Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

Consists of a price list taken from the log of the merchant ship Daniel and Henry that sailed for the Guinea Coast of Africa from Dartmouth, England, on February 24, 1700, with a cargo of goods valued at £2252 in the care of Walter Prideaux. Prideaux has marked 37 of the 48 items listed as particularly recommended for Gold Coast trading.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a manuscript indenture in six parts on four vellum sheets (70 x 90cm) recording the sale, for £12,000, of the Mount Charles Plantation in Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, to Sir Henry Clinton (1738?-1795), a British army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1772 and 1795 and served as Commander-in-Chief of the British forces during the American Revolutionary War. The sale included the Mount Charles Plantation (later known as the Middleton Plantation), as well as another parcel of land known as "Middleton Penn," 247 enslaved laborers (all of whom are listed by name and occupation), and all future children born to the enslaved women listed.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a 15-page manuscript copy (possibly made in 1830) of the first American census conducted in 1790, with statistics about the number of enslaved persons in each state, broken down by county. The only columns filled in are those labeled "slave population," "all other," and "total."

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a ten-page manuscript copy of a document by British General Charles Grey and Vice Admiral John Jervis, extracted from the Registers of the Supreme Council of Martinique and translated into English from French. The document regards the British capture of Martinique from the French in 1794, complaints against prior French colonial rule of the island, and the status of enslaved persons, free people of color, and French settlers living on Martinique, among other subjects. It includes a threat to free people of color that British troops would treat them as enslaved if they were found armed. The document is docketed "Claim of Mon. Michel de Mallespine," and the first two pages include an affidavit by Marie Joseph Roignan, the wife of the Principal Register of the Sovereign Council of Martinique, Pierre Simon Roignan.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript indenture for a fourteen-year-old girl written by her guardian, apprenticing her to another family to learn the "Misteries of Housework" until her eighteenth birthday.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of an eleven-page manuscript account book, titled "Livre C," documenting the financial accounts of the French cosair Républicaine under the command of French naval officer Pierre-Marie Le Bozec (1769-1830) in 1798 and 1799. In 1798, during the Quasi-War with the United States, the Républicaine captured the American vessel Alert, captained by Robert Gray. Le Bozec also used the Républicaine to seize and transport enslaved Africans. The Républicaine's privateering career ended in July 1799 when the vessel was captured off the coast of Surinam by the British frigate HMS Tamar with seventy captive Africans on board. The account book contains over 150 entries, including itemized lists of prizes taken during the vessel's high-seas privateering ventures just before the Napoleonic Wars.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Two-page letter from General Quantin at Fort Dauphin (Fort-Liberté), Haiti, to General Ferrand at Port-Margot, concerning French efforts to suppress the Haitian Revolution, specifically the Saint-Domingue expedition that was sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to restore French rule and slavery in the colony, which was in a state of insurgence by Toussaint Louverture's independence movement. The letter mentions the French Law of 20 May 1802 to reinstate slavery; the interception of supplies; Quantin's efforts to maintain control of Fort-Dauphin, which had recently been re-captured by French troops; the abandonment of two other forts by his colleagues; indigenous people who were deserting the island as refugees; and espionage and other efforts undertaken by his troops against the revolutionaries.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a manuscript invoice and agreement between Captain Miller F. Wickham of Rhode Island (United States) and Philip Lewis and John Boyd of Cape Coast Castle (Ghana) for the sale of the entire cargo of Captain Wickham's ship Favourite, including eighty enslaved men and women described as "fair and merchantable slaves" and $7135.48 worth of supplies, including tobacco, alcohol, molasses, and other provisions. The invoice contains a detailed list of supplies and corresponding values.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Two printed and manuscript indentures for two children apprenticed as domestic servants to Killian K. Van Rensselaer (1763-1845), a United States Representative for New York. The 1808 indenture is for a four-year-old girl named Betty Ten Eyck, who is described as a "little black girl," from Lyden Ten Eyck. The 1810 indenture is for an eleven-year-old boy named Barent Dance from Walter Dance.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Bill of sale for two enslaved children from Joseph Jackson in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey, to Robert Ogden in Sparta, Sussex County, New Jersey, for one dollar. The document names the children as Jupiter (born May 12, 1807) and Polly (born May 9, 1809) and indicates that their mother was named Abigail. The bill of sale, which refers to the gradual abolition of slavery in New Jersey, specifies that the children would remain enslaved until they reached the ages of 25 (for Jupiter) and 21 (for Polly).

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript bill of sale of an enslaved "negro" woman for sixty dollars from Jacob Cozine of Flatbush, Kings County, New York, to Elizabeth Sprouls of Jamaica, Queens County, New York.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a manuscript "carta de liberdade" written by Catharine de Sena Gomes of Brazil, freeing a formerly enslaved man named Manoel Creole for the price of 96 mil-réis.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript bill of sale of an enslaved eleven-year-old girl for 350 dollars.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript valuation of enslaved laborers, including one man (Martin), two women (Delphia and Poll), four children (Guy, Panelle, Anou, and Delphia), and an infant, formerly owned by the deceased Berrald Innes. The valuation was called for by Colonel Robert Innes and his brothers, among whom their brother's property would be split. The document is signed by Robert Innes, Hugh Innes, James Innes, Elizabeth E. Innes, and Harry James. The Innes family was likely from Fayette County, Kentucky.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Printed and manuscript indenture by trustees Joseph Grubb and Robert Forwood for a four-year-old girl described as a "poor coloured Child," apprenticing her until her eighteenth birthday to learn "housewifery," reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of Antiguan financial and legal documents from the decade in which slavery was abolished on the island (1834). There are receipts and accounts documenting barrels of corn meal purchased at specified prices to maintain African and/or African-Antiguan people enslaved by John Lavicount Sr. on his plantation on Antigua.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a nine-page manuscript list of enslaved men, women, and children, as well as livestock, on the Westmoreland, Jamaica, plantation of James Graham Crawfuird of Gartur, Scotland.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript and printed deed of sale for two enslaved men, Sam (age 23) and James (alias "Charles," age 21), for 1150 dollars.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Printed and manuscript bill of sale of an enslaved boy for 372 dollars.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of an inventory and appraisal of the "goods, chattels, and personal estate" of the deceased Edward Engelhard, which lists household items and supplies, as well as enslaved persons, including Fanny (24 years old) along with her three children, Jane, Alverten, and Washington, Moses (43 years old), Billy (17 years old), Alfred (17 years old), Tolbert (12 years old), and Mary (14 years old).

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Two-page letter, marked "confidential," from Embree, who was then United States Representative for Indiana, to Porter, who was an Indiana politician and judge, soliciting Porter's help with raising funds to support canvassing in his district related to congressional debates over the extension of slavery into the newly acquired California and New Mexico territories.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript and printed title and receipt for the sale of an enslaved man around 20 years old for 1130 dollars, along with a manuscript confirmation of payment received.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript bill of sale for an enslaved eighteen-year-old man for 700 dollars from W. Fishback [?] to T.M. [?] Swann.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a document recording a complaint of Dukelet ("Duke") Askew, administrator of the estate of William H. Anderson, deceased, against George W. Ashford in the Confederate Circuit Court of Hinds County, Mississippi. Askew's complaint accuses Ashford of breaching his agreement to pay $582 for the loan of two of laborers named Cary and John who were enslaved by Anderson. Inside the document, which is dated April 1861, there are two promissory notes dated January 1860 and labeled as "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit B."

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Printed and manuscript promissory note for the hire of a "negro slave" from the period from January 1, 1864, to January 1, 1865, for five hundred dollars ("Confederate currency").

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of 77 miscellaneous legal and other documents, as well as one book, dating from 1758 to 1888, pertaining to the history of the history of slavery in Brazil as a Portuguese colony and later as the Empire of Brazil, until the abolition of slavery in 1887. These documents provide insight into the slave trade, plantation economy, and lives of enslaved Afro-Brazilians and their families.

Materials are arranged as received by the repository.

Aviso, 1874

1 folder

Guia, 1881

1 folder
Description:

Consists of a 30-page manuscript by an unknown author containing sailing directions for a vessel engaged in the trade in enslaved persons in West Africa in the mid-18th century. The author provides detailed accounts of anchorages on the southern coast of England, Barbados, Antigua, the Cape Verde islands, and various forts on the "Slave" coast of West Africa. There are remarks on the West African rivers Sierra Leone, St John River (Liberia), and Gambia (Guinea), as well as a long section on navigating the coast of Guinea with a table titled "Course & Dist. with lattd of Several Places on the Coast of Guinea." Most of the manuscript contains directions and warnings from a navigator's point of view, but there are also some comments on plants, animals, and people in various locations.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a manuscript bill of sale of an enslaved eight-year-old boy. Shubal Pitney (1767-1847) had a large family farm in Mendham, New Jersey, and held at least one enslaved person on his property as late as the 1840 census.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a manuscript order for the arrest and whipping of an enslaved man referred to as "Negro Frank" who was accused of insulting and striking John Kelly, a white man. Frank is described as "belonging to J. W. Luke and living with T. Jones," and the order notes that a bill was sent to J. W. Luke for associated costs.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a one-page letter discussing an advertisement for the sale of an enslaved girl.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of eight letters and documents of Robert Stephen of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Three of the letters regard Stephen's attempts to apprehend a man named Henderson, who was enslaved by Stephen and liberated himself. In one letter, Stephen discusses the sale of two children named Moria and Fountain to Patterson Bain. Other letters and documents discuss the sale of another man named Daniel who had also liberated himself but was recaptured.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a manuscript bill of sale of five men named Ned, Davy, Temple, Lamb, and Tony for $6550.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript note.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Manuscript bond to Abel Graham, Chairman of the County Court, for 250 pounds to allow a man enslaved by William Gay to carry a gun as long as he "shall discreetly and properly agreeable...conduct himself in the use of said gun."

Materials are grouped by accession.

Description:

Consists of a manuscript document titled "Relacion circumstanciada de los cimarrones existentes en el Deposito municipal...", which records information about runaway enslaved people, described in the document as "cimarrones," who were recaptured in Cuba between 1856 and 1858. The document lists their names, physical descriptions, nationalities, and details about enslavers. The ages of the people described in the document range from 18 to 33 with the exception of one person who is listed as being an octogenarian. The physical descriptions are very detailed, noting distinguishing features such as scars. While most of the people listed in the document are of African descent, several are listed as "Chino," making this important documentation of Chinese people in Cuba in the 19th century.

Materials are grouped by accession.

Scope and Contents

Consists of a closed collection of documents related to slavery, the trade of enslaved persons, and the colonial plantation economy, particularly in the United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil in the 18th and 19th centuries. This miscellaneous collection provides a way of locating small accessions of slavery-related material acquired by the Library from various sources.

The majority of the collection consists of bills of sale, plantation inventories, and other records created by European colonists documenting the sale and valuation of enslaved men, women, and children in the United States, including New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi; the Three Mile River Estate in Westmoreland, Jamaica; the Mount Charles (Middleton) Plantation in Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, which was owned by Sir Henry Clinton (1738?-1795); and the plantation estate of John Lavicount in Antigua. Also present is a document containing statistics on enslaved populations for each state copied from the United States Census of 1790, as well as a 1820 deed of freedom for a formerly enslaved man in Brazil.

There are also several indentures for domestic apprenticeship or enslavement of African American and multiracial children in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, which date from the 1790s through the 1820s, including for two children apprenticed to United States Representative Killian K. Van Rensselaer (1763-1845) of New York.

Materials related to ships involved in the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans include a price list taken from the log of the English merchant ship Daniel and Henry, which was employed along the Gold Coast of West Africa (1700); an account book for the French privateer ship Républicaine (1798-1799); and a sales agreement and invoice for the cargo of the American ship Favourite (1804).

Additional letters and documents pertain to efforts to extend slavery throughout the Americas, including copied documents regarding the status of enslaved and free people of color following the British capture of Martinique from French colonial rule in 1794; a letter between French generals working to suppress revolutionary efforts during the Haitian Revolution; and a letter between United States politicians regarding congressional debates over the expansion of slavery into the California and New Mexico territories in the late 1840s.

The Documents on Slavery in Brazil file group consists of 77 miscellaneous legal and other documents, as well as one book, dating from 1758 to 1888, pertaining to the history of the history of slavery in Brazil as a Portuguese colony and later as the Empire of Brazil, until the abolition of slavery in 1887. Titles and description are transcribed exactly as they are on the dealer's inventory received with the materials. The folder numbers correspond with the item number in the dealer's inventory.

This collection was formerly referred to as the "Miscellaneous Slavery Collection." No additions will be made to this collection. Accessions relating to this topic will be added to the General Manuscripts Miscellaneous Collection (C0140).

Arrangement

Materials are grouped by accession.

Acquisition:

This collection was formed in 2007 as a result of a departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject. Materials have been acquired through multiple purchases and gifts.

Appraisal

No material was removed from the collection during 2017-2019 processing.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Dina Britain on August 20, 2007. Finding aid written by Traci Ballou-Broadnax on September 5, 2007.

Finding aid revised by Kelly Bolding in 2017 to improve description of enslaved people and separate materials that did not fit within the collection scope. Finding updated with new material by Kelly Bolding in February 2018, September 2018, October 2018, April 2019, June 2019, August 2019, September 2019, and January 2020.

Finding aid updated with new acquisition by Armando Suarez in January 2019.

No additions will be made to this collection. Accessions relating to this topic will be added to the General Manuscripts Miscellaneous Collection (C0140).

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Princeton University Library Collection on Slavery in the Americas; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/zw12z533x
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes 1-2; P-000117
Separated Materials

During 2017 processing, materials that did not fit into the topical scope of slavery in the Americas were separated and placed into different collections. Simeon Johnson materials (AM 16859) were separated and made into a collection: Simeon Johnson Papers (C1589). Two Frederick Douglass letters (AM 12182), a William Ellery manuscript (AM 2013-59), and military correspondence regarding African American soldiers in Tennessee after the Civil War (AM 12182) were separated and placed into the General Manuscripts Miscellaneous Collection (C0140).

Subject Terms:
African Americans -- Social conditions -- 19th century -- Sources.
Enslaved persons -- Emancipation -- Brazil -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Enslaved persons -- United States -- Census, 1790.
Indentured servants -- Delaware -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Indentured servants -- Massachusetts -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
Indentured servants -- New York (State) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Plantation owners -- Caribbean Area -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
Plantation owners -- Caribbean Area -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Plantation owners -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Prices -- Guinea -- 18th century -- Sources.
Privateering -- France -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
Slave bills of sale -- Georgia -- 19th century.
Slave bills of sale -- Kentucky -- 19th century.
Slave bills of sale -- Louisiana -- 19th century.
Slave bills of sale -- New Jersey -- 19th century.
Slave bills of sale -- New York (State) -- 19th century.
Slave bills of sale -- South Carolina -- 19th century.
Slave bills of sale -- Tennessee -- 19th century.
Slave records -- Brazil -- 18th century.
Slave records -- Jamaica -- 18th century.
Slave records -- Jamaica -- 19th century.
Slave records -- Kentucky -- 19th century.
Slave trade -- Africa, West -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
Slave trade -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Slave traders -- Rhode Island -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Slaveholders -- Caribbean Area -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Slaveholders -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Slavery -- Antigua -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Slavery -- Brazil -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Slavery -- Jamaica -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Slavery -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Genre Terms:
Account books -- 18th century
Bills of sale -- 19th century.
Deeds -- 19th century.
Estate records -- 19th century.
Financial records -- 19th century
Free papers -- 19th century
Indentures -- 19th century
Legal documents -- 19th century.
Price lists -- 18th century.
Names:
Clinton, Henry, Sir (1738?-1795)
Van Rensselaer, K. K. (Killian Killian), 1763-1845
Places:
Brazil -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
England -- Commerce -- Guinea -- 18th century.
Guinea -- Commerce -- England -- 18th century.
Haiti -- History -- Revolution, 1791-1804 -- Sources.
Jamaica -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
Martinique -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
United States -- History -- 1783-1865 -- Sources.