This collection consists of the papers of Margaret Simons Middleton, the Middleton family in general, and a few individual members of the Middleton family.
The papers of Margaret Simons Middleton consist of clippings, ephemera, professional correspondence, and writing drafts. The correspondence concerns her historical research, writing, and communications with publishers. Writing drafts include numerous unpublished short stories, historical and political essays, as well as drafts of her published books on Martha and David Ramsay and Henrietta Johnston.
Middleton family materials include clippings, ephemera, genealogical information, and family correspondence (1864-1989; bulk 1907-1970). Letters from Charles Francis Middleton I (1830-1865) in 1864 were written mostly from Bermuda and off Wilmington (N.C.), under quarantine for yellow fever aboard the blockade runner Mary Celestia. He discusses the evasion of the Federal naval blockade and his boredom while being under quarantine.
Papers of individual family members include a brief memoir by Charles Francis Middleton II (1859-1939); the diaries and estate papers of Lois Hazelhurst Middleton (1868- 1927); and the business and estate papers of Charles Francis Middleton III (1889-1958).
Miscellaneous items belonging to Dorothy Middleton Anderson (b. 1920) and Margaret Middleton Rivers (Mrs. L. Mendel Rivers) are also included.
Papers of Charles Francis Middleton III include business correspondence, telegraph codebooks for Middleton and Company, estate papers, and ephemera. His correspondence, 1922-1957, includes references to the cotton business, Charleston’s political climate, race relations, and the settlement of the estate of his son Charles Francis Middleton (1915-1944), who died while on military maneuvers near Quantico, Virginia. A 1940 exchange of letters with Charleston mayor Henry W. Lockwood concerns Middleton’s position as police commissioner, the involvement of the police department in political affairs, and the congressional candidacy of Middleton’s son-in-law, L. Mendel Rivers. Charles Francis Middleton (1889-1958) was the grandson of Charles Francis Middleton (1830-1865) who emigrated from England to Charleston ca. 1850. Although educated as an engineer at Clemson College, Middleton pursued a career as a cotton broker in the firm Middleton and Company. During the 1920s and 1930s he served as a city warden and as chairman of the police commission in Charleston.
