The Robert F.W. Allston Account Book, 1853-1855, records the numerous payments, receipts, debts and purchases and yearly crop information for Chicora Wood, Waverly and Nightingale Hall Plantations. Also included in the book are sections on births, deaths and marriages for enslaved people, writing down the first name of the men and women who married.
Printed broadside includes description of curriculum, rules of conduct, tuition and refereces. Madame Rosalie Acelie Togno opened her french and english boarding school for young ladies in Charleston under the patronage of James Louis Petigru in 1854. Initially located on Tradd Street, the school and dormitory for students was relocated to Meeting Street soon after. Togno was a fluent speaker of french and arrived in Charleston by way of New York. Her strict teaching style set new standards for education in antebellum Charleston and students were instructed in science, history, geograph and writing . Madame Togno's students included such notable women as Adele Allston Vanderhorst and Elizabeth Allston Waties Pringle. During the Civil War, Togno relocated her school to Barhamville, South Carolina but was forced to flee South Carolina soon after.
The Mulberry Plantation Journal for the years 1855-1856 was kept by overseers C.A. Ward and R. Meynardie who reported activities on the rice plantation. Entries note agricultural tasks, quantities of rice winnowed, weather conditions, sickness among slaves and individuals assinged to the nightly watch. The names of the slaves are listed throughout the journal as: Adeline/Adiline, Ben, Betty, Binah, Bristol, Charles/C. Charles/Cow Charles/Cow Charly/Young Charles, Carolina, Clarinda, Dinah, Fanny/Fany, Flora/Florah, Francis, Hanna/Hannah, Isaac, Jack/L. Jack/Little Jack, Jacob, Joe, Juba, Leah, Lewis, Lindy, Little Judy, Little Ned/Old Ned, Maryan, Myrah, Old Delia, Old Hariett, Paris/Parris, Patty, Pearce, Pierce, Sabrina, Sarah/Old Sara, Shammroc and Vinus
The last will and testament of Robert F.W. Allston contains additional provisions from a previous will surrounding new properties acquired by Robert Allston. He writes that he leaves his son Charles Allston, Chicora Wood Plantation. The enslaved persons are divided among the family and are listed as: Guy, driver Jack, Dido, driver Sam, Mary (faithful housekeeper), nurse Phebe, Bob, "Rochael," engineer Prince, Toby, blacksmith Anthony, Jacob, Henry, Emma, carpenter Gilbert, Minda, Phillis, blacksmith Sam, blacksmith Scotland, Jane, and driver Tommy. He leaves his overseer his "trusted servants" Boston, Venus and Hetty, "whose life he has, under Heaven, saved thus far." Robert Allston states that his servants James, Mary, and Milly be given fifteen dollars annually, Violet, Stephen and Auba ten dollars, and driver Sam and nurse Phebe five dollars as long as they live. The last page of the will states that the faithful servants James (who may choose his owner from any of the Allston children), Mary, and Milly "receive every proper kindness" from the Allston family as they "exhibited a trustful and abiding faith and by whom they have been justly appreciated, but never abused..."
A bill of sale for the enslaved man listed as "A negro male Slave named Caesar about forty years of age." The enslaved man was bought by James Adger from Abraham Tobias for $1,200.
Bill of sale for "sixteen negro slaves" for $5,800 sold by Edward North, executor of the estate of J.P Gough, to E.B. Means. The slaves are listed as Patty, Peggy, William, Mary, Tenah, Harriett, Willoughby, Jenn, James, Delia, Silvey, Toney, Sally, Henry, Kate and Caroline.
Volume contains a chronological record (1855-1856) of the number of bushels, tolls, vessels on which the rice arrived, names of individuals (plantation owners), where the rice was stored (floor and "binn") and the marks used, the names of factors, the vessels on which rice was shipped, and other data. Mill accounts contain expenses for rice, drayage, coopers, carpenters, watchman, Negroes (hire), labor, salaries of various individuals, repairs, baskets and brooms, rice, cords of wood, poles, barrels, mill stones, wharf building, cart license, a butcher's bill, horses, insurance on rice, discount on a note, sales of rice, ironwork, sweep chimney, blacksmith work, and other expenses. Income is from cash received at mill, from various individuals for rice flour and rice, from freight and tolls on rice, from notes, and from other items. The Cannonsborough Mills, begun in 1825 by former Governor Thomas Bennett, included twenty-two pestles driven by steam and fourteen pestles run by tide power. Its property fronted Ashley River a third of a mile. In 1847 Bennett deeded the property to his son-in-law, Jonathan Lucas, III. The larger of the Cannonsborough mills burnt in February of 1860.
