Letters of Alexander Cumine and George Ogilvie, South Carolina, 1763–1774

The following six letters were selected from many letters in the Ogilvie-Forbes of Boyndlie Manuscripts at the University of Aberdeen Library. The Ogilvie family lived in the northeastern part of Aberdeenshire, about two miles south of Fraserburgh, at the estate of Auchiries, established by James Ogilvie in 1715. Alexander Ogilvie (1723–1791), the oldest son of James Ogilvie and Margaret Strachan, was heir to his father's estate. But, his younger brothers had to find careers elsewhere, and several of them went to America to “try their fortunes.” Only one of them, Charles (1731–1788), succeeded in his Carolina ventures. He became a merchant in Charleston, but then moved to London in 1761 to handle his firm's business from there. He sent his nephew George (Alexander's son) to South Carolina to superintend his plantations there, and it is George's letters about his experiences in South Carolina that are included here.

The Cumines were neighbors and friends of the Ogilvies and fought beside them in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. In addition, Alexander Ogilvie, the recipient of three of the Alexander Cumine letters included here, was married to Mary Cumine, daughter of George Cumine of Pitullie, and hence it seems likely that the correspondents were related by marriage.