Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch discussing a new candidate for the Ursuline sisterhood. According to Madame Baptiste, the 58 year old woman has changed her opinion "respecting widows and old ladies becoming nuns." July 8, 1866. 4p.
Short letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the ongoing effort to solicit funds for a new convent including writing a letter to General Sherman to "recommend our cause at Washington." May 20, 1866. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch discussing renovations on the property at Valle Crucis, new pupils and new curricular materials, and the Bishop's upcoming trip to New York. February 3, 1866. 4p.
Copy of a letter sent from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Verot concerning the Ursulines' plans to open a satellite institution in Macon, Georgia. February 12, 1866. 2p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the potential for growing crops at Valle Crucis and tells the Bishop of her disappointment concerning the exchange rate on 5000 Francs given to her by the Bishop on his return from Europe. January 21, 1866. 3p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about recent gifts received by the Ursulines and the purchase of several lots in Columbia for a future convent. March 5, 1866. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the long delay in getting furniture for the convent, the Bishop's declaration on Lenten dietary restrictions, and a troublesome lay sister. February 13, 1866. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about a visit from General Preston and other news at the Ursuline Convent and Academy. February 21, 1866. 8p
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch commenting on the disappointing donations the Bishop has received while fundraising in that "great commercial emporium of the North." Madame Baptiste also takes issue with a Tribune reporter who has written disparaging comments about the Bishop during his trip to New York. March 15, 1866. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. She writes that the Bishop's former slave, Daniel, is in a "half-starved condition" and has been visiting the convent for handouts. She mentions that she has read about former Union prisoners who praised Bishop Lynch for his kindness during the war and writes of her fears of a cholera epidemic that "will no doubt decimate the whole country this summer." April 29, 1866. 8p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch describing springtime at Valle Crucis. She writes that the sisters have created a "month of May altar" and have decorated it with a small statue saved from the convent on the night of the Columbia fire. May 16, 1866. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about recent inquiries concerning the burning of Columbia and their convent during the war and asks the Bishop for permission to publish their account of the events. April 6, 1866. 4p.
Copy of a letter sent by Madame Baptiste to Senator Manning petitioning the U.S. congress for $150,000 to rebuild their destroyed convent and academy. April 9, 1866. 2p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch describing her plans to travel with a couple of the Ursuline sisters to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to help start an academy. Madame Baptiste writes that she has yet to tell the sisters which ones she has chosen to accompany her to Alabama. September 2, 1866. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch describing her plans to travel with a couple of the Ursuline sisters to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to help start an academy. August 23, 1866. 6p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the purchase of a second piano for the convent, the efforts to find housing for a local priest and a "Mr. Jones" who is travelling north soliciting funds for the Ursulines. January 18, 1866. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about legal papers that need to be formalized before hands can be hired to work at the convent grounds in Valle Crucis. December 24, 1866. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bp Patrick Lynch informing him that she is ready to return to Valle Crucis after helping set up a new convent and academy in Tuscaloosa. November 29, 1866. 3p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the Ursuline sisters' annual retreat, the start of the school year and plans to set up an academy in Alabama. August 4, 1866. 7p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the difficulties encountered on the last leg of her journey to Tuscaloosa via stage coach and the condition of the building secured for their new convent and academy there. September 22, 1866. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about the continued progress being made on the new convent and school in Tuscaloosa. October 16, 1866. 8p.
Letter from John Lynch to Bishop Patrick Lynch enclosing a free railroad ticket their sister, Madame Baptiste, received from the president of the railroad company. John also writes about news from the Ursuline Convent, informing the Bishop of a theft of corn from the convent's fields. September 24, 1866. 4p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch detailing the progress on the new convent and school she is setting up in Tuscaloosa. October 4, 1866. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to her Ursuline sisters in Valle Crucis that her return to Columbia will be delayed while she finishes work on the new convent and academy in Tuscaloosa. November 6, 1866. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about plans for the Ursulines in Valle Crucis to help open a parochial school in Alabama. July 29, 1866. 3p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch with news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste writes to the Bishop that the crop and livestock yields seem to meet the expenses encountered in maintaining them, exclaiming, "I had no idea planting was so remunerative." December 28, 1866. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about soliciting funds for the convent and academy. She asks the Bishop for the addresses of the Visitation Convent in Paris and Empress Eugenie, who have sent aid to other American convents in the past, writing "we can do nothing more in this country." December 30, 1866. 4p.
Long letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch keeping him apprised of the news from the Ursuline Convent and Academy. Madame Baptiste asks the Bishop to help them procure more lay sisters "small in person - healthy and between 18 and 21" and choir sisters aged "18 to 30". She also discusses plans with the Bishop to open a day school in Columbia but doesn't know if they will be able to secure a building before the start of the school year. 12p.
Letter from Madame Baptiste to Bishop Patrick Lynch concerning the affairs of the Ursuline Convent and Academy. She writes of the plan to petition congress for reparations for the destruction of their convent in the war and voices her displeasure of "Mr. Jones", who has been soliciting money up north on their behalf, claiming that he "goes travelling over the country on what he collects for us." 10p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch about finances and the start of the school year at the Ursuline Convent and Academy in Valle Crucis and of her upcoming trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. To get to Tuscaloosa, she informs the Bishop, she will have to travel "via Montgomery per R.R., Selma per steamer, to Marion per R.R. and to Tuscaloosa per stage coach for 60 miles." 12p.
Madame Antonia writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch in Rome imploring him again to speak to the general superior of her order concerning issues at the Carmelite Convent in Baltimore. She mentions the evacuation of Richmond, General Sherman's stay in their hometown of Cheraw and the Ursulines' move from their burned out convent in Columbia to the Bishop's plantation two miles away. April 9, 1865. 8p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch in Rome about the ongoing recovery effort after the war and the destruction of the Ursuline Convent. She is soliciting funds to rebuild and has written Washington with their case demanding reparations. The Ursulines have accepted the offer of General Preston to reside in his house while he is abroad and are using the Methodist College for additional space. July 17, 1865. 4p.
Letter from Madame Antonia in Baltimore to Bishop Patrick Lynch in Rome describing the events surrounding the destruction of the Ursuline Convent in Columbia by Sherman's troops. She also mentions the recent assassination of President Lincoln and writes "what the consequences may be no one can imagine." April 20, 1865. 4p.
Madame Baptiste writes to Bishop Patrick Lynch in Rome from Valle Crucis, the Bishop's property outside of Columbia, having moved the convent and academy from temporary housing at Methodist college and Gen. Preston's mansion. Since Valle Crucis is too remote for day schoolers and too small for large numbers of boarders, she writes of setting up a satellite institute in Macon, Ga., until their convent can be rebuilt in Columbia. She mentions the pardon granted the Bishop and hopes that he will soon return to America. September 25, 1865. 2p.
