Bill of sale with two transactions for an enslaved man named Joe or Joseph
About the Project
The history of enslaved persons is often difficult to uncover. Printed material provides us with clues about individuals and their history. This bill of sale is for an enslaved man identified as “Joseph or Joe." The document records two separate transactions for the man, one on the front and one on the back. The front of the document concerns a transaction that occurred On July 16, 1844. Henry P. Goldsmith of Chambers County, Alabama, purchased Joe for $465 from Joseph L. Lock and Charles Davis in Savannah, Georgia. The back of the document contains the second transaction, dated August 26, 1844. In this sale, Joe is transferred from Goldsmith to James Akins of Chambers County, Alabama for “value received.” This piece in extremely rare for the dual sale of one enslaved man and shows the movement of people during the domestic slave trade and perhaps hints at a smaller forwarding operation wherein slaves were moved from the Upper to Deep South. Help us transcribe this bill of sale and shed light on the stories of not just the institution of slavery, but the individual men, women, and children who helped shape America.
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