Written by
Torrance, Hugh, American, born 1810
Date
1850-1864
Medium
ink and graphite on paper, leather
Dimensions
H x W x D (closed): 7 5/16 × 4 3/4 × 7/16 in. (18.6 × 12.1 × 1.1 cm)
Description
Leather bound volume with ruled interior pages containing records of the people enslaved by Hugh Torrance of Yalobusha County, Mississippi. The front cover has text handwritten in black ink reading "Negro Record." The interior text is handwritten in ink and graphite with information including enslaved people inherited by Torrance from his father as well as those he purchased and sold. There is also a notation about several enslaved men who "left for Yankee land" in December 1862. Several pages contain lists of people grouped as family units, including birth and death dates of parents and children in most cases. The birth dates reach as far back as the first decade of the 1800s, but the record appears to have been written in the 1850s up to 1864. A loose sheet of paper used as a blotter is folded and tucked between pages near the front of the book. Around 30 of the approximately 100 pages have writing, with those containing writing scattered throughout rather than concentrated in one section of the book.
Place used
Yalobusha County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
Collection title
Liljenquist Family Collection
Classification
Slavery and Freedom Objects
Documents and Manuscripts
Type
property records
Topic
American South
Families
Finance
Slavery
U.S. History, 1815-1861
U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Liljenquist Family Collection
Object number
2016.166.36.2
Restrictions & Rights
Public domain
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd50496ee68-3193-4b40-9baf-b08ce81d6351

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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