The collection contains an original typescript memoir by James Adger Smyth (1837-1920) of Charleston, South Carolina, as well as a transcript of the memoir and an introduction/brief biography by a descendant. The typescript begins when he at the end of his college career and continues throughout his life in Charleston, South Carolina. He writes about his experiences in the Amiercan Civil War, as a businessman, as a Chamber of Commerce member, as mayor, and other life events.