Letter from fellow Charlestonian Aimee B. Stevens in Pendleton, SC, to Maria Heyward in Columbia. Aimee offers her condolences on the destruction of the Heyward's house in Charleston and inquires if she saved "all her silver." She writes about living with other families who had fled Charleston and the warm "welcome given by the hospitable inhabitants" of Pendleton. 4p. June 17, 1862.
Letter from James B. Heyward to Rev. O.L. Bartier requesting a favor concerning the remains of his son, Nathaniel, who was killed in Manassas. James had traveled to Warrenton, Virginia, a few weeks after the battle and spoke to a wounded soldier who had helped bury Nathaniel but "the reported presence of the enemy" derailed James plans to accompany him to Manassas to disinter his son. James commissioned the soldier and two others to exhume the remains when safe and "place them in the grave yard of the Episcopal Church at Hay Market." A note was later received that the job had been done as requested but Heyward questions the veracity of the note and requests Rev. Bartier to look into the matter. 3p. November 6, 1862.
Letter from M. Munro to Maria Heyward concerning the deaths of their sons at the Second Battle of Bull Run who were killed by the same shell, August 29, 1862. Mrs. Munro writes that she is planning on retrieving the hastily buried body of her son and since Maria's son, Nathaniel, is in the same grave she inquires whether or not Maria would like to coordinate a plan to disinter her son as well. She notes that according to her information neither body "can be disinterred alone, without some violence or exposures, offered to the precious remains,..., if either of us, undertake this work alone." 4p. September 24, 1862.
Letter from Daniel Heyward Hamilton to James B. Heyward about the loss of James' son, Nathaniel, and the plans to return Nathaniel's body servant to James. Daniel writes that his own son was wounded by his side in a previous engagement. 3p. October 25, 1862.
Letter of thanks from R.W. Barnwell in Charlottesville to unknown recipient. The thank you stems from an unspecified "contribution" to the Confederate cause, possibly a donation of money to the hospital in Charlottesville. 1p. September 14, 1861.
Samuel Wragg Ferguson, aide-de-camp to General P.G.T. Beauregard, writes to his godmother from Manassas Junction, on July 10th, 1861, just days before the First Battle of Bull Run. He mentions preparations being made to set up hospitals for the sick and wounded, the capture of the privateer Savannah and Jefferson Davis' warning to Lincoln not to deal harshly with the crew. He writes that Union prisoners in Richmond, who were allowed to roam freely, were "arrested and confined in consequence of the accounts received of the trial of the crew of the Savannah." 4p.
Samuel Wragg Ferguson, aide-de-camp to General P.G.T. Beauregard, writes to his godmother from Fairfax Court House, Virginia, September 13th, 1861. Ferguson details a recent skirmish in Lewinsville pitting Union troops against Confederate Col. J.E.B. Stuart's men in which "we got seven killed, wounded and prisoners and know that they carried off many of their dead...fact is they wont stay to be killed." He writes of the secret construction of a battery along the Potomac that "will entirely stop the navigation of the river" and warns his godmother not to let "any communicative person hear any thing of this." On the envelope is written "there is a secret in this." 5p.
Letter from Susan S. Keith to her daughter giving her a first hand account of the great fire that devastated Charleston in December, 1861. "The City is nearly destroyed," she writes, "such a scene of desolation and destruction I never beheld." 4p. December 14, 1861.
Letter from James B. Heyward to an unknown recipient carried by one of his overseers, C. R. Hains, who is reporting for duty. In his letter, James protests the conscription of plantation overseers into the Confederate army claiming they "have large numbers of negroes under their charge" and that "in his absence the timid become panic struck and the bold mischievous." He also argues that the overseers "by means of espionage know every thing that is going on" and that well run plantations can better provide supplies to the war cause. 4p. November 12, 1861.
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Heyward and Ferguson Family Papers, 1806-1923✖[remove]30
