Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning his trip to Lynchburg, Virginia, and his visit to White Sulphur Springs. May 27, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste asks the Bishop to take care of the personal effects of Sister Theresa's brother who was recently killed in action. She also writes of having the Bishop's slave "Isaac" at the Convent as a gardener and, impressed by his work, would like to hire him "by the year." July 11, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste relates the news of a local priest who has been embarrassing parishioners lately by publicly chastising them on the amount of their offerings, and who has boarded up several pews belonging to people delinquent in their fees. January 26, 1862. 4p.
Madame Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch congratulating him on his 4 year anniversary as Bishop and comments on her own tenure as Mother Superior at the Ursuline Convent. March 14, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch describing a visit from Bishop McGill of Richmond. She also muses on the plans for the convent should the "northerners" make it to Columbia and mentions being told by a guest "that the citizens will destroy the town on the approach of the enemy." March 2, 1862. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about finances at the school and convent and wonders if "the state of the country" will alter their usual schedule. She also expresses concern for their brother Hugh, encamped with fellow soldiers on the coast, writing, "it takes some of the comfort out of the fire and bed, when I think of his exposure." January 23, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Henrietta Lynch to brother-in-law, Bishop Patrick Lynch, concerning the slaves of Col. Northrop that the Bishop has asked her husband, Francis, to find a place for. She begs the Bishop to make other arrangements for the slaves saying that her husband is already too busy and "hard on himself" and she fears he will end up taking the slaves and caring for them. She also writes of sending the Bishop some rye with instructions on how to dilute one's coffee with it. Apparently writing without her husband's knowledge, she asks the Bishop to destroy the letter. March 8, 1862. 2p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch about affairs at the Bishop's plantation. He also writes about a "private baptism" he gave to a child he feared would die of measles unbaptised. January 18, 1862. 2p.
Letter from Madame Antonia to Bishop Patrick Lynch asking him, while he is in Europe, to speak to the General Superior of her order on the proper procedures concerning a mentally ill nun who has been taken from the convent by her mother. June 10, 1864. 6p.
Letter from John Lynch to son Robert Lynch in Bermuda. John expresses surprise that his son is in Bermuda especially since his brother, Bishop Patrick Lynch, has recently arrived in Bermuda himself. Enclosed also is a note to Bishop Patrick Lynch in which John discusses Robert's decision to not enter the priesthood. June 6, 1864. 4p.
Madame Antonia writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch in Rome asking him to contact the general superior of the Order of the Carmelites concerning matters at her convent in Baltimore. February 21, 1865. 2p.
Anna Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch in Europe with news about home and the war. She informs the Bishop that the blockade runner "Minnie", which he traveled on from Wilmington to Bermuda, had been captured on its return trip. June 18, 1864. 4p.
Letter from Robert Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch asking his advice concerning an offer of employment in Le Havre, France. Robert hopes to learn the tanning trade in Europe so that he can find gainful employment when he returns to America when the war ends. February 2, 1865. 2p.
Letter from Francis Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch announcing the birth of his son, James. He also mentions the movements of Confederate Generals Beauregard and Hood and the capture of Atlanta by General Sherman. In a postscript he offers the Bishop access to 100 pounds sterling while travelling in Europe. October 14, 1864. 2p.
Letter from Francis Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch discussing the seizure of the blockade runner "Minnie", the shipment of cotton bales to Nassau, and his hope that an ailing Pope Pius IX remains alive long enough to see the Bishop who is on his way to Rome. June 15, 1864. 2p.
Hugh Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the illness that has sent him home to Cheraw from Charleston and news of their brother, Francis, who has gone to see the governor of North Carolina concerning an embargo that has prevented him from getting supplies from his business yard there. November 24, 1862. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the conduct of "low, vulgar" soldiers who visited the convent and is sorry to hear that "deserters claim your attention, excepting for their souls' sake." She also writes the Bishop for advice on three controversial applicants for noviciate. One "has been by no means pious" and "read infidel works" and a second was born illegitimate. The third has had in the past "criminal intercourse" but has never had a child, though Madame Baptiste concedes, "she deserves no credit for that." March 6, 1863. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent. Madame Baptiste mentions a letter she received from Bishop Verot of Savannah, recommending a particular sister for their order. Bishop Verot's admittance of the sister's "imagination" has given Madame Baptiste pause writing, "the scourges of communities are precisely those persons of talent and fertile imaginations." May 1, 1862. 8p.
John Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about personal finances and the secession excitement in Columbia claiming, "if they can keep it at what it is till after the Convention, then the union will dissolve." November 16, 1860. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch about an agreement with book publisher Kelly, Hedian and Piet concerning the printing plates for the Ursuline Manual. September 21, 1860. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news of the family and Ursuline Convent and comments that "Columbia is crowded" but that "the political excitement seems to cast us quite in the shade." November 13, 1860. 4p.
Letter form John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the ill health of their sister Julia in Walterboro. John describes the order of treatment for Julia he would undertake but acknowledges that "he is prescribing without knowing exactly the state of the case." October 14, 1860. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about paying taxes and the need for more teachers, and revisits the idea of purchasing the Barhamville school as a future site for the Convent and Academy. March 7, 1864. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about their anniversaries as Bishop and Mother Superior and wonders if the Bishop is "as tired of superiority as I am!" She also writes of a local murder in Columbia and a visit to the convent by the wife of "pirate Semmes." March 10, 1864. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the mental state of one of the sisters and of general news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy. January 26, 1864. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the recent death of Archbishop Hughes in New York. Madame Baptiste laments that the obituary of the beloved Bishop in a New York paper is anti-Southern "when it speaks of his going to France at the request of Seward and succeeding in dissuading the emperor from acknowledging the Southern Confederacy." February 2, 1864. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch requesting his "Lenten regulations" for the season. She also writes of putting most of her money in the stockpiling of provisions "before the new currency comes in." February 10, 1864. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste writes about obtaining provisions for the winter and her continuing trouble with one of the sisters. October 5, 1863. 6p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch detailing the death of a local man and the unfortunate consequences surrounding an orphan the man and his wife were taking care of. October 16, 1863. 8p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning an incident with some slaves at the Bishop's plantation. John writes that the overseer, Mr. Buff, after "strapping" a young boy for idleness, was attacked with a hoe by the boy's mother. John wants word on what to do with the woman saying "if this goes unpunished and the woman remains, it will be the ruining of all the young negroes," and suggests selling the whole family. March 17, 1862. 3p.
Louisa Blain writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about Lent and news from Cheraw. Henrietta Lynch adds a postscript about a recurring issue with the slaves the Bishop has asked her husband, Francis, to find a home for. Henrietta writes that they are "city negroes" and would be "unwilling to plow... nor to eat corn bread as they do here." April 2, 1862. 3p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy and mentions a "narrow escape" the Bishop had travelling to Richmond. May 26, 1862. 2p.
Francis Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about plans to plant a crop for the upcoming season and has employed several freedmen. The local commandant is scheduled to speak to the area planters and freedmen shortly, but Francis believes "the erroneous impression made on the negroes that they were to be invested with lands, is in great measure dispelled." January 7, 1866. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the potential for growing crops at Valle Crucis and tells the Bishop of her disappointment concerning the exchange rate on 5000 Francs given to her by the Bishop on his return from Europe. January 21, 1866. 3p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Reverend J. W. Cummings describing the current status of the Ursulines in Columbia and encloses a letter for her brother, Bishop Patrick Lynch, who is expected soon in New York. October 28, 1865. 3p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch eagerly wishing his return to America. One of two similar letters sent from Madame Baptiste on this date. October 28, 1865. 3p.
Robert Lynch writes to his uncle, Bishop Patrick Lynch, of his success in learning the tanning trade during his employment in Rennes, France. He hopes to return to America when the Bishop does "for seven years have now passed since I saw [my parents]." April 17, 1865. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch eagerly wishing his return to America. One of two similar letters sent from Madame Baptiste on this date. October 28, 1865. 3p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch repeating the news concerning the deterioration of the house on one of the Bishop's properties. August 24, 1861. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch about news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste writes about new boarders and students and a conversation she had with a young lady who wished to convert to Catholicism who, she later found out, was rumored to be "disreputable." November 17, 1861. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. She writes at length about a troubled sister that she does not want in the Convent, suggesting instead that they pay her board at the local asylum. October 25, 1861. 4p.
Letter from Mary Lynch Spann in Washington County, Texas, to her brother, Bishop Patrick Lynch. Mary Lynch Spann sends news of her family and comments on the news that the Bishop may visit them in the spring. March 6, 1860. 4p.