Manuscript document signed by W.S. Wells, S.M. Wells, and James Mallon. Memphis, Tennessee, 3 January 1860. 1 page, approx. 7 3/4 x 7 1/8 in. 

WITH Manuscript court summons docketing, signed by B.W. Pryor. [Memphis], 3 January 1861. 1 pages, 3 1/8 x 7 3/8 in. Portion of document to verso. 

A slave hire document "for the hire of Lewis (Man) Sallie (Woman) + Child." Signed by W.S. Wells, S.M. Wells, and James Mallon, they agreed to pay $165 payable at the Branch Planter's Bank of Tennessee at Memphis. The document also details the clothing they were required to provide, including a stipulation for the yet-to-be-born child Sallie was pregnant with: "to furnish said negroes, each two summer and one winter suits of clothing, Lewis + Sallie two prs shoes, one pr hose + one blanket each, Lewis one good wool hat and Sallie one Sun Bonnet and return said negroes on the 25th December next (1860). Sallie being pregnant, the child, when born, to be furnished with necessary clothing." 

Also included is a summons for the three men from January 1861, possibly indicating there was a breach in the contract or they otherwise weren't fulfilling the terms of the hire. 

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

NOTE: Summons document does not include the full document, only the docketing is complete.