Manuscript Location

South Carolina Historical Society, Reading Room, College of Charleston, Addlestone Library

Place of Origin

United States ➔ South Carolina

Date of Composition

1850s

Description

This receipt book is collected in the library's DuBose family papers. It contains recipes for breads, puddings, preserves, and other dishes, as well as instructions for making soap and a waterproof coating for cloth.

The author of this book, Jane Edwards Screven DuBose (1829-1912), was the wife of Edwin DuBose (1825-1865). The couple had six children, three of whom died in infancy. Edwin DuBose inherited Harbin Plantation, in Berkeley County, where this receipt book may have been compiled. In 1865, the plantation house was destroyed by fire. In 1939, the plantation lands, including two slave cemeteries holding approximately 250 graves, were submerged under Lake Moultrie, created by the damming of the Cooper River for a hydroelectric plant. Edwin DuBose was a lieutenant in the Confederate army and died of typhoid fever contracted in camp.