Augustin Louis Taveau papers, 1741-1931, bulk bulk

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Summary

Creator:
Taveau, Augustin L. (Augustin Louis), 1828-1886
Abstract:
This collection contains family, personal, literary, and business correspondence and other papers (chiefly 1830-1886) of Taveau, of his father, Louis Augustin Thomas Taveau, and of their family. The collection centers around Augustin Louis Taveau and relates to his education, activities as a poet, European travels (1852-1854), career in the Confederate Army, postwar condemnation of Confederate leaders, removal to Maryland (1866), and agricultural efforts. Other subjects include family and legal matters, social life and customs in South Carolina, the education of Southern girls, rice planting before the Civil War, planting in Mississippi and Louisiana (1850s), agriculture and scientific farming in Maryland, Charleston during the Civil War, postwar politics, and other matters. Correspondents and persons mentioned in this collection include William Aiken, Josias Allston, Henry L. Benbow, A. R. Chisholm, Ralph Elliott, Nathan George Evans, J. A. Gadsden, Horace Greeley, William Gregg, Thomas S. Grimké, Robert Y. Hayne, O. W. Holmes, W. H. Huger, Robert Hume, T. J. Hyland-MacGrath, Andrew Johnson, Carolina Olivia Ball Laurens, Eliza G. Maybank, James L. Petigru, J. J. Pettigrew, William Gilmore Simms, Clifford Simons, Keating L. Simons, Admiral Joseph Smith, Horatio Sprague, John R. Thompson, and members of the Girardeau, Swinton, and Taveau families.
Extent:
3 Linear Feet (6 boxes, 1,862 items)
Language:
Materials are in both French and English.
Collection ID:
RL.10090

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains family, personal, literary, and business correspondence of Louis Augustin Thomas Taveau (1790-ca. 1857), planter; of his wife, Martha Caroline (Swinton) Ball Taveau (d. 1847); of their son, Augustin Louis Taveau (1828-1886), planter and author; of the latter's wife, Delphine (Sprague) Taveau (1832-ca. 1909); and of relatives and friends.

Papers prior to 1829 consist of a copy of the will of William Swinton made in 1741 and letters between the Swinton and Girardeau families recording Charleston events, the marriage settlement of Martha Caroline (Swinton) Ball and Louis Augustin Thomas Taveau, and a copy of the will of Caroline Olivia (Ball) Laurens, daughter of Martha Caroline (Swinton) Ball Taveau by her first marriage. Beginning in June 1829, and continuing for more than a year, the collection contains letters to Martha Caroline (Swinton) Ball Taveau from her husband, Louis Augustin Thomas Taveau, while he was in France endeavoring to settle his father's estate.

In 1838 the papers begin to center around Augustin Louis Taveau (1828-1886), while in school at Mt. Zion Academy, Winnsboro, South Carolina and while later studying law and dabbling in poetry while living in or near Charleston, South Carolina and touring Europe from 1852 to 1854. From 1855 until 1860, the papers contain correspondence with the publisher of Taveau's book of poems, The Magic Word and Other Poems (Boston, 1855), published under the pseudonym of 'Alton,' correspondence with the Sprague family in an effort to obtain the remainder of Delphine (Sprague) Taveau's patrimony, papers relative to a mortgage on Oaks Plantation held by Robert Hume, letters relative to the failure of Simons Brothers in Charleston in 1857 and the consequent loss of Oaks Plantation, letters of Taveau describing a trip to New Orleans (Louisiana), with his slaves and their sale, letters of Taveau to his wife describing various plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana, and a series of letters in 1860 to and from Taveau, Ralph Elliott, and Clifford Simons regarding a supposedly slighting remark involving Taveau's credit.

Late in 1861 Taveau settled on a farm near Abbeville, South Carolina, but soon afterwards joined the Confederate Army. His career in the army continued until 1865. Letters to his wife during the war period, include Taveau's accounts of his efforts as a soldier, descriptions of Charleston during the war, copy of a letter evidently intended for a newspaper, protesting that gentlemen of birth and education could get no commissions in the army while sons of tinkers could; accounts of his duties as guard at the "SubTreasury" in Charleston; papers relating to an effort to permit Delphine (Sprague) Taveau and her three children to sail for Europe in December, 1864; and oaths of allegiance and passports issued to Taveau and his wife and children, March 3, 1865, for going to Boston, Massachusetts.

Immediately after the war, the papers contain letters and copies of letters published in the New York Tribune by Taveau under the title of A Voice from South Carolina, stating that former Southern leaders could not be trusted and condemning them for having allowed conscription. Included also are drafts of letters from Taveau to Horace Greeley and William Aiken; letters relative to Taveau's efforts to get the position of collector of the customs at Charleston; accounts of an interview of Taveau with Greeley and with President Andrew Johnson; letter of June 25, 1865, describing conditions in Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; a copy of a petition signed by Henry L. Benbow, A. R. Chisholm, William Gregg, and Taveau begging President Johnson to appoint a provisional governor for South Carolina; several letters to and from William Aiken; and letters written by Taveau to his wife in the autumn of 1865 from various points in Virginia including areas near Richmond, Alexandria, and Warrenton, where he had gone in search of a farm.

Taveau and his family finally settled in 1866 on a farm near Chaptico in St. Mary's County, Maryland. From 1866 until 1881, the correspondence is concerned with efforts to obtain patents and money for developing a revolving harrow and a steam plow invented by Taveau; efforts to obtain money for meeting the annual interest on the sum owed for the farm near Chaptico; and accounts of Taveau's literary activities. There are letters and papers bearing on Taveau's efforts to interest the Ames Plow Company, as well as manufacturers of farm machinery in Dayton, Ohio, in his inventions and drawings and circulars relative to the inventions. From 1878 until Taveau's death, his papers contain manuscripts of his poems and correspondence with many leading publishing houses regarding the publication of Montezuma (published in New York in 1883 and again in 1931). Thereafter much of his correspondence consists of letters of thanks from various relatives, friends, and well-known literary figures for copies of Montezuma sent them by Taveau; and letters to newspapers and magazines submitting his poems and usually followed by letters of rejection.

Throughout the collection there are many letters from the mother and sisters of Delphine (Sprague) Taveau, usually in French. Letters of her brothers, however, were generally in English. Among the correspondents are William Aiken, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Johnston Pettigrew, William Gilmore Simms, Joseph Smith, and John R. Thompson. Also included are some Unpublished Letters of John R. Thompson and Augustin Louis Taveau, William and Mary College Quarterly, XVI (April 1936), 206-221; Letters of Georgia Editors and a Correspondent, Georgia Historical Quarterly, XXIII (June, 1939), [170-176.]

Biographical / historical:

Augustin Louis Taveau (1828-1886), was a planter and author born and raised in South Carolina. He was the son of Louis Augustin Thomas Taveau (1790-ca. 1857), planter; and his wife, Martha Caroline (Swinton) Ball Taveau (d. 1847). He attended school at Mt. Zion Academy, Winnsboro, South Carolina starting in 1838. From 1848 until 1854 Taveau lived usually in or near Charleston studying law while also developing an interest in poetry. During this time he took a two year trip to Europe largely financed through his father's estate. In 1855 Taveau had a book of his poems, "The Magic Word and Other Poems" (Boston, 1855), published under the pseudonym of Alton.

Late in 1861 Taveau settled on a farm near Abbeville, South Carolina, but soon afterwards joined the Confederate Army. His career in the army continued until 1865. Immediately after the war, papers containing letters and copies of letters were published in the New York Tribune by Taveau under the title of A Voice from South Carolina. In the letters he stated that former Southern leaders could not be trusted and condemning them for having allowed conscription. After searching for a place to live after leaving the army, Taveau and his family finally settled in 1866 on a farm near Chaptico in St. Mary's County, Maryland. From 1866 until his death he continued to write poems and other literary works, worked to get patents for several inventions and oversaw work on his farm.

Acquisition information:
The Augustin L. Taveau papers were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library between 1934 and 1936.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Library staff.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
General note:

For a more complete description of this collection see Davis and Miller, Guide to the Cataloged Collections in the Manuscript Department of the William R. Perkins Library, Duke University (1980).

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48-hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Augustin Louis Taveau Papers Collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.