[ABOLITION]. Quaker letter regarding slavery & kidnapping of free Black people. Jamestown, NC, 1827.

MENDENHALL, Richard. ALS ("Richd. Mendenhall") to John Cook of Philadelphia, PA. Jamestown, NC, 21 March 1827.

2 pages, on bifolium, 6 5/8 x 11 3/8 in. Address panel on terminal leaf, postmarked at Philadelphia, 4 April.

In part: "Having noticed a publication in B. Lundy's Paper of Baltimore February 24th last which appears to have been taken from Philadelphia Papers, and is a request for information to be sent to the Mayor's office of your city Respecting som [sic] black people that have been kidnaped [sic], there is also a narrative given by one of the kidnapt [sic] Boys named Peter Hook, at Natches [sic] in Mississippi. It appears from the relation of this kidnapped Boy that himself and several more were sold by a Joe Johnson to men by the name of Miller and Sutler at Rockingham...the county town of which is call.d Wentworth and joins this on the north. I saw 2 men yesterday by the name of Roach who live in that county and say that Miller and Settle (not Sutler) did go on with some Negroes southwardly some time...My Idea is that Miller and Settle would be prima facia Evidence against Joe Johnson if they Bought the negroes from him..."

"...I think the cause of emancipation is gaining ground some, but deep rooted prejudices require time and patience to remove them, and am clearly of opinion that much good would result from a frequent expression of the sentiment of the free states..."

A post-script mentions the names of James Mendenhall, Abel Coffin, J. Moore, and Benjamin Millican as fellow Quakers.

Richard Mendenhall (1778-1851) was a co-founding member of the Manumission Society of North Carolina, beginning in 1816. He was rumored to be a contributor to the Underground Railroad, though there is no evidence to confirm this. His homestead, today a historical site, features a false-bottom wagon used by Quakers to carry enslaved people to freedom, and it is known that Mendenhall supported Vestal and Levi Coffin, two cousins who conveyed Black people to safety.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Ephemeral Americana and Historical Documents