Document signed by W.M. Stafford. [Quincy, Gadsden, Florida], 2 January 1862. 1 page, 7 7/8 x 5 1/8 in. Docketing to verso.

A wartime slave hire document from Gadsden County, Florida, recording the agreement between W.M. Stafford and Benjamin F. Watson for the annual hire of Emily in 1862. 

Though a place is not indicated on the document itself, Stafford (b. ca 1831) and Watson (b. ca 1825) are listed consecutively in the 1860 Federal Census for Quincy, Gadsden County, Florida. Both men were born in South Carolina and appear to be bachelor farmers, with no wives or children recorded. Both men are listed as enslavers on the 1860 Federal Slave Schedule: Watson enslaved 9 individuals, and Stafford enslaved 3 individuals. 

Slavery documents from Florida are very scarce. 

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