American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

2 letters from D.S. Goodloe, comprising:

ALS addressed to unknown "Gentlemen." Livingston, MS, 14 July 1858.

1 1/3 page, 11 1/2 x 8 in. Separate notation in different hand on verso identifying the letter as "Exhibit A = No. 4."

Goodloe writes asking for financial aid in buying a "first rate improved place on the Yazoo river when I could make at least 300 bales of cotton the first year..." He mentions that there is a party proposing to by his plantation, on which he is able to cultivate a large amount of corn and cotton, explaining of his workforce: "I mean that my force is sufficient to that."

Goodloe next makes a fascinating point about overseers and production, basically stating that since he has taken over the post of overseer himself, his "care" for his enslaved workers has made them more effective and productive: "I have been indulging my negroes with black overseers until this year, with the vino[?] of giving myself employment & protect them from abuse of overseers, the result you know from crops sent to you, & at present, as the effect of having an efficient overseer I have a crop that confidently promises 200 bales at least. My negroes are the more effective from my care of them. I believe we have 65[?] in all."

He lastly discusses the cost of the Yazoo River Plantation he wishes to buy, and places an order for some basic groceries.

ALS addressed to unknown "Gentlemen." Livingston, MS, 3 November 1858.

One page, 7 3/4 x 10 in. Separate notation in different hand on verso identifying the letter as "Exhibit A = No. 16."

Goodloe puts in an order for the "best hog[?] and shoes for negroes all of same make..." He then lists the desired shoe sizes and quantities, which amounted to 80 pairs.

Livingston, MS, was a booming commercial center in the early 19th century, but when the railroads bypassed the town in the 1850s, Livingston declined. Soon after, the town was ransacked and destroyed by Union forces during the Civil War. While some of the nearby plantations remained, the town eventually became an unincorporated community.

Together, 2 letters with unusual content written from a pre-Civil War Mississippi plantation.

There is an entry for a D S Goodloe, living in Madison, Mississippi, in the 1840 Federal Census. It records Goodloe as having 32 enslaved persons on his property, mostly engaged in agriculture. An entry for a David S Goodloe, also living in Madison, Mississippi, appears in the 1850 Federal Census, with 55 enslaved persons.