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In this letter to another Jesuit priest in June 1838, Fr. Mulledy, SJ discussed his negotiations with potential buyers over the price of the people that the Maryland Jesuits intended to sell. He reports that he had been having trouble selling them…

Fr. Stephen Dubuisson S.J. records the arguments for and against the people enslaved by the Maryland Province.

Simple versions of the transcription and translation are included below. Annotated versions may be downloaded in PDF format.

In a letter to the Father General, Eccleston pleads for Mulledy to remain in the Society. He argues that the shock of his dismissal would create a scandal in the US.

In November 1838, as the remaining members of the Maryland Jesuit slave community were being shipped to Louisiana, Fr. Grivel wrote a letter to Fr. Lancaster with a glimpse of the proceedings at White Marsh.

Among other things, Fr. Grivel…

Fr. Grivel reports from Georgetown on the aftermath of the sale of the Maryland Jesuits' human property. He notes that the Jesuits tried to keep husbands and wives together, but that some children were sent to Louisiana without their mothers. Some…

Four years after the sale of 1838, Fr. Grivel reports to Fr. Lancaster about his recent visit to the White Marsh. During his stay at the plantation, Grivel spoke with Isaac Hawkins, an enslaved man who had been listed as part of the 1838 sale, but…

This undated list sheds some light on the aftermath of the mass sale of enslaved persons in 1838. It enumerates eighteen enslaved persons who were "transported to Louisiana out of the 84." Presumably the 84 refers to the enslaved people identified in…

Fr. McSherry wrote to Fr. Roothaan, the Jesuit Superior General, about a conversation he had with the Archbishop of Baltimore, who suggested that the Jesuits consider selling their land and slaves and devote the proceeds "to purposes of education."…

Rev. Thomas Mulledy expresses relief at having concluded the sale of the Jesuits' slaves. He reports that all the enslaved people had been put on board a ship except for those who were "married off" to husbands and wives who were not owned by the…

Fr. McSherry wrote to Fr. Roothaan to follow up on his previous letter urging that the Jesuits consider selling their slaves. That spring, the United States fell into the throes of the Panic of 1837. McSherry lamented that if they sold then, they…