Boone County, Missouri, United States, North and Central America
Date:
August 7, 1852
Caption:
Receipt for sale of slave, Milly, and her four children (Susan, 12 years; Henry, 10 years; Harriet, 6 years; and Nancy, 4 years) to T.B. Hickman for $400. Sold by Sarah McClelland, who describes this as her 1/5 of the estate of Morgan Bryan. Bryan was Sarah's first husband, who died intestate about 1823 in Kentucky, opening the door for a claim by four of Bryan's heirs. When she moved to Missouri with the slaves, they filed suit, claiming that this violation of Kentucky laws meant that she forfeited her rights to all of the slaves. Sarah remarried, a man named James McClelland, in 1827, relinquishing control over Phillis and her daughter Milley to him. When McClelland died in 1833, the women were inventoried in his estate. The other slaves by then were in possession of her son-in-law, D.H. Hickman and sons John and Milton Bryan. Hickman and Milton Bryan signed this document as witnesses.
Source: Nancy Bercaw, Curator, Slavery and Freedom
Description:
A receipt for the sale of the enslaved woman, Milly, age 28, and her four children (Susan, 12; Henry, 10; Harriet, 6; and Nancy, 4) by Sarah McClelland to T.B. Hickman for $400. This bill of sale is handwritten in brown/black ink on white paper. The bill of sale is signed by Sarah McClelland at the bottom right corner, next to the handwritten word "seal" enclosed in a jagged circle. At the bottom left of the page, the document is signed by D.H. Hickman and Milton Bryan as witnesses. On the reverse side, there is handwritten script at the top center of the page that reads "Sarah McClelland / to Bill Sale to / T.B. Hickman."
