1853 · Madison County, Alabama
by [Slavery]. [Alabama]
Madison County, Alabama: July 30, 1853. Very good.. [2]pp., docketed at bottom of second page. Old folds, moderate toning and edge wear. Rare documentation of paid African American slave labor in antebellum Alabama. The present manuscript legal document details funds to be divided among enslaved persons providing crops to their enslaver Edmund C. Townsend of Madison County, Alabama. Here, G. B. Strother, as Justice of the Peace, records estate information and some accounting on behalf of the deceased Edmund C. Townsend, including $35.30 "In Acct with sundry of his negroes for their crops of last year" and $23.00 "To amt due Boy Woodson for cotton &c" (a total of $58.30). A subsequent note on the verso records that one of the executors of Townsend's estate, John E. Townsend, released the total sum of $58.30 "for the purpose of Dividing out among the several negroes to whom it belongs...." The docketing below this note reads: "No. 35. Edmd. Townsend in acct. with his boys."
The Last Will and Testament of Edmund C. Townsend, recorded in Ancestry's Alabama, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 database, details that ten thousand dollars was to be used "for the benefit of Two Yellow Boy[s] Armstead and Woodson." Townsend further requests that his executors petition the State Legislature to grant Armstead and Woodson their freedom and allow them to remain in the state. The present document memorializes a rare occurrence in pre-Civil War Alabama regarding the practice of paid slave labor. (Inventory #: 5177)
The Last Will and Testament of Edmund C. Townsend, recorded in Ancestry's Alabama, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 database, details that ten thousand dollars was to be used "for the benefit of Two Yellow Boy[s] Armstead and Woodson." Townsend further requests that his executors petition the State Legislature to grant Armstead and Woodson their freedom and allow them to remain in the state. The present document memorializes a rare occurrence in pre-Civil War Alabama regarding the practice of paid slave labor. (Inventory #: 5177)