Letter from Edward Barnwell to mother and sister, both Catherine Osborn Barnwell. Barnwell describes the cuisine in France and the cessation of all work during meals and notes the success he is having in securing orders for cotton. August 3, 1857.
Letter from Edward Barnwell to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, while visiting France on business. Edward describes the French countryside and the wealthy "spinners" he has met while seeking purchasers for sea-island cotton and mentions seeing Napoleon III. 1857.
Letter from Elizabeth Barnwell to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, describing her stay in Columbia with her siblings at their older brother's house. Barnwell writes of getting free tickets to see a performance of the "Lilliputian Band", a group of five "little negroes", and comments on her brother's kitchenware, including a description of a chafing dish heated with camphene. ca. 1857.
Elizabeth Barnwell writes to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, with news from Columbia and South Carolina College. Barnwell describes the events surrounding the shooting death of a man by James H. Rion that probably prevented Rion from being elected a professor of mathematics at the college. November 24, 1857.
Esther Hutson Barnwell, Columbia, writes to sister, Catherine Osborn Barnwell. Barnwell tells Catherine of an upcoming "club" meeting where members take turns reading Byron's "Bride of Abydos" and describes a recent dance party she and their brother, William Finley Barnwell, attended. April 22, 1857.
Letter from Robert Woodward Barnwell to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, discussing his professorial duties at South Carolina College and updating her on the status of his siblings who are living with him in Columbia. He also mentions South Carolina histories written by William James Rivers, David Ramsay and William Gilmore Simms and some investigative work he is doing for his father concerning their ancestor, John Barnwell. Attached is a letter from his brother, William Finley Barnwell, describing Robert's endless study habits. March 25, 1857.
Letter from former college classmate, George McWillie Williamson, to Robert Woodward Barnwell, comparing South Carolina and Louisiana ladies and how the "democratic" political climate in Louisiana differs from the "aristocratic" nature of South Carolina. June 19, 1857.
