The College hires "Nat Negro," 1792-1795

The College hires "Nat Negro," 1792-1795

Slaves; Slave labor; Slave-Hire system; Master and Servant;
Jesuits--History--18th century

Between 1792 and 1795, Ignatius Smith hired out "his man Nat" to Georgetown College to offset the costs of educating his two sons. Nat earned fifteen pounds a year for the Smith family.

"Nat Negro" appears in the index of this ledger. His name is also listed, but crossed out, at the top of the account page for Ignatius Smith. This seems to have been an accounting error: the bookkeeper initially identified Nat as someone with his own account before realizing that Nat was not an account holder himself, but rather a credit in Smith’s account.

There is also evidence that the Smiths kept a female slave. On May 15, 1793, Ignatius Smith paid five shillings "on his wenches Accot: for Cradle." It is unclear whether or not this refers to an infant, a woman, or perhaps both.

Georgetown University Archives

Georgetown Slavery Archive

1792-1795

Cory Young

Georgetown University Library

PDF

English

Accounts

GSA96

Neal Francis Neal arrived Jany 13. 1792

Nat Negro G: 19

Nat MC_       _       _       _ 92

Neale Chas:_       _       _       _ 54

Neale Henry _      _       _       _ 64.

 

…

 

19 1793 Nat: Negro Ignatius Smith Dr.

Jany: 15 To Cash 17  10  -

To 3 glasses broken      2   4

May 15 To cash pd on his wenches Accot for Cradle 5s       5

To cash pd. In full 30  0  0

 

…

 

1792 Contra Cr 19

Jany: 4 B

1793 By one year’s hire of his man Nat 17  10  -

Jany: 4 By one years hire of his man Nat 15   -   -

1794 By one years hire of his man Nat 15   -   -

Jan 4 Recd. in full of this a/c p me

      Ignatius Smith

Manuscript