Broadside for sheriff's auction of an enslaved woman and four children: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A one-side single-sheet broadside from Milledgeville, Georgia, advertising sheriff auctions for enslaved persons, a horse, and plots of land. Printed in black ink, the top of the broadside reads [RECORDER, / EXTRA.] in large decorative font between double lines. This is followed by [MILLEDGEVILLE, / Tuesday, April 30, 1839].

The first section of text starts with [ELBERT SHERIFF SALES.] and continues with [Will be sold at the Court-house door in Elbert county, within the usual hours of sale, on the first Tuesday in June next, the following property, to wit: / Five negroes, viz: Tom, a boy 12 years old; Louise, a woman, and her three children, one by the name of Nancy, one named Caroline, and a boy by the name of Eli: all levied on as the property of Zimri W. Tate, to satisfy two fi fas from the Superior Court of Elbert county, one in favor of Francis H. Cone, vs. the said Zimri W. Tate, the other in favor of Joseph Henry Lumpkia, vs. the said Zimri W. Tate].

The Elbert county section continues with details for the sale of [one house and lot in Elberton] and [one brown bay mare, about 6 years old] and [130 acres of land]. The broadside continues with additional sections, each titled [MORGAN SHERIFF'S SALE] and each detailing plots of land in Morgan County to be sold.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: April 30, 1839
• Published by: Souther Recorder, American, 1820 - 1872
• Subject of: Unidentified Child or Children
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Type: broadsides
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. (21 x 10.8 cm)
• Place depicted: Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Madison, Morgan County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Domestic slave trade
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Slavery
• Object number: 2011.26.3
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.