Fragments and narratives describing cities visited, often with notations re principal industries, amusements, transportation, etc. Cities visited include Paris, Ghent, Frankfurt, London, Liverpool, Sheffield, & Birmingham.
From 1850 to 1851, Thomas Small captained the English merchant ship "Robert Small" on his 11th voyage to China and the East. In this private diary, Captain Small reveals the intense loneliness of command and details the longing he feels for the wife and newborn son he left behind. He comments on marriage, child-rearing, and religion, and frequently expresses his desire to find employment "ashore" to better provide for his family. In addition to these personal entries, he provides rich details of a mid-nineteenth century life at sea. Daily nautical annotations are augmented with comments about the crew, rations, frequent communications with passing ships, and his waning hope in obtaining a profitable cargo of tea in China. 126 pages. Full text.
Letter from William Henry Heyward to James Heyward about his travels in Rome. He describes the coliseum and St. Peter's Basilica in detail, writes about attending Christmas mass held by the Pope and comments on what news he has heard about secession talk in America. 8p.
The John Ball Memo Book, 1850-1851, is a bound volume listing crops at Hyde Park Plantation and the Villa as well as miscellaneous accounts for corking a dock, grass for cows, seeds for the garden, blue denim cloth, tobacco, ticking, shoes, molasses, tea and other household items. Also included is a list of men defaulting on militia duty and patrol service for January, March and April of 1851.
A letter to Harold Cranston on Capers Island from James Vidal discussing enslaved persons delivering a jug of whiskey, his inability to get shoes, and Vidal expressing to Cranston that "white or black were under your control." Vidal further writes about talks among his enslaved persons but that he does not believe them. He ends by discussing a man named Tony getting drunk in the village.
A letter to Harold Cranston on Capers Island from James Vidal discussing an enslaved person named Dedfort, selling wood, the hiring of workmen, delivering wood to Sullivan's Island, boat captain Sinclair and purchasing tar.
