Letter from William Henry Heyward to John P. Meau concerning the assessment for the Confederate Tax of 1864. Letter includes an exhaustive inventory of slaves, acreage, types of crops, etc., for several Heyward plantations including Fife, Myrtle Grove, Rotterdam and Hamburgh. On one unnamed Heyward plantation in St. Peter's Parish, William Henry Heyward writes, "in consequence of the proximity of the enemy the greater portion of this land has been abandoned." 4p.
Letter from William Henry Heyward to James Heyward about his travels in Rome. He describes the coliseum and St. Peter's Basilica in detail, writes about attending Christmas mass held by the Pope and comments on what news he has heard about secession talk in America. 8p.
Letter from William Henry Heyward to James B. Heyward concerning granting power of attorney to satisfy some mortgages while one of the parties involved is in Charleston. Mortgages include several slaves and Fife Plantation. 2p.
Letter from William Henry Heyward to James B. Heyward. William writes from Montreal about his health and the gifts and commissions he has procured or investigated for James and his wife on his trip north. He claims "Philad. is the place for domestic manufactures" and "N.Y. for imported." 4p.
Letter from William Henry Heyward at Whitehall Plantation to James B. Heyward at Hamburgh Plantation concerning dissatisfaction with a recent survey. 2p.
Letter from William Henry Heyward at Savannah to James B. Heyward at Combahee. William Heyward has come to the conclusion that the destruction of slave labor will prevent them from ever turning a profit again on the scale seen in the past. He claims that the bargaining power exercised by the freedmen "makes the Planter a slave, far worse than his slave used to be." Because of the scarcity and high price of labor he believes that he and James should sell most of their properties and concentrate all their efforts on a few. 4p.
Letter from William Henry Heyward at Clayhall Plantation to James B. Heyward about a recent survey and a misunderstanding concerning the sale of property on or around Myrtle Grove Plantation. 3p.
Letter from William H. Barnwell, while in jail in Charleston "for an intention to commit a breach of the Peace," to James B. Heyward. Barnwell asks James to post a $5,000 bond for him to secure his release. 3p.
Letter from W.H. Barnwell in Beaufort to James B. Heyward. In his letter, W.H. Barnwell writes about some nonspecific legal proceedings against him and references a similar action that occurred in 1857. He writes "I anticipate an entire defeat on their part. But to despise an enemy is unwise." 1p.
Letter from Thomas M. Rhett to James B. Heyward asking him for more time to repay a loan so he can sell property to raise the necessary funds, having "lost my Crop of provisions, and made but a half crop of light Rice. 2p.
Letter from Thomas B. Ferguson to William Smitts, miller at the Dean Hall Plantation saw mill. Ferguson outlines the rules of employment for the saw hands, their pay (more money for firemen and white hands) and the work whistle system he would like Smitts to use. 3p.
Letter from T.S. Keith to James B. Heyward concerning interest on a bond payable to Mr. Keith. Mr. Keith outlines how he would like to be paid since he is now near destitute and is unable "to pay for my washing or to buy wood for my chamber." A note at the end of the letter from James B. Heyward confirms that he has fulfilled the request. 1p.
Letter from T. Linard (?) of the Freedmen's Bureau to Thomas B. Ferguson at Dean Hall Plantation. Linard is responding to a complaint from Dennis Cash, a freedman in Ferguson's employ, about the destruction of his private crops by Ferguson's hogs and mules. 2p.
Letter from Susan S. Keith to her daughter giving her a first hand account of the great fire that devastated Charleston in December, 1861. "The City is nearly destroyed," she writes, "such a scene of desolation and destruction I never beheld." 4p.
Letter from Sue M. Monroe to Nellie [B. Clarksall?] concerning the body of Nathaniel Heyward (II), who was killed in the Second Battle of Bull Run, August 1862. Monroe apparently tried to catalog and care for the graves of those buried on the battlefield at Manassas. 4p.
