Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#1812-z
JAMES MCKIBBIN GAGE PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: James McKibbin Gage, physician and horse breeder of Union,
S.C. From 1835 to 1837, Gage studied medicine in Paris and in
Charleston, S.C., before settling permanently in Union.
Family and personal letters received by Gage while he was
studying medicine, and later while he practiced medicine in
Union, South Carolina. The letters, chiefly 1835-1868, contain
family and neighborhood news from Union; Clarkesville, Ga.; and
Mobile, Ala. They also discuss politics, current events, the
practice of medicine, horse breeding and racing, local
amusements, and business outlooks. Among the correspondents are
Josiah Clark Nott, James E. Nott, B. Frank Patton, and Robert I.
Gage. Three miscellaneous items--a poem, a printed drawing, and
a sermon--are also included.
Index Terms: Charleston (S.C.)--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Clarkesville (Ga.)--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Gage, James McKibbin, 1813-1855.
Gage, Robert I., fl. 1835-1868.
Horse breeders--South Carolina.
Medical education--History--19th century.
Medicine--Practice--South Carolina--History--19th
century.
Mobile (Ala.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Nott, James E., fl. 1836.
Nott, Josiah Clark, 1804-1873.
Patton, B. Frank, fl. 1837-1840.
Physicians--South Carolina--History--19th century.
South Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century.
Union (S.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Size: About 50 items.
Provenance: Received from Mrs. Hardee Johnston of Birmingham,
Alabama, in February 1951.
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
James McKibbin Gage, physician and horse breeder, was born 28 July
1813, the son of John Gage (d. February 1845). He had a brother, Robert I.
Gage, and two sisters, Nancy (often called Ann) and Mary Jane Gage. Nancy
married B. Frank Patton of Clarkesville, Georgia, and joined Patton in
Clarkesville after their marriage.
James Gage studied medicine in Paris from April 1835 to April 1836 and
in Charleston, South Carolina, from November 1836 to February 1837. He
lived in Union, South Carolina, during the summer (July-September) of 1836,
and apparently returned there in the summer of 1837 to settle permanently
and practice medicine. He died in 1855 and was buried in Union.
Collection Overview
This collection consists almost entirely of personal and family
correspondence of James McKibbin Gage. The correspondence is arranged
chronologically in Series 1. Topics discussed include the study and
practice of medicine, horse breeding and racing, sectional and national
politics, and local and family life. Series 2 contains three miscellaneous
items--a poem, a printed drawing, and a sermon by an unknown author.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Family and Personal Correspondence
1835-1868 and undated. 47 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters received by James McKibbin Gage from family and friends
discussing personal, social, and political affairs between 1835 and 1868.
Between April 1835 and April 1836, Gage studied medicine in Paris and
traveled in Europe. Most of the letters he received during this period
were written by his brother Robert I. Gage of Union (formerly Unionville),
South Carolina. He also received letters from his father, John Gage, of
Union, and from his sister Nancy (sometimes referred to as Ann) of Union.
After her marriage to B. Frank Patton, Nancy wrote Gage from Clarkesville,
Georgia. The correspondence discusses personal, family, and neighborhood
news and sectional and national affairs. Specific personal topics include
marriages, property transfers, visitors, travel (to New York, England, and
Ireland), horse racing, cock fighting, farming, local theatre, murders and
deaths, society news, an earthquake in 1835, and the difficulties of
practicing medicine. Political topics include opposition to abolitionism,
Texas, the building of the Cincinnati railroad, and Seminole-French-
American affairs.
Correspondence in late 1836 and 1837 consists mostly of letters written
by family members to Gage while he was studying medicine in Charleston.
Correspondents include his brother Robert, his father, his brother-in-law
B. Frank Patton, and his friend James E. Nott. There are also letters from
family members in Charlotte, North Carolina. Of note is a letter from J.C.
Nott, in Mobile, Alabama, discussing the prospects of a young doctor
starting a practice in that city. Other topics are the inflation of cotton
prices, horse racing, and Gage's future plans.
Only three letters appear for the years 1838 through 1840, when Gage
was establishing himself as a doctor in Union. One, dated 1838, is from
J.C. Nott and tells of the difficulty of collecting doctor's fees in Mobile
and the status of Nott's horse-breeding activities. An 1839 letter from
Peter Kent of Columbia, South Carolina, discusses horses in depth. The
final letter, written in 1840, is from B.F. Patton. Patton begged for news
of his son John, who was visiting the Gage family, and abused the Gages for
their politics as well as for their neglect in writing him.
Correspondence for the years 1841 through 1868 is scattered. No
letters appear for the years 1841 through 1846. One item, a letter dated
11 October, appears for 1847. Written by L.C. Johnson in Mexico to Gage in
Union, this letter describes the horrors of army camp life during the
Mexican War. No letters are present for 1848 or 1849. Gage received one
letter in 1850 from F.M. Robertson of Charleston concerning widespread
sickness in the city. Two miscellaneous personal letters, one for 1851 and
one for 1858, complete the correspondence for the 1850s.
Only three letters appear for the 1860s, all written by Gage's brother
Robert. Of particular interest is a letter dated 14 January 1866, which
discusses the difficulties he encountered in negotiating with newly freed
African-Americans on his plantation. Two other letters written by Robert
Gage are either to his sister or sister-in-law (addressed as Sissy) and
dated 1868. These letters discuss family and household news.
Undated items consist of two letters written to Gage by R.A. Nott, one
letter to Gage from a patient, and one letter from Gage's brother Robert
concerning the death of Robert's wife (Eliza Nott Gage).
Folder 1 1835
2 1836
3 1837-1850
4 1851-1868 and undated
Series 2. Other Items
1876 and undated. 3 items.
This series contains three items: a poem entitled "New-Year's Eve,"
by G. Wheatley, published in The Quiver on 1 January 1876; a printed
drawing of a woman entitled "Julia Mannering"; and an undated handwritten
sermon by an unknown author.
Folder 5 Other Items
INDEX TO THE INVENTORY
Abolitionism Series 1
Amateur theater--South Carolina--History--19th century Series 1
Charleston (S.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century Series 1
Charlotte (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century Series 1
Clarkesville (Ga.)--Social life and customs--19th century Series 1
Cockfighting--South Carolina Series 1
Earthquakes--South Carolina Series 1
Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century Series 1
Freedmen--South Carolina Series 1
Gage, Eliza Nott, fl. 1840 Series 1
Gage, James McKibbin, 1813-1855 Series 1
Gage, John, d. 1845 Series 1
Gage, Robert I., fl. 1835-1868 Series 1
Horse breeders--South Carolina Series 1
Johnson, L.C., fl. 1847 Series 1
Kent, Peter, fl. 1839 Series 1
Medical education--History--19th century Series 1
Medicine--Practice--South Carolina--History--19th century Series 1
Mobile (Ala.)--Social life and customs--19th century Series 1
Nott, James E., fl. 1836 Series 1
Nott, Josiah Clark, 1804-1873 Series 1
Patton, B. Frank, fl. 1837-1840 Series 1
Patton, Nancy Gage, fl. 1835 Series 1
Physicians--South Carolina--History--19th century Series 1
Robertson, F.M., fl. 1850 Series 1
Seminole Indians Series 1
Sermons Series 2
South Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century All series
Union (S.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century Series 1
United States--History--War with Mexico, 1845-1848 Series 1
Wheatley, G., fl. 1876 Series 2
SHELF LIST
Box 1 (only)