Mar 30, 2023 - Sale 2631

Sale 2631 - Lot 13

Price Realized: $ 3,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Letter describing the slave markets of Montgomery, Alabama. Autograph Letter Signed "Ben" to father Anthony Davis of Philadelphia. 4 pages, 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, on one folding sheet; partial separations at folds. Montgomery, AL, 8 November 1850
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This letter was written by a young man from Philadelphia who had just relocated to Alabama to work as a clerk: "One feature of the place is the slave markets. There are several houses within one or two squares of the store in which slaves are sold. You will see them as you pass along, sitting in chairs around the doors or in the rooms & it is not unfrequently you are asked 'Mass, will you buy me?'"

The letter also describes his colleagues at the store, including "a Black man who is pretty well acquainted with his part. He sweeps out, washes up things, tends to the lamps, measures oil, &c." He explains that "The Negro & Mortar is the title of the store in which I am, & derives its name from a very large carved wooden negro & mortar which stands on the pavement." Explaining Southern resentment toward the north, "they say that all their money goes to support the North, & they in return abuse them for it & for keeping slaves to make the money for them. We never hear the word 'slaves' used here, they call them servants."

The letter's author Benjamin Bullock Davis (1829-1888) remained in Alabama through the war and until his death.

WITH--a pair of later cartes-de-visite of friends, one from Philadelphia and one from Montgomery.