261
●
(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Wanton, Gideon & John.
Volume of mercantile
receipts, many issued to sailors on the Wantons’ slave ships.
212 manuscript pages,
each signed by one or more merchants. Oblong 12mo, original paneled calf, moderate
wear, joints starting; moderate dampstaining, a few early leaves coming loose, a few later
scrawls on blank leaves.
Newport, RI, 1753-59
[2,000/3,000]
Merchants Gideon Wanton (1693-1767) and his son John (1729-1799) were Newport
royalty; Gideon had served two terms as governor of Rhode Island, an office previously held by
two of his uncles, and later held by a cousin. Among the dozens of leading local merchants who
here issued receipts to the Wantons were William Redwood (for house rent), Christopher
Champlin, Rowland Robinson, Moses Isaacs, and Jacob Rodriguez Rivera. Many of the
receipts mention specific ports, vessels, or cargoes, including molasses and rum.
Numerous men also signed for their wages aboard Wanton vessels, particularly the snow Two
Brothers, the sloop Correspond, and the sloop King of Prussia—all three of them known slave
ships, listed in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database for these voyages. One of the sailors
was apparently a slave himself; Jonathan Sheldon signed for “seventeen pounds for one months
pay on board ye snow Two Brothers for my man Alexander Gibbs” (July 1755) Two receipts
mention Africa specifically: the Wantons paid Thomas Robinson for “William Anthony’s
month pay on bord William Rodman for Affrica” (4 January 1755) and later for “the
ballance due on William Anthony’s wages on the sloop Correspond, William Rodman a
Affrica” (17 January 1756).
I...,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118 120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,...194