The Procurator berates Fr. Carbery for not recording the sale of 17 enslaved persons at St. Inigoes, January 27, 1836

The Procurator berates Fr. Carbery for not recording the sale of 17 enslaved persons at St. Inigoes, January 27, 1836

Catholic Church--Clergy--Correspondence;
Slaves--Maryland;
Society of Jesus;
Maryland Province;
Slavery--sale of slaves

In this letter from 1836, the Procurator expresses his surprise that Fr. Carbery did not record the sale of 17 enslaved persons in 1835, as this was "not a sale of mere produce but of a true & real capital."

Maryland Province Archives, Society of Jesus

Georgetown Slavery Archive

1836-01-27

Adam Rothman, Elsa Barraza Mendoza. Transcription by Hillary MacKinlay

Maryland Province Jesuits

PDF

English

Manuscript

GSA351

[page 78]

[January 27, 1836, to F. Joseph Carbery in St. Inigoes]

I am surprised and very sorry to see in yr letter 15th inst that yr R. did not keep any minute, or copy, of a transaction of so much moment, for the farm you administer, as was the necessary sale which took place last September; being not a sale of mere produce but of a true & real capital. To ask now a copy of it from the purchaser, as you suggest, would be an acknowledgement of too much negligence on our part, about so important a contract, and I cannot do it with a sense of propriety for ourselves.

           Sent the correction for the Ordo.

Manuscript