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THB[SLAVERY] (14) Alabama Slavery Archive, incl. Document Recording 15 Women & Their Children
![[SLAVERY] (14) Alabama Slavery Archive, incl. Document Recording 15 Women & Their Children](https://s1.img.bidsquare.com/item/xl/3274/32744074.jpeg?t=1UYvG1)
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LiveNov 22, 2025
This exclusive catalog presents a select offering from the personal collection of Alejandro "Alex" de Quesada Jr., renowned historian, author, and collector. The catalog features exceptionally rare swords, historically significant belt buckles and military insignia, original Civil War flags, and a wide range of ephemera representing pivotal moments in military history. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com
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- Lot Description
Archive of nine (9) slave bills of sale, a rare 3-page document recording the children of 15 enslaved women, and correspondence regarding the slave trade during the start of the Civil War from the Myatt Brothers of Marion, Alabama. A complete list of documents is listed below.
The archive of documents is related to the Myatt family, particularly brothers Mark Alvis Myatt (1810-1885) and John H. Myatt, who were prominent slave traders, merchants, and planters in Marion, Alabama. Also included is one slave bill of sale executed by their father Alven Myatt, dated 1812.
The archive includes 9 slave bills of sale dated between 1812 and 1856 - each sale executed by one or both of the brothers (or their father). The deals were mostly completed in Marion, with some across state lines, most notably in North Carolina.
Also included is an incredible 3-page document that lists the 58 children of fifteen enslaved women: Aley, Cherry, Nancy, Chocolet, Mary, Little Mariah, Betsey, Sarah Francis, Narcissa, Amanda, Little Cherry, Arteleas, Ellen, Salina, and Old Mariah. Each child is listed by name, with their birthday and age. Also listed is a price, either a valuation or a sold price, and various notations that almost certainly relate to the Myatt Brothers’ inventory. Though undated, we can infer that the document is from the early 1860s as one of the ledger pages used is pre printed “186-” to the verso. The latest date of birth listed is 13 December 1863, for an unnamed child of Sarah Francis.
In a stunning reminder of the brutal business of the slave trade, the second page lists two women ("Little Cherry" and "Arteleas") whose only notation is "2 died." The third sheet, with the header “No.2 M.A. Myatt”, lists 28 enslaved individuals (corresponding to names on the earlier 2 sheets), each listed with a value, totaling to $50,700.50.
Also included is a remarkably frank letter written by John V. Carruthers of Warrenton, North Carolina, to the Myatt brothers. Carruthers has evidently sold several enslaved individuals to the Myatts and they are proving uncooperative: “I am sorry that Joshua has commenced his bad habits again. I wish I had him at home and if you can find a safe opportunity to send him home I will be muchly obliged to you to send him. I will write to Jn. William Allen...please get the Town Constable to give him five hundred. Well laid on with a paddle or strop."
He continues: "He is worth nothing to me except to do my own work. I now have some of them working on my farm I wish I could relieve you from the management of Josh + Isaac for I know from my own experience that they are an annoyance to you at these Exciting times."
The letter is concluded with an eloquent eyewitness account of the cauldron of excitement at the opening of the war: "Nothing is thought of here except the war + preparing for it. It is death or Victory with us. The soldiers are flocking to the seat of war in great numbers. Two thousand will pop our Depot Wednesday for Richmond. The flower of our country have volunteered and gone in the service and many more are preparing to leave in a few days. I expect to hear of hot times in a few days more."
The last document to complete the archive is an unusual circular issued at the start of the war by Nashville merchants Cochran & Co., which explicitly details how the war has affected their trade. In full: "We take the opportunity of advising you that in consequence of the hostilities existing between the North and the South we have decided to remove a Stock of goods from New York, to this place. It was our intention to have made this change some months ago, but we were prevented by the rapid occurrence of events. Finally we have succeeded in removing to his City where we have taken a store, and are more prepared to furnish our customers with such goods in our line as they may require in consequence however of the large amount of debts owing to us, we shall for the present be forced to sell only for Cash, intending so soon as business returns to its ordinary course to resume our usual terms."
Enclosed with the circular is a brief letter addressed to the Myatt brothers which assures them, "The clause 'We shall for the present be force to sell only for cash' does not apply to Myatts + Brother; we will be happy to sell you on six months time and will be glad to get an order from you."
An important archive.
Complete list of documents:
1. Partly printed bill of sale document completed in manuscript. Signed by Dennis Grady. Witnessed by Henry Brown and Mark Grady. Wake County, [North Carolina], 24 December 1812. 1 page, folio. Docketed to verso. (Modern, inexpert tape repairs to separations)."A certain negro boy by the name of Dick aged ten years" was sold to Alven Myatt and his heirs for $150.
2. Autograph bill of sale. Signed by J.G. Zauer?. Marion, Alabama, 29 February 1840. 1 page, 7 ⅞ x 7 ⅜ in. Docketed to verso.J.H. Niyart paid John H. Myatt $900 "for the purchase of a negro woman named Winny about twenty two or three".
3. Manuscript bill of sale. [Marion, Alabama], 10 April 1841. 1 page, 7 ⅝ x 5 ¼ in. Docketed to verso.
L.H. Myatt sold a "negro girl Caty aged about sixteen years" for $800.
4. Manuscript bill of sale. Signed by J.L. Vandyke, and witnessed by A.H. Lockett. Perry County, Alabama, 22 January 1842. 1 page, 7 ⅞ x 7 ⅝ in.
Joseph L. Vandyke sold to T. H. Lockett "a negro Woman named Lucy about forty or forty-five years of age" for $150.
5. Manuscript document signed by Pierce Griffin. Marion, Alabama, 19 Feburary 1842. 1 page, 7 ⅞ x 6 ½ in. Docketed to verso.
John H. Myatt sold "Negro girl Jane aged Seventeen, Mary aged Twenty One, and Laura aged Seven years" for $2,200.
6. Manuscript bill of sale. Signed by William Snelling and S.M. Cullens, executors, and John L. Murphy. Marion, Alabama, 7 January 1850. 1 page, 7 ⅞ x 7 ⅝ in. Docketed to verso. Pencil notations at recto lower margin.
M.A. & J.H. Myatt sold the "negro slaves Mariah and her two children Amanda and Cherry, belonging to the heirs of Nathl. Warren, Decd. of Wake County N Ca." for $865.
7. Manuscript bill of sale. Signed by N. Tate. Dallas County, Alabama, 28 December 1852. 1 page, 8 x 6 in. Docketed to verso.
M.A. & J.H. Myatt sold "negro woman Lucy Ann aged about twenty five years" for $800.
8. Manuscript bill of sale. Signed by J. C. Daniel. Marion, Alabama, 1 January 1856. 1 page, 8 x 7 in.M.A. & J.J. Myatt received a $305 promissory note from John Moore and A.S. Toler "payable on the 1st day of January 1857 the same being the amount bid for a negro man named Anthony sold this day under a decree of the Chancery Court for the 17th District Middle Chancery Division of Alabama."
9. Manuscript bill of sale. Signed by A.W. Pearce. Witnessed by M.A. Myatt. Marion, Alabama, 29 January 1856. 1 page, 7 ¾ x 6 ½ in. Docketed to verso.John H. Myatt sold "a mulato [sic] boy named Isaac aged about twenty years" for $1,200.
10. Manuscript document. [Marion, Alabama], circa late 1863-early 1864. 3 page, folio, approx. 8 ½ x 13 ¾ in. Two ledger fragments affixed together.11. Autograph letter signed (“Cochran + Co.”). Nashville, Tennessee, 1 June 1861. 1 page, 8vo. WITH Printed circular letter. Nashville, TN, 13 June 1861. 1 page, 4to. Recipient and date added in manuscript. Both enclosed in original yellow envelope addressed to Myatts + Brother in Marion, Alabama. With Nashville cancel. With “Paid” & “5” stamps.
12. Autograph letter signed (“John V. Carruthers” & “J.V. Carruthers”), to M.A. + J.H. Myatt. Warrenton, North Carolina, 3 June 1861. 3 pages, 4to. With original envelope with Warrenton cancel. With “PAID” and “10” stamps.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs, Archive, Archives] [African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation]
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