Consisting chiefly of land grants, deeds, and surveys showing the ownership of property on the east side of Broad Mouth Creek of Saluda River. Initial land grants were given to John Hallum (Allum), William Swift, and William Honey. In 1848, the Kay family sold its cotton to Dunbar & Burnside of Hamburg (now in Aiken County, S.C.); receipts in the collection show that William Pleasant ("Ples") Kay traded with Honea Path merchants D.V. Garrison, Brock-Armstrong & Company, and Wright, Wilson & Company; other topics include W.P. Kay's last will and testament, probated in 1869, identifying eleven children by name; collection includes several items generated following the death of his wife, Elizabeth, in 1891, consisting of lists recording how the estate was sold and disbursed. Other papers include letter, 2 July 1839, from B.F. Perry, Greenville, S.C., to William Kay, Sr., Gentsville Post Office, S.C., thanking Kay for selling his land for him and promising to send Kay's compensation by Mr. Townes, who planned to look at a horse while there. In 1904 and 1906 Milton A. Kay took the Rural Carrier Exam and was entered on the list of eligible carriers; and resolution, 1945, passed by the 3-H Bible Class of the Baptist Church in Honea Path, honoring M.A. Kay. Also includes personal correspondence of Albert and Laura Dodson Kay, of Bradenton, Florida, and the Dodson family of Nebraska. Letters pertaining to the Kay family's cotton farming illustrate the hardships faced by cotton farmers in the 1920s and 1930s following arrival of the boll weevil into South Carolina by 1921, with mention of declining prices, weather conditions, and disappointing harvest seasons. Similar information regarding diminishing returns from farming of wheat is found in the Dodson family letters. Letter from C.M. Kay dated 9 Sept. 1934 includes a detailed description of the strike at Chiquola Mills in Honea Path, SC., which was part of the national general textile strike of 1934. Efforts by management to suppress the strike at Chiquola Mills ended in several deaths and injuries. The letter also describes the mass funeral for the victims attended by more than ten thousand people. After the strike, 130 militia men were stationed at the mill, according to the letter. Letter also describes C.M. Kay's work as a Special Duty officer at the mill and his resignation following the riot. A 20 Aug. 1913 letter to Devona Robinson from Anderson College discusses attempts to recruit female students. Other correspondence includes World War II letters from Kay family members in military service (Frank Parker Kay, William Kay, C.C. "Cam" Kay, Henry Wayne Kay, Charles Robinson), including a letter dated 27 Feb. 1945 which contains information regarding a midnight curfew for establishments serving beer and liquor until the end of the war in Germany. Letters from Delta Easton describe her sons' experiences in medical school in the late 1930s and the opening of their osteopath practices in Missouri and Leadville, Nebraska in 1940. There is also reference to her husband's work in the Leadville mines. Additional postcards and photographs include depictions of various scenes from the southeastern United States, assorted greeting cards and a World War II collection of photographs of women from Hawaii and New Guinea. Family history information includes Bible records, wedding invitations (ca. 1880s-1890s), and details of descendants of Abram Bolt (1839-1910) and Mary Clark Bolt (1841-1923) among the Kay, Milford, Bolt and related families.
