A handwritten, two-page letter from Mary Pringle to her brother, Charles Alston, in which she appeals to Christian values in order to assure her brother that the recent dispute surrounding John Julius Alston and Charles Alston Pringle's commissions in the new Company of Artillery has not impacted their relationship.
A message signed by J. McCrady confirming that enslaved persons owned by Robert F.W. Allston arrived for work at South Island Plantation. The names of the enslaved are Salone, Sammy, Jacob, Mary, Sancho, June and Abraham.
A medical receipt from Dr. T. J. Goodwin to James P. Adams recording the patients treated and their fees. Makes notation of the medical treatment of "little negroes" and includes associated figures. The reverse side of the receipt includes the notation "Mr. Jas P. Adams $64.00."
A certificate naming John Julius Alston a solicitor in South Carolina on January 16, 1861, signed by John Belton O'Neall, Job Johnston, and Thomas J. Gantt. Chancellor Wardlaw was noted as absent. At the bottom, "United States of America" is crossed out and replaced by "Commonwealth of South Carolina."
A certificate appointing John Julius Alston to the post of Senior First Lieutenant in the Battalion of Artillery in the Regular Enlisted Force of South Carolina on August 13, 1861. This was signed by Francis Wilkinson Pickens, James A. Duffus, and William H. Peronneau.
A handwritten, one-page letter from Charles Alston to his sister, Mary Pringle, in which he defends his son, John Julius Alston, against insults from his brother-in-law, William Bull Pringle.
Copy of the last will and testament of Robert F.W. Allston outlining his wishes to pay his debts by selling a portion of his estate, with ninety to one hundred "negroes." Robert Allston divides his enslaved persons among his family, often keeping enslaved families together. Referred to as "negroes," the enslaved persons are listed as: Alfred, Alfred's wife Lavenia, Frank and Frank's wife Hester, Thomas, Gilbert, Minda, blacksmith Anthony, Little Jacob, Henry, Solomon, Charles, York, Daniel, cook Joe, Betty, Mary, blacksmith Sam, carpenter Abram, Primus, Nancy, driver Richard, Milly, Amy, Susie, Stephen, Scipio, engineer Prince, cook Toby, valet Stephen and Stephen's wife Lizzie, Robert Allston's "old driver and friend Sam, his wife Mary and son Albert, Nurse Minda and her husband Bowie, blacksmith and engineer Guy, carpenter Billy, Beck and Phoebe. He also leaves his overseer the enslaved girl named Hetty whose "life he has (under heaven) thus far preserved." Robert Allston wishes that his faithful servants, James, Milly, and Mary "receive every proper kindness" from the Allston family as well as fifteen dollars a year. He also states that driver Sam, Moses, and Stephen receive five dollars a year.
A handwritten, two-page letter from Charles Alston to his sister, Mary Pringle, in which he clarifies the misunderstanding surrounding John Julius Alston applying to Governor Pickens for his and Charles Alston Pringle's commissions in the new Company of Artillery.
A handwritten, two-page letter from Charles Alston to his sister, Mary Pringle, in which he defends his son, John Julius Alston, against claims made by his brother-in-law, William Bull Pringle, regarding John Julius excluding Charles Alston Pringle from a new Company of Artillery.
