Slaves and Slavery Collection
Scope and Contents
The Slaves and Slavery Collection is an artificial, or subject-based, collection comprising a variety of documents that have been placed in this collection over the years due to their common subject matter. Approximately half of the documents in the collection are receipts for sales of slaves, some of which were recorded in various courts. The collection also includes deeds of emancipation; personal correspondence; and broadsides offering rewards for the capture of runaway slaves.
Dates
- 1772-1950
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
For permission to publish, quote from, or reproduce material in this collection, please contact the Archives Reference Desk at archives@mohistory.org. Copyright restrictions may apply. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright. Photostats and other non-original documents may not be reproduced.
Extent
0.25 Cubic Feet ( (7 folders (96 items)))
Language of Materials
English
French
Spanish; Castilian
Arrangement
The collection is arranged chronologically. In some cases, however, small groups of documents that are part of the same accession, or appear to be part of the same accession, have been retained together and filed by the date range of the documents.
Physical and Technical Requirements
There are no physical or technical restrictions.
Donor Information
The items in this collection have been acquired by the Missouri Historical Society by donation and purchase from a multiplicity of sources. In cases where accession information is readily available, this information has been noted in brackets after the description of the item.
Digital Copies
The Slaves and Slavery Collection was digitized in 2007. The images may be viewed online by clicking the links beside each item in the inventory.
Separated Materials
The following documents were removed during processing and returned to their original collections:
Items Removed:
- Alphabetical Files--Wiggins, Samuel B. Deed of emancipation signed Samuel B. Wiggins of St. Louis County, Missouri, freeing a 40-year-old mNegro slave named Mary Epps and her two-month-old infant named James Young Epps. Witnesses, Samuel N. Holliday and D. Robert Barclay, November 23, 1863. Recorded in the St. Louis Circuit Court by Stephen Rice, clerk, November 24, 1863. (transferred September 14, 2000)
- Blair Family Papers. Broadside advertising a $300 reward offered by John S. Doake (or Doak) of Springfield, Missouri, for the capture of two Negro men: 45-year-old Logan and 21-year-old Dan, April 24, 1857.
- Civil War Collection. St. Louis Daily Bulletin, Extra, December 11, [1860]. “The Border War. Another Abolition Outrage. They Try to Run Off Forty Slaves. One of the Jayhawkers Shot.” Article regarding the shooting of an abolitionist by Morgan Walker near Independence, Missouri. (transferred July 25, 2000)
- Civil War Collection. Declarations of emancipation of Alice M., Lucinda, and Winnie Walker, slaves of Washington County, Mississippi, dated headquarters, District of St. Louis, Office of Superintendent of Contrabands, October 26, 1863. [gift of Mrs. Winnie Wade Mollah, French Lick, Indiana, September 23, 1952] (transferred September 2000)
- Elliott, Newton G. Papers. Unsigned letter, Saline County, Missouri, to N. Elliot [Newton G. Elliott], sheriff, Howard County, Missouri. Regarding an advertisement put up in Fayette about the sale of some Negroes. The letter writer would like to postpone the sale, and also mentions that no names were attached to the advertisement for fear that the Negroes might learn of the impending sale and thus might run away. [gift of Mrs. John Speed Elliott, Charlottesville, Virginia, November 20, 1951] (returned July 2007)
- Mullanphy Family Papers. Broadside advertising a reward offered by Catharine E. Pitts of St. Charles, Missouri, for the capture of a 20-year-old mulatto slave named Ann, August 7, 1854.
Processing Information
Processed by Dennis Northcott, August 2007
- Title
- Inventory of Slaves and Slavery Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- EAD by Jaime Bourassa using ArchivesSpace
- Date
- 2016
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center Repository