JERVAY, William R. (1847-1910), slave, soldier, South Carolina State Senator, Judge, and minister. Autograph letter signed ("W.R. Jervay"). 31 August [19]03, Summerville, S.C. 1p, 5 x 8 in., in pencil. Addressed to Mr. John Capplemann of Charleston, S.C. Jervay sends a $21 money order for payment due on a bond, and requests a receipt for the payment. Fine condition.

Born into slavery in Charleston, S.C. Jervay was a house servant of rice planter Gabriel Manigault. Contrary to South Carolina laws which prohibited enslaved people from learning to read and write, Jervay learned to do both. During the Civil War he escaped enslavement to join the Union Army, achieving the rank of commissary sergeant with the 128th U.S. Colored Infantry. He represented Berkeley County, S.C., in the constitutional convention of 1868. From 1868-72 he was a state representative. From 1872-76 he was a state senator. In 874 he served as vice-president of the state Republican Convention. During the 1870s he also served as a trial judge, Lt. Colonel of S.C. militia and a trustee of the Univ. of S.C. He later became a Methodist minister, preaching in Beaufort and Summerville, S.C. until his death.

[With:] Bill of sale warranting receipt of payment by S.R. Nomade for an enslaved teenage girl: "Received of William G. Sims four hundred and fifty Dollars in full payment for a negro Girl by the name of Clarisy about fourteen years of age, dark complexion...." 5 October 1844, [n.p.].1p, approx. 8 x 6 in. (creasing at folds, scattered spotting, two minor tears with adhesive repair on verso).