Letter to Thomas Walker Bullitt from Mildred Ann Bullitt concerning the abolitionist movement, January 18th, 1861.

Letter to Thomas Walker Bullitt from Mildred Ann Bullitt concerning the abolitionist movement, January 18th, 1861.

A letter from Mildred Ann Bullitt (Oxmoor) to her son, Thomas Walker Bullitt (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), dated January 18th. Mildred claims that Mrs. Winchester heard a story from an enslaved child that Black enslaved people would be freed soon and "if white folks didn't run fast, the Black people would kill them all." Mildred also writes that, "There are so many persons here who say their servants tell them they won't have to work for them much longer, that when Lincoln takes his seat they'll all be free." Mildred then relates how she told the people she enslaves that no one has the power to free them except her. She claimed that Cassius Clay couldn't free them, and neither could Abraham Lincoln. She describes the people she enslaves as "humble and well behaved," as well as scared of the abolitionists. She claims that the people she enslaves don't want to be hired out to people in the North because "they require so much more work of them [enslaved people] than the southern people do." Mildred refers to the previous overseer at Oxmoor, Oldham Bright, as "unprincipled" and that he "did all he could to corrupt them [enslaved people]." Mildred mentions Tinah by name, in passing.

The Filson Historical Society, Special Collections

1861-01-18

Johansen, Emma

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