“Stories Collected from Slaves” by Leonarda J. Aimar is a bound volume of formerly enslaved people's stories. In her transcription, she attempted to capture the storytellers’ colloquial speech, now recognized as the Gullah language. The volume includes a list of addresses, occupations, and diseases of African Americans during their enslavement; an eye-witness account of the Battle of Secessionville on James Island during the Civil War in 1862; how enslaved people were returned to their slaveholders following the Revolutionary War; and an account of Sherman's march from Savannah, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War. A formerly enslaved man, Sam, provides a detailed account of being a butler, coachman, and horse jockey. He also recounts how Union Army Major Robert Anderson took control of Fort Sumter and the events that transpired there on April 12, 1861. Other accounts include an enslaved man’s recollections of his time as a servant to a plantation overseer who sympathized with the Union during the Civil War and formerly enslaved man Jim Alston’s detailed eye-witness account of the 1876 Cainhoy Riot.
The Horlbeck Daybook, 1835-1837, was kept by members of the Horlbeck building and architectural business. Included in the daybook are lists of work done for clients such as remodeling, repair, or construction. Buildings worked on include the jail, St. Stephen's Chapel, the Fire Master's Department, and the Poor House. The descriptions include types of materials used and the number of Black and White employees working. Black employees consist of enslaved and freed persons.
The Stoney Account Book, 1837-1838, and Plantation Daybook, 1852 is a bound volume kept by the Stoney family, possibly John Stafford Stoney, in which the first half of the book documents payments for shipping, freights, wharfage and commissions from GM Thompson, Wade Hampton II, William Cunningham, Robert E. Russell, Mary Hampton, Horace Osborne & Co., John Preston, and Nesbit Manufacturing Co. The second half of the book was written by a plantation overseer at Medway Plantation in which he documents the tasks performed by enslaved people and the slaves who missed work due to sickness. The names of the slaves are listed as: Abraham, Andrew, Beck, Bella, Bess, Binah, Bob, Brooke, Celia, Cesar, Charlot, Cily, Dido, Dinah/Old Dinah, Dolly, Edward, Elsey, Grace, Hector, Hercules, Jack, Jackey, Kate, Maully, Moses, Old Elley, Old Felix, Old Jerry, Peter, Philaskey, Philis, Pussy, Quash, Robert, Robin, Rosannah, Sam, and Samey.
The Horlbeck Ledger, 1839-1847, is a bound volume by members of the Horlbeck building and architectural business. The book records work done for clients White and Black employees and specifies the type of repair, remodeling or construction jobs and supplies. Black employees are comprised of enslaved persons and freed men and women.
The Paul De St. Julien Ravenel Estate Book, 1829-1841 is an estate account book kept by Henry Ravenel for the estate of Paul D. Ravenel with pages on money received, spent or payments paid, including payments for the hiring of enslaved people. The last few pages of the book are lists of slaves, referenced by first name, and the number of sheets given out.
The Estate General J.W. Allston in Account with A.W. Campbell, 1834-1857, is an account book kept for the estate of Joseph Waties Allston. The first half of the book records payments and bonds paid on behalf of J.W. Allston's estate by executor A.W. Campbell. The second half of the book records payments and bonds paid on behalf of the estate by executor Robert F.W. Allston. Payments include those for the hiring and purchasing of enslaved persons.
The Robert F.W.Allston Memorandum Book covers the years 1848 and 1849, documenting payments made by Robert Allston, a record of cattle on Waverly, Nightingale Hall and Matanza (later known as Chicora Wood) Plantations and mentions of enslaved people who are referenced by first name. The book also includes loose papers and newspaper clippings on politics, the electoral college and a written statement surrounding the different views over slavery between the northern and southern states.
The Robert W. Allston 1862 Journal consists of entries discussing accounts, prices of items, land papers and a task performed by the enslaved persons Sawney, Mathias and Scipio.
The Robert F.W. Allston Account Book covers the years 1857-1859 discussing Chicora Wood and Nightingale Hall Plantations. The book includes information on acres of land, stock and cattle, payments and accounts, a purchase of forty-one enslaved persons and the number of enslaved persons at each plantation in which they are listed as dependencies. Book includes a second use with passages written from the back of the book towards the front.
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.
The Robert F.W. Allston with Robert Adger and Co. Account Book, 1860, is a journal recording household and grocery expenses for Robert Allston. Among the lists includes items for enslaved persons such as cloth and toothbrushes. Many entries also contain records of payments to specific individuals.
1850-1859, 1860-1869, 1840-1849, 1830-1839, and 1820-1829
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The Robert F.W. Allston Receipt Book, 1823-1863, records receipts received by Robert Allston for payments made to numerous overseers, carpenters and family members. Examples of receipts found in the book include wages for overseers at Nightingale Hall Plantation, Exchange Plantation and Matanza Plantation, later known as Chicora Wood, as well as purchases of enslaved persons and travel expenses.
The Robert F.W Allston Account Book, 1860-1861, documents payments, a recipe to help cure rabies, stocks for Nightingale Hall and Chicora Wood Plantations and the names, births and deaths of enslaved people. The book also includes diary entries for when Robert Allston visited Manassas, Virginia at the Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War, recording conversations he had about the battle, the atmosphere of the army camps and the death of General Barnard E. Bee.
Notes on Charles Sumner's Lecture on White Slavery in the Barbary States, 1847, is a bound journal kept by a member of the Allston family in which they summarize the lecture given by Charles Sumner at the Boston Mercantile Library Association. The lecture discusses the Missouri Compromise, the "peculiar institution of the south," the history of slavery by the nations of antiquity, the importation of enslaved people into the English world, a timeline of slavery in the United States and Sumner's opinions of slavery as being cruel and sinful.
The Account Journal, 1774-1777, was written by an unknown author recording financial accounts, tasks performed by enslaved persons, the planting of indigo, cotton, rice and corn and numerous memorandums between Paul Villepontoux and Peter Marion. A few journal entries reference enslaved persons who ran away from the plantations as well as verses pertaining to freedom and General George Washington. Journal contains entries from a second use, which are written upside down and interspersed with the first use.
The John Ball Plantation Account Book, 1812-1834, is an indexed account book kept by overseers at various plantations owned by the Ball family. Overseers named are John Cox, Arthur McFarland, Samuel Lynes, Alexander McKnight, Britton Bunch, John Dickson, Thomas Fincklea, James Coward, and John Page. Of particular interest are two different accounts, one with William Deas, referred to as a "Mulatto" and the other "Free Nancy," a free black woman at Limerick Plantation who was buying and trading rice and sugar.
The Baptism Book for Enslaved People at Walworth and Leamington Plantations, 1848-1853, is a record of enslaved men, women and children who were baptized under officiating ministers Rev. William Dehon and Rev. Christopher D. Gadsden. The book also makes notations regarding enslaved persons who were dead upon receiving baptism. The last two pages are entries about the enslaved persons who underwent the rite of confirmation.
The James Simons Account Book, 1838-1854, contains financial information for Mrs. Harleston Simons in account with James Simons. Accounts include payments made for shoes, clothing, slave badges, and wages for enslaved persons. The names of the enslaved persons are written as Martha, Billy, John, Sammy, Annette, Lydia, Charlotte, and Richard.
The Account Book of John Ball Sr., 1788-1812, is an unbound book containing financial accounts for clients such as Hyde Park Plantation overseer David Franklin and the freedman Robin. The account book also makes various references to enslaved persons named Almanza, Caesar, Daniel, Hercules, Mauney, Plimoth, Sampson and Terror.
The Register of Enslaved Persons and Blanket Book, 1804-1821, is a bound volume kept by or for a member of the Ball family. The register contains lists of enslaved men, women and children given blankets at Midway, Limerick, Quinby, Hyde Park, Backriver and Jericho Plantations. Information also includes lists of enslaved children born on the plantations, the name of their mother, date of birth and date of death.
The Ball Family Blanket Book, 1835-1840, is a bound volume kept by or for members of the Ball family. The volume includes yearly lists of blankets given to enslaved persons. Blankets are sometimes noted as being "first quality" or "second quality."
The Memo Book, 1821-1824, is a bound volume kept by or for a member of the Ball family. The volume lists crops at Hyde Park, Limerick, Jericho and Quinby Plantations as well as specifications for a rice mill at Limerick Plantation. Dried, pressed tree leaves are compressed throughout the blank pages. Also found within the volume are a list of enslaved persons given plough lines at various plantations. The names of the enslaved persons are Hercules, Jingo, Linus, Mathias, Mill Natt/Natt, Paul, Sam, Simon, Tim, Toby, Tom and Tycho.
The Account of Enslaved Persons and Various Stories, 1831-1844, is kept by or for a member of the Ball family. The first half of the account book contains various lists of enslaved men, women and children owned by John Ball at Comingtee/Stoke, Kensington and Midway Plantations in Berkeley County, South Carolina. These lists include enslaved persons given first or second quality blankets, cloth, clothes and osnaburg fabric as well as lists of pregnant enslaved women or enslaved infants given clothes.
The second half of the book contains stories retold by various persons on topics such as an eyewitness account of the Steamship Pulaski Disaster in 1838, stories of enslaved persons including the execution of an enslaved man, stories about the family of George Chicken, eyewitness accounts of the British occupation in Charleston during the Revolutionary War, numerous ghost stories and an account of the first settlers of Charlestown.
1770-1779, 1760-1769, 1740-1749, 1750-1759, 1720-1729, and 1730-1739
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The Ball Family Account and Blanket Book, 1720-1778, includes lists of purchases, expenses, blankets given out to enslaved persons, and names/ages of enslaved persons at Midway, Limerick, Comingtee and Kensington Plantations. The book includes a loose list of enslaved men with their place of birth and ages, ca. 1750, currently on exhibit at the South Carolina Historical Society Museum.
