Broadside for an estate sale of "229 Rice Field Negroes": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This broadside is an announcement for an estate sale of 229 enslaved men, women and children. The document consists of a single sheet of off-white paper, with a single fold to make four pages, with centered black type and handwritten inscriptions in ink and graphite. The front of the announcement reads:

[ESTATE SALE! / 229 / RICE FIELD NEGROES / AN UNCOMMONLY PRIME and ORDERLY GANG / TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE NEGROES / BEING TWO GANGS IN ONE, AND COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE FORCES OF / "TRANQUILITY" AND "HARRIETTA" PLANTATIONS, / ON SANTEE RIVERS. / By P.J. PORCHER & BAYA / On THURSDAY the 20th day of January, 1859, / AT 11 O'CLOCK, A. M., WILL BE / Sold at Public Auction, / AT / RYAN'S MART, Chalmers-st. / IN THE / CITY OF CHARLESTON, / An uncommonly prime and orderly Gang of two hundred and twenty-nine / NEGROES, accustomed to the culture of Rice and Provisions, on North and / South Santee Rivers. Amongst which there are valuable / CARPENTERS, BLACKSMITHS, DRIVERS, AND BOAT HANDS. / CONDITIONS OF SALE -One-third Cash: balance in one, two, and three years / secured by bond, mortgage and approved personal security, with interest from day of sale, / payable annually. Purchasers to pay P. J. P. & B. for papers.].

The other three pages of the document list out the enslaved men, women, and children for sale. At the top of each page is printed [TRANQUILITY GANG.]. The list is organized into a five column chart, with the names appearing in groupings that may represent family units. The first column is untitled, but records the number of inidviduals in a grouping. The other columns are for [No.], [NAMES.], [Age.] and [QUALIFICATIONS.] Listed out into the columns are a total of 135 enslaved individuals, beginning on the first page with:

The last page also contains several handwritten inscriptions including financial figuring in graphite and the addition of five names in black ink: [Dick, Carpenter / 3c Nancy / Bob / London / Thompson].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1859
• Issued by: P.J. Porcher & Baya Co., American, 1859 - ca. 1863
• Subject of: Harrietta Plantation, American, founded 1807
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Subject of: Unidentified Child or Children
• Printed by: Unidentified
• Type: broadsides
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 15 1/8 × 10 1/8 in. (38.4 × 25.7 cm)
• Place used: Charleston, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: North Santee, Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: McClellanville, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Agriculture
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Commerce
• Topic: Domestic slave trade
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Finance
• Object number: 2014.63.18
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.