Mar 24, 2022 - Sale 2598

Sale 2598 - Lot 27

Price Realized: $ 875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Letter investigating a suspicious Alabama slave trader. Autograph Letter Signed from T.H. Anderson to Henry Anderson. 3 pages, 10 x 8 inches, on one folding sheet; minor wear. [Georgia?], circa 1830s?
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

This letter is literally full of more questions than answers. A Georgia slave owner named T.H. Anderson apparently hired one J.M. Askew to help transport a large number of enslaved people to Alabama, and became suspicious that Askew had somehow swindled him. Here he asks a lawyer to investigate the entire transaction thoroughly: "What negrows were purchased with the money that said Askew was to have his wages out of? What negrows did I have on hand when I employed Askew? Name the negrows bought and on hand? . . . Was any negrows brought out to sell on commissions? . . . The boy Tom, where was he purchased? Was he not brought to Alabamia while Askew was in the prison bounds in the town of Covington? . . . Was I to have the liberty to discharg said Askew whenever he spent one dime without my consent? . . . Do you no how many trips Askew made with me, and where did I meet him? The last trip, how many negrows had I on hand when he met me, and where did we meet?"

Then Anderson has the clever idea to ask the enslaved people to testify on the terms of the purchase: "Do you no Ginny and Alfred and Jes state whether thay were sold on commission or bought by me to sell on ac't Askew?" Here he notes "Sold for Goss & Turner and myself." He continues: "Do you no the negrows brought out to Alabamia of Bess H. Waren's? If so, state what terms thay were brought out? . . . . State whether I had other means imployed in the trade than the 2222 dollars? . . . . What is the usial expences on a negrow from Georgia to Alabamia when carryed by privet convayance, and what by public conveyance?"