About the Collection
The Elizabeth W. Allston Pringle Family Papers, 1861-1926, collection includes two bound volumes kept by members of the Allston family. The Allston-Pringle Plantation Account book created in 1867 documents the laborers who worked at Allston properties such as White House, Chicora Wood and Greenfield Plantation in Georgetown County, South Carolina. Recorded by Adele Petigru Allston, wife of South Carolina Governor Robert F.W. Allston, details include wages and expenses for items bought by laborers and a loose sheet of paper listing Adele Allston’s expenses in 1873. The end of the book was written by Adele Allston’s daughter, Elizabeth Waites Allston Pringle (1845-1921). Under the pen name of Patience Pennington, Elizabeth Pringle authored A Women Rice Planter (1913) and Chronicles of Chicora Wood (1922). Information in the account book recorded by Elizabeth Pringle includes daily entries concerning the tasks performed by laborers in 1913 and 1914.
The other volume found in the collection is the journal of Governor Robert Francis Withers Allston (1801-1864), the father of Elizabeth W.F.A. Pringle and governor of South Carolina from 1856 to 1858. A rice planter and author, Robert Allston was the eighth largest slaveowner in the United States, owning more than 600 enslaved persons. His published works include the Memoir of the Introduction and Planting of Rice in South Carolina (1843) and Essay on Sea Coast Crops (1854). Inside his journal are handwritten copies of two letters sent by Robert F.W. Allston to Mr. Morse and Mr. Yates discussing the selling of products and finances.
