Letter

CSA 2, 10¢ light blue left sheet margin, roughly torn at right and added to cover on which it is “tied” blue COLUMBIA / S.C. // OCT / 28 (incorrect date), gray  illuminated Columbia Female College design (CSA Catalog SC-03, CV $1,250) with original April 17, 1862 enclosure of Exchange Bank of Columbia, S.C., from cashier to A. B. Springs, Fort Mills, S.C., Ex Littlejohn. $230.

Andrew Baxter Springs (1819-1886) was one of York County’s best known and respected men. He owned Springfield plantation north of the small town of Fort Mill and was one of the York County representatives in the SC legislature. The Yorkville Enquirer in 1858 wrote about Springs: "Major Springs is the most assiduous cultivator of fine fruit in the whole country and can boast of an orchard of the rarest and most delicious fruits. His selections of stock are from the nurseries of the South, and constitute much of the variety that produce through the entire fruit season." Amazingly enough, Springs Farm of Fort Mill is still in business today. Springs enlisted in the Confederate Army but, because of age, he was sent home.