African Americana

2pp, 15 x 12 1/2 in. (ink bleed, creases at folds, modern adhesive repair at folds). Docketed on verso.

"Appraisement & Inventory" listing 21 enslaved individuals by name, age, and appraised value. 
Appraisers Abram Chapell, Alford Hardy, and W.G. Crawford "doth certify that they will review and appraise the property of the estate of Henry Wilson to the best of their skill and judgement impartially."  List identifies enslaved men, women, and children ranging in age from 50 years to one year old. A note beneath the name of twelve-year old "Lelly" states, "This girl is claimed by Mr. Fossey [?] as his separate property & he objects to her being appraised."

Henry Wilson (1791-1849), who was deceased just over a month prior to this appraisement, was born in North Carolina but moved to South Carolina by 1820. The 1840 US Federal Census indicates that Wilson was still in South Carolina at that time where he enslaved 21 individuals. It is unclear when and for what reason he removed to Alabama. However, like many slaveholders in the eastern US before him, it may have been in pursuit of additional acreage and corresponding increased profits generated through the forced labor of enslaved people.