Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the upcoming school year at the Academy. She writes about the number of boarders, teachers, reference books, finances and provisions. She also comments on the "blockade paper" her letter is written on and mentions a deserter that the Bishop had attended to prior to his execution. August 29, 1862. 8p.
Letter from Madame Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste reports that the "Charleston refugees" do not like Rev. O'Connell, and suggests if the Bishop wanted to make a change in the priest assignments in Columbia now is the time "to break up this nest of (blank)." September 10, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Francis Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch detailing the difficulty he is having procuring leather for his business. He laments the "speculators" who are driving up the price of leather and has disseminated a handbill outlining his proposal to furnish brogans to the Confederacy at the low price of $1.50/pair by obtaining hides directly from the government. He has sent a copy of the handbill to "that distinguished advocate of low prices, Doct. Bachman." August 21, 1862. 4p.
Madame Antonia writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from Baltimore and a wish that God "will soon withdraw the scourge" of war. August 25, 1862. 4p.
Hugh Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch while on convalescent leave in Cheraw. As his health improves, Hugh realizes he will be conscripted back into the service and asks the Bishop to use his influence to get him a staff position with General Beauregard when he returns to take over Charleston's defense. Besides his rank as 1st Lieut., his qualifications for a coveted staff job are that he is a "good accountant and write a tolerable fair hand" and that an appointment should be made from "this section of the state" in Cheraw. September 8, 1862. 3p.
Letter from Hugh Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch thanking him for using his influence to get him on the staff of General Jordan, part of General Beauregard's staff in Charleston. October 14, 1862. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the premium associated with buying "specie" and asks the Bishop to procure for her $500 in gold. She also mentions that the tenants at the old convent are trying to get out of paying rent but that she does not pity their situation as "Mr. Fry is not sober (and) we teach their daughter gratuitously." March 19, 1862. 4p.
Hugh Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch while camped with the Cheraw Guards at "Camp Manigault" near Georgetown. He writes that the company is preparing for an attack but concedes "we can't give much of fight as we have very little ammunition." March 2, 1862. 2p.
Unfinished letter (copy?) from Bishop Patrick Lynch to Madame Baptiste. The Bishop suggests that she "lay up a large stock of flour, and rice, and provisions, for it is pretty clear that they will get much dearer." He writes that Charleston is quiet now and he hopes that it will remain so until autumn when "perhaps by that time we may have peace." April 2, 1862. 2p.
Letter from Anna Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the family in Cheraw and news that their brother, Hugh, has been staying with them during an extended sick leave from the military. April 21, 1862. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning a fire at their brother John's house, news at the convent and academy and her fears that Charleston and Cheraw, "on account of the cotton and government stores there," will fall to the enemy. June 1, 1862. 7p.
Madame Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the effects of the escalating war. She informs the Bishop, who is visiting White Sulphur Springs in Montgomery, Virginia, that "the Yankees are trying to take James Island" to get closer to Charleston. Glad that he is away from Charleston she writes, "I am a very strong secessionist, but only generous with other people's brothers." June 4, 1862. 4p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning provisions for the Bishop's plantation and an offer from two Confederate officers to lease a portion of the Bishop's property for a new powder mill. May 29, 1862. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch about preparations for their annual exhibition and other news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy and of news of the war. June 19, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning his trip to Lynchburg, Virginia, and his visit to White Sulphur Springs. May 27, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste asks the Bishop to take care of the personal effects of Sister Theresa's brother who was recently killed in action. She also writes of having the Bishop's slave "Isaac" at the Convent as a gardener and, impressed by his work, would like to hire him "by the year." July 11, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste relates the news of a local priest who has been embarrassing parishioners lately by publicly chastising them on the amount of their offerings, and who has boarded up several pews belonging to people delinquent in their fees. January 26, 1862. 4p.
Madame Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch congratulating him on his 4 year anniversary as Bishop and comments on her own tenure as Mother Superior at the Ursuline Convent. March 14, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch describing a visit from Bishop McGill of Richmond. She also muses on the plans for the convent should the "northerners" make it to Columbia and mentions being told by a guest "that the citizens will destroy the town on the approach of the enemy." March 2, 1862. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about finances at the school and convent and wonders if "the state of the country" will alter their usual schedule. She also expresses concern for their brother Hugh, encamped with fellow soldiers on the coast, writing, "it takes some of the comfort out of the fire and bed, when I think of his exposure." January 23, 1862. 4p.
Letter from Henrietta Lynch to brother-in-law, Bishop Patrick Lynch, concerning the slaves of Col. Northrop that the Bishop has asked her husband, Francis, to find a place for. She begs the Bishop to make other arrangements for the slaves saying that her husband is already too busy and "hard on himself" and she fears he will end up taking the slaves and caring for them. She also writes of sending the Bishop some rye with instructions on how to dilute one's coffee with it. Apparently writing without her husband's knowledge, she asks the Bishop to destroy the letter. March 8, 1862. 2p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch about affairs at the Bishop's plantation. He also writes about a "private baptism" he gave to a child he feared would die of measles unbaptised. January 18, 1862. 2p.
Hugh Lynch writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the illness that has sent him home to Cheraw from Charleston and news of their brother, Francis, who has gone to see the governor of North Carolina concerning an embargo that has prevented him from getting supplies from his business yard there. November 24, 1862. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent. Madame Baptiste mentions a letter she received from Bishop Verot of Savannah, recommending a particular sister for their order. Bishop Verot's admittance of the sister's "imagination" has given Madame Baptiste pause writing, "the scourges of communities are precisely those persons of talent and fertile imaginations." May 1, 1862. 8p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning an incident with some slaves at the Bishop's plantation. John writes that the overseer, Mr. Buff, after "strapping" a young boy for idleness, was attacked with a hoe by the boy's mother. John wants word on what to do with the woman saying "if this goes unpunished and the woman remains, it will be the ruining of all the young negroes," and suggests selling the whole family. March 17, 1862. 3p.
Louisa Blain writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about Lent and news from Cheraw. Henrietta Lynch adds a postscript about a recurring issue with the slaves the Bishop has asked her husband, Francis, to find a home for. Henrietta writes that they are "city negroes" and would be "unwilling to plow... nor to eat corn bread as they do here." April 2, 1862. 3p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy and mentions a "narrow escape" the Bishop had travelling to Richmond. May 26, 1862. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch complaining of the high price of provisions for the Ursuline Convent and Academy. January 7, 1862. 2p.
A letter from Frederick Grimke to Marianne Haskell mentioning General George B. McClellan's removal from military command, an overheard conversation by abolitionists, and Haskell's recent trip to Newark.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news of the Ursuline Academy and Convent, including a lengthy recounting of a "Miss Jones" who is being coveted by both the Ursulines in Columbia and another religious order. October 23, 1862. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about plans to move the Convent and Academy out of downtown Columbia after the war and mentions the death and funeral of Confederate General Smith. She also writes of brother Hugh's new position as aid to General Beauregard in Charleston and informs the Bishop that his "boy" sent up from Charleston to work on one of the Bishop's properties may have "gone to the yankees." October 10, 1862. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy on the anniversary of their establishment in Columbia. September 14, 1862. 4p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bp Patrick Lynch with updates on the Bishop's plantations and news of a large contract for shoes that their brother, Francis, has been awarded by the "central association." To help fulfill the contract Francis has "purchased a negro boy (shoemaker) 16 years old for thirteen hundred dollars." November 20, 1862. 2p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning plans for the Bishop's properties. He also asks the Bishop to send him a horse that the Bishop has been tasked with disposing. September 26, 1862. 2p.
Letter from Henrietta Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from Cheraw. Henrietta writes of sewing the Bishop some summer "drawers and under shirts" and mentions that "the people of Cheraw find fault with all the Charlestonians because they say they cannot find anything to eat." August 15, 1862. 2p.