Correspondence, business records, clippings, and other items, 1875 and 1916-1936, documenting the life and business activities of African American mortician E.W. Biggs, and condolences following his passing; places represented include Greenville and Columbia, S.C.; Chicago, Ill.; and elsewhere; earliest items include deed, 13 Sept. 1875, for property in Laurens County, S.C., recorded during Reconstruction, a site identified as land belonging to "Abram, Odell, [and] Clark Templeton," that was surveyed by J.F. Park. Chiefly business papers of Edgar Wallace Biggs and the Biggs family and records of the E.W. Biggs Mortuary and Biggs Land Company, and letters of sympathy upon his death in 1932; charter, 8 Dec. 1932, for the Biggs Land Company; also papers of the numerous estates of African American residents of upstate South Carolina for which Biggs served as executor. Some letters from survivors living out-of-state reflect impact of the Great Migration and complications of conducting business with distant relatives scattered among northeastern states, when settling estates as many letters were mailed to, or originated from large industrial urban centers in the northeast. Items reflecting Biggs' political activism include a reply received to a letter written to the administration of the recently inaugurated president, Warren G. Harding of Ohio: letter, 18 Mar. 1921 (Washington, D.C.), from George b. Christian, Jr., Secretary to the President at The White House, "Please let me thank you for your letter of March 14th concerning conditions [i]n your State"; several items relate to Bigg's attendance at the 1932 Republican Party National Convention in Chicago: letter, 11 June 1932 (Chicago, Ill.) from E.W. Biggs to Lydia Washington Biggs, "We had a hard fight to be seated in the convention.... We beat the Hambright crowd to a frazel," however, the credentials committee subsequently reversed its decision and ultimately seated the Hambright delegation; program, 14 - 17 June 1932, from the Republican National Convention; newspaper clipping, 1932 re delegates to the Republican National Convention. Briggs' prominence in the community is suggested by the many letters of condolence received following his death: letter, 6 Sept. 1932 (Atlanta, Ga.), Jesse O. Thomas to Lydia W. Biggs, "I must confess that somehow, I did not feel that adequate medical attention was being given. That is the reason I suggested the calling in of a stomach specialist. I did not realize, and I am sure you did not, that he was ill unto death"; letter, 10 Sept. 1932 (Durham, N.C.), C.C. Spaulding to Lydia W. Biggs, "he was a level headed business man"; letter, 14 Sept. 1932 (Gaffney, S.C.), R.L. Meriwether, to Lydia W. Biggs, "I remember him so pleasantly during my stay there back in the good ole' days"; letter, 15 Sept. 1932 (Germantown, Penn.), W.T. Coleman to Lydia W. Biggs, "I regret very much to learn of the death of Mr. Biggs. I was indeed shocked, since he seemed in perfect health when I was conducting the campaign in your city for the Center, and it was my privilege to work with him in the drive." Copy of will, 30 Jan. 1932, of Emmaretta Washington, mother of Lydia Washington Biggs; printed materials in collection include broadside, Jan. 1932, re 7th anniversary of the Phillis Wheatley [Association at its second location; founded, 1919 by Hattie Logan Duckett to provide services to African American children; the Center moved to East Broad St. ca. 1924], listing musical programs by various public schools; and Railway Employees Burial Association pamphlet; and other materials in scrapbooks. Five volumes consist of 3 account books, 1936, related to business operations,and recording clients from among the African American community of Greenville, S.C., with expenses, payroll, purchases and other expenditures of operating a funeral home. Two scrapbooks compiled to commemorate Bigg's passing include letters and clippings from the Black press around the U.S.: scrapbook (1928-1932), with correspondence, 1931, and program from Sixth Annual Convention of the Colored Funeral Directors' and Embalmers Association of South Carolina (13-14 May 1931) held at the Phyllis Wheatley Center in Greenville, S.C., listing officers, committees, and membership; clippings re the passing of E.W. Biggs, including local coverage by the Palmetto Leader (Columbia, S.C.), the Greenville News and the Ministers Bulletin (Greenville, S.C.) and notice in other publications: The Chicago Defender, the Norfolk Journal and Guide, the Pittsburgh Courier, The Afro-American, etc.; and "Treasured Memories" (1932), with record of mourners, sympathy cards, telegrams, list of hymns and speakers during his funeral, held 8 Sept. 1932, at Springfield Baptist Church, with the Rev. Charles F. Gandy officiating; Biggs' obituary with biographical information, and photograph of Biggs with foot on running board of a car. Photographs include image identified as Willis C. Johnson, proprietor of "Johnson's Funeral Home" in Columbia, S.C. [a firm also known as Johnson-Bradley Undertakers] seated and wearing an Army uniform of World War I, and oval portrait photograph of E.W.Biggs.
