Manuscript document. Augusta County, South Carolina, 15 June 1849. 2 pages, folio. Remnants of wax seals. 

A fascinating court document in which John Bush answers the "petition of Thomas Shumate to set aside the sale of a negro," because she is paralyzed. 

Bush writes in detail about the nature of his role in the sale and the timeline of the sale: "The respondent denies that he warranted said negro to be sound. He denies also that he was unsound at the time of the sale. If she was respondent did not know it. He believed her to be sound at the time + if he had been making the sale on his own account he would have had no hesitation in giving warranty of soundness. But acting as a commissioner of the court, under a special authority conferred on him by a decree of the C.S. Court of Augusta he did not deem himself authorized or required to give any such warranty + gave none." Bush continues that "Your respondent heard no complaints for near five months after the sale," noting that the sale took place on 23 December 1848 and no correspondence was received until 17 January 1849, and the bond was not delivered for several weeks. 

He also contests that several other witnesses will "abundantly show that the negro was sound up to the very day of the sale - sewing, tying threads, cooking, washing +c +c." 

The unnamed female slave is further speculated upon: "she must have been paralyzed since, unless she be feigning, or possibly she may again be pregnant."

An interesting document regarding the health and care of a female enslaved individual. 

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