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Size | 1 item |
Abstract | William Ervine Sparkman, South Carolina rice planter of the Georgetown and Williamsburg districts on the Black River, married M.A.E. Burgess in December 1836. He was the brother of James Ritchie Sparkman (1815-1897). The collection is a plantation journal containing a wide variety of entries documenting work at Springwood and Cottage plantations, both on the Black River in South Carolina. Entries continuing after Sparkman's death in 1846 were probably made by his brother, James Ritchie Sparkman, and his widow, M.A.E. (Burgess) Sparkman, and possibly also by an overseer. |
Creator | Sparkman, William Ervine, 1813-1846. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
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This collection consists of one volume containing a wide variety of entries relating to Cottage Plantation and Springwood Plantation on the Black River in South Carolina. Entries can be classified according to three basic types of information. First, most entries are brief statements about agricultural activities on the plantations, especially Springwood, often distinguishing work performed by male and female slaves. W. E. Sparkman made these entries daily from March 1844 through January 1846. After his death on 1 February 1846, entries of this type continue, although less frequently, and were probably made by James Ritchie Sparkman, who had power of attorney over his brother's estate.
Many entries are of a second type, consisting essentially of scattered inventories of slaves, farm animals, equipment, and crops. Slave lists include birth and death records or dates and circumstances of purchase, accounts of blankets and clothing distributed, and work details. Inventories show that among the farm animals were horses, hogs, hound dogs, cattle, sheep, and poultry.
The third, and most infrequent, type of entry consists of brief narratives of legal arrangements or personal events. Among these are a discussion of Sparkman's acquisition of the two Black River plantations from his wife's family and friends, and an entry briefly describing efforts to maintain the plantations against incursions of Yankee invaders during the Civil War.
Also included is a copy of an 1888 lease of pine trees on Cottage Plantation for turpentine farming.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
Plantation journal, 1833-1866; 1888. 106 pages. |
Reel M-681/1 |
Microfilm |