Box 4250.001

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of a tax return detailing the numbers of enslaved persons imported into Chatham County from June 30 to September 30, 1796, signed by W. Norment. A total of 936 enslaved people were imported by three different individuals or firms--Caige, McLeod & Company; Robert Watts; and Ewing & McCall--at a tax of "ten dollars per head," yielding $9,360.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of two legal documents. The first, dated September 16, 1801, states that Matthias Crumb, then about to marry a widow, Margaret Eastridge, is to sell some of his property to Abigail Swearingen to establish an estate that will provide for the future maintenance of his new wife and her heirs. The sale included an enslaved person named Bobb, about eighteen years old; as well as "four head of horses, and two feather beds." This document was witnessed by Worden Pope and...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a letter dated August 8, 1803, written by Richard Dennis in Philadelphia to John Milledge, Governor of Georgia, concerning two free women of color who had evidently been detained at Savannah, Georgia, en route to Baltimore by persons who then attempted to sell them. Dennis informed Milledge that he was called on by two men from Philadelphia who claimed to have papers proving the women's free status and stating that "should there be any thing in those papers to...

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of a bill of sale indicating that William Garrard sold Samuel Luckett two enslaved women and an enslaved girl for the sum of $290: Judah, age twenty; Aggy, age nineteen; and Lourinna, age three. There are two addenda to the document, dated January 8, 1807 and February 1, 1813. The 1807 addendum is written from "Jefferson County."

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Two bills of George W. Carmichael and Company, one of them detailing the hiring charges for an enslaved person named Charly. Both are signed by Worden Pope, 1806-1807. Pope also added to the second bill, "I assign the balance due on the within account to William Chambers."

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This collection consists of a letter by Robert B. McAfee dated March 2, 1813, freeing an enslaved person named Cornelius "from all claims from me & my heirs and he is hence forth to be & act as a free man." The letter was witnessed by James Campbell. The annotation states that it was recorded at the May sitting of the Mercer County Court, attested by John Jethen.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a letter by John Watson to William Rabun, president of the Georgia Senate and acting governor. Watson's letter is a protest to the governor regarding a matter concerning fifty-nine "African negroes." Watson had been given a writ of arrest for the Africans, but was prevented by force from taking them into his custody by "Dr. Charly Williamson and others, acting or claiming to act as the agent of the Executive of Georgia," who intended to "expose" the Africans to...

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A legal brief by Georgia attorney and state agent William Law describing the status of two cases involving seized enslaved persons, circa 1830. One case pertained to Spanish claims surrounding three vessels, the Poletena, the Tentativa, and the Syrena.

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This collection consists of a letter from Samuel Steele in "B. Springs" to a Colonel Daniel Coleman in Pittsylvania, inquiring whether Coleman is willing to let Steele hire two people named Charles and John "at a fair price." Steele understood that F. G. Glascock--who was responsible for Charles and John--had left all of his business affairs in Coleman's hands.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of Richardson's last will and testament, dated July 31, 1838, which was witnessed by Richard A. Buckner, George W. Towles, Eliza Buckner, and Joshua L. Brents. The will is twelve pages long. It covers furniture, horses, saddles, house, lands, liquid assets, livestock, and enslaved persons. Some of the latter he freed, and over the remainder he set conditions by which his wife and heirs had to abide, including not selling those individuals to cover debts or moving...

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This collection consists of a single receipt written by Carlet G. Richardson for a sum of $311.67 received from S. J. Tinker for the hire of enslaved persons, the sale of an enslaved individual, and other activities between 1839-1841.

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A legal document detailing sums owed to Ellen McDowell by Woodford McDowell for the hire of enslaved persons, farm rental, and other services that took place between 1845-1869. "Bullitt Circuit Court" appears at the top.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a letter dated October 19, 1847, from W. G. Hann to Thompson M. Parish of Lake Providence, Louisiana, agreeing to Parish's proposal to take Lucy, an enslaved person belonging to Hann, in lieu of payment for a debt, if that debt is as much as $500, Hann being uncertain of the exact amount since his books are not with him. The rest of the letter discusses Lucy's health, the conditions where Hann is living, and his financial circumstances. The letter is written from...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a letter, an invoice, and a receipt relating the hire of Alexander, an enslaved person owned by Mrs. Sarah Williams, by an M. Stanly. In his letter, Stanly offers to pay Williams $13 per month plus board, and asks Williams to pay for Alexander's clothing and bear any loss owing to sickness. If either Williams or Alexander became unsatisfied with the latter's situation, the arrangement could be terminated on two weeks' notice. Stanly asked Williams, should she...

Scope and Contents A deposition by W. L. Campbell involving a lawsuit against James Campbell over ownership of an enslaved woman named Harriet and her children, Elkton, Kentucky, April 12, 1849. The testimony reveals that in the summer of 1845, James Campbell asked W. L. "to write a letter to Maria Louvard a sister of the negro woman and at the same time he showed me a letter from the s[ai]d Maria requesting him to hire her the women he had purchased of Thomas Campbell and he stated that In [sic] his reply...

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The collection contains four pages from an illustrated German version of Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Each page contains four panels depicting scenes from the book, with short blocks of accompanying text.

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Two depositions, one by William Waltrip, the other by Franklin Wright, in a suit alleging that a Mr. Lashbrook had sold Matilda, a sick enslaved woman, to one Byrd Wall under false pretenses, Calhoun, Kentucky, May 25, 1852.

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This collection consists of a bill of sale by Jacob Ramser, Barbour County, Alabama, acknowledging the payment by Alpheus Baker of $1,000 for William, an enslaved man of about twenty years old. Ramser warrants William to be of sound mind and body, "except that three of the toes of his right foot have been partially cut off."

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Receipt from Mary Allen, acknowledging full payment from William Allen for the work done by Bill, an enslaved man. The receipt is also signed by Jacob L. Boswell.

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This collection consists of a copy of the pamphlet The Experience of Thomas Jones, Who Was a Slave for Forty-Three Years, "written by a friend, as given to him by Brother Jones." It was printed by H. S. Taylor of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1854. The pamphlet is forty-eight pages long and includes, in addition to Jones's narrative, testimonial letters from three New England clergymen.

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This collection consists of a receipt signed by A. L. Armstrong acknowledging payment at the rate of three shillings per day from Benjamin Johnston for the work time lost by Bill, an enslaved man owned by Armstrong, after being struck by "Tho. Phillips."

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A receipt, dated December 12, 1860, from T. B. Greenley acknowledging payment by Oliver Joyce of a debt owed to Greenley by Woodford McDowell for medical treatment of Alonzo, an enslaved child.

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This collection consists of a note from Louisiana A. Boykin, acknowledging the receipt of $1500 from Thomas Boykin in payment for an enslaved man named Buck, who was about twenty-three years old, "sound and healthy in Body & mind except Hernia." The transaction took place in Columbus, Georgia.

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This collection consists of a deposition by James S. Fruit, L. R. Burk, and John L. Blangy, attesting to their attendance at a court case in Henderson County, Kentucky, on September 3, 1864. In the case, three men--J.W. Henderson, G.W. Scott, and Moses Harris--were tried for attemping to help Newton, an enslaved man who had escaped, to cross the Ohio River and join the Union Army. Newton's owner was Archibald Dixon.

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This collection consists of a financial statement by John McDowell concerning outstanding debts owed to Emily McDowell that have devolved to him as "Committee of Emily McDowell," September 25, 1871. Most of these debts were accrued through the employment of enslaved persons named Milly, Sam, Minerva, and Maria, during the mid-1840s.

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This collection consists of a seventy-two-page paperbound copy of Negro Slave Revolts in the United States, 1526-1860 (New York: International Publishers, 1939), by Marxist historian Herbert Aptheker (1915-2003). The work challenged existing stereotypes of African American docility.

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This collection consists of a letter from J. W. Scott to Adam Beatty of Washington, Kentucky, written from Perrysburg, Ohio, February 23, 1835. The opening paragraph mentions some enslaved persons of Beatty's who escaped their captivity, whom Scott suggests "are yet in the interior of this state." The remainder of the letter concerns land transactions in anticipation of the expected route of the Wabash and Erie Canal.