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Lot 251
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Connecticut Newspaper on Slavery & Aaron Burr
Connecticut Newspaper on Slavery & Aaron Burr
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Description:

Slavery
New London, CT, August 22, 1804
Connecticut Newspaper on Slavery & Aaron Burr
Newspaper

[SLAVERY.] The Connecticut Gazette and the Commercial Intelligencer, August 22, 1804. New London: Samuel Green. 4 pp., 12" x 20.25". General toning; staining; expected folds; some separation on central fold; small loss in top margin; small holes in all pages, with minimal impact on text.

This issue questions William Wilberforce's attempt in the British Parliament to abolish the international slave trade, reports that Aaron Burr had been indicted for the murder of Alexander Hamilton, and includes an advertisement for the sale of a 21-year-old female slave and another offering a $50 reward for the return of a runaway slave.

The sale offer must have involved a slave born just before March 1, 1784, because, by Connecticut law, all enslaved African Americans born after that date were free when they reached age 25 (males) or 21 (females).

Excerpts
"FOR SALE,
"FOR want of employ, a smart, active Negro Girl, about 21 years old, well acquainted with all kinds of house work and cooking; terms of payment made easy. For particulars enquire of the Printer. / New-London, June 11."

"Slave Trade.
"Many petitions from persons interested in West India property have been presented against the abolition of the trade. Mr. Fuller observed in the House of Commons, that as far as he could collect information, there was not a single word that fell from Mr. Wilberforce on the subject, (on his proposing the bill,) which was absolutely founded on fact. The petitioners had leave to be heard by counsel." (p1/c4)

"Yesterday the Grand Jury now in session, much to their credit, after patently hearing a mass of testimony for three days, unanimously brought in a bill of indictment against Aaron Burr, V. P. of the United States, for sending a Message or challenge, inviting General Alexander Hamilton to be killed by him in a duel, and against William P. Van Ness and Nathaniel Pendleton, for acting as seconds. By this Indictment if confirmed by the competent Tribunals (of which we have no doubt,) Mr. Burr, Mr. Van Ness and Mr. Pendleton, are by the last law against duelling, passed by the legislature of this state, completely disfranchised, and of course disqualified from holding any office of honor or profit, or of voting in that state for the term of twenty years. The Murder of Gen. Hamilton, having been committed in the state of New-Jersey, the Grand Jury did not feel authorized to take cognizance of it; but we are informed from the first legal authority, that a prosecution will be under the verdict of the Coroner's Jury." (p2/c4)

"50 dollars Reward.
"MISSING from the subscriber, on Black point, in Lyme, on Sunday, the 15th July, inst. towards evening, a negro man, named Frank, aged about 26 years; about 5 feet 5 inches high, thick set, well made, thick lips; the upper part of one of his ears is missing by the kick of a horse, when he was a child. Had on when missing, a tow cloth shirt and trowsers, home made kersey mixt coloured jacket, felt hat. If he is alive, any person that will take up said negro and return him to me, or secure him in any goal in the United States, and give me information, shall receive the above reward, and all necessary charges paid by me.
"All persons are forbid har[b]oring, or concealing him under penalty of the law. / JOSHUA POWERS." (p4/c4)

Historical Background
After Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey, in July 1804, grand juries indicted Burr for murder in New York and New Jersey. He fled south to avoid arrest, and these charges eventually faded, but the political damage was severe.

Slavery in Connecticut began in the seventeenth century, but the colony prohibited the further importation of slaves in 1774. A decade later, in the wake of the Revolutionary War, the Connecticut General Assembly approved a plan of gradual emancipation by which all slaves born after March 1, 1784, would become free at age 25 for males and age 21 for females.

In 1790, 2,764 enslaved persons remained in Connecticut. The number declined to 951 in 1800, 97 in 1820, 25 in 1830, and 17 in 1840. In 1844, then Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin proposed legislation to end slavery, but the General Assembly did not pass it until it was reintroduced in 1848. That act freed the six remaining slaves in the state.

In 1788, the General Assembly attempted to curb the removal of slaves from the state who would be free when they reached the appropriate age. "An Act to Prevent the Slave Trade" imposed a fine of £100 on any person who kidnapped, decoyed, or forcibly carried off any person entitled to their freedom later under the provisions of the 1784 act. A 1792 slave law also protected the slaves for life from being exported from the state.

Revolutionary War veteran Joshua Powers (1744-1821) was a farmer in Lyme, Connecticut. He employed Niantics (a local Native American tribe) but also owned African-American slaves. He advertised for runaways from the Powers farm in 1776 and 1779. His slave Frank had run away before in 1798.

Additional Content
This issue also includes foreign news (p1/c3-p2/c1-2); negotiations with General Dessalines in Haiti (p1/c5-p2/c1); letters between Josephina Bonaparte and Julia Moreau about the fate of Moreau's husband (p2/c5-p3/c1); and numerous notices and advertisements.

The Connecticut Gazette (1763-1844) was a weekly newspaper established in New London by Timothy Green (1735-1812) as the New-London Gazette, published by the authority of the colonial government. Green was a member of the prominent Green family of Connecticut, which included twenty-three printers and publishers over several generations. Timothy Green's son, Samuel Green (1768-1859), became a partner in 1789 and took over publishing the newspaper in 1793. In 1773, the newspaper became the Connecticut Gazette; and the Universal Intelligencer, then The Connecticut Gazette in 1787. In 1800, it became the Connecticut Gazette, and the Commercial Intelligencer, and continued under a series of titles and publishers, including Ebenezer P. Cady & Nathaniel Eells (1805-1808), Samuel Green again (1808-1838), John J. Hyde (1838-1840), Samuel H. Green (1840-1841), and Albert G. Seaman (1841-1844); it ceased publication in 1844.

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.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.

  • Dimensions: 12" x 20.25"
  • Medium: Newspaper

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February 18, 2026 10:00 AM EST
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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000