Browse Items (458 total)

In this letter from 1816, Bishop Neale explains the rules governing Catholic marriages between enslaved persons. Priests had to get permission from the slaves' owners and the owners had to promise not to separate husbands and wives.

Fr. Lucas…

This remarkable letter from 1820 narrates the case of Becca, an enslaved woman who approached Fr. John Baptist Cary at Georgetown College after fleeing from her owner, a man who is described in the letter as "very hard & has no religion at all."…

In 1818, Fr. John Henry, the manager of the Jesuits' Bohemia farm sold five enslaved people to a neighbor involved in the interstate slave trade. However, a Methodist judge put the enslaved men in jail to prevent them from being illegally transported…

In this rich letter from 1817, Fr. Francis Neale, the pastor of Holy Trinity Church at Georgetown College, writes to Fr. Joseph Marshall at St. Inigoes to inform him of the impending arrival of Ned, an elderly man who will be sent from Georgetown.The…

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…

In this letter from April, 1852, John R. Thompson -the new owner of 140 enslaved persons sold by Jesuits of Maryland in 1838- thanks Rev. Charles Stonestreet, the Jesuit provincial in Maryland, for allowing him to delay the payment of his debts.…

An undated list of "negroes" mortgaged to the Bank of Louisiana, the Citizens' Bank of Louisiana, and the Union Bank. According to other documents, the Bank of Louisiana mortgage was contracted on March 12, 1841, and the Union Bank mortgage on March…

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 certificate of mortgage for 56 persons between Henry Johnson and Thomas Mulledy was one of the financial instruments used in the Jesuits' sale of 272 persons in 1838. Johnson and Mulledy registered this certificate after these 56 persons were…

This mortgage for 84 persons between Henry Johnson and Thomas Mulledy was one of the financial instruments used in the Jesuits' sale of 272 persons in 1838. Johnson and Mulledy registered this certificate after these 84 persons were transported from…