I recently learned about a blogging project by several genealogy bloggers called the Slave Name Roll Project. Its purpose is to record the names of slaves found in records in an effort to help those trying to find their slave ancestors. The project seems to have been started by Schalene Dagutis on her blog Tangled Roots and Trees.
In an effort to help with that project, I started going through my records and have discovered a few documents with the names of slaves listed. The first two documents are included in this posting: a bill of sale and a contract for hire.
First the bill of sale.
Henderson Hill, the owner of Ceasor, sold the slave to John Jackson for $550. The document, pictured here, reads in full as follows:
Recd of John Jackson five hundred & fifty Dollars in full for the purchase of a Negro man Ceasor. The right and title of Said Negro Man Cesor I do hereby warrant and defend against the lawful claim or claims of all persons whatsoever in testimony whereof I do hereby set my hand and Seal this 12th day of March A.D. 1858. Henderson Hill (Seal)
Witness
F.D. Thomas
Henderson Hill, the seller above, married Susan P. Reel in 1843. Susan was a younger sister of my ancestress, Sally Ann Reel (married Calvin Morris). Susan Reel Hill is buried in the Stephen Morris Cemetery off of Aurora Road.
John Jackson, the buyer, is listed in the 1860 census for Craven County on the North side of the Neuse River, in the vicinity of Swift Creek Post Office. He owned real property valued at $2,200 and personal property valued at $30,000. A look at the Slave Schedule for the 1860 census reveals the source of that $30,000 personal property value: 33 slave ranging in age from a few years old to nearly 50 years old. At this point, it is difficult to determine which one (if any) of the 33 slaves may be Ceasor named in the bill of sale above.
The second document, a slave contract for hire, also involves the Jackson family. This time Norman Jackson, John Jackson, and James Young.
This contract was signed January 1, 1856, between James McC. Brinson, the administrator of the estate of B.M. Wise, the owner of the slaves, and Norman Jackson, John Jackson, and James Young. The document reads in full as follows:
$1032.00. New Berne, 1st Jany. 1856
On the 25th day of December 1856 for value received We promise to pay to James McC. Brinson, Administrator of B.M. Wise decd. or order Ten Hundred and thirty two dollars for the hire of Negroes names Abram, Will, Jack, George, Ned, Ben, Joe, Jesse, and Amanda from The 1st Jany 1856 till the 25th of December 1856. We also promise to furnish each of the above named Negroes with two good summer suits and one wooled winter suit of clothes, One Hat, one Blanket, One pair of Socks, three pair of Stout Brogan Shoes, and pay their taxes for the year 1856–in case of failure on our part to furnish the above amount of clothing We promise to pay the Sum of One Hundred dollars. We further promise and obligate in compliance with the express conditions of hiring the Said Negroes, Not to work or employ them or any one of them on or by water or in a Steam Mill nor any machinery propelled by Steam, Nor carry them or any one of them Out of the County of Craven,–We further promise to return each one of the Said Negroes to the Said Brinson on or by the 1st of Jany 1857.
Witness our hands and Seals.
Norman Jackson (Seal)
[Torn but by evidence, John Jackson] (Seal)
[Torn but by evidence, James You]ng (Seal)
[Page 2] Norman Jackson, John Jacksons, James Young Note $1032. Recd payment on the within note Two hundred & forty seven 61/100 Dollars, March 1st 1857. Jas. MC Brinson.
Tearing the names from a contract was a way to nullify the contract, or to indicate that the contract was no longer in effect. John Jackson was probably the same John Jackson mentioned above. Norman Jackson was, at one time, Sheriff of Craven County, and a son of John. Norman owned 42 slaves in Jones County in 1860, though he lived in New Bern at the time. Currently, I’m not sure who James Young is.
James McC Brinson was the administrator of Benjamin M. Wise, who died about 1855, as evidenced by his prolific estate file located on FamilySearch.org.
So, to recap, the slaves mentioned in the two documents discussed in this post are: Ceasor, owned by Henderson Hill and sold to John Jackson; and Abram, Will, Jack, George, Ned, Ben, Joe, Jesse, and Amanda, owned by the estate of Benjamin M. Wise and hired to Norman Jackson, John Jackson, and James Young.