Thomas J. Kirkland papers, ca. 1793-1940.

ArchivalResource

Kirkland, Thomas J. Thomas J. Kirkland papers, ca. 1793-1940.

Thomas J. Kirkland papers, ca. 1793-1940.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31060754

Correspondence, original primary source letters and documents, and secondary reference material on the history of Camden and Kershaw County, S.C., from Colonial era through late 19th century, composed primarily of topical files collected by Kirkland for use in his book, Historic Camden (1905); includes legal papers, 1812-1929, and correspondence, 1902-1933, including his efforts to establish a memorial park honoring the Battle of Camden during the American Revolution. Topical files include: Civil War (eyewitness accounts of arrival of Federal troops in Camden on 23 Feb. 1865; lists of several regiments raised locally); weather and climate (flooding of Wateree River; record of rainfall and temperatures in Camden, 1858-1916; earthquakes; aurora borealis, cotton crop) Includes biographical sketches of lawyers and the judiciary, including Judge Thomas J. Withers; court records (including testimonies of two witnesses re drowning of 24 persons at Boykin's Mill Pond on 7 May 1860); the American Revolution (Horatio Gates, his duel with Col. Kofciufko, and his Southern campaign); and genealogical information re prominent families and individuals in the area (most if not all of this information appears in the published version). History of newspapers in Camden; African Americans and slavery (including a trial involving a slave, excerpts from Camden Journal newspaper re runaways; Senate addresses re slavery, 1860); Reconstruction and period that followed (statistics on state expenditures, 1877-1888); Fourth of July celebrations; Cherokee and Catawba Indians living in Camden in 1756; land records (plats and Colonial grants); etc. Also including materials collected by Kirkland, miscellaneous notes from contemporary newspapers; and garden journal volume, 1896- 1900, 1903, and 1906, documenting plantings at his home, "Cool Spring," in Kershaw County, with diagrams and planting lists, entries re weather observations, selection of various fruit trees, vines, and other varieties of plants, and personal notes; Kirkland purchased this volume from the estate of Gen. John Doby Kennedy.

1 v.

University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries