Series: 1 VV (Volume 1)
Scope and Content Note

Original manuscripts, 1763-1828, of Thomas Sumter and numerous contemporaries, preceded by a few clipped articles about Sumter, Francis Marion, Andrew Pickens, and the defeat of the Tories at Kettle Creek, Georgia (1779). Engraved portraits of these men and a scene depicting the battle of King's Mountain are interspersed among the printed articles.

The earliest manuscript is a letter by Sumter in 1763 to Joseph Martin, his friend since boyhood. A much later group of letters and receipts, 1821-1828, written or signed by Sumter and a memorial to the legislature by the citizens of Sumter District, South Carolina, in 1827 pertain to Sumter's business affairs and debts. There are also copies of a few Sumter letters Draper located elsewhere, including one from the collection of Simon Gratz.

Papers of Andrew Pickens include letters concerning plans for an expedition against the Cherokee (1782) and possible negotiations with the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw tribes (1792). His detailed reminiscences about his ancestry; his settlement in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina; his services in the Cherokee expedition of 1776 and in the Revolution against the Loyalists in Georgia; and his postwar career are contained in two letters (1811) to Henry Lee.

Papers of William Hill include a business letter (1793), a letter (1814) to Isaac Shelby about the battles of Musgrove's Mill and King's Mountain, and Hill's original manuscript narrative about the Revolution in South Carolina, which he finished about 1814-1815. In this account Hill sought not only to justify Sumter's actions but also to discuss the participation of South Carolina troops in the King's Mountain conflict. Returns and rolls for regiments in Charleston in 1780 compose one segment of the volume. Most pertain to General Charles Scott's brigade. Records are found for companies, battalions, and regiments commanded by Isaac Harleston, William Henderson, William Heth, Andrew Hopkins, Archibald Lytle, Francis Marion, Richard Parker, and William Thomson.

Other interesting documents contemporary or relating to the Revolution and the early years of the nation prior to 1815 include: an account for medicines and medical care, with the names of the recipients, submitted by Dr. George Ross for services during the Florida expedition (1778); a letter (1780) of Richard Call to Benjamin Lincoln; letters of Nathanael Greene to Thomas Nelson Jr. (1781) of Virginia and Thomas S. Lee (1782) of Maryland; letters of Wade Hampton (1785) and of D. Lyman (1786) to Wade's brother Richard Hampton; a certificate attesting to Christian Senf's service as captain in the Engineers Corps in 1777, issued and signed by Horatio Gates in 1784; a letter (1790) by Senf about companies to develop navigation on the Catawba and Wateree rivers; and letters (1796, 1801) of Minor Winn to John F. Grimke.

Also included are a letter (1798) of John Twiggs to John Sevier with comments on congressional western land policy and on the government's neglect of the Revolutionary War veterans; a letter (1806) by Senator John Adair of Kentucky to Mark Hardin concerning Kentucky land matters and United States relations with France, Great Britain, and Spain; and a letter (1814) by John Sevier to Isaac Shelby commenting on military and political facets of the War of 1812. A statement (1823) by Moses Shelby described the services of Isaac Shelby and John Sevier in the campaigns culminating in the battle of King's Mountain.

Numerous other manuscripts-letters, legal documents, and receipts-appear to have been records kept both personally and officially by William Bratton, sheriff of Pinckney District, South Carolina, in the late 1790s. Among signers of these letters and documents in addition to Bratton are Francis Adams, Robert Anderson, William Gaston, John G. Guignard, William Hanna, Edward Lacey, James and John Love, John McConnell, Richard Moore, William Moore, Minor and Richard Winn.

Descriptions of the volumes in contents list are copied from the Guide to the Draper Manuscripts by Josephine Harper.

Series: 2 VV (Volume 2)
Scope and Content Note: Letters, notes, and newspaper and periodical articles. Although these pertain primarily to Sumter's ancestry, some touch upon other topics: traditions of the Sumter family in Virginia; Sumter's early residence in South Carolina; and his trip to England in 1762 with three Cherokee chiefs, Judd's Friend, Oconastota, and Wooe Pidgeon. Transcripts of colonial records and British records from the Public Records Office in London relate particularly to this Cherokee mission to England. Draper's extracts from newspapers of the 1760s refer to Cherokee affairs and leaders including Little Carpenter. Several newspaper items concerning Robert Rogers's assignment to military duty in the West and to his search for the Northwest Passage. Letters by William T. Early contain information on George Rogers Clark, the Clark family, and the black named Tom, who was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Series: 3 VV (Volume 3)
Scope and Content Note: Mainly Draper correspondence and notes relating to the Revolution in South Carolina, 1774-1781, with emphasis on Andrew Williamson's Cherokee campaign in 1776. Among the papers are extracts from contemporary newspapers; letters and maps about the location of Cherokee sites; copies (printed and manuscript) of a journal written by a participant in the 1776 expedition, possibly Arthur Fairies; a copy of a letter (1777) from Sumter to John McIntosh; some information on Andrew Pickens's Cherokee campaign in 1781; notes on Joseph Martin and on the Winston family of Virginia; a note on Charles C. Pinckney from a sermon at his funeral (1825); and an original letter (1826) by Gabriel Tutt concerning his claim against South Carolina for his Revolutionary military service. Draper transcribed a few pieces from the Henry Laurens Papers in the South Carolina Historical Society and from manuscripts owned by Thomas Addis Emmet and William Gilmore Simms.

Series: 4 VV (Volume 4)
Scope and Content Note

Principally Draper's correspondence and notes on participants and their families in South Carolina military events in 1780. Varying amounts of biographical information were collected about John and William Adair; Francis and John Boykin; Robert Cooper; William Farr; Enoch and Frank Gilmore; James Harbison; William Henderson; James Hope; Elijah Isaacs; James Jamieson; James Johnston; William Lewis; James, Stephen, and William McElhenny; James Meek; William Milling; John Nixon; Christopher Strong; Thomas Taylor; John Winn; and Thomas Woolford.

The volume also contains an original manuscript order (October 10, 1781) from John Adair to Robert Cooper; copies by Draper of Revolutionary War correspondence of James, Thomas, and William Woolford from papers in Woolford family possession in 1872; and copies of a few letters by Elijah Clarke, Lord Charles Cornwallis, and Patrick Ferguson transcribed by Draper from published sources. Letters by James Hemphill relayed recollections and traditions obtained from “Aunt Phyllis,” daughter of an African black named Sam, who was captured from the Tories at Huck's Defeat.

Series: 5 VV (Volume 5)
Scope and Content Note: Draper's notes and correspondence on battles in 1780, particularly Huck's Defeat, Rocky Mount, Hanging Rock, Fish Dam Ford, Blackstocks, and Cedar Spring. A few notes and clippings pertain to Ramsour's Mill (1776) and Cowan's Ford (1781). The papers contain information on William Blackstock and his family; James, Robert, and Samuel Craig; Robert McKelvey; Golding and James Tinsley; and also references to many of the persons mentioned in 4 VV. Two letters (1812) by Richard Winn to Hugh McCall concern several of the 1780 engagements and are accompanied by Winn's plat of the area around Fish Dam Ford. Reminiscences of Huck's Defeat by John Adair are embodied in a letter (1839) written by his son John A. Adair. Recollections of the Revolution by Susannah Barnett Smart (Mrs. George W. Smart) are found in a newspaper article by Daniel G. Stinson. Among Draper's many other clippings and transcripts from published sources are documents concerning the Revolutionary monetary claims submitted to Congress, 1845-1850, by Francis Sumter on behalf of Thomas Sumter's heirs and an assortment of letters and reports by Sumter and by Charles Cornwallis, William R. Davie, Nathanael Greene, James Jackson, and Banastre Tarleton.

Series: 6 VV (Volume 6)
Scope and Content Note: Papers pertaining to military engagements of 1781, such as Stirrup Branch, defeats suffered by Charles S. Myddelton and Richard Hampton, the Juniper Springs ambush, the siege of Ninety-Six, and Cedar Creek. Copies of correspondence of Nathanael Greene, Richard Harrison, Francis Marion, John Rutledge, and Sumter were transcribed from publications and from manuscripts which Draper located in other libraries or in private ownership. Some letters and notes relate especially to other participants and their families: James and William Clark; Dager, a black; John Fisher, a Loyalist; John Langford; Henry Lyon; William Lyons; John Price; James Rembert; Jane Swann; William Thomson; and William Vaughn.

Series: 7 VV (Volume 7)
Scope and Content Note: Transcripts of papers, primarily 1780-1781. Many were copied by or for Draper from the Horatio Gates Papers in the New-York Historical Society and from other manuscripts in possession of Greene, Hampton, and Sumter family heirs. In addition to Gates, Greene, and Sumter, correspondents include Sumter's aide-de-camp, William Pierce Jr., and such other military and government officers as Thomas Brandon, William Candler, Elijah Clarke, William L. Davidson, Richard and Wade Hampton, Isaac Huger, Edward M. Hyrne, Henry Lee, Francis Marion, Daniel Morgan, Charles S. Myddelton, Andrew Pickens, Thomas Pinckney, Thomas Polk, William Preston, John Rutledge, John Thomas, and 0.H. Williams. Other pieces range in date from 1777 to 1818; among these is a copy of a Simon Kenton letter (1806), as well as correspondence, a printed handbill, and leaflets related to Sumter's service in Congress (1797-1810). Annotations by Draper are interspersed among the documents.

Series: 8 VV (Volume 8)
Scope and Content Note: Draper's correspondence, notes, transcripts, and newspaper clippings on Sumter's life from 1783 to 1832, with emphasis on his senatorial career (1801-1810). Included are newspaper accounts about the condition of the southern Loyalists in the 1780s, copies of a few letters by Sumter including one to George Washington (1791) and one to a states rights and free trade convention (1830), discussion of his attitude toward nullification, copies and quotations from his speeches, and references to portraits of him. Several letters contain reminiscences obtained orally from two Sumter family black servants: “Aunt Polly;” and Edmund Bears, son of “Soldier Tom,” an African-born slave who accompanied Sumter during several military engagements. There are also notes on the unsuccessful claim of the heirs of Abraham Tipton for compensation for his military service. Countless brief references to numerous associates of Sumter and to Sumter family genealogy occur throughout this volume.

Series: 9 VV (Volume 9)
Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, 1869-1874, between Draper and Daniel G. Stinson (1794-1879), South Carolina writer and historian, accompanied by other Stinson papers. These include newspaper articles; a manuscript autobiography; Draper's notes of his extensive interviews with Stinson in August, 1871; and the letters and papers gathered by Stinson for his projected biography of Sumter. Among the latter were two original letters (1779) written by John Linn and his wife Jennet, which discuss home and military life during the Revolution. Topics covered by Stinson's newspaper articles include: Mrs. Mary Barkley, John Bishop, Mrs. Susannah Smart, the recollections (1836) of Joseph Gaston, the fort (1805-1815) at Mount Dearbourn, the Old Waxhaw Church in Lancaster District, and the settlement of Covenanters on Rocky Creek in Chester County. Notes and letters range widely over events and persons associated with Sumter or known by Stinson, including: Sumter's battles and camp locations; John Adair; John Bishop; Archy Brown; Joseph Brown; William R. Davie; John, Joseph, Robert, and William Gaston; John Kennedy; Benjamin Land; David, Samuel, Sarah, and Thomas McCalla; Hugh, John, and William McClure; Patrick McGriff; “Hopping” John Miller; John and Mary Nixon; the Pagan family; Thomas Spratt; Robert and William Stevenson (Ste'enson, Stinson); John Winn; and William Wylie.

A few letters, notes, and records refer to the Revolutionary military service of two Pamunkey Indians, John and Robert Marsh, and to John's attempt (1829) to secure the right to vote in South Carolina. Several letters contain opinions on the Civil War and Reconstruction in the South. The final document in this volume is a manuscript copy by Draper of William Hill's memoirs, of which Draper later acquired the original (1 VV).

Series: 10 VV (Volume 10)
Scope and Content Note: Primarily copies of pension statements filed by or for men who had served under Sumter; these Draper had obtained from the federal Pension Office in Washington, D.C. Among the applicants was the Pamunkey Indian, Robert Marsh (Mursh). Other materials found in this volume include: copies of South Carolina documents (1849-1850) referring to the service of Thomas Sumter and listing his descendants; copies of Tennessee documents (1852) containing information on Thomas Sumter of Tennessee, his wife Lydia, and their children; a service record for William Brandon of Pennsylvania, with genealogical data on his wife Jane Dodds and their children; letters about John Moffitt; letters and notes on the military service of George Wade and Joseph Wade, with information about their descendants; letters (1873) from children of David Ramsay discussing the historical interests and writings of their father; and a few newspaper obituaries copied by Draper.

Series: 11 VV (Volume 11)
Scope and Content Note

Letters, notes, interviews, and pension applications pertaining to Sumter, his soldiers, and other contemporaries. Much of this material was gathered by Draper during his trip through Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington in July and August, 1871. In addition to taking copious notes in the Pension Office, he examined county records in Albemarle County, Virginia, where Sumter was born, probate records in York and Edgefield counties in South Carolina, papers of Andrew Pickens in possession of Mrs. F.W. Pickens of Edgefield, papers of the late William Gilmore Simms, and Sumter family papers. Three of Sumter's grandchildren Sebastian and Thomas D. Sumter and Mrs. Louisa Murrell were among the numerous persons interviewed. There are notes on several Catawba Indians involved in the Revolution, including Peter Harris, Newriver and his wife Sally, Jacob Scott, and George, Henry, and Joseph White. Other notes concern the adventures of Emily Geiger and Rebecca Starke with Tories. Within this volume is mention, often brief, of almost every battle and skirmish in which Sumter and his associates participated from Braddock's defeat through the Revolution.

Biographical and genealogical references abound in the papers; among the many names discussed in varying detail are: James Boyd Sr.; William Bratton, his wife, and children; William Butler; John Carroll; Hicks Chappell; William (“Bloody Bill”) Cunningham; Frederick K. Hambright; Richard Hampton (d. 1801) of Edgefield; Richard Hampton (brother of Wade Hampton); Robert Hanna; William Hanna; Adam and James Hawthorn; William Hill; John Leeper; Patrick McGriff; William Maclean; James Martin; John Miller; Thomas Neel (Neil, Neal) and his sons, Thomas Jr. and Andrew; James Pagan; Nathan Reid; Samuel Ryan; William Smith; James and Thomas Taylor; Tom (“Soldier Tom”), Sumter's black servant; Robert Trimble; George and Joseph Wade; Robert Walker; John Wallace; Samuel Watson; and William Wylie.

Series: 12 VV (Volume 12)
Scope and Content Note

Draper's correspondence, mainly in the 1870s, with descendants and relatives of some of Sumter's associates. Filling the first half of the volume are letters discussing the lives of Anthony Hampton and members of his family: his sons Wade, Preston, Henry, John Edward, and Richard and his daughter Elizabeth Hampton Harrison and her husband James Harrison. Also discussed is the Revolutionary service of John Hampton's Negro slave Plymouth.

Letters in the latter half of the volume contain biographical and genealogical information and traditions about other persons and families: Abraham (Abram) Buford and his brother Thomas; James Caldwell; Robert Crawford and his brother James; Michael Dickson and his sons Hugh, James, John, and Samuel; Samuel Earle; William Hagins and his sons John, Joseph, and William; David Hopkins; Frederick Kimball (Kimbell, Kimble, Kimbrel); James Lyles; Robert Maxwell; James Mayson; Alexander Moore; Charles S. Myddelton and his brother William; William Polk; and Samuel Tate. Filed with the Myddelton family letters is one discussing Arthur Middleton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his ancestry. Several letters contain references to Loyalists, particularly Christian Huck (Huyck), and John Robinson and his sons John Samuel, and William. A few of the letters discuss specific military events in 1780, including the battles of Huck's Defeat, Blackstocks, and Fish Dam Ford, and the location of Cornwallis's camp near Camp Creek, South Carolina. Some of the Crawford letters contain data on the relationship between the Crawford family and Andrew Jackson. They are accompanied by transcripts of three letters written by Jackson (1828, 1829, 1836) made from originals in possession (1874) of George McC. Witherspoon.

Series: 13 VV (Volume 13)
Scope and Content Note

Mainly correspondence in the 1870s between Draper and descendants of Sumter's associates. Although many persons and places are mentioned incidentally, substantial information-much of it genealogical-may be found on the following individuals and families: William Blackstock; Robert Campbell; Hicks Chappell; James Dillard and his wives, Mary Ramage Dillard and Mary Puckett Dillard; the Farrow brothers, John, Landon, Samuel, Thomas, and William; Gabriel Friday; Emily Geiger, her husband Lewellyn Threewitts, and his brother John; Alexander Haynes; Elijah Haynes and his son David; William Henderson; John Knox of Mecklenburg, North Carolina; James Lusk and his wives, Lettice Thomas Lusk and Sarah McElwaine (McElwayne) Lusk; John Martindale and his wife Polly (Mary) Young Martindale; Charles Miles and his wife Elizabeth Love Miles and his brother William; Henry Junius Nott; Samuel Otterson; Charles Sims; Henry White and his son James; Minor Winn, his sons John and Richard, and the relationships by marriage between the Winn and Hampton families. Letters also discuss several Catawba Indian families, including Billy, Jacob, Jesse, and John Ayres; George and Peter Harris; and Newriver and his wife Sally.

Accounts of women's ingenuity against the South Carolina Tories are found in the traditional tales related by members of the Dillard, Farrow, Geiger, and Threewitts families. Letters, 1870-1878, from John Rosser, Memphis cotton factor, contain commentary not only on historical topics but also on contemporary matters such as slavery, Reconstruction, and a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis (1878). From Rosser, Draper also obtained an original letter (1803) written by Lafayette to Thomas Sumter Jr. which contains comments on American independence, the Louisiana Purchase, and relations between France and Great Britain.

Three original Richard Winn manuscripts-a letter (1788) and receipt (1792) signed by him and a receipt issued to him by John Buchanan-were given Draper by James H. Rion. Information on the Floyd family is contained in a letter (1872) by Mrs. Mary Lee Walton, sister of Charles Floyd (d. 1804), whose diary constitutes Volume 6 M. Also in Volume 13 VV are manuscript copies by Draper of published and unpublished works by other authors: Peter Jacquette's “Recollections of the Revolution,” from Niles' Register (1829); extracts from publications by John Belton O'Neall relating to William Cunningham and to the battles of Musgrove's Mill and King's Mountain; and “Incidents of the Revolution in Union, York, and Spartansburgh Districts” by D. Wallace transcribed from the original found in the papers of William Gilmore Simms.

Series: 14 VV (Volume 14)
Scope and Content Note: Additional Draper correspondence, mainly in the 1870s, notes of interviews (1871), and clipped articles. Although dozens of persons, places, and events are mentioned incidentally, the letters are centered around the following persons and families: John, Garland, Hardin, and Zachariah Burnley; James Hawthorne; Edward Lacey (Lacy) and his brother Joshua; Charles, Richard, and William Miles; Benjamin Roebuck; William Shields; John Starke, his sister Elizabeth, and her husband George Peay; and John Turner. In one lengthy letter (1871), B.F. Dowell not only detailed the interrelationships of the Dalton, Dowell, Dunlap, Franklin, Head, and Sumter families but also told briefly of his own migration overland to California and Oregon in 1850, commented on the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination, and discussed the technological changes in transportation and communications which had occurred in his lifetime. Printed articles pertain to Thomas Brandon; Josiah, Thomas, and William Culbertson (Culberson); John Thomas and his wife Jane Black; the early history of York County, South Carolina, by Dr. M.A. Moore; and reminiscences of the Revolution by Thomas Young.

Series: 15 VV (Volume 15)
Scope and Content Note

Primarily Draper's correspondence in the 1870s and 1880s with descendants of Sumter's soldiers. Names of persons and families for whom there are substantive references include: Gerard Brandon; Thomas Brandon; William Buford; the Calk brothers, James and William; Robert Campbell; John Cathey Sr., his son John Jr. and his sons-in-law, Robert Barkley, John Smith, and Hugh Waddell; Samuel Clowney; James, Robert, and Samuel Craig; Robert Craighead; John Flenniken (Flannagan); Gabriel and John Friday (Fridig); David Garrison; John F. Grimke; William Harden; James Hope; John and Thomas Humphries; Henry (“Hy”) Hunter; William Kennedy and his daughter Ann; James Knox; William B. Lewis; William T. Lewis Jr., and Lewis families of North Carolina and Tennessee; Robert McKelvey; James Mackey, his wife, Alice Ford Mackey, and their son John; Thomas McLure (McClure); James Meek; Joseph Morrow and Jane Morrow; James Pagan; David Reid; John Singleton and his wife, Elizabeth Hunt Singleton; Thomas Spratt; James Walkup (Wahab); and Thomas Woolford. There is also information on Robert McLeroth, an officer in the British Sixty-third Regiment; on Loyalists William Cooper, William Cunningham, and the latter's sister Maria and on Catawba Indians Billy George, Peter Harris, and Newriver (New River).

Of unusual interest because of the identities of the writers are a letter (1872) by Mrs. James K. Polk, two (1872) by Polk's niece Jane C. (Mrs. I.N.) Barnett, and two (1874) by Angelina Grimke Weld, all pertaining to family history. Many writers related anecdotes and traditions on assorted topics: Sally Newriver's sense of humor and practical jokes; Robert Crawford's friendship for the teen-aged Andrew Jackson; the resourceful exploits of women, such as Ann Kennedy, Jane Morrow, and Mrs. Boozer, a ferry keeper on the Saluda River, in outwitting the Tories; and Banastre Tarleton's return of captured milk cows to Mrs. Edward Lacey. Clipped material on Jane and John Thomas and on Josiah and William Culbertson (Culberson) duplicates information in Volume 14 VV.

Series: 16 VV (Volume 16)
Scope and Content Note

Transcripts and notes gathered by Draper chiefly during his southern journey in 1871. Notes were taken during interviews Draper had with descendants of Thomas Carroll; John Coffee; John Donelson; Anthony Hampton; Edward Lacey and his son Joshua; Joseph McJunkin; William Polk and his son Lucius; John (Jack) Stark (Starke); Edmund Sumpter; Patience Sumter, sister of General Thomas Sumter; Thomas Taylor and his brother James; John Thomas Jr.; and the Winn brothers, John and Richard. There are also copies, excerpts, and summaries of materials Draper read in the papers of Henry Laurens in the South Carolina Historical Society; of John H. Logan in Greenwood, South Carolina; of John Rutledge in the Charleston Library; and of William Gilmore Simms in possession of his daughter Mrs. Edward Roach in Charleston. Filling about half of this volume are the notes and copies Draper made from the correspondence, interviews, pension statements, and other sources collected by Logan for use in continuing his History of Upper South Carolina, of which the first volume had been issued in 1859; the second volume was never completed, however. Selections copied by Draper from Logan's collection include: words to three Revolutionary songs, including one on Ferguson's defeat at King's Mountain and one on Cornwallis's defeat; excerpts from Philip Edward Pearson's “Manuscript History of Fairfield District, S.C.”; a manuscript entitled “Traditions of Union District,” by S.T. Sims; notes (1858) by James H. Saye; excerpts from letters (1782-1784) of William Henderson; a portion of an historical address (1855) by Samuel McGowan of Abbeville; and a copy of a letter (1847) by John C. Calhoun on Calhoun family history. Another section of Pearson's manuscript comprises Volume 24 VV.

Within Volume 16 VV are references to most of the military encounters on the southern frontier in 1780 and 1781; notes on locations of such sites as Andrew Jackson's birthplace, Friday's Fort, and Mobley's Meeting House; information relating to Monday and other Catawba Indians; an interview with Samuel Kennedy, one of the Winn family's Negroes; an account of the military service of Andrew Pickens's black servant known as “Old Dick”; as well as references to dozens of other persons and families. Among these, who have not been mentioned previously in this volume description, are: Robert Anderson; William Beal; John Beckham; John Bowie; Thomas Brandon; William Bratton, John Buchanan; James Butler; Samuel Clowney; Eli Cook; Josiah Culbertson (Culberson); William Dunlap; the Farrow brothers, John, Landon, Samuel, and Thomas; Adam Goudelock; Henry Hampton; Reuben Harrison; James Hawes; and William Hodge. Also included are Joseph Hughes; Richard and William Hughes; Henry Hunter; Robert and William Irwin; Benjamin, John, and Joseph Jolly; Robert Long, William Love; James Lyles; Samuel McJunkin and his sons, Daniel and Joseph; T.C. McMachen; James Moseley; Edward Musgrove and his son Beaks; John Pearson; Andrew Pickens; the Roach brothers, Abe and Thomas; John Rochford; the Roebuck brothers, Benjamin and George; Frank Ross; John Christian Senf; Charles Sims, William Smith (d. 1837); Robert Stark (Starke); James Steen; John Thomas and his wife Jane Black Thomas; Boardwine Waters, his wife Elizabeth McCool Brandon Waters, and his son Landon; Francis Weathered; Daniel and Ursula Williams and their sons James, John, and Joseph; Andrew Williamson and his daughters Eliza and Mary Ann; and Thomas Woodward. Also scattered through the papers are several anecdotes about Lord Cornwallis, data on such South Carolina Tories as William Cunningham, Bill Lee, Henry Rugeley, John Stallions, and Ned Turner, as well as many incidental allusions to Patrick Ferguson and Banastre Tarleton.

Series: 17 VV (Volume 17)
Scope and Content Note

Miscellaneous papers gathered by Draper about British officers and regiments and South Carolina Loyalist officers. The first third of the volume contains articles and abstracts copied or clipped by Draper from eighteenth and nineteenth-century newspapers and periodicals. Among the major selections are: Cornwallis's letters (June-July, 1780) to Henry Clinton copied from the London Gazette; Robert Grey, “Observations on the War in Carolina,” clipped from The North Carolina University Magazine (1858); a “Narrative” by a Tory, Levi Smith, copied from the South Carolina Gazette (1782); a few letters and news items (1781-1782) from Scot's Magazine; and data on Loyalist regiments in New York as well as in the South copied from Henry Onderdonk, Revolutionary Incidents of Long Island, New York (1846, 1849).

The remaining two-thirds of the volume are composed of notes and letters about the following British and Loyalist officers: John Adamson and his uncle James Adamson; James Cary; James Coates; George Dawkins; Thomas Fraser; Robert Grey (Gray); Robert McElroth; John Money; John Skinner; George Turnbull; and James Wemyss. The Fraser papers include not only one original letter [1781] on military matters written by Lord Francis Rawdon to Fraser but also information on Fraser's daughter Caroline Georgiana, who married Prince Lucien Murat. Among the Wemyss papers is a translation of a letter (1780) written in cipher by Cornwallis to Wemyss. Three manuscript articles on British officers and regiments, which were written by Wemyss, were copied for Draper from the papers of Jared Sparks in Harvard University. From an original manuscript loaned by Edward M. Boykin, Draper copied a letter (1780) written by James Cary to Joshua English describing the theft or escape of six Negroes.

Series: 18 VV (Volume 18)
Scope and Content Note: Draper's correspondence, 1870-1876, with Thomas Sumter's direct and collateral descendants. Although the letters touch upon many facets of Sumter's life, the content is primarily genealogical and relates to families connected by marriage to the Sumters. Surnames most prominently mentioned include: Barnett, Bate, Brownfield, Coffee, Craig, De Lage, Dowell, Franklin, Murrell, Suddarth, Sumpter-Sumter, Townley, Turner, Weathered (Weatherred). Most numerous are the Brownfield family letters; they include particularly biographical details about Robert Brownfield and his three sons who served in the Revolution: John; Robert, a surgeon; and William. Also within the Brownfield correspondence are brief biographical notes about Sumter's black servants: Bob (“Old Bob”), Jim (“Carpenter Jim”), and Tom (“Soldier Tom”).

Series: 19 VV (Volume 19)
Scope and Content Note: Miscellaneous correspondence, 1846-1885, by and to Draper during his tireless search for descendants of and data on Sumter and his soldiers. Notes from periodicals and newspapers are occasionally interspersed among the letters. A few autograph collectors or dealers and a few historians are numbered among the correspondents. Although many of the letters and notes are insignificant in content, there are biographical or genealogical references to the following persons and families: James Adamson and his son John; John Fisher, a Loyalist; William Fludd; Burr Harrison; Henry Lyon and his wife Sally; Jane Morrow; and Edmund Sumter. A detailed genealogical chart traces the Lewis family descended from John Lewis (circa 1640?-1726) and his son David (1685?-1726) of Albemarle County, Virginia. Of nineteenth-century interest are two letters: one (1872) by South Carolinian Thomas W. Glover discussing the 1872 presidential campaign and Reconstruction and defending the Ku Klux Klan; the other (1870) by a Madison physician, Dr. Joseph Hobbins, commending Draper on the publication of A Helping Hand, the household encyclopedia compiled by Draper and William A. Croffut.

Series: 20 VV (Volume 20)
Scope and Content Note: Principally Draper's memoranda on the events of Sumter's life, arranged in chronological order with bibliographical references and citations. Some of the notes give Draper's thoughts and conclusions on disputed or controversial points. After the Sumter chronology, there are notes on the following British and Loyalist officers: Montford Brown, John Carder, George Dawkins, John Doyle, James Dunlap, Richard Havenden, Thomas Hewlett, Alexander Jones, Archibald McArthur, Robert McLeroth, Thomas Mecan, John and Patrick Moore, John Skerrett, John Small, and Banastre Tarleton. These are followed by an annotated list of Catawba Indians who served under Sumter. Occasional letters and clippings are interspersed among the memoranda. A few notes and clipped pieces pertain to the use of blacks as soldiers in the Revolution.

Series: 21 VV (Volume 21)
Scope and Content Note: Two of Draper's small pocket memoranda books bound together. One contains a chronology of Sumter's life with rough notes, bibliographical citations, and a list of manuscripts for which Draper was searching. Draper copied most of the biographical and bibliographical information in more orderly form into the larger volume comprising 20 VV. The second notebook contains only a list of Sumter letters loaned for copying by George W. Greene in July, 1873, and returned to Greene by Draper in the following month.

Series: 22 VV (Volume 22)
Scope and Content Note: Mainly Draper correspondence, 1870-1881, on Revolutionary events and persons in the Carolinas. Of special note is an extensive series of letters by James H. Saye narrating much of the history of the Revolution in this region. Although countless names are mentioned throughout the volume, there are substantial references to John Barton; Benjamin Cleveland; Josiah Culbertson; the two Herndon brothers, Benjamin and Joseph, and their half-brothers, Charles, Joseph, and Nathaniel Gordon; John Thomas Sr., and his son, John Jr.; and David and John Witherspoon. Also filed here are a long poem on the battle of Eutaw Springs, an account of the battle of Ramsour's Mill, and notes by Draper from Wilkes County, North Carolina, records, 1778-1785 (loaned to him in 1881 by the county commissioners). Letters in 1880 by Z.H. Gordon and J.H. Witherspoon of Alabama contain comments on national and local elections and are accompanied by a handbill issued by Witherspoon as a candidate for the Alabama legislature from Lauderdale County.

Series: 23 VV (Volume 23)
Scope and Content Note

Copies of narratives and reminiscences by Revolutionary War veterans with related notes, all of which Draper made from papers in possession of James H. Saye. The bulk of the volume is filled with Draper's copies of a “Memoir” or “Narrative” by Joseph McJunkin in its varied versions. In 1837 Saye interviewed McJunkin at length. Saye's transcript of McJunkin's recollections was used by John B. O'Neall for a version, with alterations and additions, published in the Magnolia (Charleston, South Carolina) in 1843. Saye himself used the manuscript for articles, with additions, published in 1847-1848 in the Watchman and Observer (Richmond, Virginia). Draper's copies include the Magnolia version (23 VV 1-48); the articles from the Watchman and Observer, but with the first portion missing (23 VV 49-153); the original 1837 reminiscences recorded by interview (23 VV 154-203); another more brief statement by McJunkin, which Saye believed had been prepared for Henry Junius Nott (23 VV 203-212); and still another brief account entitled McJunkin's “Journal” (23 VV 212-221).

The remaining portion of the volume contains copies of other materials collected and used by Saye: notes on James Little; recollections by John Adair (1839), Christopher Brandon (1844), S. Davidson (undated), Christopher Gardner (undated), John Jeffries (1847), Samuel Morrow (1841), William Sims (1848), James Thompson (1832), R. Thomson (1847), and Thomas Young (1843); a portion of a narrative by a Mr. Smith near Fairforest, Spartanburg District, South Carolina; notes on the battle of Fish Dam Ford from Thomas Taylor; and notes on the Revolution abstracted from James A. Wallace's 1856 publication entitled History of Williamsburg Church (North Carolina). The concluding pages of this volume contain Draper's notes recording his conversations with Saye in 1871.

Series: 24 VV (Volume 24)
Scope and Content Note: Draper's copy of “Superstition-Apparitions-Witchcraft,” by Philip Edward Pearson, a segment of Pearson's unpublished “Manuscript History of Fairfield District, South Carolina.” Draper transcribed this section on supernatural occurrences and beliefs from Pearson's manuscript in possession of John H. Logan; other selections from it are in Volume 16 VV.