Created by
Freedmen's Bureau, American, 1865 - 1872
Subject of
Dred, Henry, American, born 1830
Dred, Sylvester, American, born 1844
Rivers, Mary Josephine
Signed by
Portis, Edmund M., born 1821
Date
January 8, 1866
Medium
ink on paper (fiber product)
Dimensions
H x W: 9 3/4 × 7 5/8 in. (24.8 × 19.4 cm)
Description
A handwritten contract between Freedman Dred and Mary Josephine Rivers. The document stipulates that Dred and his child Alfred are to work for ten dollars per month for Rivers and her family in Clarke County, Alabama, with an additional five dollars per month to be paid if Dred's wife Sylvester is also capable of field work. Lodging, rations, and mending of clothes is included, and pay is to be delivered "at or by the end of this year" with deductions for doctors and medical care as well as "all lost time from slouth, sickness or otherwise, and all things furnished them not aforementioned." Dred is not to be absent without leave and faces expulsion from the property if the terms of the contract are violated. The final line of the contract appears in darker ink and states that expulsion must first be approved by the Assistant Superintendent of Freedment in Clarke County. The document is written on blue lined paper in dark ink, which is faded. Sheet is folded into quarters; body of document is interior when folded. The back or outside of the contract has written on it the signatures of Mary Josephine Rivers and of E. M. Portis, the Assistant Superintendent of Freedmen for Clarke County, Alabama. Approval is dated April 3, 1866.
Transcription Center Status
Transcription Available
Place made
Clarke County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
Classification
Slavery and Freedom Objects
Documents and Manuscripts
Type
contracts
Topic
Agriculture
American South
Emancipation
Families
Labor
Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
Slavery
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2019.28.36
Restrictions & Rights
Public domain
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5df0897d8-6b62-4dea-8d1f-19b3c4b863a9

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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