.
By Chuck Hill
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The American Slavery Collection is an artificial collection compiled from a variety of sources including donations of individual documents and purchases. The thirteen original items in this collection consist of ten bills of sale, one receipt, one document relating to manumission and the autobiography of a former slave who lived in Madison County, KY as a "free black" prior to 1850. There is also one item, a receipt that is probably a handwritten copy made in the early twentieth century. The collection provides primary source material to researchers and documents the slave trade in Kentucky.
The provenance of this material is not currently known [03/18/2005]. Several of the items appear to have been purchased for the Townsend Room Collections as there are clippings that describe the document and give a price. These documents will be indicated as [Purchase] after the description and the clippings will be found in the accession file. These documents have been added to this collection for ease of access and because they have no relevance as part of a larger collection.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives
Acquisition Source:
N/A
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Folder:
[
Folder 1],
[Folder 2],
[
All]
- Folder 2
- Barcode: 31234013924806
- Item 1: Manumission Agreement, 1819 Jul 31
- Agreement between Thomas McClean and Samuel G. Whyte, George Rankin and John McComb (trustees for the "United Society called Shakers") regarding the manumission of "a black boy named George at South Union, Logan County, KY. [From the J.T. Dorris Museum Collection. 76.1.1] Filed oversize.
- Item 2: A Sketch of the Life and Experiences of George White, a Colored Man, and born a Slave - written by himself. (A lesson to his children)., ca.1870
- An autobiographical letter about his life as a slave born in Maryland in 1790, where he was the property of Benjamin Burgess, and in Madison County, Kentucky, where he was the property of John White. He states that he had this autobiography written for him when he was a "very old man" in hopes that it would benefit his children and grandchildren as well as "all other in lowly condition." He mentions that since obtaining his freedom, he has also been able to "purchase the several members of my family who were born slaves." [Note: Madison County: 200 Hundred Years in Retrospect, p.114, states that George White "a free man of color" set his children & servants free in 1850. The Madison County census for 1860 lists a George White (black) as being 70 years old and born in Maryland as well as another George White (black) as being 43 years old and born in Madison County.] 2000-005. Filed oversize."
