Series 3 - McGiffert/McGifford letters

2 sub-series

Transcripts of the McGiffert/McGifford letters were created by Mabel Patton Morrison, great-granddaughter of James McGiffert from the original manuscripts which their relative David G. McGiffert found in a safe on the McGiffert property in Steeles Bluff, Alabama circa the 1920s. The manuscripts are now held in PRONI [reference number T3388/3].

Materials pertaining to 34 letters written by members of the McGiffert/McGifford family between 1849 and 1860. The American branch of the family spelled their surname 'McGiffert' rather than McGifford. William (who wrote many of the letters) and David (who received most of the letters) McGiffert were the sons of James McGiffert of Portaferry, County Down (emigrated 1817) and Mary Dunlap of South Carolina. The David McGiffert branch ultimately settled at Steeles Bluff, Alabama, where the letters were rediscovered on the family farm circa the 1920s. Two Irish cousins, William McGifford and John McDonnell, settled in Melbourne, Australia; they also sent a number of letters to David. David's cousins Isabella McGifford and Rachel McDonnell, still in Portaferry, also feature as frequent letter writers during the 1850s. Of note, the cousins write to David hoping that slavery will be abolished in America; David himself was a slaveholder. The series contains transcripts of the letters, research on the McGifferts and McGiffords, correspondence between Kerby A. Miller and historical institutions created while researching the families, and copies of secondary research sources.