Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the long delay in getting furniture for the convent, the Bishop's declaration on Lenten dietary restrictions, and a troublesome lay sister. February 13, 1866. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about typhoid fever and dyptheria (sic) plaguing the pupils and that the latter has been prevalent throughout Columbia. October 26, 1860. 4p.
Madame Baptiste Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about finances at the Academy and about a smallpox epidemic in Columbia, adding that brother John "has smallpox among his negroes." December 18, 1860. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy. She mentions that the Bishop's slave, Isaac, who has been working at the Convent, has asked that his children be moved to Mr. Kitt's place, recently acquired by the Bishop, so that he could see them more easily. February 14, 1863. 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.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy on the anniversary of their establishment in Columbia. September 14, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch written after hearing of the devastating Charleston fire of December 11, 1861, reminding the Bishop "fiat voluntas dei." December 14, 1861. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch about family matters and news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste describes how the sisters are sewing banners and flags for various companies noting "is it not queer for nuns to be engaged preparing flags for war?" She also thinks that business would return to normal if "other states would hurry and come out of the Union." January 8, 1861. 2p.
Letter from Anna Lynch in Cheraw to Madame Antonia Lynch in Baltimore with news from the family. She writes of the losses suffered by their brother, Francis, the relocation of the Ursulines and their sister, Madame Baptiste, to the Methodist College in Columbia and the return of their nephew Conlaw to Cheraw as a "paroled prisoner." June 15, 1865. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about several recent visitors to the convent, including one woman, a mother of a boarder at the academy, who has come to retrieve her daughter. The mother, Madame Baptiste writes, has been "implicated for running off negroes to the yankees" and Madame Baptiste fears that both "may be hanged." January 15, 1864. 3p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch commenting on the disappointing donations the Bishop has received while fundraising in that "great commercial emporium of the North." Madame Baptiste also takes issue with a Tribune reporter who has written disparaging comments about the Bishop during his trip to New York. March 15, 1866. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Sister Mary Charles Curtin about the sister's request to join the Ursuline Convent. Madame Baptiste informs her that the rules of the Ursuline Order make it difficult to accept someone who has already "professed" in another order writing that "a secular fresh from the world is preferred.....as it is more difficult to eradicate preconceived ideas of right, than to implant true ones for the first time." She also cautions the sister about the difficulty of moving from an active and worldly community to a contemplative and cloistered one. September 15, 1863. 3p.
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 Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch describing springtime at Valle Crucis. She writes that the sisters have created a "month of May altar" and have decorated it with a small statue saved from the convent on the night of the Columbia fire. May 16, 1866. 4p.
Long letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch keeping him apprised of the news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste asks the Bishop to help them procure more lay sisters "small in person - healthy and between 18 and 21" and choir sisters aged "18 to 30". She also discusses plans with the Bishop to open a day school in Columbia but doesn't know if they will be able to secure a building before the start of the school year. 12p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste writes that several parents have sent remittances for the school year but she fears "few will be able to return if the war continues." July 6, 1861. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch describing how the sisters are embroidering a flag for the "Kirkwood Rangers" of Camden. August 24, 1861. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about preparations for the upcoming school year at the Ursuline Academy. She also mentions how the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland, attempting to help nurse Confederates afflicted with typhoid fever in Virginia, "were refused a passage by Lincoln's men." August 27, 1861. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch in Rome about the ongoing recovery effort after the war and the destruction of the Ursuline Convent. She is soliciting funds to rebuild and has written Washington with their case demanding reparations. The Ursulines have accepted the offer of General Preston to reside in his house while he is abroad and are using the Methodist College for additional space. July 17, 1865. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and a proposition to house the Sisters of Mercy from Charleston if they should come to Columbia to nurse the sick soldiers hospitalized there. October 17, 1861. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy, including a humorous anecdote of one of the local priests running through the convent to get altar breads. December 17, 1863. 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, including a lengthy description of her troubled relationship with one of the sisters at the convent. September 8, 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 John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch about procuring provisions for the Ursuline Convent and Academy and about news of the war. John writes that the man hired to obtain the provisions fears impressment of the supplies and requests that the Bishop provide him an endorsed certificate that proves the goods are for the convent should any Confederate officers stop him. John also mentions the movement of troops through Columbia on their way to Tennessee where "Genl Lee and the President have planned a campaign against Rosencrantz (sic)". September 18, 1863. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the purchase of a second piano for the convent, the efforts to find housing for a local priest and a "Mr. Jones" who is travelling north soliciting funds for the Ursulines. January 18, 1866. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursulines, including a light-hearted incident of a drunken soldier who was found on the grounds of the Convent. December 22, 1861. 5p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and a suggestion that the Bishop preach one Sunday in Columbia while all "the best heads of the state" are in session. December 29, 1861. 5p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch asking the Bishop for his influence should a newly planned state hospital in Columbia need a physician. December 25, 1861. 1p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the upcoming school year at the Academy. She writes about the number of boarders, teachers, reference books, finances and provisions. She also comments on the "blockade paper" her letter is written on and mentions a deserter that the Bishop had attended to prior to his execution. August 29, 1862. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the premium associated with buying "specie" and asks the Bishop to procure for her $500 in gold. She also mentions that the tenants at the old convent are trying to get out of paying rent but that she does not pity their situation as "Mr. Fry is not sober (and) we teach their daughter gratuitously." March 19, 1862. 4p.
Madame Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the effects of the escalating war. She informs the Bishop, who is visiting White Sulphur Springs in Montgomery, Virginia, that "the Yankees are trying to take James Island" to get closer to Charleston. Glad that he is away from Charleston she writes, "I am a very strong secessionist, but only generous with other people's brothers." June 4, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch about preparations for their annual exhibition and other news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy and of news of the war. June 19, 1862. 4p.
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.
