Slaveholders -- Alabama

Abstract

Two letters written from Cahawba, Alabama, to Rowland G. Hazard in Peace Dale, Rhode Island. The first, dated 14 July 1839, orders shoes for Beene's sixty-eight slaves and includes a list of slaves and a measurement of their feet in inches. In the second, dated 16 December 1841, Beene expresses dissatisfaction with both shoes and prices.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a manuscript estate inventory for Thomas Coker, a deceased resident of Wilcox County, Alabama, dated August 4 and August 11, 1848. The inventory, compiled by court-appointed appraisers, lists over 120 items of personal and real property including livestock, agricultural products, household furnishings, tools, and notably, twenty-five enslaved individuals. Each enslaved person is listed by name and assigned a monetary value ranging from $200 to $800, reflecting...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a writ issued in 1833 by the clerk of Lawrence County, Alabama, directing the local sheriff to apprehend James B. Wallace and bring him before the courthouse in Moulton, Alabama. Claborn Sandage, the plainiff in the case agains Wallace, claimed that Wallace unlawfully took possession of an enslaved man named George, whom Sandage valued at $800. Since the document also contains Wallace's acknowledgement of receipt and lists terms related to damages and bail, it...

Abstract

Papers of an important Dallas County, Alabama, planter family, including correspondence, household and plantation records, materials regarding James Boykin’s cavalry unit during the Civil War, and papers of Boykin's descendants down to the mid-twentieth century.

Scope and Contents This collection documents the economic operations of James Dellet's plantation in Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama, with a particular focus on enslaved labor. It includes:A letter from political figure John Murphy to Dellet (1829) discussing debt repayment likely tied to plantation or labor dealings.A list titled “List of Negroes sent to James Dillet's Plantation,” detailing fifteen enslaved individuals, mostly women, valued at $9,180.A second inventory,...

Abstract

Business correspondence, accounts, legal documents, and other materials (including the selling and purchasing of slaves) of this 19th century Marengo County, Alabama, plantation owner.

Scope and Contents This collection contains two letters written in 1850 by Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson, a prominent Alabama lawyer, planter, and future Confederate politician. In these letters, Dawson discusses his use of enslaved people as financial assets, illustrating a calculated approach that Southern elites took in managing human property. Dawson outlines how enslaved individuals under his control were evaluated, deployed, hired out, or considered for sale to meet family financial obligations and...

Abstract

Documents relating to the Mississippi and Alabama plantations of the Brown family, including bills of sale for slaves; receipts for tool repair, clothing, dry goods; tax receipts listing the number of slaves; business letters; and various legal agreements and other court documents.