Browse Items (77 total)
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Hiring out agreement for an enslaved woman named Clara, 29 December 1807
Hiring out agreement for an enslaved woman named Clara, stating which clothes Beatty needed to supply and that she can be given up if proven to be with child. -
Hiring out agreement, 13 January 1825
Hiring out agreement between Charles W. Thruston and John J. Jacob for an enslaved girl named Mary, 12 years old. -
Hiring out between Winslow Parker and Adam Beatty for an enslaved man named Henry, 1805
Hiring out between Winslow Parker and Adam Beatty for an enslaved man named Henry. -
Hiring out receipt for an enslaved woman named Hannah, 24 August 1809
Hiring out receipt for an enslaved woman named Hannah. -
Iron Link
Small circular iron ring that was most likely part of a bigger link of chain. This link was found in a Kentucky basement said to hold enslaved people. It is an example of the type of restraints used on those in bondage and a stark reminder of the inhumane conditions enslavers forced upon those they enslaved. By 1800, there were more than 40,000 enslaved men and women living on the Kentucky frontier. -
John Bryant, deed of emancipation, 5 October 1818
Legally acknowledges Bryant's emancipation of three enslaved persons: Patsey, Adam and Clary. Signed by Bryant and Mercer County, Kentucky Court Clerk, Thomas Allin. -
Letter between Mildred Ann Bullitt and E.B. Dickinson, ca. 1820
Tells of Annie Christian having had a baby recently and it being nursed by an African-American woman. -
Letter discussing slavery, 31 January 1806
Letter discussing the hiring out of enslaved persons over the Christmas holiday. Letter includes the names of the enslaved individuals. -
Letter from Abraham Hite to Jonathan Clark, 13 December 1800
Letter from Abraham Hite to Jonathan Clark, in which he mentions land and the price of land on Beargrass Creek, stating Clark would take twelve dollars per acre or trade in enslaved persons. He states Charles Thruston was murdered by one of his enslaved men. -
Letter from Ann Thruston to Captain John O'Fallon, 30 January 1819
Reports to her brother of social news, the impending marriage of Ann Bullitt to a widower, Mr. Howard. Says it was generally thought that Ann would never marry because “she would have no person that would ever think of her fortune but must marry her for herself alone.” Tells of an enslaved man who was executed for burning down his master’s house with the anxiety to kill his mistress, who hid in the corn field. -
Letter from Annie Christian to Colonel Alexander S. Bullitt, 24 April 1788
Letter from Annie Christian regarding her position as guardian for her son Johnny, and directions for the profitable running of the saltworks. -
Letter from Barthelemi Tardiveau to St. John de Crevecoeur, 7 October 1789
In second letter dated 7 October 1789 Tardiveau writes St. John de Crevecoeur regarding the growing of cotton in Kentucky and Cumberland (Tennessee), trade possibilities with Spanish Louisiana, and the planned manufacture of cotton cloth in Kentucky for local use and export, including the establishment and activities of a manufacturing "society." He also relates the suicide of a Major Dunn in Kentucky due to an unfaithful wife. Everyone is trying to depict him as a madman but Tardiveau does not agree. Tardiveau asks Creveoeur not to mention it to John Brown because his friend Harry Innes was Mrs. Dunn' s "Knight-errant in this affair." Tardiveau relates that it is hard for him to collect the topographical data he would like to send him. "Those of our surveyors whom I asked promised a great deal, but are in no hurry to keep their word; and they all live at such great distances from here and from each other that it's very seldom I have a chance to see one of them. The area Tardiveau was interested in was apparently Kentucky and Cumberland (Tennessee). -
Letter from Francis H. Gaines and John W. Hundley to David L. Ward, 18 February 1815
Letter to David L. Ward about speciality drilling equipment, horses, and enslaved laborers for the saltworks. -
Letter from Francis H. Gaines to David L. Ward, 1 March 1815
Letter to David L. Ward describing the difficulties that Gaines has encountered in managing the enslaved workers at the saltworks. -
Letter from Francis H. Gaines to David L. Ward, 11 February 1815
Letter to David L. Ward discussing the purchase of enslaved men in the Bluegrass for labor in the saltworks. -
Letter from Francis H. Gaines to David L. Ward, 16 January 1815
Letter to David L. Ward discussing an man named Bristoe and his unnamed wife who fled from their enslavers. -
Letter from George Corlis to John Corlis, 24 March 1816
George writes to his father that he had found a slave who was well known and respected in the neighborhood. He purchased him for $525 and was "fortunate" to get him. He expresses his desire to find one more slave. He notes this is a duplicate of a 14 March letter he sent "lest the other should miss" John. -
Letter from Isaac Hite to Abraham Hite, 26 April 1783
Letter from Isaac Hite to his father relating his business interests in land speculation, salt works, and iron manufacturing. He discusses American Indian hostilities, specifically a raid at Crab Orchard, Kentucky, in which an African American fought off the Natives and saved a white family. Tells of John Floyd's death and its effect on the defense of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Mentions his business dealings with James Sodowski, Walker Daniel, George and John May, Gilbert Imlay, Isaac Kellar, Moses Kuykendall, and George Rogers Clark. -
Letter from James Anderson Pearce to Jonathan Clark, 30 March 1811
Letter from James Anderson Pearce to his father-in-law, General Jonathan Clark, mentions that his enslaved people are laboring more efficiently than he could have hoped and he thinks he will produce much more corn because of it. Also catches him up on family issues. -
Letter from James Anderson Pearce to Thomas Bodley, 19 November 1811
Letter from James Anderson Pearce to Thomas Bodley updating him on his wife's condition after pregnancy and the doctor's recommendation for helping her troubles with her breast. He also updates on the family's health, as well as the health of their enslaved people.