NORTH CAROLINA Three Autograph Notes Signed by slave owners

Sale 2377 - Lot 69

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Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

NORTH CAROLINA. Three Autograph Notes Signed by slave owners to Reverend Willoughby Hudgins, giving permission to three slaves to be baptized and join his church. Three oblong strips of paper, approximately 3-1/2 x 9 inches; paper toned. Warren County, North Carolina, 1844

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In a most unusual step, slave owners Sally Johnson, John D. Fair, and G. Hawberry each sign a permission slip, one "for the boy Isham," another for "Pamelio," and yet another for three slaves, "Stephen, Harriet and Ebonney." As a rule, slaveholders were not in favor of slaves attending church, where there was the danger of experiencing some sense of equality--if only in God's eyes. But more dangerous yet to the status quo was the possibility of literacy, which might come about innocently enough from Bible classes. After the Nat Turner uprising of 1831, the rules and regulations governing what little freedom of movement slaves had outside their duties in the field or the house were severely curtailed. So it is odd indeed, that these slaves were allowed this freedom. Reverend Hudgins was a very popular Evangelical minster who preached at white meeting houses throughout Warren County, and delivered a monthly sermon to a group of plantation blacks.