Marx E. Cohen Plantation Records, 1840-1868
South Caroliniana Library
The Marx E. Cohen Plantation Journals are a set of three different journals. The breakdown is as follows:
Plantation journal, 1840-1861, contains entries recording details of various forms of plantation labor in addition to the production of bricks, planting and harvesting of such crops as corn, potatoes, and peas, and felling of timber. Narrative entries also record weather observations, distribution of food to plantation slaves, and the occurrence of an earthquake, 19 Jan. 1860. It also includes inventories for tools and household articles, list of plantation livestock (cattle, sheep, poultry, and hogs) which Cohen also marketed, and three-page list of birth and death dates for plantation slaves.
Daybook, 1840-1864, includes account entries for goods sold and outstanding debts plus list of stocks and bonds owned by Cohen, 1853-1858. Cash crops included flint corn and peas, but records indicate that much of Cohen’s income was derived from the sale of plantation-made bricks and cords of wood, the most common varieties of which were oak and pine.
Plantation journal, 1861-1868, contains records of plantation slaves, and narrative entries regarding the daily activities of plantation life, including planting and harvesting of crops, timber cutting, and sale of goods. Also included are sporadic, but general, references to the Civil War.