The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Slavery and Indentured Servitude Collection 1752-1864
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Slavery and Indentured Servitude Collection |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1752-1864 |
| Size: | 0.5 linear feet (1 box) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Contains seven documents pertaining to indentured servants (1766-1785). The remaining documents relate to slavery and include bills of sale, a memorandum describing the slave trade in Havana (1783), estate inventories, public notices, letters, deeds, a will, and indemnity bonds. Many of the documents are facsimiles. |
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When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Slavery and Indentured Servitude Collection, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
The forty-seven documents in this collection cover the period 1752 to 1864. Although acquired by the University Library from diverse sources they have been gathered together as a collection as a matter of convenience.
All the documents, a number of which are facsimiles, are in English with the exception of one bill of sale from New Orleans. Kentucky, South Carolina, and New Orleans are most frequently represented. Place could not be assigned to a number of documents in the collection.
The collection has been divided into two series. Series I: Indentured Servitude Documents, includes seven items concerning indentured servants from 1766-1785. Five of these relate to redemptioners transported in 1785 aboard the ship Favorite.
Series II: Slavery Documents, contains forty documents on slavery, including bills of sale, receipts, estate inventories and appraisals, public notices and other items documenting slavery and the slave trade.
The majority of documents, specifically the bills of sale, "deeds of inventory," and a number from the miscellaneous section, are in the hand of a clerk, who has himself signed the document on behalf of the person concerned. On the reverse side of many of the documents are acknowledgements of the transactions, or similar clerical notes, such as the information that this deed was recorded in the local County Court. The recurrence of certain names, such as that of Gideon Evans in the bills of sale in folders 13, 16, 17 and 23, indicates that these documents probably came to the Library together.
Series I: Indentured Servitude Documents |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Indenture of James Sverille by Roger Sterry etc., Preston, Conn., 1766 January 6 D.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Bishop, C., Corck, to Captain Nicholas Vilana, on board the Ship Favorite, concerning the passage of the redemptioners on the Favorite, 1783 October 10 A.L.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Messrs. Vaughan Hamilton & Co. in Account with The Owners of Ship Favorite, [1785] D. 3p. |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Ship Favorite to Messrs. Vaughan Hamilton & Co. [1785] D. 2p. |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Account of Germans delivered from the Ship Favorite, August- September, 1785, [1785] D. 4p. |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Sales of redemptioners of the Ship Favorite from Amsterdam, September-November, 1785, [1785] D. 9p. |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | List of Indentured Servants on board the Vigor, 1785 January 30 D. 32p. |
Series II: Slavery Documents |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Seagrove, James, Havana, to Messrs. Alexander & Co. [of Philadelphia], describing the state of the slave trade and urging the company to take part in it, 1783 March 3 A.L.S. 4p. |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Bill of sale, slave named Peter, sold to Jonathan Forbes by John Fitzgerald and John Robertson, Lincoln County, Ky., 1797 June D.S. 2p. (recorded in Lincoln County, Ky., 1797, July 11) |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Bill of Sale for one slave, Peliade, sold to Jean Chager by Paul Sacour Dubourg, New Orleans, 1834 October 22 D.S. 2p. (approved in New Orleans, 1834, November 11) |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Bill of Sale for one slave, Rachel, and her daughter Elizabeth, sold to an unknown person by Rufus Reid, n.p., 1836 July 25 A.D.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Bill of sale for one slave sold to Doctor Richard Allen by Mary Allston, A.W. Campbell and R.F.W. Allston, the executors of Jos. W. Allston, Charleston, S.C., 1837 February 1 D.S. 1p. (including positive photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Bill of Sale for one slave, Matilda, and her son George, sold to James Johnson by Gideon Evans, Barnwell District, S.C., 1844 March 15 A.D.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Bill of Sale for one [female] slave, sold to Thomas Humphries at public outcry, formerly the property of Jacob Collins, dec'd., Baldwin County, n.p., 1847 February 2 D.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Bill of Sale for slaves sold and prices brought at an Auction Sale, New Orleans, 1851 January 28 D. 1p. (including positive photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Bill of Sale for a slave, sold to S.S. Evans by Gideon Evans, Barnwell District, S.C., 1853 April 4 D. 4p. (approved 1853 August 2) |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | Bill of Sale for one [male] slave, sold to S.S. Evans by Gideon Evans, Aiken, S.C., 1854 April 1 D.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | Bill of Sale for a girl slave, Sarah, sold to B.J. Brockman by Z.T. Smith, Laurens District, S.C., 1856 May 3 D.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | Bill of Sale for six slaves, Betsey, Roberta, Henry, John, an unnamed boy and an infant, sold to John w. Munn by Bartholomew and Jeanette M. Labuzan, Mobile County, Ala., 1857 April 22 D. 3p. (acknowledged the same day) |
| Box 1 Folder 20 | Bill of Sale for one girl slave, sold to B.J. Brockman by W.C. Kilgore, n.p., 1858 September 13 D.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 21 | Bill of sale for a slave named Charles of Charlot, sold to Ursin and Alfred Dellardes by Charles Arthur Gayarre, New Orleans, 1858 October 8 D.S. 4p. (recorded 1858 October 9) |
| Box 1 Folder 22 | Bill of Sale for one boy named Lewis, sold to B.J. and J.[K]. Brockman by B.H. Wofford, Spartan burg, S.C., 1860 September 7 D. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 23 | Bill of Sale for one woman slave and her child, sold to Milledge T. Holly by Gideon Evans, Barnwell District, S.C., 1861 July 10 D.S. 4p. (recorded 1861 September 30) |
| Box 1 Folder 24 | Bill of Sale for one slave, sold to Eugene Hacker by George W. Dunbar, New Orleans, 1862 February 8 D.S. 4p. (including positive photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 25 | Bill of Sale for the exchange of slaves between Bertrand Salay and Marie Justine Poche Keller, New Orleans, 1862 April 1 D.S. 4p. SEE ALSO Folder 47 |
| Box 1 Folder 26 | of the Estate of Moses Linton, dec'd., Fairfax County, [Virginia ?], 1752 October 18 D. 2p. (including positive photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 27 | and appraisement of the Estate of Arthur McClure, dec'd., n.p., 1796 November 23 D. 2p. (recorded in Lincoln County, Ky., 1798 October 9.) |
| Box 1 Folder 28 | and appraisement of the personal property of Richardson Tuggle, dec'd., n.p., 1864 June 4 D. 4p. (included positive photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 29 | Advertisement for a runaway slave, a Negro fellow named Jack, put out by Luke Troy and offering a reward, New York, 1760 December 31 D. 1p. (photograph) |
| Box 1 Folder 30 | Announcement of a Trustee Sale of one Negro woman and her five children, to be held on September 20, Rockville, n.p., 1826 August 31 D. 1p. (negative photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 31 | Sheriff's notice of the intention of Benjamin Morgan to emancipate his slave, Helen, New Orleans, 1848 July 12 D. 2p. (and note that no opposition was filed, 1848 August 22 Includes positive photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 32 | Printed notice of a forthcoming Auction Sale of Negroes and Real Estate, to be held on Monday May 11, at 10 a.m., Mobile County, Ala., [18-] D. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 33 | Poster offering $300.00 reward for two runaway slaves, put out by A.D. Wroe, Prince William Country, Va., [18-] D. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 34 | Last Will and Testament of James Shaw, Province of New York, 1772 April 18 D. 5p. |
| Box 1 Folder 35 | Sandsberris, Isaac, n.p., to Alexander Hamilton, n.p. re a sick slave, 1778 June 30 A.L.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 36 | Bill of Sale for goods and chattels, to John Coons from Jeremiah Williams, [Lexington District, Ky.], 1799 April 11 D. 3p. (acknowledged in Lexington District, Ky., 1799 April 11) |
| Box 1 Folder 37 | Certification of the birth of a child to his slave, Lily, by Gilbert Pell, filed in New York according to law, 1801 April 18 D.S. 1p. (included positive photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 38 | Manumission from John and Betsy Allen to their Negro slaves, George, Simon, Hester, Hannah, Jack, Scipio, approved in the Harrison County October Court, [Ky.], 1823 D. 2p. |
| Box 1 Folder 39 | Deed of gift of a Negro child named William, a slave for life, to Helen Duncan from William Duncan, [Harrison County, Ky.], 1828 November 28 2p. (approved in Harrison County Clerk's Office, Ky., 1829 April 13) |
| Box 1 Folder 40 | Deed of mortgage on slaves, to Joseph Forges from Reuben Forbes, [Lincoln County, Ky.], 1830 February 23 D. 3p. (recorded in Lincoln County, Ky. 1830 February 24.) |
| Box 1 Folder 41 | Memorandum concerning northern abolitionist sentiment, from the General Assembly of Alabama to the General Assemblies of the several states in the Union, signed by C.C. Clay, [Tuskaloona ?] Ala., 1836 January 9 D.S. 2p. (negative photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 42 | Clay, C.C., Governor of Alabama, Tuskaloona, Ala. to His Excellency the Governor of Illinois, n.p., 1836 January 22 A.L.S. 2p. (negative photostat) |
| Box 1 Folder 43 | Bond of indemnity to prevent emancipated slave, Rhoda, from becoming chargeable to the County, Lincoln County, Ky., 1844 April 1 D. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 44 | Bondar, Thomas, New Orleans, to W.W. Hall, slave dealer, Norfolk, Va., re an enclosed check (missing) for proceeds of the sale of a Negro woman, Julia Downing, 1849 March 2 A.L.S. 1p. |
| Box 1 Folder 45 | Order appointing commissioners to allot and divide the Negro slaves of Beverly Broaddus, dec'd., between his heirs, Lincoln County, Ky., 1855 September 7 D. 2p. |
| Box 1 Folder 46 | Report of the commissioners on the allotment of the slaves of Beverly Broaddus amongst his heirs, Lincoln County, Ky., 1855 September 8 D.S. 2p. (recorded in Lincoln County, Ky. 1855 November 5) |
| Box 1 Folder 47 | Grant of a petition for the sale of certain slaves, and Bill of Sale for one of them, sold to S.S. Evans by James Patterson, Barnwell District, S.C., 1863 March 2 D. 2p. |
| Box 1 Folder 48 | Bill of sale for two adult slaves, Martin and Dilsa, for 800 dollars. Issued by Jacob Reinhardt to Henry Cauble, in Lincolnton, Lincoln County, North Carolina, 1834, November 7 D.S. 2p. |