Collection Number: 02055

Collection Title: Collection of Manumission Records in North Carolina, 1773-1845

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.

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Size About 130 items (0.5 linear feet)
Abstract Papers, 1773-1845, chiefly of Richard Mendenhall (1778-1851) 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 Blacks 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.
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Collection of Manumission Records in North Carolina #2055, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [Note: title revised from Manumission Society of North Carolina Records in July 2020.]
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy available.
Provenance
Received from Mary Mendenhall Hobbs of Guilford College, N.C., in 1930.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, October 2009; Nancy Kaiser, May 2021

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.

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The 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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Papers, 1773-1845, chiefly of Richard Mendenhall 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 Blacks 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.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Papers, 1803-1845.

About 120 items.

Papers 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 121 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 names of those 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, 1842-1845, over the possession of enslaved people owned by the Pitts family, and notes on English history. Series 2: Volumes documenting 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. Incudes a small account book with expenses of Phineas Nixon while on the voyage of the Sally Ann from Beaufort, N.C. to Haiti, 1826. "

Folder 1

1803-1825

Folder 2

January-May 1826

Folder 3

June 1826

Folder 4

July-December 1826

Folder 5

Reports and accounts for the year, 1826

Folder 6

1827

Folder 7

1828-1845 and undated

Folder 8

Notes, 1822

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Volumes, 1773-1834.

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1 item.
Reel M-2055/1

Microfilm

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Microfilm (M-2055/1)

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