This collection of the Reverend John H. Simpson consists of typescript copies of his diaries for 1857, 1862, 1863, 1866, 1867, 1870, and 1871. The present existence of the original diaries is not established, but presumably they were loaned to the McCormick Historical Association in Chicago during the late 1920's to be copied, under the direction of Herbert A. Kellar, director of the Association.
Apparently, diaries were kept by Reverend Simpson for every year from 1857 through 1871, as well as before and after these inclusive dates. The series appears to be open-ended. Reverend Simpson's account of the Civil War years is graphic and varied. There are references to individual soldiers of the 6th, the 17th, and the 23rd Regiments of South Carolina Volunteers and of battles in which these regiments engaged. There is mention of the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31, 1862, and of Gaines Mill near the Chickahominy River on the 27th-28th of June 1862, and an attack on Malvern Hill in August 1862. One entry notes that on August 14, 1862, the 6th Regiment SCV was on its way “to reinforce Stonewall,” and there are occasional references to Confederate notables. Reverend Simpson was at Fredericksburg in December of 1862, and in May 1863, with Orr's Regiments of SCV at Chancellorsville.
The diaries also document repercussions in the South of the War and the Reconstruction period; the southerner's attitude toward Radical Republicans, President Andrew Johnson, and the Fourth of July; and the social and intellectual tenor of the reconstructing South. There are occasional references to Isaiah Simpson's practice of dentistry, his “gasometer” and the materials he used to fill teeth, the newspapers and periodicals read by Reverend Simpson, his courtship and marriage, and daily observations. Throughout the diaries there are lists of songs being sung in the South and by the Confederate armies, and an expense account recording Reverend Simpson's personal expenses is appended to each volume.
