Letter, 8 November 1828, from Adams at College of Charleston, to the Rev. Sewall Harding (in Waltham, Mass.), discussing his return to S.C. and resumption of the presidency at the College, a position from which he resigned in 1826, and his subsequent departure from New York as first president of Geneva College [now Hobart College], a decision attributed to health reasons and his preference to live in a larger city and in S.C.: "we have been too long accustomed to the courtly polish of this country & to the habits of a large city, to be contented in a country village." details of expansion and construction of buildings at the College of Charleston; controversies re religious factions within Charleston, including between protestants and catholics; national politics, the presidential election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson; controversy over the tariff legislation; and health conditions of the city, with cases of "dengue or Spanish fever" and yellow fever. Letter, 16 Jan. - 6 Feb. 1833 (Charleston, S.C.) from Adams to Sewall Harding in Waltham, Mass., reporting on controversy in Charleston related to the Nullification Crisis, and describing his travels through Georgia and Floria, a trip planned both to improve his health, and with an eye to tour more of the South beyond S.C., in order to purchase 800 acres as a potential future home or for re-sale; Adams notes the rugged frontier conditions of many places visited on a route from Savannah to Jefferson County, Florida., then west to Tallahassee; Adams reports favorably on the hospitality enjoyed at the home of Col. James Gadsden, who lived in an area settled by many natives of South Carolina. Letter, 10 May 1834, of J[asper] Adams, Charleston, to the Rev. Sewall Harding of Waltham, Mass., noting the 10th anniversary of his arrival in Charleston, but expressing regret that he would not be able to visit Massachusetts during the summer as he had previously hoped, due to requested leave of absence for a faculty member at the College of Charleston, requesting that Harding purchase various books identified in a list, with amount that Adams was willing to pay, and replying to Harding's request for Adams' thoughts on the religious opinions of Thomas Jefferson, "I have no references to Mr. Jefferson's religious opinions except what you may find in my con[vention] sermon [The Relation of Christianity to Civil Government in the United States: A Sermon, Preached in St. Michael's Church, Charleston, February 13th, 1833, Before the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of South-Carolina], & what he says in the chapter on religion in his notes on Virginia. By looking over his correspondence, you may find a plenty of his antichristian opinions. I have no copy of his works, or I would look them out for you. Your neighbor Whitman is bold in undertaking to prove Mr. J. a christian." There is also a passing mention of South Carolina's own "political troubles": "I suppose you see by the papers that we still have political troubles. Mr. [Thomas Smith] Grimke has lately made a great speech on the test oath. If I thought you would care about it, I would send you a copy." Letter, 8 Nov. 1834 (Charleston, S.C.), to Mrs. Eliza Francis (New York), informing her of receipt of a box for Mrs. Mitchell and her difficulties in supporting herself; listing his own reasons for not writing, which included an unusually hot summer, health conditions, reporting that although Charleston escaped an attack of "Asiatic Cholera" now seen in other parts of the south, many residents continued to suffer from yellow fever, lamenting the death of one of his children, his own poor health, noting "a 'bit of a rebellion' in the college [of Charleston]," describing commencement and plans to publish a sermon and address delivered to the graduating class; requesting that her husband [Dr. John W. Francis] nominate him for membership in the N.Y. Historical Society, and plans to be in New York during the summer of 1835.
