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(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) NEW JERSEY.
Jacob Blackwell of
Hopewell, County of Hunterdon, New Jersey sells his slave “Ace” to Ralph
Johnson for the sum of $325.00.
Long folio sheet 13
1
/
2
x 8
1
/
2
inches, written on one
side; the iron gall ink toned to brown; stain to the left margin with punch holes in the
margin, apparently removed from a ledger book.
Hopewell, NJ, 1815
[500/750]
In 1804, New Jersey became the last Northern state to pass its gradual abolition law. The statute and
subsequent laws freed children born after the law was passed. African Americans born to slave mothers
after July 4, 1804 had to serve lengthy apprenticeships to the owners of their mothers. Women were
freed at the age of 21 and men at 25. Slaves who had been born before these laws were passed were
considered to be “apprenticed for life.” The slave Ace’s age is conspicuously absent on this document,
which would hint that his owner was hiding something.
20
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(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) VAUX, ROBERT.
Memoirs of the Lives of
Benjamin Lay and Ralph Sandiford, Two of the Earliest Public Advocates for
the Emancipation of the Enslaved Africans.
Engraved frontispiece. 73 pages. Small
8vo, modern black calf-backed marbled paper-covered boards with red spine label; some
light foxing.
Philadelphia: Conrad, 1815
[350/500]
FIRST EDITION OF AN UNUSUAL NARRATIVE
,
Benjamin Lay was a seriously deformed man who
led a virtually hermit-like existence. He was what we’d call a vegan today, eating only absolutely
“natural” food, and donating a large proportion of his meager earnings to charity.
VERY RARE & IMPORTANT—INSURANCE OF A SLAVE SHIP
21
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(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) SLAVE SHIP OWNERS.
Autograph Letter
from a Mr. L. Atring [?] to William Forsyth regarding $15,000 insurance
“against all risk” for the slave-ship “Antonia.”
Single large folio sheet, folded to
form four 4to pages, written on two sides and addressed on a third; paper lightly and
evenly toned.
Matanzas (Cuba), 21 May, 1818
[3,000/4,000]
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Lot 21