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[Identification of item], William Sims papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The William Sims papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchased between 1978-1990. This collection forms part of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection, 1695-1955, undated.
Processed by Rubenstein Library staff
Encoded by Kimberly Sims, March 2011
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
William Sims was a cotton grower in Union County, South Carolina.
Correspondence, financial papers, and legal documents, concerning William Sims' extensive plantation holdings in South Carolina. Includes two account books. Correspondence is primarily related to business matters, including cotton trade and prices; the price and availability of slaves; and the beginnings of a textile industry on the plantation. Local and state politicians in South Carolina are often mentioned, as is the general economic plight of the Southern planter in the period (ca. 1819-1830), and currency problems in the state (ca. 1826-1830). One personal letter effusively describes newly settled land in Mississippi and the quality of the cotton grown there.
Detailed financial papers form the bulk of the collection, and concern the cotton trade (including weights, bale numbers, shipping, prices, and sales), and household and plantation expenses. Legal papers are confined to deeds, documents of land litigation, military commissions, and documents relating to slaves, such as indentures and lists of slaves on the plantation. Also includes genealogical information on the Sims family.
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