ANTEBELLUM LOUISIANA LETTER REGARDING FAMILY CONFLICT WITH VERY RARE THIBODAUXVILLE POSTAL COVER

“…I have as yet seen no negro in Louisiana who is a greater slave than I was…”

Autograph letter signed by R. Grisham, to Rev. Joseph Grisham, West Union, South Carolina. Thibodauxville, Louisiana, 27 January 1837. 4 pages, 4to, with integral address panel to verso with rare Thibodauxville cancel. 

A striking and deeply personal letter reflecting a troubled family relationship. Written by R. Grisham from Thibodauxville, Louisiana, to his brother, the Reverend Joseph Grisham of West Union, South Carolina, the letter initially concerns the settlement and distribution of funds from their father’s estate. What begins as a practical discussion of money and inheritance quickly turns into an emotional meditation on resentment, estrangement, and guilt between the two brothers.

In the course of the letter, Grisham turns to the long-standing tensions between them, expressing bitterness over what he perceived as mistreatment during the years he lived with his brother. In a striking passage, he compares his situation to the condition of enslaved people in Louisiana:

“I know too well that I have wronged you but look at the causes and maybe yourself will not wonder that thou wrongs had not been more. I have as yet seen no negro in Louisiana who is a greater slave than I was and always contrary to my own will that I ever lived with you….”

He goes on to recount accusations and insults exchanged after he left in 1827, referring to remarks allegedly made about him to Dr. William Anderson and reflecting on the bitterness that followed. Despite acknowledging his own wrongdoing, he admits that the wounds remain difficult to forget, concluding with a somber reflection on mortality and judgment:

“We are hurrying thro a miserable world at a rapid rate and if there is a heaven + hell I expect the latter will be my doom, and have no desire that you should meet me there…”

Beyond its intimate family drama, the letter provides an interesting glimpse into the social world of the antebellum American South. Written from Louisiana’s sugar-growing region, where slavery formed the foundation of the local economy, Grisham’s language reveals how deeply the institution of slavery shaped everyday metaphors and perceptions of power, dependency, and grievance. His comparison of personal hardship to the condition of enslaved people, however exaggerated, illustrates the pervasive presence of slavery in the cultural vocabulary of the era.

The letter is further notable for its postal history, bearing a scarce early cancel from Thibodauxville, a settlement in southern Louisiana that was still developing during the 1830s. Taken together, the document offers a vivid intersection of personal conflict, regional history, and the social realities of the antebellum South.

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation]  [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]