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1840 August 14 . A. Willey ALS to John E. Godfrey; Hallowell, [Maine].

3 pages

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Election of 1840 and slavery "Gen. Harrison has lately developed himself as…pro-slavery as any man in This nation." Contends that abolitionists electioneering for Harrison were committing"moral suicide" and mocking religion itself. Proposes a plan to make the most of the abolitionist vote.
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1840 October 17 . Julia ALS to Caroline Morgan; [post Augusta, Georgia].

4 pages

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Recounts her experiences of slavery during a visit to her brother, Fredrick, in Augusta, Georgia. Slaves are the biggest hindrance to the enjoyment of life; "I have attempted to treat with them as we do with servants at the North, but they are degraded beings, so entirely dependent upon others..." Julia described slavery as the"curse of this country", reports that her brother employs an enslaved family, resulting in less quarreling.
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1840 November 6 . Jacob Smalley, William G. Hedges, and William P. Payne DS; Nicholas County, [Kentucky].

6 pages

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Estate inventory for the late Jno. Bradley. Lists debts owed to individuals and various household goods and their values, including "1 Indian tomahawk." Includes farm equipment and tools, livestock, and crops, indicating a sizeable farm. Notes the names, ages, and valuation of seventeen slaves, most of them children, including one "suckling child," amounting to $8,050 of his estate's total worth of $14, 023.15.
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1841 February 8 . W[illia]m B. Stephenson ALS to Otho Scott; Hartford County, [Maryland].

2 pages

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Difficulties of laws/punishments for runaway slaves; consequences for blacks who are enslaved for a specific number of years and "elope" before their service expires, are too lax." Would it not be right to make the act of running away, the forfeiture of their freedom, and when reclaimed to be sold to the highest bidder..." He plans to petition the legislature to change the law.
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1841 February 16 . Geo[rge] W. Benson ALS to Charles Perry; Brooklyn, [Connecticut].

3 pages

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Regarding the General Assembly session of Rhode Island, which Perry attended with an (anti-slavery) petition. "We are much engaged at this time in getting up a [antislavery] convention for the eastern section of this State to be held in Willimantic [Connecticut]." The friends in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, raised fifty dollars for the American [Anti-Slavery] Society, and funds from friends in England helped save the "National Anti-Slavery Standard" from folding.
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1841 May 7 . Dinah Rollins ALS to Samuel [Elliott] Coues; Portsmouth, [New Hampshire].

2 pages

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Freed woman requests loan of fifty dollars for one year; "I am about to enter on an important business, which will bring me in a large sum of money but I cannot commence without a considerable sum to set out with." Her master taught her how to earn a living, and that if he had survived, she never would have left his family. Writes that Coues believes that "all colours have an equal right.."
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1841 September 1 . Charles Stewart Renshaw ALS and printed circular to J. M. Ward; Oberlin, [Ohio].

4 pages

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Offers news regarding brothers Dougherty, Mahan, Morgan, and Parsons. Includes mentions of Theodore Weld. This letter is written on a 2-page printed circular letter from C. Stewart Renshaw "to the Friends of the Colored Race," requesting benevolent donations for his proposed missionary activity in Jamaica. He states that the two hindrances to "civilization, education, morals, and religion" among freed slaves are "native preachers" and rum.
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1841 December 29 . Louis Sheridan ALS to Benjamin Hornor Coates; Bassa Cove, [Liberia].

3 pages

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Anger over conditions of colonization in Liberia, missionaries at the root of problems in Liberia; "Those Ministers of Religion as you are pleased to call them must be Stripped of the means they have of setting an example of indolent leisure before our Colonists..." This will negatively influence them. Ladies attended by boys and girls"affect the style and ape the manner of the their former masters"--which Sheridan believes is an evil.
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1842 January 10 . Nathan Chapman ALS to "son"; Lenox, [New York?].

4 pages

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Discusses work with his church and their disputes with him, comparing them to "some patients [who] dislike the medison and find fault with the Doctor and would follow their own notions." Notes church members not wanting to have records of their meeting with him to discuss disagreements, and Elders helping him to set up meetings. Advises his son on negotiating his anti-slavery stance and his relationship with his church. "Be verry cautious in all you say and do on the Abolition subject give your enemies no chance to take advantage of anything But plead the cause of the slave on all proper occasions but keep united among yourselves." Includes a copied letter from Nathan Chapman to Deacon Harvey Edward, dated January 19, 1842, regarding his hesitation to condemn slaveholding. Comments on disputes within the church surrounding slaveholding. Worried about church leaders facing pressure to condone slavery in order to gain members, and wishes they would settle disputes "on bible principals." Urges the deacon to plead "the cause of the oppressed and urging the church to come out against sin," hoping that he does not "regard your connexion with the slaveholder at the south of more consequence than the fellowship of your brethren at home."