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Size | 200 items |
Abstract | The Couper family of Glynn County, Ga., included John Couper (1759-1850), his sons, William Audley Couper (1817-1898) and noted agricultural researcher James Hamilton Couper (1794-1866), and grandson, planter and Confederate officer, James Maxwell Couper (fl. 1865). Their plantations included Altama, Hopeton, and Elizafield. The collection consists of three distinct parts. These are a manuscript letter, 1828, from John Couper to James Hamilton, describing the loss of his plantation; Couper and Maxwell genealogical material; and prints of microfilmed Couper material, 1827-1923 (chiefly 1866-1886). The last part includes personal correspondence and financial material relating to the family plantations, their crops; and their workers and slaves. There are letters about life in Vicksburg, Miss., in the early 1860s; material about the Wylly family of Virginia; and 1861 photographs of Fort Moultrie, Sullivan's Island, and Fort Sumter, S.C. |
Creator | Couper (Family : Glynn County, Ga.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Buck Beasley, June 1990
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2020
Back to TopThe 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.
John Couper and James Hamilton, both originally from Scotland, settled in Glynn County, Georgia, in 1804.
James Hamilton Couper, son of John and Rebacca Maxwell Couper, was born in 1794. He studied at Yale and in Holland, where he investigated Dutch techniques in water control. Returning, he took control of his father's plantation, Hopeton. James Hamilton Couper was an agricultural innovator and introduced a number of new crops to the coastal Georgia area. He died in 1866, by which time Hopeton was almost destroyed by flooding.
James Maxwell Couper, son of James Hamilton Couper, returned after the Civil War and supervised rice production on the plantation.
Back to TopThis collection consists of three distinct parts:
Series 1 consists of a letter, 1828, from John Couper to his brother in Scotland, describing his loss of Hopeton plantation.
Series 2 is genealogical material, collected in the 1940s and 1950s.
Series 3 consists of material lent to the Southern Historical Collection for microfilm copying. This is the bulk of the collection. This material relates to the operation of the Couper plantation chiefly after the Civil War, when James Maxwell Couper supervised the production of rice there.
Back to TopLetter, 24 May 1828, from John Couper, at St. Simons Island, Georgia, to his brother James Couper in Scotland, concerning the plantation and family. He explains the problems that led him to sign over the Hopeton plantation to James Hamilton, who sold a half interest in it to Couper's son James Hamilton Couper. He explains that the War of 1812, a hurricane, pests, and other problems contributed to his financial ruin.
The letter appears to be a draft copy.
Folder 1 |
1828 letter |
Typed transcription of a sketch of Rev. John Couper (1706-1787) of Lochwinoch, Scotland, father of John Couper (1759-1850).
Letter, 21 August 1955, typed transcription, eleven pages, from B. King Couper to relatives. The letter is chiefly an account of Couper's seach for Couper and Maxwell history in Scotland. Included are Couper material from Lochwinoch parish records and other Couper and Maxwell information. Couper also described the scenery of Scotland, London, and Iceland. Included are postcards of Scotish scenes and a rubbing of the tombstone of Joannis Couper.
Copy flow prints for 1827-1923.
Folder 2 |
Genealogical material |
Folder 3 |
1827-1859 |
Folder 4 |
1860-1869 |
Folder 5 |
1870-1923 |
See description available at Manscripts Department.
Reel M-186/1 |
Microfilm |