Hiring agreement for an enslaved woman named Martha in South Carolina

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 is a hiring agreement for an enslaved woman named Martha in South Carolina to William A. Hunton by John Fox on January 1, 1859, for 1 year. Though it does not say for what Martha is being hired, there is a $17 fee for her hire, and she is noted as having a bonnet and blanket. The document is mostly composed of pre-printed text, suggesting that John Fox hired out many of his enslaved. Fox was a prominent politician who served as justice of the peace, sheriff, state representative, state senator, and in various other government positions. He owned a plantation, called The Point, about three miles from the Lexington Court House. Help us transcribe this agreement 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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