(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Letter tracking the sale of an enslaved man just as the Civil War broke out. Autograph Letter Signed "E.G. Vaughan" to W. Watkins, with the response of Watkins on verso. 2 pages, 9¾ x 7¾ inches, on one sheet; mailing folds, minimal wear. With original transitional cover envelope bearing a United States stamp but sent after Virginia's secession. South Boston and Farmville, VA, 1 and 2 May 1861 This letter was sent by slave owner Egbert Granville Vaughan (1815-1888) of South Boston in south-central Virginia, to his friend W. Watkins in rural Farmville, VA. "About the 1st of April I put a Negro man in the hands of W.N. Davis of your place for sale, supposing Negroes would sell higher in the country than the city. In a few days, before he had an opportunity to sell as he informed me, the great excitement arose in the country, and I immediately instructed him not to attempt to sell at all for the present--to hire the Negro out until there was a change in the times. . . . The boy's name is Junius. . . . If the boy is hired out & is satisfied, he can remain at present, if not . . . give him a pass to return home immediately. He knows the way very well, & can walk."
On the verso, Watkins has written his reply: "W. Nich. Davis is in Richmond. The boy is here with J.W. Brightwell, not sold. JWB will give you the information."
The letter was sent back to Vaughan in an envelope which may be of philatelic interest. It bears a three-cent George Washington stamp issued by the United States, and is postmarked in Farmville, VA on 3 May. The letter proves that the year is 1861. It was postmarked after Virginia's 17 April ordinance of secession, but before its 7 May formal admission into the Confederacy. This could be considered a transitional Confederate cover--or an even more unusual independent state usage.
Published in the Halifax County Historical Bulletin, Fall 2022, page 7 (copy enclosed).