Description
A bill of sale detailing the sale of a “certain negro boy, named Alfred, about twelve years old; where said negro I warrant to be sound, sensible and healthy and a slave for life.” One page letter, previously folded. Note from the recorder of Shelby County affirming the sale on verso. Written in blue pen. Sale price of $500 for Alfred, as noted in the document.
Comments: A slave bill of sale was a contract between a slave owner and buyer. They served as legally enforceable documents, detailing the price of the slave, the given name and a brief description of their condition at the time of sale. The recipient of these slaves, Buckley Kimbrough of Shelby County Tennessee, was a prominent attorney and landholder in Memphis, Tennessee. He operated one of the largest cotton plantations in western Tennessee, He was politically connected with Governor and future President, James K. Polk of Nashville.