Mikell, Townsend, 1840-1926. Townsend Mikell papers, 1826-1927.
Title:
Townsend Mikell papers, 1826-1927.
Unbound papers, 1838-1927, and 24 volumes, 1826-1830 and 1859-1925 re Civil War, cotton farming and agriculture, sharecropping and labor issues; Edisto Presbyterian Church, development and installation of telephone service, maintenance of roads and bridges in low country South Carolina, and other concerns. Topics discussed include cultivation of cotton and truck farming of vegetables; membership in the Edisto Mounted Rifles; service as a public official on Edisto Island with terms as chairman of the Board of School Trustees and as superintendent of the Board of Commissioners, a post dealing with the maintenance and repair of roads and bridges; the Cotton License Act, ca. 1897, which required that a person be licensed to purchase seed cotton; election in 1904 as a director of the Coast-Line Telephone Company; sharecropping arrangements; consideration of importing European immigrant laborers; and the Edisto Island Presbyterian Church. Collection has very little correspondence and other documentation for the two decades after the Civil War, but does include one labor contract, 1 Feb. 1871, "Articles of agreement... between T. Mikell planter & the Freedmen & women," with an estimate of costs for working plots. Mikell's activities as a planter are thoroughly documented through the bound volumes in the earlier accession and by the account books, time books, and cotton books included in this gift which contain information about planting on Sunny Side, Cypress Tree, and California plantations. In addition to his planting activities, Townsend Mikell served in the Edisto Mounted Rifles. Receipts and other documents, 1886-1894, indicate that social occasions were central to their meetings. One of the principal institutions on Edisto Island was the Presbyterian church where Townsend Mikell served as ruling elder. Beginning in 1897 and continuing until 1916, the collection contains considerable correspondence relating to Townsend Mikell's effort to have the church compensated for the loss of its pipe organ and other property during the Civil War. He corresponded with Congressmen William Elliott, R.S. Whaley, and George Legare, as well as Senators Benjamin Tillman and E.D. Smith. He also engaged the services of former Union officer Frank A. Butts, who served on Edisto Island with the 47th New York Infantry Regiment and filed claims before the Southern Claims Commission. When Butts died, Washington attorney G.W.Z. Black took over the case in 1914. Twenty-four bound volumes, 1826-1830 and 1859-1925 include time books of laborers, accounts with laborers, other materials reflecting Mikell's farming operations on Edisto Island, S.C., during antebellum and Reconstruction eras and into the 20th century; 3 volumes, titled "Plantation Incidents," listing miscellaneous expenses, work records, "Factor's Account," model of "Mud Car," floor plans for barns and house with notation, 16 Dec. [1881], "Dr. J[oseph] J[ames?] Murray my best earthly friend died in Charleston"; 2 volumes, 1880-1919, titled "Cotton Ginned at Sunny Side Mill"; one volume, 1895-1906, work record; 2 account books, 1872-1894, listing household expenses, a list of articles sold at auction, and a receipt from the "Sunny Side Emporium (Edisto Island)"; and one volume, 1874-1880, titled "Camp Ground," listing registered voters, both whites and African Americans, with notations disqualifying certain individuals. Earliest item,a slim volume, 1826-1830, consists chiefly of religious thoughts and references to Baptist congregations in Charleston and Edisto Island, S.C., recorded by A[marintha] J[enkins] Townsend during her teenage years. Miss A.J. Townsend was daughter of Daniel Townsend (1759-1842), and the future mother of Townsend Mikell: "I became a member of the Baptist Church in Charleston together with 43 others on the 3 of June 1826, being 15 y[ears]... of age. I was baptised by the Rev. Basal Manly"; Nov. 1829, "The Rev'd. Mr. [Peter] Ludlow constituted pastor of the Baptist Church on Edisto Island preached his first sermon...."; also includes draft of a letter to "Jane."
ArchivalResource:
24 v.
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