In the letter Mrs. Cato, the widow of Burrell P. Cato, asks for Dellet's help in reclaiming several slaves who have been taken to Texas by the executor of her husband's will. Because of a law prohibiting "the importing or bringing negroes from any...
In the contract Oliver gives specific dimensions of the house; the layout of the rooms; and the exact number of windows and doors to be included. For his work Hatcher will receive $1,600; the necessary supplies and labor to complete the job; and...
Elibi was staying with friends in Dallas County, Alabama, though she was apparently from the North. In the letter she describes church services, social activities, new acquaintances, house slaves, and homes she has visited. A transcript of the...
In his will, Brown bequeaths his wife Eliza $5,000; a sixth of his slaves, including six specific individuals that he purchased from her father Bolling Hall; his house and a sixth of his plantation; and the slave Betsey, his seamstress. If his wife...
In the letter Bullard, an overseer for Dellet, describes harvesting and shipping crops; weather and river conditions; and supplies needed for the slaves. He plans to order hats and handkerchiefs from Destia, Sheppard and Company in Mobile. At the...
In the letter Gorin asks Dellet to buy three slaves so she can help pay some of her husband's debt. She wants him to purchase the man, woman, and child for $1,300, and then she plans to take them to New Orleans and hire them out by the day. It is...
In the letter Davison, an overseer for Dellet, discusses weather, livestock, and harvesting crops. He also describes punishing two slaves. He whipped a woman and shot a man in the leg; according to Davidson, "...I went to whip him and he told me if...
In the letter Martin comments on Dellet's rebuke of John Quincy Adams over his recent speech to African American citizens in Pittsburgh: "His expressed wish that the day of blood and carnage might come upon the South by a servile war is I think...
The first letter announces the opening of Donald and Marshall, a "factorage and commission business" specializing in the sale of cotton, bagging and rope, and general household goods. An endorsement from Jeremiah Austill, who is retiring from this...
In the letter Bullard, an overseer for Dellet, discusses the cotton and corn crops; the lack of rain in the area; the number of hogs on the plantation; the behavior of the slaves; and new clothing that has been ordered for them. At the time the...
Advertisement for the sale of a 483-acre plantation in Henry County, Alabama. Each section of land is described, and several buildings are included ("a good gin house and screw, and a comfortable log cabin...negro houses, corn cribs, stalls, &c.")....
In the letter Rose discusses a disturbance among the slaves on his plantation, and he asks Hall to investigate the matter: "I must...ask you to ride over to my plantation and ascertain...the fact of the assembling of white men there on the Sabbath,...
In the letter Moore discusses public sentiment over states' rights violations by the United States Congress: "I trust that public meetings throughout the state, will be held, for the purpose of enlightening the masses, and causing them to...
Hicklin purchased the slave, a thirteen-year-old young woman named Martha, for $700. The transaction was handled by Eckles and Brown at the Lee and Norton auction house, located on the west side of Court Square in downtown Montgomery, Alabama.
The notebook contains poetry, notes, sketches, regimental rosters, receipts for supplies, loose letters, and the pass issued to Wilson at Appomattox Court House at the end of the war.
The first few entries were written before the war; they discuss Wilson's work as a clerk in a cotton house and his social life in Mobile. Most of the diary, however, focuses on his military service during the Civil War. He describes camp life and...
In the letter Bolling gives a detailed account of a recent visit to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. He gives his impression of the structure ("The house is of the strangest plan I ever saw"); describes the poor condition of the burial...
During the Civil War, Semple served as a captain of an artillery battery organized in Montgomery (known as Semple's Battery). He was later appointed a major and transferred to Mobile. In the letter Semple describes conditions in his new camp, where...
From May 1861 to May 1862 Crenshaw Hall served in the 6th Alabama Infantry. In the letter he discusses recent troop movements; his first night on picket duty; rumors about campaigns and military activity; the relative peace in the area; sickness...
During the war, Warrick served in the Coosa Home Guards, and he was a private in Company C of the 34th Alabama Infantry. In the letter he discusses life in the camp, especially the delay in receiving the allowance the soldiers were promised: "We...