Slavery Collection
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Slavery Collection contains correspondence and legal and financial documents related to the North American slave trade, slave ownership, abolition, and political issues pertinent to slavery. Note that the Slavery Collection materials have been digitized and can be found here.
Arrangement
See series descriptions for arrangement.
This collection is organized into the following eleven series: Series I: Samuel and William Vernon, 1756-1799 Series II: Gardner and Dean, 1771-1807 Series III: Material relating to slavery in Kentucky, 1785-1864 Series IV: E. H. Stokes, 1859-1862 and undated Series V: Correspondence, 1766-1895 Series VI: Manifests, 1812-1855 Series VII: Legal Documents, 1709-1858 and undated Series VIII: Financial Documents, 1726-1862 and undated Series IX: Poetry, 1823 and undated Series X: Memoranda, 1790, 1791, 1799, 1800, 1855 and undated Series XI: Clippings, 1718-1899 and undated
See series descriptions for arrangement.
This collection is organized into the following eleven series:
Missing Title
- Series I - Samuel and William Vernon, 1756-1799
- Series II - Gardner and Dean, 1771-1807
- Series III - Material relating to slavery in Kentucky, 1785-1864
- Series IV - E. H. Stokes, 1859-1862 and undated
- Series V - Correspondence, 1766-1895
- Series VI - Manifests, 1812-1855
- Series VII - Legal Documents, 1709-1858 and undated
- Series VIII - Financial Documents, 1726-1862 and undated
- Series IX - Poetry, 1823 and undated
- Series X - Memoranda, 1790, 1791, 1799, 1800, 1855 and undated
- Series XI - Clippings, 1718-1899 and undated
Scope and Contents
The Slavery Collection contains correspondence and legal and financial documents related to the North American slave trade, slave ownership, abolition, and political issues pertinent to slavery. These materials have all been digitized and can be viewed here.
The Slavery Collection is called an "artificial" collection because a third party placed unrelated items together according to subject matter.
Researchers who have used this collection in the past, or those following citations in published sources, should be aware that it was rearranged in 1999 in order to facilitate intellectual and physical access. Certain material that formerly was not arranged, or was arranged chronologically, is now arranged by format. For example, depositions are now grouped together, rather than being interfiled with accounts, receipts or deeds of manumission.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Topics
Conditions Governing Access
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Conditions Governing Use
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the Slavery Collection, MS 569, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Separated Materials
Items found in the collection that clearly did not relate to the subject of slavery, either directly or indirectly, were separated from the collection and placed where more appropriate. Every effort has been made to correct all the catalogue cards that index items that have been transferred to new locations.
About this Guide
Repository
Series I - Samuel and William Vernon, 1756-1799, 1756-1799, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Brothers Samuel and William Vernon were business partners involved in the triangular trade that sent rum from Rhode Island to Africa, bought slaves in Africa to sell in the West Indies or in the southern colonies, and brought molasses back to Rhode Island. See the Dictionary of American Biography entry on William Vernon for further information about his role in American politics and other business interests.
Subseries 1 - Correspondence, 1756-1796, 1756-1796, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Most of the letters in this series are addressed to the Vernons in Newport, Rhode Island, from the masters of their slave ships and from slave dealers in the West Indies, Virginia, South Carolina and Massachusetts. Some frequent correspondents were the firm of Adams and Griffin in Richmond, Va., Charles Bolton of Barbados, Samuel Brown of Boston, John Thornton and Charles Yates of Fredericksburg, Va., Capt. Caleb Godfrey, Capt. John Duncan, Capt. Thomas Rogers, and Capt. William Taylor. The letters of these and other men to the Vernons report shipboard incidents, progress of sales in the South and plans for return of ships to Newport. The series also contains letters from the Vernons to their business partners or the masters of their ships and frequently include instructions for the sale of slaves or cargo.
Letters received A #1-12, 14-39, 47, 1756-1772, inclusive
Letters received B #6-7, 10, 13-25, 28 and 1 unnumbered item, 1755-1795, inclusive
Letters received C #5, 7, 19 and 1 unnumbered item, 1752-1798, inclusive
Letters received D #9-10, 14-36, 1754-1771, inclusive
Letters received E #1-2, 1771-1772, inclusive
Letters received G #1, 3-15, 1754-1756, inclusive
Letters received H #5, 20, 1769, 1774
Letters received K #11-12, 1774, 1775
Letters received M #12-16, 1754-1755, inclusive
Letters received N-O-P #1, 12-16, 1751-1796, inclusive
Letters received R #3-5, 7-13, 16, 22-23 and 2 unnumbered items, 1764-1775, inclusive
Letters received S #26, 44, 56-57 and 1 unnumbered item, 1758-1799, inclusive
Letters received T #5-14, 16-26, 31, 1756-1774, inclusive
Letters sent and received V #34-50 and 14 unnumbered items, 1755-1793, inclusive
Letters received W, Y #19-20, 24, 28-30, 1756-1773, inclusive
Subseries 2 - Business Papers, 1756-1799, 1756-1799, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged alphabetically by name of ship, then by format for those not attributed to a particular ship. This subseries contains crew lists, accounts of sales and purchases of slaves, invoices, bills of lading, records of wages to ship crews, ship expenses, accounts of sales of goods in Africa, cargo manifests and trade books of the Vernons' slave ships.
The voyages of the Othello are the most well-documented in the collection; papers relating to this ship include accounts, receipts, memoranda, copies of correspondence, trade books and account books. A 45-page trade book of Othello, 1764-5 is housed in Box 7, an oversize box. In folder 11, "Depositions and Memoranda re: Vernon vs. Rogers," are papers dated 1766 regarding the Vernons' legal action against Thomas Rogers, captain of the Othello, for disobeying their orders to sail directly to Georgia or South Carolina after leaving Barbados. Instead Rogers sailed to St. Christopher's where there was an insurrection, which resulted in the death of 11 slaves. The Vernons sought redress regarding the loss of revenue from unsold slaves.
The ship Royall Charlotte is represented by accounts, receipts, memoranda and a 16-page trade book. In addition to an account, there is one deposition, dated April 4, 1799, related to the ship Orange, which refers to damage to the ship when it hit a reef off the coast of the Bahamas during a return voyage. There are accounts and an 86-page trade book of the ship Venus housed in this subseries. This subseries also includes accounts for the ships Adventures, Ascension, Casada Gardin, Hare, Little Sally, Lydia, Marigold, Nancy, Pacific, and TittBitt.
A 24-page trade book of an unidentified vessel and a 20-page fragment of an account book for an unidentified vessel were placed in this series because they were originally kept with the other volumes specifically attributed to the ships of the Vernons and the format and handwriting match the others.
Folder 20 houses fragments of letters and accounts, and a clipping of a three-page article entitled, Account of a late Publication intitled 'The Origin of the Negroe Slave Trade,' By Matthias Christian Sprengel.
Schooner Active Trading Book, Sloop Adventures accounts, 1769-1770
Ship Ascension accounts, 1796-1800, inclusive
Ship Casada Gardin accounts, 1759-1760, inclusive
Sloop Hare accounts, 1754-1756, undated
Schooner Little Sally accounts, Sloop Lydia accounts, 1763- 1765, undated
Brigantine Marigold accounts, Sloop Nancy accounts, 1759-1764, undated
Brigantine Orange account and deposition, 1799
Brigantine Othello Papers (1 of 2) accounts, receipts, memoranda, letters, 1763-1775, undated
Brigantine Othello Papers (2 of 2), 1765-1775, undated
Brigantine Othello Volumes, 1769-1774, undated
Papers re: Vernon vs. Rogers, 1766, undated
Ship Pacific, 1789
Brigantine Royall Charlotte accounts, receipts, memoranda and book of trade, 1761-1775, undated
Sloop TittBitt, 1756, 1757
Snow Venus, Trade Book, 1756-1757, inclusive
Trade book of vessel (unidentified), 1774-1775, inclusive
Account Book Fragment (unidentified), 1767
Accounts, 1754-1799, undated
Bills and Receipts, 1754-1787, undated
Clippings and fragments, 1755, 1784, undated
Brigantine Othello trade book
Series II - Gardner and Dean, 1771-1807, 1771-1807, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This series contains correspondence and business papers of the Rhode Island slave trading firm of Gardner and Dean.
Subseries 1 - Correspondence, 1804-1807, 1804-1807, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged alphabetically by last name of sender. This subseries consists of letters to Gardner and Dean, mostly from the firm of Phillips and Gardner, their South Carolina counterpart, and from Samuel C. Taggart, Thomas White and Joseph Wood.
Correspondence P#18; T#1, 2; W#14, 15, 26, 1804-1807, inclusive
Subseries 2 - Business papers, 1771, 1805-1807 and undated, 1771, 1805-1807 and undated
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. Accounts of the Sloop Louisa dated 1771, and 1805 to 1806, and accounts and receipts not attributable to particular ships dated from 1805 to 1807 make up this series.
Sloop Louisa papers, 1771, 1805-1807, undated
Accounts and receipts, 1805-1806, undated
Series III - Material collected related to slavery in Kentucky, 1785-1864, 1785-1864, inclusive
Scope and Contents
These estate inventories, deeds of gift, deeds of manumission, bills and receipts of sale, ranging in date from 1785 to 1864, are all from Kentucky, and most are from Lincoln or Fayette Counties. These items were arranged chronologically because one piece often served two different, if related, functions. See attached calendar for further information.
Kentucky material, 1785-1799, inclusive
Kentucky material, 1800-1809, inclusive
Kentucky material, 1811-1819, inclusive
Kentucky material, 1820-1829, inclusive
Kentucky material, 1830-1838, inclusive
Kentucky material, 1841-1850, inclusive
Kentucky material, 1851-1864, inclusive
Series IV - E.H. Stokes, 1859-1862 and undated, 1859-1862, inclusive
Subseries 1 - Letters received, 1859-1862, 1859-1862, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. Letters to Stokes in Richmond, Virginia, concern the sale of slaves, including ten from A. J. Rux, apparently serving as Stokes' agent in various locations in Alabama.
E.H. Stokes, letters received, 1859-1862, inclusive
Subseries 2 - Receipts, 1860, 1862, and undated, 1860, 1862, and undated
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. Receipts for sales of slaves in Richmond, Virginia.
E.H. Stokes, receipts, 1860, 1862, undated
Series V - Correspondence, 1766-1895, 1766-1895, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged alphabetically by last name of sender.
Note to researchers: A number of items originally housed in this collection were transferred to more appropriate places (for example, much was organized into the Vernon Correspondence series). Therefore, the letter and number combination item identification will not always be consecutive (e.g., C#3 is followed by C#17).
The correspondence series includes letters from, among others, eminent abolitionists such as Theodore Weld, Gerrit Smith and Angelina Grimke.
Items A#44-46 are letters to the printers of the Lewes Journal and The Diary regarding the abolition of the slave trade and are signed "Atticus."
Items F#14 and H#14 both refer to the same court case concerning Jack, a slave sentenced to death for stealing from his master. Both the master, Hugh Hopewell of Saint Mary's County, Maryland, and his friend Colonel Fitzhugh wrote to the Governor of Maryland asking for mercy for Jack, stating that because of his value as a slave and his sincere remorse for the crime, he should not be put to death.
Also of note is a letter written by an unidentified black man apologizing to his uncle for marrying a white woman, which can be found in the "Letters Unsigned" folder.
Correspondence A #44-46, 1789, 1796
Correspondence B #9, 11-12, 1 unnumbered item, 1766, 1774, 1816, 1843
Correspondence C #2-3, 17, and 2 unnumbered items, 1789, 1803, 1840, 1864
Correspondence D #1-4, 12, 1793, 1800, 1806, 1851
Correspondence F #11-12, 14, 17 and 1 unnumbered item, 1766, 1784, 1807, 1826, 1850
Correspondence G #2, 22-23, 1789, undated
Correspondence H-J #11, 14, and 3 unnumbered items, 1766, 1806, 1810, 1831, 1888, 1895
Correspondence K #5, and 1 unnumbered item, 1784, 1837
Correspondence L-M #7, 9, 28 and 2 unnumbered items, 1793, 1836, 1841, 1849, 1850, 1857
Correspondence N #9, 17, 1787, 1826
Correspondence R #1, 17-18, 1754, 1786
Correspondence S #24, 31-42, 45 and 1 unnumbered item, 1785-1861
Correspondence T-V #3-4, 27, 32-33, [1787], 1806, 1834, 1837
Correspondence W #5-7, 9-11, 18, 25 and 1 unnumbered item, 1806-1858
Letters unsigned, 1826-1851, undated
Series VI - Manifests, 1812-1855, 1812-1855, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically.
These manifests list Negroes, Mulattos, and persons of color taken aboard various vessels to be transported, mostly from Alexandria, Va., to be sold or disposed of as slaves. These documents list the slave's name, sex, age, height, color, owner or shipper's name and place of residence, and the consignee's name and place of residence.
Manifests, 1838-1849, inclusive
Manifests, 1812-1855, inclusive
Series VII - Legal Documents, 1709-1858, and undated, 1709-1858, and undated
Subseries 1 - Birth Certificates, 1800-1818, 1800-1818, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged alphabetically by last name of the slave-holder. Certificates usually include information such as the slave-holders occupation, the mother's name, and the date of birth and sex of the child.
Birth certificates, A-D, 1801-1818, inclusive
Birth certificates, F-M, 1800-1818, inclusive
Birth certificates, N-Z, 1802-1817, inclusive
Subseries 2 - Depositions, 1746-1839, 1746-1839, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. Assorted depositions relating to slave ownership and trade from New York, Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland. One item in French from Martinique regarding a vessel from Rhode Island captained by Samuel Johnson.
Depositions, 1746-1839, inclusive
Subseries 3 - Petitions, 1709/1780, 1777, and undated, 1709-1777, undated
Scope and Contents
Assorted petitions from South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Massachusetts.
The deposition from Massachusetts is actually two petitions, one on either side of the paper. The earlier is dated January 1709, from the court of general sessions in Boston, Mass., and the petitioner is Jack, a negro, servant to Samuel Bill. Jack testifies that he has a marriage agreement with Esther, a servant of Robert Gutteridge, however, Gutteridge refuses to give his consent to the marriage. The second petition is from the Council and house of representatives in General Court in Boston assembled March 1780. Mercy Turner of Pembrook seeks to divorce her husband Philip Turner of Scituate whose "conduct and behavior is utterly inconsistent with the marriage covenant."
Petitions, 1709-1777, undated
Subseries 4 - Indentures, 1749, 1797, 1797, undated
Scope and Contents
The earlier indenture is from New York and states that Walter Butler, Jr. of the Mohawks agrees to "keep and maintain... a N[egro] boy called Primus for three years." The later is a partially printed form dated 1797, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania declaring that Negro Joseph, a manumitted slave, indentures himself for 14 years to John Delaval.
Indentures, 1797, undated
Subseries 5 - Deeds of manumission, 1782-1792, 1812, 1782-1792, 1812
Scope and Contents
Three of the five items in this series are deeds of manumission signed by Robert Carter of Nomony Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia, dated January 2, 1792.
Deeds of manumission, 1782-1792, 1812
Subseries 6 - Estate inventories/property appraisals, 1759-1858, and undated, 1759-1858, and undated
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. Assorted estate inventories and property appraisals that make provisions for slaves from Alabama, New York and other places not named.
Estate inventories/ property appraisals, 1759-1858, undated
Series VIII - Financial Documents, 1726-1862, and undated, 1726-1862, and undated
Subseries 1 - Accounts, 1736-1807, undated, 1736-1807, undated
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. This subseries contains assorted accounts relating to slave ownership and trade from Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Havana and places not named.
Accounts, 1736-1807, undated
Subseries 2 - Receipts and exchanges, 1726-1862, 1726-1862, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. Includes assorted receipts and exchanges for slaves from Pennsylvania, New York, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia.
Receipts and exchanges, 1726-1862, inclusive
Subseries 3 - John Joyce, Receipts, 1785-1790, 1785-1790, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Arranged chronologically. Contains receipts for sale of slaves in Kingston, Jamaica, including two in Spanish.
Receipts of John Joyce, 1785-1790, inclusive
Subseries 4 - "Returns of taxable property," 1814, 1819, 1814, 1819
Scope and Contents
This subseries houses two printed forms, one completed with information for all the taxable property in St. Paul's Parish, [Charleston, S. C.] 1814, and one for the taxable property of John Cart, Jr. St. Michael's Parish, Charleston District [Charleston, S. C.], 1819.
Returns of taxable property, 1814, 1819
Series IX - Poetry, 1823 and undated, 1823 and undated
Scope and Contents
One poem is entitled, "On the death of an African slave," signed Elihu, Dec. 11, 1823 and is addressed to Alden Spooner, Brooklyn, headed, "For the Long Island Star." The first lines read: "Well, old Free-born is dead! and his servitude oe'r/ Let the winds bear his corpse to the African shoreâ?¦" The other poem, addressed to the Rev. W. McLain, is untitled, unsigned and undated. The last stanza reads: "'Tho' the African, sir, may seem very fur/ to some 'cause he's sable --I thinks/ in the great chain of brothers, he's near, and dear sir!!/ should be treated as one of the lynx."
Poetry, 1823, undated
Series X - Memoranda, 1790-1855, and undated, 1790-1855, and undated
Scope and Contents
This series includes, among other things, what appear to be notes for newspaper advertisements and articles. Items are from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Rhode Island and New York. Also one document in French, dated Philadelphia, September 5, 1791 listing the population of the states and the number of slaves in each state.
Memoranda, 1790-1855, undated
Series XI - Clippings, 1718-1899 and undated, 1718-1899 and undated
Scope and Contents
This series includes assorted advertisements for rewards for return of runaway slaves, most unattributable to particular newspapers.