Broadside for the sale of an enslaved boy named Ben: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A single-sided, single page broadside of black text printed on white paper advertising the sale of an enslaved boy named Ben. At the top, in large text: [SALE OF SLAVE. / By order of the Probate]. The document continues, [Court of Andrew County, the undersigned Administrator of the estate of Absalom Young, deceased, will expose to public sale to the highest and best bidder, a likely negro boy named Ben, belonging to said estate, before the Court House door in Savannah, Mo., on Tuesday, the 2nd day of August, 1853. TERMS OF SALE - One third cash in hand, and the ballance in twelve months time, on bond and security]. The "third" has been struck by hand and [fourth] written in. At the bottom is [W.J. Young, Administrator.] and the date [July 11, 1853].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: July 11, 1853
• Issued by: W. J. Young, American
• Subject of: Absalom Young, American, died 1853
• Subject of: Unidentified Child or Children
• Type: broadsides
• Medium: ink and paper
• Dimensions: framed: 8 5/8 x 10 1/2 x 1 1/8 in. (21.9 x 26.7 x 2.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W: 5 3/4 × 8 9/16 in. (14.6 × 21.7 cm)
• Place made: Savannah, Andrew County, Missouri, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Domestic slave trade
• Topic: Finance
• Topic: Law
• Topic: Slavery
• Object number: 2011.155.301
• 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: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.