1831 MANUSCRIPT SLAVE DEED TRANSFERRING THE OWNERSHIP OF "HENRY, ABOUT 5 YEARS OLD" FOR THE SUM OF $1

SLAVERY . Manuscript slave deed. Davidson County, Tennessee, January 16, 1831. One unlined sheet, measuring approximately 7-1/2 by 9-1/4 inches. $1200.

Scarce manuscript slave deed from 1831, in which a little boy, "Henry, about five years old," is sold to C.H. Dickinson and Ann Dickinson and "their heirs & assigns" for the sum of one dollar.

This slavery deed chronicles the sale, via a chilling non-arm's length transaction, of "a certain negro boy slave named Henry about five years old" for a mere $1. Henry is transferred alone, without a parent or relative, between residents of Davidson County, Tennessee (now Metro Nashville). The deed reads in full: “Know all men by these presents that I Ann W Turner of Davidson Cty State of Tennessee for and in consideration of the sum of One Dollar to me paid by C.H. Dickinson & Ann M Dickinson both of said Cty & State the receipt of which is herein acknowledged have this day bargained sold & delivered unto them a certain negro boy slave named Henry about five years old and I herein warent [sic] the said boy to them their heirs & assigns forever against the claim or claims of all & every person or persons whatsoever as witness my hand & seal this 16th January 1831. Ann W. Turner [hand drawn facsimile of a seal] Attest Jas [James] M Cummings.” The document is marked attested to as of January 16, 1831.

Slight smudging to ink and a bit of very faint offsetting from storage next to another handwritten document. Near-fine condition.