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Fr. Neale's register, St. Thomas, 1827-1832
A register of baptisms, marriages, and burials at St. Thomas for 1827-1832, mostly involving enslaved people. Along with a digitized edition of the register, we have compiled spreadsheets with the data contained in the register.
Henry Johnson renegotiates the terms of sale, February 17, 1844
In 1844, Henry Johnson renegotiated the terms of his payments to Thomas Mulledy SJ for the people he purchased in 1838. Johnson had missed a payment "owing to the difficulties of the times," and he needed more time to pay off his debt. This document…
Peter Kenney, SJ's observations on the enslaved families at Bohemia, 1831
Fr. Peter Kenney SJ reports negatively on the condition of enslaved families at the Bohemia plantation in Cecil County, Md., in 1831.
"We are in the dark as long as we keep slaves": Br. Joseph Mobberly, S.J. calculates the cost savings from emancipation, February 5, 1815
In this letter to Georgetown President Giovanni Grassi S.J,, Brother Joseph Mobberly, S.J. urges that the Jesuits' enslaved people be sold for a time or set free. Most of the letter is devoted to calculating the cost advantage of hiring free white…
Census of people to be sold in 1838
This is the original list of people from the Jesuit plantations compiled in preparation for the sale in 1838. It lists the slaves by name according to plantation where they lived, identifies family groups, and records which ship (1, 2, or 3) they…
The Maryland Missions in 1765
In 1765, Fr. George Hunter SJ compiled a survey of the Jesuit missions in Maryland that accounted for 192 enslaved persons. Missions listed include St. Inigoes, Newtown, Port Tobacco, Deer Creek, and Bohemia. Hunter recorded the annual income of each…
Baptism of Sylvester, 1819
Baptismal record for Sylvester, the son of Joe and Easter, slaves of Newtown, dated June 4, 1819. Joe and Easter (or Esther) Greenleaf and their children, including Sylvester, were sold to Henry Johnson in 1838. Their names appear on the list of…
Undated bill of sale for 11 people from Mulledy to Johnson
In this undated bill of sale, Rev. Thomas Mulledy SJ sells eleven men and women to Henry Johnson. This sale must have taken place some time after November 10, 1838. Ten of the people listed in this bill of sale are recorded in the 1838 census as…
Letter from James Van de Velde, S.J. to Ignatius Brocard, S.J., November 27, 1848
Fr. Van de Velde pleads with the Jesuit Provincial in Maryland to contribute $1000 for a church in Louisiana for use of the enslaved people they had sold in 1838. This is the second letter from Van de Velde to the Maryland Jesuits on the topic. He…
Fr. Roothaan, S.J. lays out the conditions for the sale of enslaved persons, 27 December 1836
In this letter, Fr. Jan Philip Roothaan, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, approves of the sale of the people enslaved by the Maryland Province but stipulates several conditions that must be met, including assuring that people sold could…