Creator: Sparkman, William Ervine, 1813-1846.
Collection number: 681-z
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Abstract: William Ervine Sparkman, South Carolina rice planter of the Georgetown and Williamsburg districts on the Black River, married M.A.E. Burgess in December 1836. He was the brother of James Ritchie Sparkman (1815-1897). The collection is a plantation journal containing a wide variety of entries documenting work at Springwood and Cottage plantations, both on the Black River in South Carolina. Entries continuing after Sparkman’s death in 1846 were probably made by his brother, James Ritchie Sparkman, and his widow, M.A.E. (Burgess) Sparkman, and possibly also by an overseer.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: Most entries relate to agricultural activities and often distinguish between work performed by male and female slaves. The journal also includes inventories of slaves, slave birth and death records, dates and circumstances of slave purchases, accounts of blanket and clothing distributions, and work details.