[Slavery]. [Cuba]Biblio.com
1 561 résultats
1866réf. 4747Havana: July 10 1866. Good. 3pp. on a bifolium. Separated at fold. Some wear to edge of first leaf cause some minor loss to text. A few scattered tape repairs and reattachments. Some offsetting. A colonial Spanish manuscript slave manifest for the steamship Cristobal Colon carrying dozens of enslaved Africans from Bailen to Partido del Cano both in Cuba. The text at the head reads as follows: "Nomina de los Africano bozales que conducten el vapor Cristobol Colon embarcado hoy a las siete de la mañana por el muelle de Bailen con destino al Partido del Cano unos de la propridad de D. José Rafael Diaz y otros de D. José Garcia y por encargo de sus dueños los custodia D. Juan Antonio Sanchez Bustamante y este individuo tiene biencia annal del Partido de Consolacion del Sur." Bailen is on the southern coast of Cuba north of the Isle of Pines; "El Cano" seems to have been a plantation outside of Havana while Consolacion del Sur is coastal town in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba. The manifest lists 133 "Africanos bozales" that is slaves who could not speak Spanish in two or three columns separated between men "varones" and women "hembras" - their assigned names are given generally of Christian origin but with some range e.g "Ciforiana" "Liborio" and "Dionisia." Their ages are given one as young as nine several in their late thirties but most in their teens to early thirties. An additional leaf signed from Manila and dated July 10 1866 notes that although 133 people were sent only 115 survived the journey and lists the names of those who perished. July 10
1866réf. 4747Havana: July 10 1866. Good. 3pp. on a bifolium. Separated at fold. Some wear to edge of first leaf cause some minor loss to text. A few scattered tape repairs and reattachments. Some offsetting. A colonial Spanish manuscript slave manifest for the steamship Cristobal Colon carrying dozens of enslaved Africans from Bailen to Partido del Cano both in Cuba. The text at the head reads as follows: "Nomina de los Africano bozales que conducten el vapor Cristobol Colon embarcado hoy a las siete de la mañana por el muelle de Bailen con destino al Partido del Cano unos de la propridad de D. José Rafael Diaz y otros de D. José Garcia y por encargo de sus dueños los custodia D. Juan Antonio Sanchez Bustamante y este individuo tiene biencia annal del Partido de Consolacion del Sur." Bailen is on the southern coast of Cuba north of the Isle of Pines; "El Cano" seems to have been a plantation outside of Havana while Consolacion del Sur is coastal town in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba. The manifest lists 133 "Africanos bozales" that is slaves who could not speak Spanish in two or three columns separated between men "varones" and women "hembras" - their assigned names are given generally of Christian origin but with some range e.g "Ciforiana" "Liborio" and "Dionisia." Their ages are given one as young as nine several in their late thirties but most in their teens to early thirties. An additional leaf signed from Manila and dated July 10 1866 notes that although 133 people were sent only 115 survived the journey and lists the names of those who perished. July 10 books
1791réf. 44994Paris, Moreau de Saint-Méry, Ponce, Phelipeau, 1791. Grand in-folio (48 x 34 cm), titre et 30 planches gravées, cartonnage bleu de l'époque.
1759réf. ST19900Philadelphia and Germantown: Benjamin. Franklin and David. Hall or Christopher Sower 1759-60. 192 x 130 mm. 7 1/2 x 5". 1 p.l. collection title 47 1 71 4 76-168 iv 5-43 1 55 1 64 16 pp. Contemporary blind-ruled sheep nicely rebacked to style raised bands. Verso of front flyleaf inscribed in ink in the recipient's hand: "This Book is the Gift of Mr. Anthony Benezett sic to William Anderson October 14th 1760"; front pastedown with ink inscription: "The holy Book To Be Read"; title page with signature of William Anderson dated 1760; front flyleaf and both free endpapers with additional 19th century owner inscriptions. Miller 730; Smith Friends' Books I p. 240. For "Observations": Sabin 4676; Evans 8542. Boards a little dried and scuffed with a couple of small stains text variably toned because of colonial paper quality perhaps a fifth of the text rather browned dampstaining in the upper margin in the middle part of the volume mostly unobtrusive but darker and extending downward on a few leaves. The texts in the kind of problematic condition expected with early American imprints but the binding much better than is normally seen. This is a presentation copy of an important published collection of Quaker texts that includes four works printed by Benjamin Franklin as well as an early significant abolitionist tract that delivers a powerful condemnation of the slave trade. The collection title page lists nine tracts in total six of which were issued with separate title pages comprising: "An Extract from the Spirit of Prayer" by W. Law; "A Discourse on Mistakes concerning Religion" by Thomas Hartley; "Christ's Spirit or a Christian's Strength" "The Stumbling Stone" "The Doctrine of Baptism" and "The Trial of Spirits" all by William Dell; "The Liberty of Flesh and Spirit Distinguished" by J. Rutty; and "Observations on Enslaving Importing and Purchasing of Negroes &c." followed by "The Uncertainty of a Death-bed Repentance" both by Anthony Benezet. Miller asserts that "the first fifth sixth and seventh had previously been printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall all in Caslon type. The remainder had been printed by Christopher Saur who owned no Caslon letter." The volume title also in Calson type is attributed to the press of Franklin and Hall for the same reason. According to Miller Anthony Benezet put together this collection of Quaker material in the spring of 1760 in an edition of 500 copies with the hope of reaching those living "in ye back Parts of Maryland Virginia & N. Carolina . . . and Connecticut." First printed in 1759 Benezet's forceful denunciation of the slave trade is notable for using eyewitness accounts from people actually involved with the trade recounting the horrific practices and conditions that were realities of the system. Citing various lines of scripture Benezet argues that slavery runs contrary to Christian teachings and Mosaic law and that those who purchase and keep slaves bear as much guilt as the traders themselves. Born in France to Huguenot parents Benezet 1713-84 was a Quaker abolitionist educator and writer who became one of the earliest and most outspoken advocates against slavery in colonial America. He emigrated to Philadelphia by way of Rotterdam and London in 1731 where he founded Pennsylvania's first secondary school for girls and later opened one of the first schools to welcome black students. ANB says that "Although Benezet is recognized as the most prolific antislavery propagandist of the eighteenth century throughout his lifetime he supported and wrote about a wide variety of causes and topics including assistance for Acadian refugees temperance peace fair treatment of Native Americans religion educational reform and poor relief." His wife Joyce Benezet d. 1786 née Marriott was a preacher in the faith herself. According to Waldstreicher Franklin maintained a "lifelong friendship with Quaker politicians merchants and scientists. . . . He admired Quakerism because of its affirmation of simplicity frugality anti-slavery and humanitarianism." Franklin also saw the possibility of profit in printing for the considerable Quaker population of his colony. Hall 1714-72 came to Philadelphia from London in 1744 to work for Franklin and became a partner in the firm in 1748. As a considerable mark of his regard for Hall Franklin drew up a contract whereby his partner would over an 18-year period buy him out. It is a further sign of Franklin's regard for Hall that the printer is buried beside Franklin and his wife. As to contemporaneous provenance we can speculate with some degree of certainty that our William Anderson was the person of that name who was a Quaker preacher from Haverford near Philadelphia. His wife Margaret--like Benezet's wife Joyce--was also a preacher and these two husband-and-wife teams are dealt with in Rebecca Larson's "Daughter of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad 1700-1775" 1999 Appendix 2. . B[enjamin]. Franklin and D[avid]. Hall or Christopher Sower unknown
1759réf. ST19900Philadelphia and Germantown: Benjamin. Franklin and David. Hall or Christopher Sower 1759-60. 192 x 130 mm. 7 1/2 x 5". 1 p.l. collection title 47 1 71 4 76-168 iv 5-43 1 55 1 64 16 pp. Contemporary blind-ruled sheep nicely rebacked to style raised bands. Verso of front flyleaf inscribed in ink in the recipient's hand: "This Book is the Gift of Mr. Anthony Benezett sic to William Anderson October 14th 1760"; front pastedown with ink inscription: "The holy Book To Be Read"; title page with signature of William Anderson dated 1760; front flyleaf and both free endpapers with additional 19th century owner inscriptions. Miller 730; Smith Friends' Books I p. 240. For "Observations": Sabin 4676; Evans 8542. Boards a little dried and scuffed with a couple of small stains text variably toned because of colonial paper quality perhaps a fifth of the text rather browned dampstaining in the upper margin in the middle part of the volume mostly unobtrusive but darker and extending downward on a few leaves. The texts in the kind of problematic condition expected with early American imprints but the binding much better than is normally seen. This is a presentation copy of an important published collection of Quaker texts that includes four works printed by Benjamin Franklin as well as an early significant abolitionist tract that delivers a powerful condemnation of the slave trade. The collection title page lists nine tracts in total six of which were issued with separate title pages comprising: "An Extract from the Spirit of Prayer" by W. Law; "A Discourse on Mistakes concerning Religion" by Thomas Hartley; "Christ's Spirit or a Christian's Strength" "The Stumbling Stone" "The Doctrine of Baptism" and "The Trial of Spirits" all by William Dell; "The Liberty of Flesh and Spirit Distinguished" by J. Rutty; and "Observations on Enslaving Importing and Purchasing of Negroes &c." followed by "The Uncertainty of a Death-bed Repentance" both by Anthony Benezet. Miller asserts that "the first fifth sixth and seventh had previously been printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall all in Caslon type. The remainder had been printed by Christopher Saur who owned no Caslon letter." The volume title also in Calson type is attributed to the press of Franklin and Hall for the same reason. According to Miller Anthony Benezet put together this collection of Quaker material in the spring of 1760 in an edition of 500 copies with the hope of reaching those living "in ye back Parts of Maryland Virginia & N. Carolina . . . and Connecticut." First printed in 1759 Benezet's forceful denunciation of the slave trade is notable for using eyewitness accounts from people actually involved with the trade recounting the horrific practices and conditions that were realities of the system. Citing various lines of scripture Benezet argues that slavery runs contrary to Christian teachings and Mosaic law and that those who purchase and keep slaves bear as much guilt as the traders themselves. Born in France to Huguenot parents Benezet 1713-84 was a Quaker abolitionist educator and writer who became one of the earliest and most outspoken advocates against slavery in colonial America. He emigrated to Philadelphia by way of Rotterdam and London in 1731 where he founded Pennsylvania's first secondary school for girls and later opened one of the first schools to welcome black students. ANB says that "Although Benezet is recognized as the most prolific antislavery propagandist of the eighteenth century throughout his lifetime he supported and wrote about a wide variety of causes and topics including assistance for Acadian refugees temperance peace fair treatment of Native Americans religion educational reform and poor relief." His wife Joyce Benezet d. 1786 née Marriott was a preacher in the faith herself. According to Waldstreicher Franklin maintained a "lifelong friendship with Quaker politicians merchants and scientists. . . . He admired Quakerism because of its affirmation of simplicity frugality anti-slavery and humanitarianism." Franklin also saw the possibility of profit in printing for the considerable Quaker population of his colony. Hall 1714-72 came to Philadelphia from London in 1744 to work for Franklin and became a partner in the firm in 1748. As a considerable mark of his regard for Hall Franklin drew up a contract whereby his partner would over an 18-year period buy him out. It is a further sign of Franklin's regard for Hall that the printer is buried beside Franklin and his wife. As to contemporaneous provenance we can speculate with some degree of certainty that our William Anderson was the person of that name who was a Quaker preacher from Haverford near Philadelphia. His wife Margaret--like Benezet's wife Joyce--was also a preacher and these two husband-and-wife teams are dealt with in Rebecca Larson's "Daughter of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad 1700-1775" 1999 Appendix 2. . B[enjamin]. Franklin and D[avid]. Hall or Christopher Sower unknown books
1801réf. 58147ELOQUENT ARGUMENT FOR ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE BY A WEST INDIES SLAVE OWNER - WITH A DESCRIPTION OF SUGAR PLANTATIONS Full title: 'Letters on the Cultivation of the Otaheite Cane; the Manufacture of Sugar and Rum; the Saving of Molasses; the Care and Preservation of Stock; with the Attention and Anxiety which is due to Negroes. To these Topics are added a few other Particulars analogous to the Subject of the Letters; and also Speech on the Slave Trade the most important Feature in West Indian Cultivation.' first edition 8vo. xvi 248 248 1 blank 249-290 291-301 prospectus with detailed contents for book on Leeward Islands 1 blankpp large folding table at p.247 modern quarter rich tan calf spine panelled by raised bands with the panels richly gilt tooled red morocco title label marbled sides scattered foxing some light old water staining to lower and fore margins most noticeable in gatherings B and L and never obtrusive else a nice copy in a very handsome binding. SABIN 9850 Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 18156.4 Rare Books Hub records none at auction. Clement Caines d. 1817-1822 trained as a barrister in London inherited his family's sugar plantations in St. Kitts around 1778 and became the largest slave owner in the island. In the General Assembly of the Leeward Islands in 1798 he advocated the abolition of the slave trade better treatment for enslaved workers and an end to the slave trade. He wrote extensively on the desirability of humane treatment for plantation slaves and the abolition of the slave trade as well as political topics including his support for the Embargo. The first part of this book effectively a detailed description the workings of a West Indian sugar cane plantation benefits from Caines's first hand experience of the topic. The second part p.249-288 contains his 'Speech on the Slave Trade' delivered to the General Assembly of the Leeward Islands in March 1798 which was discussing a resolution that the abolition of slave trade 'would be oppressive to the British planter destructive to the sugar colonies and consequently to the British Revenue and of no benefit to the Africans themselves'. Caines unambiguously stated "the slave-trade ought to be abolished. It ought to be abolished immediately. It ought immediately to be abolished for the sake and benefit of the planter". Caines argued that the slave trade was injurious not only to the slaves but to their owners. Having observed the death rates from exposure overwork and disease involved in forest clearing he bluntly stated that slave labour "cements with blood the walls of every sugar-work that is raised where forests grew". He stated that his business had "never been delegated to others. The slaves who were committed to my care performed their work under my own eyes. My time was passed with them and my attention devoted to them and their condition. I could not fail then to become acquainted with their wants and sufferings - to remark their sickness disability and premature decay: - the diseases among their men the sterility of their women and the death among their children". He directly challenged his hearers for their calculation "that a hardy African can be purchased for less than a Creole infant can be reared" and their consequent failure to provide adequate housing for mothers and children. He reports that about a quarter of newly arrived slaves on discovering their situation "pine and droop linger rather than live and shortly sink into the grave". Only an end to the importation of new slaves could disrupt the planters' callous calculation that they could "run our Negroes for two or three years" in the certainty that they could be then be replaced. Caines's familiarity with the actuality of slave life and his eloquent and direct illustration of it give this work an especial power. Interestingly in 1811 Caines wrote to both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison sending copies of his publications vide https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-03-02-0394 . Printed for Messrs Robinson hardcover
1791réf. 140945477Printed at the Joint Expence of the Glasgow and Edinburgh Societies instituted for the Abolition of the Slave Trade: Edinburgh 1791. First Edinburgh Edition. Very Good. Rare first Edinburgh edition published same year as the London edition of eye-witness testimony on the horrors of the British slave trade containing a very early engraving of the famous large folding plate of slaves packed into the hold of the slave-ship Brookes. The famous engraving is one of the most powerful and influential images in the history of social justice and the fight to abolish slavery. It served as a gruesome test of the Britain's "humane" Slave Trade Act of 1788 also known as Dolben's Act which limited the number of enslaved people that British slave ships could transport based on the ships' tons burthen. Very Good. Small 8vo bound in somewhat recent quarter calf and marbled boards with light fading to the spine. Folding frontispiece map of the west coast of Africa in with 2 x 0.5" loss along one edge neatly restored. Large folding woodcut 16.25 x 15.5" of a slave ship based on the engraving W. Elford published in a pamphlet in London in 1789 is excellent and bright with several repairs made to the verso mending tears. The print now an iconic symbol of the Middle Passage was so visually arresting that William Wilbeforce created a scale model of the Brookes making it a central part of his presentation before the House of Commons. His abolition bill did not garner enough support to pass and it was not until 1807 that England succeeded in abolishing slavery. Edinburgh unknown
1791réf. 140945477Printed at the Joint Expence of the Glasgow and Edinburgh Societies instituted for the Abolition of the Slave Trade: Edinburgh 1791. First Edinburgh Edition. Very Good. Rare first Edinburgh edition published same year as the London edition of eye-witness testimony on the horrors of the British slave trade containing a very early engraving of the famous large folding plate of slaves packed into the hold of the slave-ship Brookes. The famous engraving is one of the most powerful and influential images in the history of social justice and the fight to abolish slavery. It served as a gruesome test of the Britain's "humane" Slave Trade Act of 1788 also known as Dolben's Act which limited the number of enslaved people that British slave ships could transport based on the ships' tons burthen. Very Good. Small 8vo bound in somewhat recent quarter calf and marbled boards with light fading to the spine. Folding frontispiece map of the west coast of Africa in with 2 x 0.5" loss along one edge neatly restored. Large folding woodcut 16.25 x 15.5" of a slave ship based on the engraving W. Elford published in a pamphlet in London in 1789 is excellent and bright with several repairs made to the verso mending tears. The print now an iconic symbol of the Middle Passage was so visually arresting that William Wilbeforce created a scale model of the Brookes making it a central part of his presentation before the House of Commons. His abolition bill did not garner enough support to pass and it was not until 1807 that England succeeded in abolishing slavery. Edinburgh unknown books
1853réf. 32820729Two sixth-plate daguerreotypes cased together. Left: nurse and child "Bradford & Ellen Sherwood his nurse" right: parents "Jonathan P. Harrison & his wife Caroline Denny Harrison". White family's cheeks are hand-tinted and the baby's dress is hand-colored. Some spots edges tarnished. A tremendous pair. Jonathan P. Harrison born 23 December 1829 and his wife Caroline Denny Harrison born c. 1834 are in one portrait while their son Bradford born c. 1853 and his black nurse Ellen Sherwood are in the other. The Harrison family moved from Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore to Texas in the 1850s to pursue ranching and farming opportunities. According to the U.S. Census in 1860 the family lived in Corpus Christi Texas with Jonathan reported as 29 years old Caroline 26 and Bradford 7 indicating a date of 1853 for this photograph. The Harrisons and Dennys were prominent Maryland and Texas families. Jonathan served with the 1st Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. Identified daguerreotype portraits of slaves are rare and linked pairs such as this set are very rare. It is conceivable that Ellen Sherwood was a free black but given the status of the Harrison and Denny families it seems probable that she was a slave. This splendid pair of photographs vividly demonstrates the complexity of black-white relationships in the antebellum South. Provenance: "Jonathan P. Harrison & his wife Caroline Denny Harrison / Their child Bradford & Ellen Sherwood his nurse" identified in a manuscript note beneath the right daguerreotype in the hand of Jonathan's niece Patty Belle Tilghman 1851-1931. See Hanson Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland p. 96.
1845réf. 42820850A unique survival. This important collection of largely identified photographs documents the home and family of Dr. Sidney Smith and those he enslaved at Gravel Hill his South Carolina plantation. The collection includes an extraordinary daguerreotype depicting Dr. Smith his two daughters and his brother posed together with two enslaved African American men. This is one of the earliest known images—if not the very earliest photograph—of an identified plantation owner posing with enslaved African Americans. The photographs : 1. Quarter plate daguerreotype 4 x 3 1/8 in. of Gravel Hill Plantation near Robertville St. Peter's Parish Beaufort District South Carolina. Ca. mid-to-late 1840s. Manuscript notation on passe-partout mat "Grandfather Sidney Smith Gravel Hill S.C." The image shows the plantation house with various figures engaged in an unidentified activity with a horse tied to a picket fence. The two girls in white may be Sidney Smith's daughters Arabella b. 1832 and Julia b. 1837 and the others may be enslaved African American children. An enslaved African American subject stands on the steps in the background. In the foreground are two figures with an unknown object perhaps a dog cart or a bone-shaker bicycle. In front of the house is a heavily-vined grape arbor presumably connected with Smith's efforts in viniculture. 2. A quarter plate tintype copy of the above daguerreotype. 3. Sixth plate daguerreotype of Sidney Smith his daughters Arabella and Julia his brother James Laurens Smith and two unidentified African American men almost certainly enslaved men. Ca. mid-1840s-1850. One of the girls is blurred because she is hold a struggling dog. Accompanied by the envelope in which the daguerreotype was discovered with penciled notation about the subjects as well as a tentative date of "1850 or thereabout." 4. Sixth plate daguerreotype of Smith's daughters Arabella and Julia pointing to a book and an unidentified object. Ca. mid-1840s-1850. 5. Sixth plate daguerreotype of Sidney Smith. Ca. 1845. Smith appears to be wearing a mourning band on his coat suggesting that the image was made following the death of his first wife Eliza in March 1845. 6. Sixth plate tintype copy of the above portrait. 7. Sixth plate tintype portrait of Maria King Smith second wife of Sidney Smith with an infant possibly William King Smith. A period copy image. 8. Sixth plate ambrotype of William King Smith son of Sidney and Maria Smith possibly as a cadet. Ca 1850s. 9. Quarter plate ambrotype of Sarah Smith sister of Sidney and James Laurens Smith aunt to Arabella and Julia. Ca 1850s-1860s. 10. Sixth plate ambrotype of Rosa Nicholes sister of Maria Smith with "Eddie" Postell possibly the Edward Postell who was killed in action in 1863 at Fort Wagner. Ca 1850s. Dr. Sidney Smith Sidney Smith was born in 1805 in or near Beaufort SC the son of William Smith a man of moderate wealth and Elizabeth Wilson Smith of Philadelphia reportedly a Quaker. Sidney was sent to Yale College and subsequently studied medicine in Ohio. His younger brother James Laurens Smith b. 1809 studied law but he apparently never practiced devoting himself instead to agriculture. Sidney Smith married Eliza Lawton in 1829. The two had several children including daughters Arabella and Julia. Smith was apparently practicing medicine in the vicinity of Robertville South Carolina as well as trying his hand at being a planter. In 1831 he appears in the Lawton Family Papers as having been paid two dollars for "expirating a Fungus Tumor from the head of Little Negro Shiloh" Inabinett 1963. His name appears in several land transactions in the upper St. Peter's Parish in Beaufort District where he experimented with various crops. Smith's experiments with wine received wide-ranging coverage in the press. A notice in the Boston Daily Atlas of 28 December 1844 printed a report from a Savannah newspaper: "This editor of the Savannah Republican has samples of eight kinds of wine made by Dr. Sidney Smith of Robertville Beaufort District S.C. They are pure juice of the grape without the addition of any spirits whatever. One of the specimens is from the vintage of 1833 another from that of '38 and the other six from that of the present year. They differ in flavor according to the species of grape from which they were expressed … Dr. S. has on hand some 800 gallons of those wines which he finds useful for all medicinal and culinary purposes." Smith's first wife Eliza died in 1845 at the age of 37 possibly explaining her absence from the group portrait. In 1846 Smith married Maria Ann King with whom he would have two children who survived into adulthood William King Smith b. 1846 and Walter Watson Smith b. 1849. By 1850 Smith and most of his family had left Gravel Hill and relocated to Marietta Georgia where he acquired another plantation Rockford near Marietta. By this time Smith had acquired 74 slaves according to the 1850 Slave Schedules of the United States Census. He continued to run Gravel Hill as an absentee owner from Georgia. In 1853 Smith sold Gravel Hill then comprising 700 acres and his other plantation properties in the Robertville area to John Goldwire Lawton in 1853 according to genealogical records at the Heritage Library Foundation. Smith's Gravel Hill home appears to have been on the site of present-day Gravel Hill Plantation the ca. 1910 hunting preserve near Robertville on the National Register of Historic Places. The elaborately decorated center-hall plan home as well as the town of Robertville was burned by W.T. Sherman's troops in 1865. After the war the land was sold to Northern buyers. Newer structures were apparently built on the foundations of the original Gravel Hill around 1910 when it was refashioned as a gentleman's hunting plantation. Dr. Smith and his wife Maria died in 1856. Their sons Walter and William became wards of Smith's brother James who himself apparently died in 1865. Walter Smith was a student at the Georgia Military Institute when it closed at the time of W. T. Sherman's approach in 1864. At the age of 14 he and the other cadets were sent to guard the river crossings in the approaches to Atlanta. With his brother William Walter served in Confederate units until the end of the Civil War. Sidney Smith's sister Sarah known as "Aunt Sarah" to Walter and William Smith wrote vivid letters describing the evacuation of Marietta and her flight to Atlanta. While no documentary evidence of the Smith family's views on slavery has been found Susan E. Geoffrey claims in her academic paper "A Southern Family in Transition 1830-1865" that Sidney and his siblings were "reasonably humane to their slaves according to the standards of their society." Geoffrey adds that Sidney's sisters Sarah and Hannah developed an interest in educating their brothers' enslaved children. Dexter's biographical sketch of Smith notes that Smith "opposed strenuously the act of nullification in South Carolina and by his personal efforts retarded the action of that State." Smith's brother James provided in his 1853 will that every tenth! child born into slavery in the estate should at age eighteen be granted freedom to be facilitated by the Colonization Society. The photographers The photographers of these images are unidentified but it appears that Smith himself may have made two of the daguerreotypes. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History vol. 7 1913 notes of Smith: "He was a man of unusual mental gifts an earnest student and devoted to the community and mankind. When the art of the daguerreotype was first introduced he was a pioneer in cultivating it in the South." Based on his interest in the "art of the daguerreotype" it is possible that Smith created the daguerreotypes himself perhaps with the aid of an assistant so he could be included in certain images most notably the group portrait. The informal group portrait shows a relaxed family posing together. Smith appears to have moved into the frame at the last moment after setting up the shot. Likewise the subjects in the Gravel Hill daguerreotype are in casual poses as if they are in a Daguerreian snapshot of the family rather than formally arranged portraits. Dating The approximate dating of the featured images has been determined based on the estimated ages of Smith's daughters Arabella and Julia who are pictured in two or perhaps three of the daguerreotypes. Arabella b. 1832 and Julia b. 1837 appear to be around the ages of twelve/thirteen and eight/nine respectively. The girls appear together in a sixth plate daguerreotype portrait and in the sixth plate group portrait of Dr. Sidney Smith his brother and two unidentified African American men almost certainly enslaved subjects. The sisters may also be the two girls in white dresses on the steps of the house in the quarter plate daguerreotype. This dates those daguerreotypes to the mid-1840s and no later than 1850 thus making them among the very earliest photographs of a slave-holding antebellum plantation. A rare opportunity It is evident that Dr. Sidney Smith wanted to use the new art of photography to create a visual record of his plantation home at Gravel Hill and of his family and the enslaved individuals who worked for him. The daguerreotypes offered here most notably the group portrait of Smith with his brother daughters and two Black men are unique in depicting enslaved subjects posed together with their owner especially in a relatively informal setting. We are not aware of comparable images dating from the mid-to-late 1840s. This exceptional collection of photographs from an identified family in the antebellum South is worthy of further research. References Dexter Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Notices of Graduates of Yale College 1913 Geoffrey Susan E. "A Southern Family in Transition 1830-1865" 1982 Accessed online through the Heritage Library History and Research Center in Hilton Head SC September-October 2024. Background on the Smith family is derived from this academic paper although the research center's copy is incomplete lacking numerous footnotes and bibliography. Some but not all of Geoffrey's sources have been located in the William King Smith Papers Wilson Special Collections Library UNC Chapel Hill. 1845-1850 four daguerreotypes and ca. 1855-1860 three ambrotypes plus three early tintype copy images. 10 items.
2004réf. ESCLAVA3333254913Nantes, Les Anneaux de la Mémoire / UNESCO, 2004, 16 x 24, 293 pages sous couverture illustrée. Quelques illustrations en noir.
