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Day 1: Historic Americana & African American History

Fri, Apr 25, 2025 09:00AM EDT
  2025-04-25 09:00:00 2025-04-25 09:00:00 America/New_York Fleischer's Auctions Fleischer's Auctions : Day 1: Historic Americana & African American History https://bid.fleischersauctions.com/auctions/fleischers-auctions/day-1-historic-americana-african-american-history-18140
Fleischer's Auctions is pleased to present Day 1 of our 2025 Spring Premier Auction featuring rare items from colonial America, the Revolutionary War, Western Expansion, and African American history.
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Lot 97

[SLAVERY] 1849 Blind Slave Girl Court Document

Estimate: $250 - $500
Starting Bid
$100

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $10
$100 $25
$300 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$50,000 $5,000

Manuscript document signed by Nathaniel Massie (1794-1870), as Justice of the Peace. Augusta County, 8 May 1849. 1 page, 4to. 

 

A witness statement regarding the health of a slave named Eliza. Evidently she was sold by her former enslaver John Bush to Mr. Shumate, and it appears that a lawsuit has been brought against him about the extent and knowledge of her ill health. 

 

Here, Mr. Fowler attests: "I was at Mr. Bush's house frequently in the year 1848, that I was well acquainted with a black woman belonging to him and which he sold to Mr. Shumate just before last Christmas named Eliza. said woman was in very bad health pretty much through the summer and fall of 1848. I saw her frequently during her sickness. She looked very badly. She was nearly blind in one eye, and I believe continued so until she was sold."

 

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

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