Description:

Slavery
[West Feliciana Parish, LA], January 19, 1854
1854 Debt Collection Writ Mortgaging 38 Slaves in Louisiana Sugar Bowl
PPDS
A 2pp partly printed and partly manuscript document signed, being a sheriff's writ to collect debts from a delinquent creditor named William T. Mays. January 19, 1854. [West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.] On either side of watermarked paper with "The State of Louisiana" pre-printed letterhead. Secretarially inscribed by the Deputy Clerk, and signed by various law enforcement and court officials. Docketed verso and also annotated by the local sheriff, ca. February 14, 1854. Expected wear including toning and moderate to severe ink bleed-through. Isolated sheared or chipped edges. Entirely legible and otherwise very good. 7.375" x 12.25."

James L. Sterling, Judge of the 7th District Court, instructed the Sheriff of West Feliciana Parish to collect money from a resident named William T. Mays in accordance with a recent court judgment in favor of the plaintiff, the factor William Jackson & Company. Mays owed $1,538.68 plus 6% interest per year dating from May 3, 1851. The sheriff was instructed to collect the payment from Mays's personal estate by March 20, 1854; if there was none available, the sheriff was directed to seize the amount from Mays's "Slaves, Real Estate, Rights and Credits" instead. The bottom portion of the document lists the enslaved persons owned by Mays.

The writ reads in part:

"To satisfy the above debt and interest there is a special Mortgage retained on the following named slaves.

Reuben aged about 30 years. Adaline 26. Stephen 14. Barbay 8. Maria 3. Willis 25. Celia + child borne since mortgage 22. Peter 4. Sandy 25. Carolina 35. Rutty 25. Wilson 14. Chloe 62. Henry 57. Mary + child born since the mortgage 29. Sarah + child born since mortgage 16. Ben 32. Cynthia + child born since the mortgage 32. Mary Ellen 3. Juda 37. Esau 8. Peter 6. Sampson 37. Elizabeth + child born since the mortgage 32. William 6. Lewis 4. Louea 2. Dublin 47. Martha Ann 3. Blan 2. Dick 35. Fairfax 24. Betty 10."

Mays lived in central Louisiana in West Feliciana Parish, today part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. This parish was part of a region referred to in the mid-nineteenth century as the Sugar Bowl because of its high concentration of sugar cane plantations. There is a total of 38 enslaved persons on the judge's list, among whom there is an equal number of males and females ranging in age from newborn to 62 years old. This included 11 men between 25-57 years old; 8 women between 16-62 years old; 14 children, ages 2-14; and 5 newborns born on Mays's estate between 1851-1854. These enslaved persons were almost certainly required to harvest sugar cane for the manufacture of sugar or molasses.

The sheriff's writ oddly lists William T. Mays as a "Tutor," but elsewhere he is listed as a farmer. Based on statistics from the area from 1850, Mays's plantation was large but not the largest of its kind. In West Feliciana Parish in 1850, nearly 20% of planters had between 20-49 enslaved persons. There were 24 operators listed on agricultural schedules from West Feliciana in 1850, and among them they owned a combined 2,000 slaves.

The sheriff's note verso suggests that the promised enslaved persons belonging to William T. Mays were never delivered: "I am not able to find any property of any Kind in the Parish of West Feliciana belonging to the defendant in this case or writ…"

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.375" x 12.25"
  • Medium: PPDS

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