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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 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.
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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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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.

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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, 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.

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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 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

1803-1825

Items of note:

  • 5 March 1817: agreement between George Swain, North Carolina, and John Huddleston, Indiana, for the hiring out of James, an enslaved person.
  • 1824: petition to the court by Eliza Dunn for the freedom of Jim (also known as James), who was enslaved by her in Cumberland County, N.C.
Folder 2

January-May 1826

Items of note:

  • April 1826: John Stafford, Orange County, N.C., petitioning the court for the emancipation of Barbary (about 22 years old) and her daughter Dilcy (about 7 years old). He assigned power of attorney to Isaac White, Guilford County, N.C.; Phineous Nixon, Randolph County, N.C.; Francis Mace, Cartaret County, N.C., in order to convey Barbary and Dilcy to Beaufort, N.C., and finally to Haiti.
  • 27 March 1826: petition to the court of George C. Mendenhall, Guilford County, N.C., for the emancipation of Sam, Hagar, Rachel Nixon, Elias Sampson, Louisa, Isaac, Mariah Elvira, and Jesse, an enslaved family who would be removed from Mendenhall's plantation and eventually sent to Haiti.
  • 5 May 1826: John Newlin, Lindleston, N.C., to Richard Mendenhall, Jamestown, Guilford County, N.C., regarding rumors of a woman and her 5 children being at risk of enslavement.
  • 20 May 1826: petition of Phineas Albertson, Guilford County, N.C., authorizing Isaac White, John Fellow, and Phineas Nixon to transport Samuel Ratcliff (35 years old) and Joe Albertson (23 years old), enslaved people who were in trust of the Society of Friends, to Haiti.
  • 28 March 1826: letter from Carl Outland to Richard Mendenhall / Phineas Albertson, Elizabeth City, N.C., regarding a group of 15 enslaved people in his care, including 2 unidentified enslaved people about 50 years old and their children Tabitha (21 years old) and her 3 children under 5 years of age, Ferny (about 20 years old), Rhuel (about 18 years old), Zachariah (16 years old), Hnery (about 15 years old), Phebe (13 years old), Selia (12 years old), Molly (9 years old), Drusilla (7 years old), and William (5 years old),
Folder 3

June 1826

Items of note:

  • 10 June 1826: List of persons composing the crew of the Sally Ann schooner, including John Savastan (Beaufort), Benjamin Gray (Currituck), Thomas Scott (Pasquotank), James Hathway (Pasquotank), Doxy Lee (Currituck), and George Elsham (Beaufort). Physical descriptions of crew members suggest all were people of color.
  • 10 June 1826: List of the names and ages of 122 formerly enslaved people and free people of color who were passengers on board the Sally Ann schooner
  • 16 June 1826: List of the names and ages of 118 formerly enslaved people and free people of color who were passengers on board the Sally Ann schooner.
  • 6 June 1826: authorization given by William Mace and Betsyann Mace to George Swain to facilitate travel for Jack, an enslaved person, to Hayti.
Folder 4

July-December 1826

Folder 5

Reports and accounts for the year, 1826

Folder 6

1827

Folder 7

1828-1845 and undated

Items of note:

  • Undated: bill of sale for Nan (about 50 years old) and her son Sanford (about 7 years old), who were trafficked by James Pitts, Guilford County, N.C., to Nathan Pike on behalf of the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends of North Carolina.
  • Undated: note from Jesse Moore, stating that he witnessed James Pitts give a fair bill of sale for Nan and Sanford to Nathan Pike.
  • 9 November 1842: appointment of Richard Mendenhall, George Swain, Charles Starbuck, and Reuben Starbuck to resolve the situation with Nan and Sanford, the enslaved family previously claimed as property by James Pitts.
  • 20 December 1842: letter from C. B. Starbuck to George Swain regarding Elizabeth Pitts refusal to assign the bill of sale and her regret at giving power of attorney to Swain.
  • 1842?: a recounting of the freedom status of Nan, an enslaved woman, and her child Sanford, of Stokes County, N.C., who at various times were owned or in the possession of John Pitts, James Pitts, G. Shober, Nathan Pike, Enoch Stephens, and Walter Winborn. Nancy and Sanford had lived as free Black people for a period of time between 1830 and 1842, but creditors of James Pitts estate demanded compensation through the re-enslavement and sale of Sanford. At the time of this document, William Sandford had self-emancipated by running away from Winborn to Indiana in the company of Quakers.
  • 1843?: Statement about Sanford: a recounting of the freedom status of Nan, an enslaved woman, and her son William Sandford.
  • 5 January 1843: power of attorney given to George Swain by Elizabeth Pitts to sell Nancy, an enslaved person about 60 years old, and Sanford, an enslaved person about 18 years old, to Howland Swain
  • 1843: a list of enslaved people in the care of the Dunkin family who moved to Chester, Pa., including Rebecca and her children, Mary, Mariah, Henry, William, Netta, Hannah, Gabriel, Dinah, Elizabeth, Lucia, William, Margaret, and Jane. Other unidentified people also made the journey. Elizabeth and her children did not make the trip.
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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