Beschreibung:

1 p. ALS, (7.5 x 9.75"), from Wm. H.E. Merrit to one of the Donnan Brothers concerning the guardianship of a slave woman who ran away from her current owner to a previous owner after being "corrected." The transcription reads: Brunswick, May 23rd 1863 Dear Sir, Your favor of yesterday is just received & I hasten to answer it. Last year, I hired three Negroes John, his wife & granddaughter of Mr. George W. Harrison guardian to the woman and little girl, I let my overseer take for their victuals & clothes, he living on the same plantation where the husband was. At the close of the year the overseer’s wife proposed to me (the overseer in the meantime having gone into the military service) to take the woman & child on the same terms this year if I hired them. I did hire them, & sent the woman and child to the overseer’s wife as proposed. They remained there awhile, but in some two or three months there was some misconduct on the part of the woman & she was corrected.She ran away & came to me– said she was not willing to live there, but she said Mr. Harrison was willing to take off of hand of the woman who had her. I wrote to Mr. Harrison at Petersburg about it. After the lapse of some time, (not having received a reply in writing) a verbal message was sent to me that Mr. Harrison would give up the guardianship at court. I expected to see him at our court but he did not come. A little time after this, Mrs. George W. Harrison passed through my plantation, and I met her near the overseer’s house. She told me that she wanted to see me – that she was willing to take the woman & child on the same terms that the overseer’s wife had taken them – that she was then on her way to Petersburg & that if the proposition was accepted, the Negroes must be sent to Mr. Harrison’s plantation in a few days. I told her the proposition would be gladly accepted as the person who had them, I knew, had authorized me to say so. This there was the understanding between Mrs. Harrison & myself (acting for another person) that the Negroes would be taken off that person’s hands & she Mrs. H or they (perhaps she said) would take them on the same terms. On parting with Mrs. Harrison I went at once to the overseer’s – told his wife what had passed, & she said the Negroes could go next morning. They were accordingly ready, & I gave them a pass to go to Mr. Harrison’s plantation.They went & remained there between two &three weeks, when they came back with a note from the overseer, saying that W. Harrison had written to him that he did not want them & was unwilling to take them. I sent the Negroes with a note to the overseer’s wife. She sent them back, saying that she thought W. Harrison ought to take them. As I thought so myself, I sent them to Mr. Harrison, with a statement on which I based my opinion. His overseer returned them, & they are now at my overseer’s. I think that under the circumstances W. Harrison ought to keep them. Have you the bond for last year’s hire? I would have paid it at Christmas if I could have got it. I can send you a check at any time. Yours Sincerely, Wm H. E. Merritt --WILLIAM H. E. MERRITT ( -1885) of Brunswick and Greensville Counties, Virginia, was a lawyer, member of the Virginia House of Delegates and editor of the "Richmond Whig". His wife was Eliza W. Merritt. Research suggests that the Harrison mention was most likely GEORGE W. HARRISON (1801- ) of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, who married Emma Bland (1812- ) and had 7 children. Slavery through the 1640s and 1860s was governed by a body of law. Every slave state followed a set of legal codes that made slavery a permanent condition, inherited by the mother, and designated slaves as property. As a result, slaves could not own property or be a party to a contract. Contracts became the responsibility of owners. Lawyers Alexander and James Monroe Donnan represented many Virginians whose assets were neither land nor livestock; they were human beings. Their humanity created complicated leg