Page - Provine

Page, Carolyn N., papers, 1960–1997. 4 items. Mss2P14123b.
A scrapbook and some loose items document the career of Carolyn B. Page of Richmond as an employee of A. H. Robins Company, a pharmaceuticals manufacturer. Page worked as a file clerk, computer operator, accounting clerk, and eventually senior secretary at Robins and its successor companies. The scrapbook contains labeled photographs of co-workers, most as they performed their jobs. The collection also includes a photocopy of photograph of the senior class of 1960 of Southside High School in Dinwiddie County and a humorous narrative called "The Train."

Page, Gabriella (1874–1949), collector, papers, 1786–1891. 37 items. Mss2P1424b.
Collected papers of historical Virginia figures. Include an 1802 receipt issued to Peter Carr by James Lyons of Richmond for the sale of the slave James; an 1820 letter of John Randolph of Roanoke to W. J. Barksdale in part concerning the debate over the Missouri Compromise in the U.S. Senate; and an undated list of slaves belonging to the estate of Obadiah Winfree of Chesterfield County, with an agreement covering their distribution among Winfree's heirs.

Page, Jane Frances (Walker), commonplace book, 1802–1845. 92 pp. Mss5:5P1432:1. Microfilm reel C473.
This volume was kept in Albemarle County by Jane Frances (Walker) Page and Jane Byrd (Nelson) Walker for the plantations Castle Hill, Cobham, and Turkey Hill. It contains a considerable amount of detail on the distribution of various kinds of clothing and types of meat, food, and other supplies.

Page, John, commonplace book, 1795–1796. 226 pp. Mss5:5P1433:1.
John Page kept these notes in a copy of Benjamin Banneker's Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac for 1795, printed in Philadelphia, with the image of Banneker, an African American printer, on the frontispiece. Kept in Gloucester County, the book contains lists of slaves with occupations and some family units designated. The entry for 14 June provides a theological hypothesis of the origins of the African race.

Page family papers, 1796–1952. 580 items. Mss1P1465c.
This collection contains materials from four generations of the Page family of Gloucester County, Va. Section 2 consists of the papers of Elizabeth Nelson Page (1770–1854), wife of Mann Page ([1766–1813] of Shelly, Gloucester County). Correspondents include merchants in Baltimore, Md., and Norfolk, Va., concerning, in part, the hiring out of her slaves. Section 4 consists of the correspondence, 1835–1870, of Lucy Anne (Jones) Page (of Greenway, Gloucester County). Included in this section is an 1865 letter from her daughter, Martha Throckmorton Page Vandegrift (of Alexandria, Va.), concerning Martha's resentment toward the freeing of her slaves and her former slaves' attitude toward work after the Civil War. An unnamed cousin of Martha gives an opinion of freedmen in another 1865 letter, located in section 9.

Page family papers, 1797–1997. 730 items. Mss1P1465d.
This collection concerns the Page family of Gloucester County, Va., and related families, including the Hardaways. Section 2 contains the papers of John (d. 1810) and Rebecca (Hardaway) Murrell ([1776–1857] of Brunswick County, Va., Pensacola, Fla., and Mobile, Ala.). Included in the section are legal documents, 1810–1811, concerning the death of John Murrell, including verification of his marriage to Rebecca and their property, which specifically names ten slaves. Section 8 contains an undated story written in African American dialect by Lucy Nelson (Page) Hardaway (1853–1950) giving the recollections of a slave in Lucy's family, Mammy Clayton, concerning her migration to Alabama before the Civil War. The papers of William Augustus Hardaway ([1850–1923] of St. Louis, Mo., great-grandson of John Murrell and Rebecca Hardaway Murrell), contain a memoir, 1902–1919, in part, discussing his childhood in Mobile, Ala., and the rivalry between his mother's French and Spanish slaves and his father's Virginia slaves.

Paine, William G. (1816?–1880), papers, 1859–1863. 4 items. Mss2P1665b.
Paine’s papers include a bond executed in Richmond on 6 January 1859 with Robert C. Morton concerning the hire of an African American slave named Fanny.

Palmer, William Price (1821–1891), scrapbook, 1890–1895. [144] pp. Mss5:7P1828:5.
Compiled by William Price Palmer, a Richmond physician and local historian. Pages 100–105 concern Gabriel, a slave who attempted a large-scale revolt in the Richmond area in 1800.

Palmer family papers, 1782–1894. 212 items. Mss1P1827b.
Papers of Richmond merchant Charles Palmer and Richmond physician and historian Dr. William Price Palmer. An 1855 letter of William H. Douthat to Dr. Palmer (section 5) concerns the preparation of freed slaves for embarkation to Liberia. In section 11, a political cartoon ridicules the 1852 Virginia legislative session over the issue of removal of the state capital to the western part of the commonwealth and the pardoning of a slave named Jordan Hatcher.

Palmer family papers, 1831–1891. 69 items. Mss1P1827c.
Collection concerns members of the Palmer and Douthat families of Virginia, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Section 4 includes a letter written to Charles Douthat (a commission merchant in Memphis) by Henry C. Douthat (of Buchanan, Botetourt County, Va.) concerning the emigration of African Americans to Liberia.

Pate, Edmund, letter, 1828. 3 pp. Mss2P2716a1.
Written 30 March 1828 from New Orleans, La., to Callohill Mennis of Bedford County, Va., concerning the sale of slaves in the New Orleans market.

Patten, Louise (Anderson) (1880–1973), papers, 17291970. 891 items. Mss1P2775a.
Collector of material associated with Robert "King" Carter of Corotoman and Mann Page of Mannsfield. Section 16 contains an 1808 deed of Robert Carter Page of Fredericksburg to his mother, Mary Page, for the slave child Daniel Baudin.

Pattison, Anne Coke (d. 1755), account book, 1743/4–1749. 1 v. (180 pp.) Mss5:3P2783:1. Microfilm reel B72.
Daily financial journal kept for the widow Anne Coke Pattison, in part, by James Lavie, concerning the operation of a tavern in Williamsburg, 1744–1746 by John Burnett (d.1746), and 1746–1749 by Anne Coke Pattison. The volume includes information on slaves who frequented the tavern.

Paulett, Richard Singleton (1820?–1902), papers, 1849–1891. 68 items. Mss1P2822a.
Merchant in Prince Edward County. An 1857 tax bill issued to Richard Paulett in Appomattox County covers 680 acres and eight slaves (section 3). Materials, 1849–1857, concern a lawsuit in Appomattox County involving Paulett and the operations of a blacksmith shop. Although not mentioned specifically, African American laborers seem to have figured in the business (section 7).

Payne, Sarah P., letterbook, 1865–1872. 144 pp. Mss2P2936a1. Typescript copy.
Bound volume of typescripts of letters of Sarah Payne of Campbell County, Va., to her Miller relatives in Maryland and Philadelphia, Pa. The letters begin just after the Civil War and record her domestic situation for the next seven years. They describe changes in the condition of life (especially farm and household management) in central Virginia occasioned by the end of the war and the emancipation of slaves. The letters routinely contain references to difficulties in hiring farm hands and domestic help. Payne frequently states her perceptions of the difference in working habits of African Americans before and after the war and the difficulties in finding laborers.

Payne refers to distributing winter clothes (30 September 1865); Horace Greeley, Henry Ward Beecher, and other abolitionists (26 April 1866); death of a former slave who did his blind master's reading (20 June 1866); scarcity of freedmen in the country and the preacher employed by the Baptist mission board to minister to freedmen (before the war the minister was employed by a neighbor to preach to the slaves [20 July 1867]); fear of insurrection and voting rights for African Americans (12 December 1867); fear for Arkansas relatives surrounded by radicals, concerns about freedmen, and theft (1 June 1868); comparison of Christmas celebrations before and after the war for both white and black populations (2 January 1871); establishment of schools for African Americans (5 April 1871); and typhoid fever among African Americans (16 July 1871).

Payne family papers, 1832–1892. 221 items. Mss1P2936c.
Records of a farming family in Culpeper County. A receipt issued in 1862 to Mary Emily (Payne) Gee by the Confederate States Quartermaster's Department covers the fee for hiring the slave Charles (section 1). An agreement signed by Gee and other family members in 1860 concerns the sale of Betty for the benefit of Fenton A. Payne (section 3). Section 6 contains six bonds, 18481863, covering the hiring of various slaves.

Edward A. Freeman's affidavit, 1862, concerns the appraisal of nine slaves who were the property of George Samuel Major Payne and other family members (section 9). Accounts, 1843–1869, kept by Fenton A. Payne include two undated lists of slaves (section 11), while an 1862 bond of Louis and Robert Yancey to Frances M. (Fant) Payne concerns the hiring of Aggy (section 17).

Peake, Thomas (1767–1843), papers, 1624–1825. 27 items. Mss2P3133b.
The papers of Thomas Peake of Fairfax County include photocopies of records of his ancestors from England. Later family members lived in Illinois.

A deed of Thomas and Sarah Peake (section 4) provides for the slaves Louisa, Nelly, and Jenny to be transferred in trust to certain daughters. Section 7 contains an account, 18141819, of Mary Ann Adams and records the amount of hire for a slave woman.

Peck, Wellford and Co., Fredericksburg, papers, 1834–1844. 17 items. Mss3P3375a. Microfilm reel C578.
Records of a Fredericksburg company operating stage lines and providing mail service. Included is a letterbook and miscellaneous letters.

In section 5, two 1843 documents relate to a petition of the citizens of Fredericksburg to the governor, James McDowell, on behalf of George Ware, a freedman. Two pages of narrative offer the petitioners' belief in Ware's impeccable character and in the inappropriate charge of manslaughter. They provide a description of the circumstances of the charge and characterize the incident as accidental and unfortunate rather than criminal. The petition for clemency is signed by several local attorneys, justices of the peace, ministers (representing several denominations), and a Spotsylvania clerk of the court.

Peckatone papers, 1713–1809. 79 items. Mss1P3374b. Microfilm reels C035 and C233.
Scattered legal, financial and personal papers of members of the Corbin, Lee, and Turberville families who lived at Peckatone plantation in Westmoreland County. Includes correspondence, 1766–1792, of George Turberville (1742–1793) with John Peck (concerning wages of a slave named Dick who was hired as a bricklayer), Dr. George Steptoe (concerning medical advice for Turberville's son and several of his young slaves), and John Augustine Washington (concerning the cost of hiring Turberville's slave Adam) (section 8).

Pendleton family papers, 1836–1910. 10 items. Mss2P3748b.
This small collection includes the correspondence, 1836–1840, of Doctor Micajah Pendleton (1796?–1861) of Buchanan, Botetourt County, in part with Louisa Jane (Davis) Pendleton concerning his life in Buchanan and the purchase of a female slave.

Perry, Thornton Tayloe (1892–1981), collector, Berkeley County, W.Va., miscellaneous papers, 1735–1943. 83 items. Mss1P4299f. Microfilm reel C91.
Miscellaneous small collections, loose correspondence, accounts, legal and other papers from Berkeley County, W.Va., collected by Thornton Tayloe Perry (of Charles Town, W.Va.). Included in section 3 is a slave bill of sale, 1818, between John Huffman and William Roach.

Perry, Thornton Tayloe (1892–1981), collector, Civil War miscellaneous papers, 1861–c. 1960s. 119 items. Mss1P4299i. Microfilm reels C94–96.
A letter from Samuel J. C. Moore, February 1865, concerns his views on arming slaves for the Confederacy, the likelihood of emancipating slaves, and the abilities of slaves to be soldiers (section 1).

Perry, Thornton Tayloe (1892–1981), collector, Jefferson County, W.Va., miscellaneous papers, 1785–1952. 278 items. Mss1P4299c. Microfilm reel C109.
Miscellaneous papers from Jefferson County, W.Va., collected by Thornton Tayloe Perry (of Charles Town, W.Va.). Section 2 contains papers, 1865, of Charles E. Trail, consisting of a lease and rental agreement for a lot and dwelling house in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., under the control of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.

Perry, Thornton Tayloe (1892–1981), collector, Virginia miscellaneous papers, (ca.) 1748–1942. 109 items. Mss1P4299h. Microfilm reels C140–142.
Miscellaneous papers from various Virginia counties collected by Thornton Tayloe Perry (of Charles Town, W.Va.). Materials include correspondence, financial papers, legal documents, scrapbooks and commonplace books. Section 6 contains a slave bill of sale, 1794, between William Bowden and Samuel Williams in Middlesex County, Va., and school papers, 1913–1914, of Mabel Minor, a student at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), Hampton, Va.

Perry, Thornton Tayloe (1892–1981), collector, West Virginia miscellaneous papers, 1741–1967. 183 items. Mss1P4299g. Microfilm reels C143–145.
Miscellaneous papers from various West Virginia counties collected by Thornton Tayloe Perry (of Charles Town, W.Va.). Section 5 contains a letter concerning the appraisal of a slave in Greenbrier County, W.Va. Section 6 contains an account book, 1853–1863, kept by Simon E. Taylor (of South Branch, W.Va.) containing a discussion of the slavery issue in relation to the Methodist church.

Peters, Frederick Grandison, letter, 1848 May 15. 1 item. Mss2P4421a1.
Written from Tye River Warehouse in Nelson County to Seth Halsey in Lynchburg, this letter concerns the possible sale of a male slave, Brister, who is described as a "good dining room servant." It also bears a receipt, 1848 August 29, issued to John D. Murrell for the purchase of Brister by Seth Halsey as agent for F. G. Peters, administrator of Willis [H.] Wills, deceased.

Petty family papers, 1831–1890. 47 items. Mss2P4566b. Photocopies.
Papers of members of the Petty family of Clinton County, Ind., and Culpeper County, Va. Among the "Bonds and Summonses" in this collection is an 1841 bond of Elizabeth Petty, William Petty, Zachariah Petty, and George Thomas to John Thom (sheriff for Culpeper County) concerning the hire of eighteen identified slaves, including two mother-child pairs. Abstracts of wills indicate that Zachariah Petty of Culpeper County left a slave to each of his three daughters (1799 probate) and that Marshall Petty also left slave property to his children (1800). Neither abstract identifies the slaves.

Peyton family papers, 1731–1914. 76 items. Mss1P4686b. Microfilm reel B32.
Section 10 contains an 1847 deed of trust of John Rector to Henry Rector for unnamed slaves, goods, and chattels.

Peyton family papers, 1760–1919. 1,286 items. Mss1P4686c.
Most of the documents of African American content in this collection are lists of estate divisions and deeds. Section 7 includes 1831 lists of the division of the slaves of Dr. Chandler Peyton's estate (Fauquier County). Approximately forty-five slaves were divided into six lots. Section 47 contains material, 1840–1856, pertaining to settlement of Richard Henry Peyton's estate. An 1840 inventory lists three slaves ages fifteen, eighteen, and twenty-two, one being a blacksmith. An 1842 Mississippi affidavit concerns hiring out four mothers with their children. Also in section 47 is a note of a sale of a slave for the benefit of an institutionalized family member.

Among the papers of Elizabeth Brown (Scott) Peyton are an 1834 deed and an agreement concerning four dower slaves (section 9). Deeds, 1811–1814, for slaves belonging to Walter Jones of Washington, D.C., are in section 28; one has a note describing a purchase agreement to keep a family together. An 1842 deed of John Scott Peyton to Margaret Christian Peyton involves twenty-three slaves in Mississippi and Virginia and also concerns her dower slaves. Section 44 contains an 1834 deed of Eliza Gordon (Peyton) Smith to Richard Henry Peyton for the slave woman Elizabeth.

Section 29 contains an 1818 bond to Walter Jones for the hire of Aaron (for a half year only), with the provision to keep Aaron in the district. In the same section is an 1837 agreement of Walter Jones with Tristram H. Garner, a mulatto, for renting a lot in Alexandria to use as a garden. Of particular interest in the correspondence of Dr. Robert Eden Peyton (section 35) is a letter, 1860, from Solomon Hudnall of Brandon, Miss., to Peyton, his former master. He remarks on his house and accommodations, the crops, his friends and family, and lack of illness among the eighty-four slaves on the plantation. Another 1860 letter from John C. McNary of Lexington, Ky., expresses McNary's concern that Peyton might think all northerners to be "John Browns" after Peyton's visit the previous year. He reiterates his opinion that his opposition to slavery does not conflict with the rights of southerners. Peyton and McNary corresponded and continued to compare notes on raising sheep and the sheep business from before the Civil War until well after the war in spite of their differences of opinion on the issue of slavery.

Peyton family papers, 1770–1913. 405 items. Mss1P4686a.
In this collection is a series of correspondence of Dr. Robert Eden Peyton of Gordonsdale, Fauquier County. An 1840 letter to Joseph Hudnall addresses inconsistencies in settling an account for medical services for hired slaves—Mary, Phyllis, Milly, Sylvia, and Bob. (Bob died while serving under the hiring contract.) A copy of an 1849 letter to Samuel McPherson Janney inquires of Janney what his opinions are on the issue of prohibiting slavery in territory acquired from Mexico and whether Congress may prohibit slavery in the District of Columbia without the consent of the people (section 2).

Picot family papers, 1753–1907. 63 items. Mss1P5884a.
Collection primarily concerns Dr. Abel Francis Picot of Richmond; the education of John Poe Harrison in Caroline County; and the estate of Robert Temple of Chesterfield County. Accounts kept in 1863 by Benjamin Temple as executor of Robert Temple's estate include distributions from a so-called "Negro fund" (section 7). Lists of slaves held by Elizabeth (Skyren) Temple in right of dower in the same estate also include information on distribution (section 8).

Pitts family papers, 1848–1926. 346 items. Mss1P6875a. Microfilm reels C286–287.
Collection largely consists of the personal and legal records of three female members of the Ellis and Pitts families of Linden, Essex County.

A January 1865 letter of B. A. Cocke to an unidentified woman concerns contracts for the hiring out of two slaves as industrial workers in Richmond (section 12). An 1860 list kept by an unidentified compiler includes records of work done by the slave Anthony (section 15).

Place, Thomas (b. 1839?), scrapbook, 1862–1899. 1 vol. Mss5:7P6902:1.
Scrapbook/memoir compiled by Thomas Place (of Hempstead, N.Y.) after the Civil War, documenting, in drawings and photographs, his service in Virginia as a member of the 1st New York Mounted Rifles, United States Army. The bulk of the pencil drawings by Place depict activities and scenes around Suffolk, Va., in the winter of 1862 and during the siege of April 1863. Included are sketches of military camps and fortifications, scenes of camp life, and drawings of a variety of local structures and sites. Also included are three drawings of African American life: "Tossing the Darkey" (p. 4); "Old Aunt Washer Woman of Virginia" (p. 8); and "Slab RichmondNegro Settlement at Gloucester Point" (p. 26).

Platt, Eleanor Beverly Meade (1834–1867), letter, 1864. [4] pp. Mss2P6977a1.
Letter, dated 31 December 1864, from Eleanor Platt (of Petersburg) to Rebecca Wormeley Beverly Meade concerning, in part, the costliness of slaves as domestic servants during the Petersburg siege.

Pollard family papers, 1723–1936. 539 items. Mss1P7637b.
Section 5 of this collection contains several lists, 1815–1820, recording taxable property of William Pollard, with names, ages, and values for fifty-four slaves.

Pollard family papers, 1782–1907. 2,743 items. Mss1P7637a. Microfilm reels C287–288.
This family of King and Queen County owned the Greenwood plantation. Sections 34 and 35 of the collection contain agreements for the sale of slaves. Section 34 includes agreements, 1814–1840, made by Peter Thornton Pollard, several of them clearly identifying mothers and children. A note attached to an 1829 agreement states that Esther, slave of John Saunders of Kentucky, is allowed to seek a buyer for herself in King and Queen County. One 1840 agreement concerns the purchase of Dianna and her child Winny; another 1840 agreement concerns the sale of Dianna. Materials in section 35 concern the arrangements for sale of slave property of Samuel Griffin Fauntleroy for his children, with the exception of three slaves assigned to specific children, one of the children being Elizabeth Payne (Fauntleroy) Pollard.

In section 35 freedmen's agreements, 1865–1870, with R. B. Roy of Greenwood ensure cultivation of the land, primarily in corn, and provide for some freedmen to work one Sunday a month at feeding the cattle. Some agreements designate when firewood is to be cut and when the icehouse is to be filled and likewise mandate the repair of fences.

Pollard family papers, 1799–1905. 23 items. Mss2P7637b.
Consists primarily of the papers of the Pollard family of King William County. Included in the collection are an agreement, 1821, between D. P. Courtney and Thomas Delaware Chamberlayne for hiring out a slave, and a tax receipt, 1860, issued on land and slaves in King William County.

Pollard family papers, 1805–1964 (bulk 1833–1906). 277 items. Mss1P7637c.
Primarily the papers of family members at Zoar plantation in King William County. Included in this collection is a letter, 1833 September 25, written by Evelyn Byrd (Chamberlayne) Pollard to her husband, Robert Pollard (1783–1856), who is seeking an improvement to his health by visiting the Virginia springs while Evelyn takes care of matters at home (section 1, folder 2). In the letter, Evelyn describes the medical care she gave to one of their slaves’ children, who had been bitten by a snake.

Pollard family papers, 1880–1961 (bulk 1920–1961). 485 items. Mss1P7637d.
Papers of this Richmond-based family, arranged chronologically, chiefly consist of "round robin" letters kept in 91 volumes beginning in 1920 between eight siblings in the Pollard family of Virginia, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New York, and Pennsylvania. The volumes include correspondence of Virginia governor John Garland Pollard. Letters from the 1920s contain recurring discussions of the "Negro question," a description of Tuskegee Institute (1921 May 22), and mention of the Ku Klux Klan's influence in Georgia (1925 February 20). Letters from the 1930s discuss the Pollard family’s African American nanny, Isabella Brockenbrough (see especially 1934 August 27). 1940s correspondence concerns black workers moving from rural to urban areas to obtain industrial jobs, a speech, August 1945, by civil rights advocate Mary Jane McLeod Bethune, and African American authors. Postwar letters discuss the desegregation of schools and public spaces following the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Miscellaneous items include "On the Way to Brotherhood," a 1947 pamphlet concerning interracial cooperation in Richmond (section 8).

Pope, Harrison Peterson (1817–1877), papers, 1813–1939. 4,654 items. Mss1P8105a.
The papers of this Southampton County constable and justice of the peace include personal papers as well as copies of legal records. Section 17 contains copies of lists, 1850–1851, of taxable property and delinquent taxpayers for Nottoway and St. Luke's parishes in Southampton County. The taxable property lists contain columns for white males over sixteen, African Americans between twenty-one and fifty-five, slaves over sixteen, and slaves over twelve. The lists provide taxpayers' names, instead of just total number. Folder 6 also contains a February 1853 letter from Richard Morton of the Auditor's Office in Richmond to A. Myrick, sheriff of Southampton County, in which Morton refers to section 15, chapter 107 of the Code of 1849, requiring delinquent African Americans to be hired out for taxes if unable to pay.

Porter, Eppy, deed, 1789. 1 p. Mss2P8336a1.
This deed, dated 1 January 1789, was executed in Fauquier County to Peter Heiskell of Augusta County for the slave Venus.

Powhatan County, sheriff, tax book, 1824–1825. 226 pp. Mss5:3P8758:1.
A volume presumably kept by Richard Watkins as sheriff of Powhatan County, listing taxpayers and amounts owed based on land, slaves, and other property, county levies and poor rates, and fees due to the sheriff or county clerk.

Preston family papers, 1727–1896. 3,540 items. Mss1P9267fFA2. Microfilm reels C518–529.
Papers of the family from Augusta and Washington counties. The papers have been calendared and indexed; some copies included. Family members represented include William Preston (1729–1783), a Botetourt County surveyor and justice of the peace; John Preston (1764–1827), state legislator; Francis Preston (1765–1835), lawyer, militia officer, justice of the peace, and U.S. congressman; and James Patton Preston (1774–1843), Montgomery County surveyor, militia officer, state legislator, and governor. John and Francis Preston were both involved with coal and salt mines in southwestern Virginia (Montgomery County) in which African Americans made up a significant portion of their labor force. Some were owned and some were hired slaves. Occasional references to personal and household slaves also occur in the correspondence. The collection includes bills of sale and hiring agreements, references to runaway slaves, insurrections, and the institution of slavery in general. Because of the size of the collection and the existence of a well-indexed finding aid, researchers are encouraged to check the finding aid's index for subject access to the collection.

Preston family papers, 1746–1938. 162 items. Mss1P9267a. Microfilm reel B33.
In this collection is an 1852 receipt of John C. Carter of Elmwood in Albemarle County for ten slaves listed by name, age, and value. An 1859 letter of Carter is also in section 19 and lists twelve slaves with the same information.

Preston family papers, 1755–1961. 1,110 items. Mss1P9267b. Microfilm reel B34.
In section 26 of the collection are several bills of sale to Robert Preston (1750–1833) of Washington County. A 1786 record pertains to an unnamed slave bought at public auction; a 1790 record is for a boy aged twelve or thirteen. In 1794 Preston bought a boy named Jack and a girl named Polly, and in 1806 he warranted Polly, age twelve, to be sound at the time of sale.

Preston family papers, 1769–1864. 2,305 items. Mss1P9267e. Microfilm reels C38–39.
Deeds, 1779–1792, to Robert Preston for slaves include a 1783 deed for Jack from Sullivan County, N.C.; for twenty-two-year-old Nell and her two-year-old daughter of York, Pa.; for Potter, 1779, of Camden, S.C.; and for Abram, age fourteen in 1792, healthy and from Middlesex County (section 8).

Much of the remaining material of African American content in this collection is found in the papers of John Preston (1781–1864), primarily his correspondence in section 43. From his daughter Jane (Preston) Craighead Marshall of Dayton, Ala., he learns of an 1847 incident in which Jane's slave Ellen was accused of stealing a pocketbook while traveling with her mistress in Knoxville; Ellen was taken to jail and whipped before revealing where the money was kept. Jane tells her father that she has threatened to make Ellen a field hand. In a later letter, 1860, Jane states that the health of the slaves is good in spite of the heat and miserable water.

Preston's letters from his son, John Preston (1811–1882), tell much of plantation life near Helena, Ark., where John had a plantation and legal practice. John relates hiring out arrangements for Henry and Washington (1836). In July 1837, he describes to his father the defense in a jury trial for a slave accused and convicted of arson, a capital offense. The case was being appealed because it was brought out that the master commanded the slave to perpetrate the act. In July 1839, wood buildings were constructed on the Arkansas plantation, and the slaves were healthy and had limited exposure to the sun. John perceives himself as a protector and not an owner. In March 1840, he reports that the slaves are well and clearing land to plant, but later in July the slaves have become ill, and young Phoebe had died. In August he reports that Washington is better although still quite lean, and by October all are well except Jack (who often tends not to be well). In January 1843, John tells his father that the slaves have been more agreeable since dismissing the overseer, who "obeyed the precept of Solomon" too closely. In March 1846 he tells his father that it would be a hardship to hire out Lottie, London, Jack, and Maria (who legally belong to his father), because it would require him to stop farming operations. London and Maria have two children, and Lottie is married to John's slave Henry and they have two children as well. In December 1847 he tells his father he plans to sell land in order to buy slaves to increase his labor force.

Section 45 contains an 1825 deed to John Preston, Jr., from his former business partner, Abraham Fickle of Sullivan County, Tenn., for Ann. An attached note records that in 1834 Ann has four children, Sarah, Eliza, Marylou, and Maria, who by the will of Robert Preston are to be released to Margaret (Preston) Rhea.

Preston family papers, 1773–1862. 806 items. Mss1P9267d. Microfilm reel C37.
The earliest African American record in this collection is an 1802 deed for the slave Amos, belonging to James Patton Preston (section 10). Section 14 holds correspondence of William Ballard Preston (1805–1862). Of particular note is a letter from William Watson Boyd of Buchanan, dated January 1849, in which Boyd expresses his opinions on the issue of slavery in the newly acquired territory formerly belonging to Mexico and slavery in the District of Columbia. His feelings are that the Union is more important than the issue of slavery and that abolition of slavery in these areas will not infringe on the rights of southern states. Also in 1849, Preston received a printed document authorized by Governor John Buchanan Floyd conveying a resolution of the Virginia legislature concerning the assembly's stands on the Missouri Compromise, the Wilmot Proviso, and slavery in the District of Columbia.

Section 16 contains two items—notes for an 1848 speech made by William Ballard Preston in the House of Representatives concerning slavery in the U.S. territories and an address to an agricultural society, which compares free labor and slave labor for both North and South, as well as statistical ratios for natural population increases and decreases through via immigration and emigration for black and white populations in both areas, and addresses what Preston considers misconceptions of slavery.

In 1862, J. R. Anderson & Co. of Richmond petitioned the Confederate Congress to impress slaves for the manufacture of iron, because the usual method of hiring slaves had become financially difficult (section 30). Because slaves were running away to the enemy whenever troops came close enough, owners were requiring additional bonds to secure slave property against loss.

Priam, Middlesex County, muniments, 1693–1812. 9 items. Mss2P9305b.
Include a deed of trust, 1801, of Thomas E. Churchill for Bushy Park and Wilton, two plantations in Middlesex County, thirty slaves (listed by name), and other personal property.

Prince, George W. (b. 1840), legal papers, 1855–1857. 8 p. Mss2P9357a1. Photocopies.
Materials in this document concern the lawsuit of David Prince v. John Jones Prince (guardian ad litem of George W. Prince) in the Court of Sussex County and involve the sale by the trading firm of Dickinson, Hill & Co. of Richmond of the slave Henry, belonging to George Prince. Photocopies of records in the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court of Sussex County. A typescript copy of the bill of complaint, answer, and order of the court is filed with these materials.

Provine, William A. (d. 1935), compiler, genealogical notes concerning the Maclin family. 20 pp. Mss6:1M2255:1.
Some slave birth and death records are included in the notes.

Updated June 4, 2009