Bills of Sale

As articulated on the web site US Slave (http://usslave.blogspot.com/2011/12/slave-bill-of-sales.html), “A slave bill of sale was a contract between a slave owner and a potential buyer detailing the selling of a slave. These contracts stated the location of the slave owner, the name and location of the buyer, the amount the slave was sold for, and the gender, name and age of the slave. In the event a female slave was sold, the seller would usually state in the slave bill of sale that the new buyer would have full rights and ownership of any future children the slave might have. These slave bills of sales represented a loop hole for slave owners and buyers to continue the internal trading of slaves even though the Mid-Atlantic slave trade had officially ended on January 1, 1808.”

Handwritten receipt from John Pullen to William Crenshaw documenting the sale of an enslaved African-American girl named Lucy for $394.43. Image courtesy of ZSR Library, Wake Forest University.

Handwritten bill of sale for an enslaved African-American boy named Jacob who was around eight years old. Image courtesy of ZSR Library, Wake Forest University.

Handwritten bill of sale from Hartnell Wynne to William Crenshaw for an enslaved African American woman, Ginny, and four children. Image courtesy of ZSR Library, Wake Forest University.

A Bill of Sale for two female servants (Mary & Charity) sold for $960.00 by Daniel P. Bestor of Sumterville, Alabama, to Col. I. C. Brown on January 9, 1853. Image courtesy of UAB Historical Collections, Digital Collections, UAB Libraries, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Bill of sale from Savannah, Georgia for the purchase of two enslaved people, Ellen and her child, Caroline. Image courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Bill of sale for William, sold by Thomas G. James to E.J. Kent in Natchez. Image courtesy of Todd A. Herring Collection, Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, Mississippi State University.

Bill of sale for Priscilla, sold by Samuel Wakefield of Louisville, KY to Samuel Davis in Natchez, MS. Image courtesy of Todd A. Herring Collection, Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, Mississippi State University.

Handwritten, 1-page account of the sale of an “infant negro." Image courtesy of Reynolds-Finley Historical Library, UAB Libraries, University of Alabama at Birmingham.