[ENSLAVEMENT]. Florida letter describing a specific enslaved person who "does not breed." 1844.

GIBSON, Charles C. ALS to his brother James Gibson. Jacksonville, [FL], 26 March 1844.

One page, beginning on second leaf of bifolium with a letter from a doctor preceding it. 6 7/8 x 8 3/4 in. Address panel on terminal leaf.

The text of Gibson's letter begins after another letter (dated March 1844) from his doctor describing his "poor" condition. Gibson's letter begins with a plea to his brother to "not be alarmed by the word Hemorrhage" in the doctor's note. He spends a few lines discussing his own health and then transitions into business, his plans to return home, and his own financial situation.

The last section of his letter discusses an enslaved woman named Mary. He writes: "Sell Mary to Henry M Jones if he will give 450$ if you credit him for any part of the price require good security. He is the brother of Jacob Clark's wife and the Clarks think there is no such negro as Mary. I expect he wants her for his own use as he applied to me last spring or summer to buy her. If men are worth 700$ she ought to bring 450 as she is not more than 25 or 26 years old I believe and then as a cook she is worth more as she does not breed."

There is no further context to inform Gibson's final "selling point" about Mary.

According to a probate record for Washington County, Virginia, Charles C. Gibson created his last will and testament in January of 1844, and died that June. He lists his brother, James K. Gibson, as one of his heirs.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Ephemeral Americana and Historical Documents