RANDOLPH, Col. Archibald Cary (1769-1813). Autograph letter signed to his brother, Thomas Randolph (1771-1811), then serving as Attorney General of the Indiana Territory. Millwood, [Virginia]. 22 February 1810. 2pp, 8 x 9 3/4 in. (creasing at folds, small tears). The elder Randolph writes, in part, regarding the financial difficulties that have befallen their brother Isham Randolph: "his large & helpless family will require all the aid you can afford him...his lease is taken from him & all the negroes sold, so that he is now entirely without house or home...."

The Randolph family was one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Virginia. The 1810 U.S. Federal Census indicates that Isham Randolph enslaved ten persons, while his brother Archibald enslaved 34 persons.

[With:] Five letters related to enslavement: B.J. Britt writes to Col. M. Cooke of Norfolk, Virginia, regarding the sale and transport of "Old Sizzy," 26 January 1848; Nathaniel Curreau (sp?) writes to Mr. Henry Moffit of Washington, D.C., regarding a legal case in which $6200 was offered for the sale of negroes to settle a dispute and pay a debt, 8 November 1842; William Crawley writes to Col. Wilson Hemingway of Jackson, Mississippi, regarding "the girl Francis" whose chill was cured with a mixture of "calomal, quinine & sage"4 May 1845; and two more, one regarding transport of "negroes" and another regarding the health of a young enslaved child.