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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 1 item |
| Abstract | Louis M. DeSaussure was a physician and planter of Beaufort County, S.C., son of Henry W. DeSaussure, longtime state chancellor. The collection is a plantation journal of Louis M. DeSaussure relating to his Beaufort County, S.C., cotton plantation. Entries vary in length and frequency, with many entries being monthly or annual summaries of activities at the plantation. Topics include crops, slaves, diseases, and weather conditions. Entries during the period 1861-1864 include brief comments on DeSaussure's wartime activities as a surgeon with the 8th and 4th South Carolina Infantry regiments, C.S.A. Also included are poems and sayings that DeSaussure collected; recipes; remedies; lists of slaves, including one that shows family relationships among the slaves; notes on bequests of others to various activities of the Episcopal Church of which DeSaussure was a member; and cattle inventories. The journal contains no information on DeSaussure's medical practice outside of his military service. |
| Creator | DeSaussure, Louis M., 1804-1869. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Processing Information
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Louis M. DeSaussure was born 20 May 1804 in Prince William Parish, S.C. His father was Henry W. DeSaussure, who was elected to the chancery bench in 1808 and served the state as chancellor for the next 29 years.
Louis DeSaussure was a physician and planter in Beaufort County, S.C. He appears to have owned two principal properties, one the Beaufort County plantation, and the other a home called Woodstock. Judging from DeSaussure's slave lists, the plantation was a moderately large operation, with cotton as its primary crop.
DeSaussure was a member of the Episcopal Church. He married Jane Hay Hutson, with whom he had two sons: Charles Alfred (1846-1935), who was also a physician and who, in 1930, served as commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans; and Thomas Hutson, who, for forty years, was resident engineer at the State Insane Sanatarium at Milledgeville, Ga.
During the Civil War, DeSaussure first served, with his son Charles, as surgeon with the 8th South Carolina Regiment. Later he appears to have been surgeon with the 4th South Carolina Regiment. After the war, his property having been confiscated, DeSaussure settled in Camden, S.C., where he practiced medicine until his death on 6 June 1869.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of the plantation journal, 1835-1865, 81 pages long, and a typed transcription of the same, 100 pages long and produced at the Southern Historical Collection in the 1940s at the donor's request.
Beaufort County, S.C., plantation journal, 81 pp., of Louis M. DeSaussure, 1835-1865, and a typed transcription, 100 pp. Although the journal gives information dating from around 1835, most entries appear to have been written in the 1850s or later, possibly copied over from an earlier versions. Entries vary in length and frequency, with many entries being monthly or annual summaries of activities at the plantation. Among DeSaussure's topics in these entries are crops, slaves, diseases, and weather conditions. Entries for the period 1861-1864 include brief comments on his wartime duties. Also included are poems and sayings that DeSaussure collected; recipes; remedies; lists of slaves, including one that show family relationships among the slaves; notes on bequests of others to varius activities of the Episcopal Church of which DeSaussure was a member; and cattle inventories.
The contents of the journal are as follows:
Pages 3-4:Poems and sayings, 1850
Page 5: "Names of Negroes," 1835-1856, with notes on births, deaths, and sales
Pages 6-8: "Memorandum of Blankets to be furnished to each Negro, every third year," 1835-1860
Page 10-12: Annual summaries of plantation activities, including crops planted, general weather conditions, etc., 1836-1848
Pages 13-58: Monthly summaries of plantation activities, similar to the annual summaries, but more detailed, 1850-1862
Pages 59-60: Annual summaries, 1863-1864
Page 61: "Acres on each side of the plantation," 1859
Pages 62-66: "List of Names of Negroes, 1857, in families"
Pages 68-71: "Memoranda of Cattle," 1857-1861
Page 72: "Order of Succession of Kings of England"
Pages 73-79: Recipes, remedies, etc.
Page 81: Notes on bequests of others to the Episcopal Church
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Louis M. DeSaussure Journal, 1835-1865.
| Folder 1 |
Journal |
| Folder 2 |
Typed transcription |
| Reel M-2251/1 |
Microfilm |