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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], James H. Saye Correspondence, Ms1989-078, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The James H. Saye Correspondence was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1989.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the James H. Saye Correspondence commenced and was completed in February 2022.

Biographical Note

James Hodge Saye, son of Richard and Margaret Gardner Saye, was born in Franklin County, Georgia on January 29, 1808. He graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in 1837, and the follow year married Rebecca McJunkin (1818-1904); the couple would have 11 children. Saye was named minister of Unionville (South Carolina) Church in 1839. He was still serving in this capacity in 1850, the federal census for that year listing the Sayes among the inhabitants of Union County, South Carolina, with James Saye employed as a Presbyterian minister. The federal census slave schedules for that year show that Saye enslaved an 18-year-old Black woman and two young Black children. By 1860, Saye was living in Chester County, South Carolina, and employed as minister at Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church. The number of people he enslaved had grown to 12, ranging in age from 35 years to 20 months, all residing in three houses. He retired from the ministry in 1891. James H. Saye died at Rodman (Chester County) on November 20, 1892, and was buried in Fishing Creek Presbyterian Cemetery.

Scope and Content

This collection contains three letters from Rev. James H. Saye, a South Carolina Presbyterian minister during the Civil War. All of the letters were written in 1863 from Saye's home, Oakly Hall [i.e., Oakley Hall], in Chester County, South Carolina. Writing to Rev. W. T. Savage on July 7, Saye remarks on the falling value of Confederate money, then relays news of his children and shares information on several ministers, many of them serving as army chaplains. Saye despairs of the present circumstances, and he further comments on the Confederate economy and rampant speculation. In a second letter to Savage on November 30, Saye insists on paying a debt with Confederate currency, "1st because there is no other in circulation, except the shin-plasters on Tom Dick & Harry ... 2nd Refusal to take Confederate currency is, in my view, the most effectual way to cripple the government & bring about our subjugation." He further comments at length on the Confederate economy and the patriotic duty to conduct transactions in Confederate currency.

On September 25, Saye writes to his niece, Harriet R. McJunkin, relaying news of family and friends. He notes that daughter Harriet is teaching school and Dr. Shaw (Saye's son-in-law Theodore Munson Shaw) has resigned from the cavalry and is serving as assistant surgeon with the 22nd South Carolina Infantry. Saye comments on the war and on local speculators: "[W]e have had here even in S.C. a respectable corps of specualtors who are ready for any enterprise to make money. I believe some of them would not only sell Jeff Davis but their wives [and] children for gold so completely has Mammon possessed their souls." He briefly notes the whereabouts and statuses--including battlefield deaths--of several relatives serving in various theaters of the war, then invites Harriet to stay at his house if the need arises. "If you think it think it desirable," Saye writes, "bring your negroes with you as they are more exposed to Yankee cruelty than any other species of property. Slave-labor is still in high demand in this region."

Related Material

James Hodge Saye Papers , Duke University James Hodge Saye Papers , University of South Carolina

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Civil War
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the James H. Saye Correspondence by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).