This collection is signed by James Adger Smyth (1837-1920) of Charleston, South Carolina. His father, Thomas Smyth, served as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston from 1832 until 1873. His mother, Margaret Milligan Adger Smyth was the daughter of a Charleston shipping merchant, James Adger. James Adger Smyth was a successful business man throughout his life. Adger graduated from the College of Charleston in 1858 and began working at his uncles' wholesale hardware firm, J.E. Adger & Company. He married Annie Ransom Briggs, the daughter of Cedar Grove Plantation owner, Thomas Whitaker Briggs in March of 1860. He was present at the signing of the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession, December 1860. Early in 1862, at the age of 24, Adger enlisted and fought with Company A of the 25th Regiment of the South Carolina Volunteers until the end of the war in 1865. He witnessed many battles throughout his time in the Confederate Army such as, the fight to preserve the Weldon Railroad connection, the aftermath of the Battles of Hawe's Shop and the Battle of the Crater.

After the war he resumed work with his maternal uncles, Robert Adger and Joseph Ellison Adger, at J.E Adger & Company. During his ten years in the company he became an active member in the Chamber of Commerce. In 1875, Adger became an independent cotton broker, and along with his cousin, Andrew Moffett Adger, started the company Smyth and Adger, successfully brokering cotton from North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Adger grew increasingly involved in local politics. He was member of the State and County Democratic Executive Committees (1876), City Council (1885), and mayor for two four-year terms (1896 to 1903). He retired in 1904.