Slavery
North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, ca. 1833-1849
Slaveowners Sell Individual & Groups of Slaves Across the Antebellum South
ADS, MD

SLAVERY. Moses Ritche, Autograph Document Signed with a Mark, Receipt to Isaac Jarratt for Sale of Slave, July 25, 1833, Surry County, North Carolina. 1 p., 8.25" x 6.75". Expected folds; toning; short separations on some folds. WITH: Alexander H. Rowell, Manuscript Document, Account for Sale of Slaves, February 20, 1848, [South Carolina?]. 1 p., 8" x 2.75". Light toning. ALSO WITH: Manuscript Document, List of slaves purchased "to send south," ca. December 1849, Leesburg, [Virginia]. 2 pp., 8" x 10". Expected folds; small repairs to tears on folds; embossed "P & S" mark, which may associate the document with the Richmond slave-trading firm of Pulliam & Slade, but is more likely a stationery manufacturer's mark.

This trio of documents illustrates the process of selling slaves in antebellum America. The first is a simple receipt for the sale of an eight-year-old enslaved girl named Milly in North Carolina from Moses Ritche to Isaac Jarratt. The second is an account of the sale of two slaves in Alabama from the estate of Jeremiah J. Rowell of South Carolina. The third document is more complicated and lists the names and values of more than forty enslaved African Americans who were "purchased to send south." The author carefully calculates the price paid for the slaves from various sources, including "my farm," "Bill my Fathers Boy," and "negroes purchased from Sundry Persons." The total of the first page's list is $17,757.50, but the addition in pencil on the verso of "Glasscocks Boy" at $700 and "Nobles Boy" at $550 brings the total to $19,007.50.

The sale of enslaved African Americans was an all-too-common occurrence in the antebellum South, and these documents illustrate the harshness of the entire system. Between 1790 and 1865, approximately one million enslaved African Americans were forcibly relocated from the Upper South to the more fertile lands in the Lower South (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas). While tobacco cultivation in Upper South states like Virginia and Maryland was declining, cotton and sugar production were increasing in the Lower South.

Excerpts
[Ritchie receipt:]
"Received of Isaac Jarratt One Hundred and ninety Dollars in full payment of a negro girl named Milly aged about Eight years the Title to which negro I will warrant and defend against the claim of all persons whatever and to be sound and well witness my hand and seal July 25th 1833."

[Rowell account:]
"1848 Alexander H. Rowell one of the Executors of the Estate of Jerry Rowell Decd....
"Feby 20 1 Received in full for two Negroes sold in Alabama $275.00"

[Slave sale:]
"the following is the list of negroes purchased to send south
"Marcy 23 years old & infant 350
"Henry 6 years old } 250
"Sarah 4 years old } Marcy's children 175
"Herod 3 years old } 100
"George 9 years old 275
"Cornelia 12 years old 400
"Fanny 15 years old 600
" 2150"

"Number of negros purchased and agragate cost"

"I owe the following persons
"Glasscocks 700
"S[?] 500
"Brown 850
"Smith & Scott 1900
"Rents Administrator 1900
" 5800
"Brown 5000
" 10800"


Moses Ritchie (1798-1860) was born in Surry County, North Carolina. He married Susannah Hill (1805-1885), and they had at least four children. In 1830, he owned 3 slaves. In the 1860 census, he is listed as a "Potter," and it indicates that he cannot read or write.

Isaac Jarratt (1795-aft. 1875) was born in North Carolina and was a veteran of the War of 1812. In 1834, he married Harriett Anne Bates, and they had at least three children. He was a landholder, merchant, and partner in the slave trade and lived in Surry (now Yadkin) County, North Carolina. He was engaged in the slave trade between Huntsville, North Carolina, and Montgomery, Alabama. In 1860, he owned 44 slaves.

Alexander H. Rowell (1820-1887) was born in South Carolina to Jeremiah "Jerry" J. Rowell (1791-1847) and his wife Mary Sills Rowell (1799-1873). In 1845, he married Elizabeth Askew (1829-1894), and they had at least two children. When his father died, he became one of the executors of his father's will. In 1840, his father owned 24 slaves. In 1850, Alexander H. Rowell and his family lived in Russell County, Alabama, where he owned 16 slaves and perhaps another 12 in neighboring Macon County.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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