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Start Over Date range 1850 Subjects Enslaved laborers
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

Anna Maria Hickman Otis Mead Chalmers family papers, 1821/1897

4.5 Cubic Feet 9 document boxes

The papers of Anna Maria (Campbell Hickman) Otis Mead Chalmers (1809-1891) and her family offer a deep look into a 19th century American family with a sharp focus on enslaved and formerly enslaved persons. The collection documents the life of a young, widowed woman, Anna Maria Mead Chalmers, who was the granddaughter of General William Hull (1753-1825). She was a mother of four children and became a businesswoman in Richmond, Virginia. She was a writer, an editor of the Southern Churchmen, an educator and founder of Mrs. Mead's School for Young Ladies, and a director of The Southern Churchmen Cot ("Retreat for the Sick"), a hospital for children. Anna Maria's family enslaved people who are represented in the papers including Othello "Tillo" Freeman (1790's-1860's?). It includes a letter from William written in [1875], who was their carriage driver, and letters about Sam the fiddler, who settled on the farm after escaping harsher enslavement in Louisianna, and Jordan who was described as being hired out in a letter dated September 8, 1841 from Thomas R. Blair.

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Anna Maria Hickman Otis Mead Chalmers family papers, 1821/1897 4.5 Cubic Feet 9 document boxes

The papers of Anna Maria (Campbell Hickman) Otis Mead Chalmers (1809-1891) and her family offer a deep look into a 19th century American family with a sharp focus on enslaved and formerly enslaved persons. The collection documents the life of a young, widowed woman, Anna Maria Mead Chalmers, who was the granddaughter of General William Hull (1753-1825). She was a mother of four children and became a businesswoman in Richmond, Virginia. She was a writer, an editor of the Southern Churchmen, an educator and founder of Mrs. Mead's School for Young Ladies, and a director of The Southern Churchmen Cot ("Retreat for the Sick"), a hospital for children. Anna Maria's family enslaved people who are represented in the papers including Othello "Tillo" Freeman (1790's-1860's?). It includes a letter from William written in [1875], who was their carriage driver, and letters about Sam the fiddler, who settled on the farm after escaping harsher enslavement in Louisianna, and Jordan who was described as being hired out in a letter dated September 8, 1841 from Thomas R. Blair.

University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

Dixon Evans letter to James Evans about Dixon's murder of an enslaved person, 1850

0.03 Cubic Feet 1 letter size folder

Autographed signed letter from Dixon Evans to his brother James Evans in Fayetteville, North Carolina with his acccount of his shooting, and killing an unnamed enslaved person from Marion, South Carolina. The enslaved person was trying to obtain food from the dairy and smokehouse. Dixon Evans was being sued by Nathaniel Evans who was the owner of the enslaved person. Dixon Evans blames the enslaved person for Dixon's own murderous actions.

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Dixon Evans letter to James Evans about Dixon's murder of an enslaved person, 1850 0.03 Cubic Feet 1 letter size folder

Autographed signed letter from Dixon Evans to his brother James Evans in Fayetteville, North Carolina with his acccount of his shooting, and killing an unnamed enslaved person from Marion, South Carolina. The enslaved person was trying to obtain food from the dairy and smokehouse. Dixon Evans was being sued by Nathaniel Evans who was the owner of the enslaved person. Dixon Evans blames the enslaved person for Dixon's own murderous actions.

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