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Introduction Pages to Scrapbook: Family Documents, 1797-1970

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 1

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Holloway Family Scrapbook contains legal documents, personal and business correspondence, receipts, ephemera, clippings and photographs pertaining to the Holloway family, a prominent free family of color in Charleston, SC. Series 1: "The Scrapbook," holds a variety of documents: Highlights include legal documents with deeds (1806, 1821, 1871), a conveyance (1811), slave bills of sale including one for the slave "Betty" (1829), an agreement (1829) to apprentice the slave boy Carlos in the carpenters and house joiner's trade, exhorter licenses to preach and a photograph of a 1797 document declaring patriarch Richard “Holliday” [Holloway] a free mulatto. Personal and business correspondence include letters concerning the hiring out of slaves, an offer (1837) to buy the "Holloway Negroes,” a letter (1831) from Samuel Benedict about emigrating to Liberia, agreements for carpentry work, and information about the Brown Fellowship Society, the Century Fellowship Society, the Minors Moralist Society and the Bonneau Literary Society. Also included are invitations, Confederate and corporate tax receipts, receipts for general merchandise, and Confederate scrip. Other letters and newspaper clippings, including letters to the editor written by James H. Holloway, concern Negro taxes, Negro slaveholders, the Liberia movement, the Methodist Episcopal Church, civil rights and related topics. James H. Holloway's niece, Mae Holloway Purcell, preserved the scrapbook after his death and added to its contents. The bound scrapbook was microfilmed by the South Caroliniana Library in 1977 but was later disbound and reorganized. Using the microfilm as a guide, this archive attempts to recreate the original order and this digital presentation of the scrapbook reflects those efforts.

Dates

  • Creation: 1797-1970

Creator

Extent

From the Collection: 4.0 linear feet (3 oversize boxes)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Materials Specific Details

Title page "Negroes During the 17th and 18th Centuries" with photograph (undated) of James Harrison Holloway; business advertising card (circa 1905) for the "J.H. Holloway, Harness Shop;" scrapbook foreword (circa 1960-70s) containing biographical info on James Holloway, with his church affiliation, education, and the origination of the scrapbook possibly written and assembled by Mae Holloway Purcell; Table of Contents (circa 1960s) with original pagination of the disbound scrapbook; Notarized statement of authenticity (1904) of 1797 document regarding citizenship of Richard Holloway, Sr., a “mulatto” seaman from England; his birth records (undated), and his wife Elizabeth Holloway copied from the family bible; receipt of bible purchase with circa 18th-century miniature painting of Richard Holloway, Sr.; Typed notarized statement of authenticity recapitulating 1797 document affirming the citizenship of Richard Holloway, Sr. (also includes a photostat copy).

Repository Details

Part of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Repository

Contact:
125 Bull Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424 United States
843-953-7608