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  1. John Dewery in Prison
    date January 7, 1836map CLARKE, Alabamatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Law, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    John Dewery, a bright mulatto...nineteen or twenty years old, found himself in a precarious situation. As he was sitting in the Clark County Jail in Alabama on January 7, 1836, the Mobile Commercial Register published an announcement about his capture and arrest as an escaped slave. This was problematic because he swore in vain that he was a freed person. Nevertheless, the paper reported that if his...

  2. Clement C. Clay's Fears for the Democratic Party
    date January 19, 1841map AUTAUGA, Alabamatags Government, Politics, Slavery

    Evidently, Clement Comer Clay had been driving Dixon Hall Lewis absolutely crazy. Clay, a U.S. senator from Alabama, was in a feeling of intense anxiety concerning the upcoming election of 1841. Lewis, an Alabama representative, was getting rather annoyed. At Clay's request, Lewis finally sat down to write a letter on January 18, 1841, to Benjamin Fitzpatrick, his brother-in-law and wealthy planter...

  3. Sam Forwood's Fatherly Advice
    date October 8, 1846map CLARKE, Alabamatags Agriculture, Health/Death, Economy, Education

    On October 8, 1846, in Clark County, Alabama, Sam Forwood wrote a letter to his sixteen-year-old son, William Stump Forwood, who was living in Maryland with his grandmother for schooling.Young William had been questioning what occupation he should pursue, and his father had several points of advice. Sam advised his son to pursue the profession of medicine. As Sam explained it, becoming a doctor would...

  4. Sylvia, the Runaway Slave
    date September 30, 1836map CONECUH, Alabamatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Slavery, Women

    In 1836, Sylvia, about twenty years of age, of common size, very likely and almost black, was sold from her plantation in Conecuh County, Alabama to the plantation of Thomas L. Stark in Washington County. Perhaps she was separated from her husband. Perhaps she left behind a child. Whatever the circumstances, Sylvia decided to run away. After several months with no sign of Sylvia, her owner finally...

  5. B.F. Porter's Gin House
    date February 21, 1842map TUSCALOOSA, Alabamatags Arts/Leisure, Crime/Violence, Economy

    B.F. Porter was an important individual around Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Not only was he a practicing lawyer, but he owned a large crop of cotton and produced valuable gin. However, someone apparently had a problem with his extracurricular activities. On February 21, 1842, the Mobile Commercial Register reported that Mr. Porter's gin house, along with his entire cotton crop, went up in flames only...

  6. The Torture of Prisoners at Auburn
    date May 8, 1839map INDIAN LANDS, Alabamatags Crime/Violence, Government, Law

    Imprisonment at Auburn in Lee County, Alabama was literally torturous in 1839. On May 8, 1839, the Mobile Commercial Register published that a committee was investigating reports of certain cruelties towards prisoners. Upon surveying the prison, the committee confirmed that the prison keepers did in fact torture and whip the prisoners, so much that the doctors frequently had to visit to treat their...