This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 130 items) |
Abstract | Papers, 1773-1845, chiefly of Richard Mendenhall (1778-1851), a white Quaker of Guilford County, N.C., relating to the Manumission Society of North Carolina and other anti-slavery groups. Papers concern the emanicipation of enslaved people and the emigration of free Black people to Haiti on the ship Sally Ann, sponsored by a branch of North Carolina Quakers, including correspondence about arranging the voyage, legal papers liberating enslaved people, passenger lists, and agreements and accounts concerning the ship and voyage. Other papers and volumes include scattered minutes and other records, 1773-1845, of Quaker groups in North Carolina. |
Creator | Manumission Society of North Carolina. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English. |
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Processed by: SHC Staff
Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, October 2009; Nancy Kaiser, August 2023
Conscious Editing Work by: Dawne Howard Lucas, July 2020. Updated title, abstract, subject headings, biographical note, identity statement, and scope and content note.
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Richard Mendenhall (1778-1851), a white Quaker born in Guilford County, N.C., was active in various anti-slavery groups in the early 19th century. He was a founding member of the Manumission Society of North Carolina, formed by Quakers (also known as Friends) in central North Carolina in 1816 and disbanded in 1834.
Back to TopPapers, 1773-1845, chiefly of Richard Mendenhall, a white Quaker of Guilford County, N.C., relating to the Manumission Society of North Carolina and other anti-slavery groups. Papers concern the emanicipation of enslaved people and the emigration of free Black people to Haiti on the ship Sally Ann, sponsored by a branch of North Carolina Quakers, including correspondence about arranging the voyage, legal papers liberating enslaved people, passenger lists, and agreements and accounts concerning the ship and voyage. Other papers and volumes include scattered minutes and other records, 1773-1845, of Quaker groups in North Carolina.
Back to TopPapers of Richard Mendenhall of Jamestown, N.C., a white Quaker, concerning the release of enslaved people and plans for their emigration. Papers dating from 1803 to 1825 pertain to slavery and the activities of the Quakers (also known as Friends) in improving the condition of those enslaved.
The bulk of the papers, 1826, discuss the plans of the Meeting for the Sufferings, a branch of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, to send a ship, the Sally Ann, to Haiti with about 120 formerly enslaved people voluntarily emigrating. There are a number of letters to Mendenhall from members of the Colonization Society and other meetings in the North; from North Carolina citizens making arrangements for the emigration of formerly enslaved people under their care; legal papers liberating enslaved people, with lists of formerly enslaved and free Black people who were willing to emigrate to Haiti; legal and financial aspects of transferring formerly enslaved people; and the constitution of the Greensboro Auxiliary Society "for colonizing the free people of colour." Also included are agreements, accounts, lists, and other papers giving information about the Sally Ann's voyage to Haiti, such as papers documenting arrangements made by Mendenhall and Phineas Albertson with the owners of the schooner, Thomas Thompson and Henry M. Cooke. There are also papers of Phineas Nixon, agent for the Committee of Sufferings, who went with the ship to Haiti, and George Swain's report on the embarkation to the Society of Friends.
Papers from 1827 relate to the financial settlement following the Haiti voyage due to a disagreement between the Friends and the shipowners over fees. Papers, 1828-1845, include speeches, queries, accounts, a few letters, and extracts from minutes of the Meeting for Sufferings. Also included are litigation papers, 1842-1843 and undated, over the possession of Nan and Sanford, an enslaved mother and son, who previously were claimed as property by the Pitts family, and notes on English history.
Series 2: Volumes documents the activities of various Quaker organizations, including the Manumission Society of North Carolina and the Scientific Society for the Suppression of Vice and Immorality and the Promotion of Useful Knowledge and Literature. Also incuded is a small account book with expenses of Phineas Nixon while on the voyage of the Sally Ann from Beaufort, N.C. to Haiti, 1826.
Processing note: In August 2023, archivists updated this series description with item level information for enslaved people who are identified by name.
Folder 1 |
1803-1825Items of note:
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Folder 2 |
January-May 1826Items of note:
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Folder 3 |
June 1826Items of note:
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Folder 4 |
July-December 1826 |
Folder 5 |
Reports and accounts for the year, 1826 |
Folder 6 |
1827 |
Folder 7 |
1828-1845 and undatedItems of note:
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Folder 8 |
Notes, 1822 |
Reel M-2055/1 |
Microfilm |
Microfilm (M-2055/1)
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