Two manuscript volumes, 19 March 1860-21 November 1868 and 11 April 1871-3 February 1874, receipt books of Charleston, South Carolina, attorney, legislator, and militia general James Simons constitute a record of personal and business expenditures, in particular those of the Charleston law firm of Simons and Simons.

In addition to receipts for such mundane expenses as coal and gas, there are receipts for payments for the tuition of his children, for pew rent and choir subscription at St. Paul’s Church, for the “privilege of crossing and recrossing Charleston Bridge,” and to E. Merker for building artillery carriages for the state of South Carolina. The bulk of the transactions relate to the business of the law firm and include both entries penned upon the pages of the books and extraneous manuscripts tipped in.

James Simons (1813 1879) was speaker of the house in the South Carolina legislature when the Civil War began. During the war, he served as brigadier general of the South Carolina Militia Fourth Infantry Brigade. After the war, he and his son, James, Jr. (1839 1919) practiced law in Charleston as Simons and Simons.