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Slave trader ledger p.39


Image by Special Collections at Wofford College
Title: Slave trader ledger of William James Smith
Date Original: 1844-1854
Description: This
ledger meticulously details the prices paid and received for African-American
slaves, as well as the expenses incurred by Smith in undertaking this business
venture, such as feeding, clothing, sheltering, and nursing the people he had
purchased. The details of the book illustrate that Smith took several "trips"
between 1844 and 1854 to buy and sell slaves — detailed records of purchases
and sales of "Negroes" exist for all of the years between 1844 and 1854. The
listing of expenses for the year of 1844 (the most complete account) indicate
that that year Smith traveled from the Piedmont to Charleston, then to Richmond,
Virginia and other towns and cities in central Virginia such as Charlottesville,
Madison, Orange, Gordonsville, and Fredericksburg. The expense records indicate
that Smith returned to the Piedmont via an overland route that passed through
Lincolnton, North Carolina (between Charlotte and Hickory). That year he undertook
business as far south as Hamburg, South Carolina (near Augusta, Georgia).
Creator: Smith, William James
Subject(s): Smith, William James
Slavery
Slaves–United States–History–19th century–Sources.
Slave-trade–America–History–19th century.
Alternative Title:
Publisher: Wofford College
Contributor:
Date Digital: 2009-09
Type: Text
Format [medium]: Manuscript
Format [IMT]: image/jpeg
Digitization Specifications: 800ppi 24-bit depth color; Scanned with
an Epson 15000 Photo scanner with Epson Scan software; Archival master is a
TIFF; Original converted to JPEG with Irfan View software.
Resource Identifier:
Source: The original from which this digital representation
is taken is housed in The
Littlejohn Collection at Wofford College,
located in the Sandor Teszler Library.
Language:En-us English
Relation [is part of]:The
Littlejohn Collection
Rights Management: This digital representation has been
licensed under an Attribution
– Noncommercial- No Derivatives Creative Commons license.

Contributing Institution: Wofford College
Web Site: http://www.wofford.edu/library/littlejohn-home.aspx