Six (6) Slave related documents, including one (1) 1853 bill of trust for twenty-five slaves and land, one (1) 1838 bill of sale for three slaves, court documents, and letter. 1st item: Slave and land deed of trust between Robert S. Mills and Franklin William "Frank" Taylor, Sr. (1810-1886), Grainger County, Tennessee, "...for a certain tract or parcel of land...containing nine hundred and eighty one and a half acres...Also the following named [negroes], slaves, twenty five in number of the following names to Wit, Shederick, Martin, Aaron, Moses, Marcus, Rufus, William & his wife Sarah & their three children Viz, Allis, Osca[r], and Melinda, also Lucy, Mary & Rabieca_which slaves I have this day purchased from the said Obidiah Boaz_Also ten other negro slaves of the following name to wit, Sarah & her five children, namely, Albert, Manuel, Harry, Amanda, & Margaret, also, Molly, Jane, Henry & Robert_which I warrant healthy and sound, (except Rufus which I do not warrant sound) and slaves for life..." Signed by Robert S. Mills, Harmon G. Lea, J. E. Corley, and R. Mitchell, dated March 5, 1853. Additional signed by James C. Clark, Clerk and Issace M. Lowe, Register, Grainger County, TN, dated June 6, 1853. 12 5/8" H x 8 1/4" W. 2nd item: Slave bill of sale between Samuel Rigg and Lewis Rigg for three slaves, an adult male named Jerry, a girl named Jane, and a boy named Francis, for a total of eleven hundred and twenty-five dollars, dated December 29, 1838. The slaves are described as "...a certain lot of Negroes Black Coloured Slaves...Jerry aged thirty four years Jane aged eleven years Francis aged five years sinsible[sic] and sound in boddy[sic]..." Signed by Samuel Rigg, with additional signatures by J. Jarnagin, John Rigg, and Charles McKinny, below. Additional ink inscriptions, reverse. 12" H x 8" W. 3rd-4th items: Two (2) documents pertaining to a lawsuit brought forth by James Dale against Francis Mayberry, involving the purchase of a nine year old slave boy from Leroy Taylor and the sale of a plantation to David Russell, one (1) oath of James Dale witnessed by Samuel Porrel, one of the Justices of the Superior Courts of Law, Hamilton District, dated October 15, 1807, and one (1) answer of Frances Mayberry, witnessed by Matthew Campbell, Justice of the Peace, Grainger County, August 29, 1808. 5th item: Slave related ALS. One page handwritten letter from Margaret Hanna, Henderson, Knox County, Illinois, dated January 16, 1860. She writes "I [enclose] you the deed to the land I own in Nicholas which I also want you to deed to [B. H. Robinson] I intend to deed it to him here by consulting a Lawyer I found the deed was not in me it is in you. My reason for doing this is that I have understood that White was a going to...me on the Bill of Sale of them Negroes. And it is impo[s]sible for me to attend a suit [there] although the Negroes were just as they were represented on the Bill of Sale..." Signed Margaret Hanna. 12 1/8" H x 7 7/8" W. 6th item: Testimony of Hezikiah Hamblen, handwritten bifolium transcribed by Dicks Alexander, Clerk and Master of the Court, Rogersville, Hawkins County, dated April 29, 1831, in a case between John Buler and James P. Millearty regarding the sale of slaves during the summer of 1828. He states that the slaves were not offered for slave the afternoon he was there and that he "...went there monthly to catch a bargain, if a bargain was going..." when asked by the defendant Millearty if he would have paid five hundred dollars, he answered "...I think not, the old negroes were such as I never buy..." Hamblen and Alexander's signatures, below. Additional ink inscriptions by Alexander with traces of red wax seal, reverse. 12 1/8" H x 15 1/2" W. Note: See Lot 634 for other documents related to Alexander. Provenance: Estate of Anne Harrison Taylor & Joseph F. Taylor, Morristown, TN.

All items in overall good, legible condition, with toning, dampstaining, foxing spots, to be expected from age. 5th item: Areas of separation, largest 2 1/4" to fold lines. 6th item: Holes, largest 1" x 1", to reverse.