Results

  1. The Richest Slave
    date 1845 to 1846map ST MARY, Louisianatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In the fall of 1845, caterpillars destroyed the cotton crop in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, where Solomon Northup was enslaved. His master, along with other planters, sent their slaves, including Northup, south to St. Mary's Parish to hire themselves out on the sugar plantations where labor was needed and wages were high. Northup was hired out to a Judge Turner who lived on the Bayou Salle. After being...

  2. A Happy Band of Slaves
    date February 3, 1839map TERRITORY, Territorytags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    An incident at the Wharf of Mr. McKinnie and Mr. Williams gave Frances Sheridan something to write critically about in his journal. Here he saw a settler arriving in Texas with a group of slaves. The large band of black enslaved men and women moved about without cares; they laughed and joke as they ate their biscuits. A man only identified as the entertainer of the group created comic relief when he...

  3. Paternalism, Slaveholders, and the Guilty Conscience
    date February 27, 1851map ADAMS, Mississippitags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On February 27, 1851, John M. Folkes wrote a letter in response to a request he had received from a man named Benjamin Drake. In his reply, he addressed Drake's plea for Folkes to surrender a number of his slaves. Throughout the letter, there was a tacit understanding of Drake's financial difficulties; one can assume from Folkes' reply that the end aspiration of Drake's request is purely monetary in...

  4. Settlers and Slavery
    date January 2, 1830map TERRITORY, Territorytags African-Americans, Economy, Government, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery

    The steamboat made it safely over the sand bar and arrived at the mouth of the Brazos River in Texas. Upon landing, William Hunter quickly composed a letter to his business associate James Perry to give tidings of his safe arrival. Hunter noted to Perry the presence of 30 Negroes on board and wrote of his plan to inquire of the owner, a settler from Alabama, about the means of their transport into...

  5. A Typical Monday for Mary Austin Holley
    date February 26, 1838map TERRITORY, Territorytags Arts/Leisure, Education, Slavery, Women

    In her diary Mary Austin Holley jotted down the events of her afternoon with friends. She enjoyed pleasant conversation as well as the beautiful surroundings. She made note of the impressive collection of books, and in particular the various curiosities displayed throughout the parlor. Holley's friends, Mr. and Mrs. Wharton, boasted all sorts of fascinating relics, once owned by famous figures in Mexican...

  6. Mortgaging Property
    date April 8, 1838map LAFOURCHE, Louisianatags Agriculture, Economy, Slavery

    In April of 1838, George Guion wrote to the Thibodeauxville Branch of Union Bank of Louisiana asking for a loan of 5,000 in addition to a 10,000 mortgage he already had from the bank on his plantation and slaves. Guion wrote that his plantation had increased in both size and productivity since his first application for a loan due to the fencing of his land, the erection of a cotton gin and a gristmill,...