Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#2510
HABERSHAM ELLIOTT PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Chiefly letters from John Barnwell Elliott (1841-
1921) while a Confederate soldier on the South
Carolina and Georgia coasts, in Charleston, in Paris
after the Civil War, and as a professor and physician
at the University of the South, 1870-1885, written to
his brother, Habersham, his father, Bishop Stephen
Elliott of Georgia, and other relatives (21 original
items, 3 typed transcriptions). Also included are
papers (on microfilm) of J. B. Elliott's mother-in-
law, Mary Esther Huger (b. 1820), daughter of Francis
Kinloch Huger, including her reminiscences, written
1890-1892, of her early life at Pendleton and
Charleston, S.C.; a plantation record book, 1858-1863;
and her essays on slavery and the causes of the Civil
War; and a memoir of the Prioleau family of
Charleston, S.C. Scattered other family
correspondence and letters to J. B. Elliott from
prominent persons are also included.
Online Catalog Terms:
Charleston (S.C.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Charleston (S.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Children--South Carolina--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
Elliott family.
Elliott, Habersham.
Elliott, John Barnwell, 1841-1921.
Elliott, Stephen, 1806-1866.
Georgia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Huger family.
Huger, Mary Esther, 1820-1898.
Paris (France)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Pendleton (S.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Plantations--South Carolina.
Prioleau family--Genealogy.
Slavery--South Carolina.
South Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Causes.
University of the South--Faculty--History--19th century.
Size: 148 items (0.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Charlotte Elliott of Highlands,
N.C., in November 1942, November 1946, and
February 1949, and lent for filming by Esther
Elliott of Highlands, N.C., in November 1957.
Access: No restrictions. Microfilm copy available.
Related Collections: Stephen Elliott Papers (#241);
Sarah Barnwell Elliott Papers (#1004).
Processing Note: This collection was processed with support
from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Biographical Note
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. Volumes
Series 3. Microfilm
Shelf List
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
John Gibbes Barnwell Elliott was born on 26 September 1841 in
Beaufort, S.C., the son of Reverend Stephen Elliott and Charlotte
Bull Barnwell. Among his siblings were Habersham, Hesse, Robert
Woodward Barnwell, Sarah "Sada" Barnwell, and Ester. He joined
the South Carolina College Corps at the bombardment of Fort
Sumter and became a lieutenant of the Light Artillery in the 10th
Regiment of Georgia Regulars. After the Civil War, he became a
professor of chemistry and health officer at the University of
the South, 1870-1885. John B. married Harriott Lucas Huger in
1870.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
1840-1898. 144 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly letters from John Barnwell Elliott written during the
Civil War from camps in South Carolina and Georgia to his brother
Habersham and other members of his family. After the war, there
are letters from John B. Elliott to his parents and his sister,
Hesse, while he was in Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., 1866-
1868, and Paris in winter 1868-1869. There are also letters
written by John B. Elliott from the University of the South to
Habersham. John B. Elliott's letters touch on family matters,
politics, sports, religion, social life in Charleston and
Savannah, and the medical profession, including smallpox in
Charleston and cholera in Savannah.
Other correspondence includes two letters, 1840, from Francis
Kinloch Huger to Judge Daniel Elliott Huger and one letter from
the judge to his son, Joseph Allston Huger. There is also one
letter, 1898, from Dr. William Porcher Dubose (1836-1918) to Mrs.
Joseph Huger commenting on her article written for Esther Huger
Elliott (see Folder 10) on the causes of the Civil War and
emphasizing the constitutional rights of the South.
Folder 1 1840-1865
2 1866
3 1867-1868
4 1869-1870
5 1871-1872
6 1873-1878
7 1882-1898
Series 2. Volumes
1858-1898 and undated. 3 items.
Recollections and plantation book of members of the Huger
family. The two recollections were written by Harriott Lucas
Huger Elliott and her mother, Mrs. Joseph A. Huger. The latter
wrote her recollections for her granddaughter, Esther Huger
Elliott, daughter of Harriott Elliott, who, deaf from infancy,
lived with her grandmother and was brought up by her.
Folder 8 Volume 1: 1858-1863, 24 pp. Plantation book of
Mrs. Joseph A. Huger containing lists and
plantation records and an agreement, 1863, pasted
into it between her and Jacob Cagle, who was to
act as overseer in her absence.
Folder 9 Volume 2: Undated, 7 pp. Recollections of
Harriott Lucas Huger Elliott, wife of John
Barnwell Elliott.
Folder 10 Volume 3: 1897-1898, 26 pp. "A Short and Simple
Account of the Cause of the Civil War of 1861-5"
by Mrs. Joseph A. Huger for her granddaughter,
Esther Huger Elliott, with an additional six pages
of notes on slavery and one page summarizing the
formation of the United States.
Series 3. Microfilm
1890-1892. 1 reel of microfilm.
M-2510/1 Personal recollections of Mary Esther Huger (b. 1820),
written 1890-1892, for her children. The
recollections offer impressions of her family,
especially her father, Francis Kinloch Huger, and many
neighbors and friends. Francis Kinloch Huger (1773-
1855), physician and soldier, had been educated in
Europe and imprisoned for eight months as a young man
in connection with his attempt to liberate Lafayette
from prison at Olmutz. Mary spent her early life at
her father's home near Pendleton, S.C., and in
Charleston. She described the neighborhood, daily
activities, her studies, journeys at the ages of
eleven and seventeen, and a winter in Charleston with
the Prioleau family when she was fifteen. Mary
described visits with her brother, Benjamin Huger
(1805-1877) and how her older sister Lizzie took
charge of the four younger children in her father's
household when her mother, Harriott Lucas (Pickney)
Huger, died in 1824. She also wrote concerning
members of the Prioleau family of Charleston, who had
a summer home near Pendleton and were close friends of
the Hugers. Mary married Joseph Allston Huger.
SHELF LIST
Box 1 (only)
Items separated:
M-2510/1