Letter from Rev. John Fielding to William H. W. Barnwell seeking Barnwell's guidance as he prepares to convert to the Protestant Episcopal Church. February 5, 1840.
Letter from J. (Joshua?) Peterkin of Baltimore to Mrs. M. E. Ramsay describing William H. W. Barnwell as the "colored man's friend" for his attention to their religious education. Peterkin writes that he chose to publish a recent sermon of Barnwell's in the "Maryland Colonization Journal" since "it is read by many of our slave owners." September 6, 1839.
Edward Barnwell writes to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, about his weekly trips to the "Island" to escape the summer heat in Charleston and begs his mother to continue sending him melons from Beaufort. July 27, 1854.
Letter from Edward Barnwell, Charleston, to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, in Beaufort. Barnwell writes that his boss has travelled to the north leaving him and another man in charge and thanks his mother for the shipment of melons from Beaufort. July 20, 1854.
Letter from Edward Barnwell to father, William H. W. Barnwell, concerning the price of a shipment of lumber his father has ordered from Charleston, including freight and wharfage fees. September 1, 1854.
Edward Barnwell writes to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, that rain has prevented him from sending any items from Charleston to the family in Beaufort. June 1, 1854.
Letter from William H. W. Barnwell to friend Edgar B. Day. Barnwell writes of the death of a sister and the birth of a son, and asks Day for advice on making amends for his injurious conduct to others while at law school in Litchfield, Conn. March 5, 1833.
William H. W. Barnwell writes to Edgar B. Day about the death of Day's cousin, the one year anniversary of his conversion and the state of religion in South Carolina. September 3, 1832.
Letter from Edward Barnwell to mother, Catherine Osborn Barnwell, detailing the effects of a recent hurricane in Charleston, including the destruction of Mr. Barnwell Rhett's cottage on Sullivan's Island near the "Moultrie House". September 11, 1854.
Letter from Rev. Francis L. Hawks to William H. W. Barnwell attempting to answer questions Barnwell has about his ancestor, John Barnwell, and specific events surrounding the Tuscarora War in North Carolina. April 8, 1857.
Letter from Rev. Edward E. Ford in Augusta, GA, to William H. W. Barnwell requesting that Barnwell procure some religious tracts for him in Charleston. On the letter Barnwell has annotated the costs and freight associated with the purchase. December 9, 1834.
Letter from Rev. Benjamin C. Webb, White Sulphur Springs, VA., to William H. W. Barnwell concerning the placement of a Mr. Mckay in Webb's parish. September 19, 1851.
Letter from Rev. Joseph Walker, Beaufort, enclosing a paper to William H. W. Barnwell for publication in Barnwell's "The Episcopal Protestant." Walker also writes of division in the Episcopal Church, mentioning the recent decision in New York to establish an "abolition church." March 18, 1844.
Letter from Rev. Benjamin Johnson, St. Matthews, SC, to William H. W. Barnwell informing Barnwell that due to overwhelming duties with his own congregations, he is unable to preach in Barnwell's place in Charleston. April 6, 1853.
Letter from Stephen Elliott to William H. W. Barnwell informing him of his arrival in New York and his intention to sail for England on the packet "St. Andrews." November 23, 1836.
Letter to William H. W. Barnwell from Rev. John A. Vaughan informing Barnwell of the receipt of a parcel that Vaughn is to forward oversees to "Mr. Boone." February, 1839.
Letter from Charles Aldis of Bank of America, treasurer of the "Foreign Mission of the P. E. Church", acknowledging the receipt of $1000 received from William H. W. Barnwell on behalf of St. Peter's Church in Charleston for "support of the Rev Dr Boone Missionary to the Chinese." April 12, 1839.
Miriam Brotman Gordin was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1933, the only child of immigrants Charlotte Saltz (Galicia, Austria-Hungary) and Ralph Brotman (Polish Russia). Miriam and her daughter Rachel Barnett, who is an interviewer, share their family history. Miriam describes growing up in Charleston where Charlotte and Ralph owned a dry goods store on King Street near Read Brothers, at the corner of Spring. Ralph was in poor health much of the time, so Charlotte was the family's primary breadwinner. Ralph died when Miriam was twelve. The interviewee recalls spending Sundays at wholesalers' stores on Meeting Street while her mother negotiated with the owners, and she remembers other merchants and families they knew along King Street. Miriam tells a number of stories that offer a glimpse of daily life for Jewish merchants in uptown Charleston in the 1930s-'50s. The Brotmans were members of Beth Israel, one of two Orthodox synagogues, where Miriam was confirmed with two other girls when she was about fifteen. Miriam notes that "Mama was a casual Orthodox. She did what she could. She would have moments of being Orthodox, really religious, and then she would back away." Miriam graduated from the College of Charleston in 1955 and, that same year, married David Gordin, who grew up in Summerton, South Carolina, a small farming community about eighty miles north of Charleston. David had earned his pharmacy degree and returned to his hometown and opened a drugstore. His father, Morris Gordin, ran a general store there. Miriam and David raised their four children, Rachel, Debbie, Danny, and Stephen, in Summerton, and the family attended Temple Sinai in Sumter. Miriam and Rachel describe a "split" in the Sumter congregation, which they remember as "very Reform." Many members did not want to observe such practices as wearing yarmulkes or praying in Hebrew, nor did they want others to do so. Miriam reports that Summerton, home of Briggs v. Elliott, had a Citizens' Council, "which was very intimidating." The Gordins kept their children in the public schools until 1970, when full integration was enforced. Rachel and Miriam discuss the decision to enroll Rachel and her siblings in private school. Miriam notes that David felt they didn't have a choice. "He didn't want his children to be an experiment in a public school." Rachel argues that the white flight to the private academies was "pure racism," but not in her parents' case. "Daddy was really caught in a conundrum. You couldn't be the only four white kids. It was bad enough being the only four Jewish kids." Other topics covered in this interview include Debbie's illness and death at age thirty; funeral and burial customs; Jewish-gentile relations in Summerton; and the importance of Jewish identity.
