This collection is arranged chronologically.

The Belton O. Mauldin Family Correspondence spans the years 1856-1902 with the bulk of the correspondence from 1863.  The majority of letters prior to 1874 are written to Belton O. Mauldin by family and friends. Correspondents include his mother, Caroline (1820-1906); brother William L. Mauldin (1845-1912); cousin Benson M. Jones (1843-1876); cousin Bettie J. Watson (1854-1887); sister Mary Crayton Mauldin “Sissy” (1841-1922); and friend Richard E. Frayren.

There are two letters from John Belton O’Neall (1793-1863), a chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Belton’s mother and her siblings were under the guardianship of O’Neall after their parents and grandparents died (ca. 1832), and O’Neall signed his letters to Belton as his “grandfather."

There are letters from Mauldin to his future wife, Emma Julia Smith, from 1868 to 1869, when Mauldin was living in New York City, and after their marriage in 1873-1874 when Mauldin was a commercial drummer (salesman) for E.W. Marshall & Co. Dry Goods in Charleston. Ms. Smith was residing with her father, Thomas P. Smith in Greenville from 1862-1870.[1]

Only one letter was written by Belton O. Mauldin to someone other than his wife. Mauldin writes to his brother William on September 6, 1874 regarding their sister’s (Elizabeth S. Mauldin Smith) death the preceding August, and Mauldin’s belief in the Bible and his Christianity, which is significant since Mauldin would pass away one month later on October 16, 1874 from typhoid fever.

Mauldin’s brother William Lawrence Mauldin, was born June 13, 1845 at Greenville, attended  Furman 1855-1860, and was a druggist and farmer. He served as City Mayor, a member of the S.C. House and Senate, and as Lieutenant Governor for four years. During the Civil War he served in the C.S.A. 6^th Regiment, SC Volunteers and the 2^nd cavalry.

Folder 9 contains a group of envelopes without contents that have CSA stamps.