.

More generally, the Leger & Greenwood letterbook documents the tensions building within the trans-Atlantic mercantile community during the pre-Revolutionary era. Neither Leger nor Greenwood were particularly far-sighted about the events in which they were embroiled, and at points, they display a disarming naïveté about how things might work out. Clearly, their venture into the tea trade could not have come at a worse time, and the letters describing the Charleston Tea Party provide a view from some very interested participants in the events.

Second Half: Abram Greenwood, 1788: The second half of the letterbook (pp. 196-271) was written entirely in 1788, when Abram Greenwood, William's nephew, traveled to Charleston to collect the remaining debts of the late firm. At the time, William Greenwood, "the surviving member of the firm," was still very much unwelcome in his former home. Somewhat optimistically, the Greenwood family hoped that the adoption of the Constitution might enable them to collect their debts more easily (p. 211).

Where the first half of the book consists almost exclusively of correspondence with foreign suppliers, the second half contains mostly copies of letters sent to local debtors, and letters from Abram to his father and uncle in London, apprising them of his efforts. While in Charleston, word arrived from London that John Beswicke Greenwood had died, and, following an argument with his brother (another William Greenwood), had left his entire estate to Abram. Several thousand miles from the scene, Abram frantically did what he could to secure his legacy, authorizing powers of attorney to his father and uncle to represent his claims against what promised to be a hotly contested probate.

Most of Abram Greenwood's correspondence was occupied, therefore, with the twin concerns of Leger & Greenwood's settlement in South Carolina, and his own anticipated estate battle in England. His letters include a few other incidental, but important, items of interest, such as an outstanding description of Charleston (pp. 213-15) and an account of a slave being beaten and put into irons ( p. 253). Abram's efforts to collect on outstanding bills took him to the South Carolina convention for the ratification of the federal Constitution (pp. 245, 248), on which he provides some sketchy comments.

The Thomas Smith collection includes a disbound sketchbook of eighteen watercolors and six drawings depicting scenes in the northeastern United States and Canada made between 1820-1826 as well as three letters written by Smith between 1820-1822.

The Thomas Smith collection includes a disbound sketchbook of eighteen watercolors and six drawings depicting scenes in the northeastern United States and Canada made approximately between 1820-1826 as well as three letters written by Smith between 1820-1822.

The Visual Materials series contains eighteen watercolors and six drawings from a disbound sketchbook that depict scenes in the Eastern United States and Canada. While the watercolors and drawings themselves contain no exact information on their precise dates of creation, there is one unfinished pencil sketch of Fort Niagara that shows architectural features that were only in place from 1818 to 1823. Additionally, two pages contain watermarks in the paper that read "Turkey Mills J. Whatman 1818," while an inscription on the inside of the detached front cover also reads: "Thomas Smith. American Sketches 1820 to 1826." Smith is known to have made one trip to New York in the late spring and summer of 1820 and also returned from another trip there in the fall of 1821. Although presumably an amateur artist, Smith showed an uncanny eye for accurate detail, a keen ability to depict the scale of landscapes, and a vivid sense of color and light.

• 1) [Unidentified building] (fragment on oval sheet; pen and ink)
• 2) [Portrait of unidentified man] (fragment; pencil)
• 3) Point - Entrance of Chaudiere (pen and ink)
• 4) Palmetto trees East side Sullivan's Isld. South Carol,,a
• 5) Wappoo, Cooper River, S. Carolina
• 6) [Niagara Falls]
• 7) River Delaware. Fort Gaines to the left, to the right Fort Mifflin
• 8) [Presumed to be Delaware River]
• 9) Unfinished
• 10) [Niagara from the American side]
• 11) [Estuary with a Rowing Boat]
• 12) [The Mouth of the Niagara River at Fort George, Ontario] (pencil)
• 13) [Quay on an Estuary]
• 14) [Thousand Islands, Ganaoque (near Kingston), Ontario]
• 15) Cohos Falls, Mohawk River
• 16) [Niagara Gorge from Goat Island]
• 17) [Hudson River landscape]
• 18) Entrance of the Patapsco River into Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore Maryland
• 19) New York Harbor
• 20) [Queenston Heights - looking down the Niagara River towards Lake Ontario]
• 21) [New York Harbor]
• 22) [Town on an Estuary] (pencil)
• 23) [Niagara Falls from below]
• 24) [Landscape with a Waterfall] (pencil)

The Correspondence series contains three letters written by Thomas Smith to family members. The first letter, dated April 1820, is addressed to Smith's sister Eliza Elizabeth "Betsey" Smith (1802-1876) and bemoans her general lack of communication before discussing differences between American and English women, mentioning acquaintances including a "Mr. Lucas" and a "Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell", and describing events related to the wedding of a "considerable" rice planter and "Miss Lucas...now Mrs. Cordes" that took place in Charleston, South Carolina in March. This was likely the wedding of James Jameison Cordes (1798-1867) and Mary Lucas (1802-1873). Smith also makes reference to a bridesmaid named "Miss McLeod...a lady of large fortune worth as these things are estimated in S Carola: 300 negroes" while stating that "negro servants" accompanied the wedding party on horseback on their way to Middleburgh plantation. The second letter, also dated April 1820, is addressed to Smith's brother Joseph Smith VI (1800-1876) and contains a description of deer hunting conducted in the "American mode" in which several concealed hunting stands were occupied "100 to 150 yards apart" before "the negroes are sent with the hounds to drive the swamps or ponds where the deer generally conceal themselves." Smith elaborates on an unsuccessful hunting trip led by a planter named "Mr. Bryan" in which the party consisted of "Mr. Bryan, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Cordes, Mr. Hume & myself, with 2 negro slaves, all on horseback" during which Smith and Mr. Hume managed to become briefly lost in the woods. Also included are mentions of various wildlife encountered in the countryside, references to regional flora Smith intends to procure seeds of, and a description of typical South Carolinian cuisine had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during different times of year. The third letter, dated February-March 1822 and partially written from aboard the steamship Robert Fulton while in the Gulf of Mexico, is addressed to Betsey (now "Mrs. Alfred H.") at "Messr: Jos. Hardcastle & Sons London." Betsey married Alfred Hardcastle (1791-1842) in 1821. This letter describes Smith's return to Charleston in Novemeber of 1821 following a trip to New York, spending the Christmas holiday period at Mr. Lucas's plantation, a four-day excursion in Havana, Cuba, made during the present voyage while en route from New Orleans to Charleston, and avoiding a close encounter with a "suspicious looking Schooner" off the Cape of Florida.