Documents and Receipts, 1833-1907, and undated
Scope and Contents
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: 1833-1907, and undated
Creator
- From the Collection: Holloway, James H. (James Harrison), 1849-1913 (Person)
- From the Collection: Purcell, Mae Holloway, 1891-1982 (Person)
Extent
From the Collection: 4.0 linear feet (3 oversize boxes)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Materials Specific Details
Pass (1848) allowing Conner Holloway to move through the city of Charleston; Letter (1833) from Samuel Benedict of Savannah informing Richard Holloway (?) of his intention to emigrate with his family and relations to Liberia as missionary with the Liberian Colonization Society. After years of reflection, Benedict believes emigrating to Liberia is "a duty we owe to ourselves our familys (sic) and to poor degraded and long neglected Africa."
Letter (1907) from Richard H. Clark to a cousin explaining family lineage; Note (1835) from the Intendant of Charleston, (Mayor Henry Laurens Pinckney) asking Holloway to meet him; Receipt (1838) for Mrs. Holloway for a black cloth coat; clipped fragment (undated) with name of Richard Holloway.
Incomplete copy of printed speech (1848) by Senator John Dix concerning the war with Mexico; Newspaper article by Robert Stockton (circa 1970s) detailing history of free people of color in Charleston, mentioning the Holloways.
Repository Details
Part of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Repository
125 Bull Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424 United States
843-953-7608
averyresearchcenter@cofc.edu