African Americana

Partly-printed document accomplished in manuscript outlining the trade of two enslaved persons, 35-year-old Celia and 35-year old Jackson, between Frances A. Polk and Dr. Richard Angell. [New Orleans, LA], [1859]. 8 1/2 x 14 in. (fully separated along 3 horizontal creases, discoloration and wear to edges and corners, including loss to bottom right corner). On State of Louisiana, Parish of Orleans letterhead. -- STARK, Theodore. Partly-printed document signed and accomplished in manuscript, authorizing the aforementioned trade, as a "true copy of the Original Act on file." New Orleans, LA, 5 August 1859. 7 x 8 1/2 in. (nearly fully separated along central horizontal crease, discoloration and wear to edges and corners, pinhole to upper edge). Indecipherable seal to lower left margin. Original signees listed including Richard Angell, Honor Angell, Frances A. Polk, Leonidas Polk, and others. -- Parly-printed document accomplished in manuscript, in which Mrs. Honour Angell relinquishes her rights to "the negroman Slave herein described" in favor of Mrs. Polk, as authorized by her husband, Mr. Richard Angell. [New Orleans, LA], 1 August 1859. 7 x 8 1/2 in. (fully separated along central horizontal crease, wear and discoloration to edges and additional creases/separations). Docketed verso. -- Together, 3 documents all related to the trade of 2 enslaved persons between the wife of Leonidas Polk and Dr. Richard Angell. 

Leonidas Polk (1806-1864) was elected first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana in 1841. That same year, he purchased a sugar plantation at Bayou la Fourche, where he enslaved hundreds of individuals (sources vary on the exact number, reporting anywhere from 200 to more than 400). He eventually lost the plantation due to heavy debts in 1854, and in the spring of 1861, he joined the Confederate army, being appointed a major general tasked with the defense of the Mississippi River. Polk's military career was marked by a few significant blunders, including his dispatching of troops to occupy Columbus, Kentucky, which led to Kentucky's Union allegiance through the end of the war. Though he was promoted to lieutenant general in October of 1862, his decisions continued to undermine orders from CSA leadership, allowing Union forces time and opportunity to defend themselves, for example, at the Battle of Chickamauga. Polk was ultimately killed in action at Pine Mountain, by enemy fire in the form of a 3-inch shell.

Polk was married to Frances Ann Devereux on 6 May 1830, and it is reported that many of the enslaved persons who worked on Polk's sugar plantation were inherited by his wife from her family.