[SLAVERY & ABOLITION]. Manuscript bill of sale for enslaved African Americans "Elias" and "Henry," ages 15 and 12-years old. Bertie County, NC, 14 May 1849.
Sale 994 - African Americana
Feb 23, 2022
11:00AM ET
Live / Cincinnati
Estimate
$400 -
$600
Sold for $531
Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium
Lot Description
[SLAVERY & ABOLITION]. Manuscript bill of sale for enslaved African Americans "Elias" and "Henry," ages 15 and 12-years old. Bertie County, NC, 14 May 1849.
2pp, 8 x 10 in. (scattered ink marks, creasing at folds, later penciled notation at docket).
Two African American children, "in consideration of the sum of one thousand dollars...six hundred dollars for negro Elias, about fifteen years of age, and four hundred dollars for negro boy Henry aged about twelve...," are sold by enslavers "Brooks and Nelson" from the county of Stokes, NC, to enslaver Joseph Jordan of the county of Bertie.
The 1850 US Federal Census Slave Schedule, which recorded enslaved individuals just a year after this bill of sale was inked, documents Joseph Jordan of Bertie, NC, as enslaving 21 men, women, and children. Two of the 21 slaves recorded are likely "Elias" and "Henry" as the slave schedule lists five young men ages 12, 15, or 16.
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