The diary, 1808-1815, contains entries written on a range of topics pertaining to planting, animal husbandry, slave management, and health and hygiene. Among the topics documented are lists of provisions for slaves, including names, ages, and family groupings; inventories of livestock, including poultry, hogs, and cattle; planting schedules for crops, including slave assignments; newspaper clippings with medical news and remedies; handwritten receipts for cures and remedies for diseases including cough, rheumatism, mumps, worms, croup, toothache, chilblains and consumption; and receipts for foodstuffs including butter, desserts, and pickles. The author of the diary is not identified, it may be John R. Mathewes. The entries record Bulls Island, Chapman Island, and Edisto Island as locales of property and action.
