Inventory of the Benjamin S. Williams Papers, 1792-1938

Abstract

Confederate Army officer, planter, and official of Hampton County, S.C.

Mainly personal letters of Williams and his family, concerning his Civil War military service in the 25th and 47th Georgia Infantry Regiments, his efforts to become a planter after the war, his personal life, and his work as sheriff and auditor of Hampton County, S.C. Includes early land deeds, and letters from a physician who served in Cuba and Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Creator: Williams, Benjamin S., b. 1843.
Title: Benjamin S. Williams Papers, 1792-1938
Language of Material: English
Extent: 4.0 Linear Feet, 859 Items
Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Series Quick Links

Papers, 1792-1938 and undated

Collection Overview

Papers of Benjamin S. Williams, Confederate soldier, cotton planter, businessman and local politician, consisting of land deeds; a marriage license; several papers relating to the sale of slaves; clippings; correspondence; general orders of the South Carolina militia in 1877; and commissions of Williams for various offices. Civil War letters from Benjamin S. Williams, from his father, Gilbert W. M. Williams (d. 1863), Baptist minister and colonel in the 47th Regiment of Georgia Volunteer Infantry, and from A. D. Williams describe camp life; Colonel Williams's duties as commander of the 47th Regiment; deserters; Abraham Lincoln; military activities in Georgia from 1861 to 1862, in Mississippi in 1863, around Chattanooga (Tennessee) during 1863, and Smithfield (North Carolina) in 1865; charges against the 47th Regiment; the death of Sergeant Albert Richardson; and the disbanding of the Brunson branch of the South Carolina militia. Other correspondence discusses the destruction in South Carolina after Sherman's troops passed through; the behavior of the freedmen; articles written by Benjamin S. Williams regarding his war experiences; Tillmanism; the United Daughters of the Confederacy; affairs of the Confederate Infirmary at Columbia; South Carolina; the United confederate Veterans; Williams's pension claim; efforts of William A. Courtenay to write a history of the battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina; the service of Dr. Abraham Dallas Williams, brother of Benjamin S. Williams, in Cuba and Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War; the activities of the "red shirts" in South Carolina; and an investigation of the financial condition of Hampton County, South Carolina, in 1906.

Administrative Information

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Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

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Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.