Enslavement Records of Sale, Catey and Children, Cloey [Chloe], a Girl, and Frank, PC.2094
Abstract
This set includes two receipts documenting the sale and exchange of enslaved individuals.
The first, dated 1853 in Wilmington, North Carolina, records the sale of Catey and
her three children, Mary, Richard, and Sally, for the sum of $1,000. This transaction
was issued by Ansley Davis to Speir (or Spier) Walters, both possibly residing in
Robeson County, N.C.
The second document, dated 1862, records the sale of Cloey (also spelled Chloe), a
girl of about 10 years old, along with the exchange of Frank, a 40-year-old man. This
transaction involved J.B. Hardee and J.A. Thompson, with an additional payment of
$58.75 made for Frank. The location of this exchange is uncertain, but may have taken
place in or around Columbus County or Brunswick County, North Carolina, or Horry County,
South Carolina.
Though the receipts were preserved by a single donor, there is no evidence that the
transactions or the individuals named were connected. These receipts functioned as
legal instruments of sale and ownership, underscoring the commodification of human
lives under slavery.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Records of Enslavement: Bills of Sale for Catey and Her Children, and for Cloey [Chloe] and Frank
- Call Number
- PC.2094
- Creator
- Davis, Ansley
- Date
- May 4, 1853 and March 5, 1862
- Extent
- 0.025 gigabytes
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.2094, Slave Receipts/Bills of Sale, Catey and Children, and Cloey [Chloe], a Girl, and Frank, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C., U.S.A.
Collection Overview
Two documents dated 1853 and 1862 record the sale and exchange of enslaved individuals.
The first, issued in Wilmington, N.C., details the sale of Catey and her three children,
Mary, Richard, and Sally, for $1,000; it notes that Mary was "marked with burns."
The second records the exchange of Cloey, a girl about 10 years old, and $58.75 for
Frank, a man around 40. The parties involved were from southeastern North Carolina
and possibly South Carolina. Though preserved together, the transactions are unrelated.
Transcription:
1. The earliest receipt is on a partially printed form with handwritten information
inserted. (Preprinted form is shown in quotation marks.) "Wilmington, N.C.", 4 May
1853.Received of Speir [Spier] Walters, Esq, One thousand "dollars, being in full
for the purchase of" a "Negro Slave named" Catey with her three children, Viz. Mary,
Richard, and Sally "the right and title of said Slave ('s) "warrant and defend against
the claims of all persons whatsoever; and" do "likewise warrant" them "sound and healthy;"
except the child Mary is marked with burns [?] "as witness" my "hand and seal" Ansley
Davis "Seal" /"signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of M. Conly.
2. Received of J. A. Thompson a Negro Girl namey Cloey aged about 10 years & fifty eight Dollars & 75/100 in good [s] notes which was in? exchange for a Negro man named Frank aged about forty years. The right and Title of which I do herby warrant and forever defend. T. B. Hardee. March 5 1862. Attest Isaac G. Long
Two documents dated 1853 and 1862 record the sale and exchange of enslaved individuals. The first, issued in Wilmington, N.C., details the sale of Catey and her three children, Mary, Richard, and Sally, for $1,000; it notes that Mary was "marked with burns." The second records the exchange of Cloey, a girl about 10 years old, and $58.75 for Frank, a man around 40. The parties involved were from southeastern North Carolina and possibly South Carolina. Though preserved together, the transactions are unrelated.
Arrangement Note
Chronological order
Biographical/Historical note
There are significant challenges in learning the histories of the enslaved woman, Catey, the man, Frank, and the children, following these exchanges, in 1853 and 1862, respectively, and thereafter, even after emancipation. However, one significant clue for regarding Catey and her family is that the Spier Walters family did remain for at least several decades in Robeson County--a fact that eliminates the possibility that the family moved out of state, removing with them these enslaved persons. A study of the census and other records, pinpointing Robeson County, and nearby Bladen County, does reveal several possible name similarities and matches. For example, the North Carolina Marriage Index, 1741-2004, has a marriage record of Cate Walters, a Negro, born ca. 1852, who married William Gaddy 29 November 1872 in Sterlings, Robeson County. The Sterlings township was near the residence of the Spier Walters's family and descendants. In nearby Bladen County, Richard Walters, born January 1849, North Carolina, is shown on the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, with his wife, Nora Lewis (married 1886), and six minor children. There are various other areas of inquiry that a committed family researcher would want to pursue. The people named in the second receipt are harder to trace after the end of the Civil War because of the uncertainty of the locale. In general, however, more resources, are becoming available online and in repositories, making it increasingly possible to bring together a variety of means to trace the lineage of people of African-American ancestry to the 19th century, and possibly before.
Contents of the Collection
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Dial Gray, Whiteville, N.C., 2007; donation accessioned in 2014.