This collection contains three letters from Rev. James H. Saye, a South Carolina Presbyterian minister during the Civil War. All of the letters were written in 1863 from Saye's home, Oakly Hall [i.e., Oakley Hall], in Chester County, South Carolina. Writing to Rev. W. T. Savage on July 7, Saye remarks on the falling value of Confederate money, then relays news of his children and shares information on several ministers, many of them serving as army chaplains. Saye despairs of the present circumstances, and he further comments on the Confederate economy and rampant speculation. In a second letter to Savage on November 30, Saye insists on paying a debt with Confederate currency, "1st because there is no other in circulation, except the shin-plasters on Tom Dick & Harry ... 2nd Refusal to take Confederate currency is, in my view, the most effectual way to cripple the government & bring about our subjugation." He further comments at length on the Confederate economy and the patriotic duty to conduct transactions in Confederate currency.

On September 25, Saye writes to his niece, Harriet R. McJunkin, relaying news of family and friends. He notes that daughter Harriet is teaching school and Dr. Shaw (Saye's son-in-law Theodore Munson Shaw) has resigned from the cavalry and is serving as assistant surgeon with the 22nd South Carolina Infantry. Saye comments on the war and on local speculators: "[W]e have had here even in S.C. a respectable corps of specualtors who are ready for any enterprise to make money. I believe some of them would not only sell Jeff Davis but their wives [and] children for gold so completely has Mammon possessed their souls." He briefly notes the whereabouts and statuses--including battlefield deaths--of several relatives serving in various theaters of the war, then invites Harriet to stay at his house if the need arises. "If you think it think it desirable," Saye writes, "bring your negroes with you as they are more exposed to Yankee cruelty than any other species of property. Slave-labor is still in high demand in this region."