Letter to M. C. Taylor from T. Heatherly regarding the slave trade

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

This letter was written in Richmond, Virginia, on December 19, 1840 by T. Heatherly to Doctor M. C. Taylor in Richmond, Kentucky. The letter details Heatherly's trip by ship and rail from Charleston, South Carolina, to Richmond, Virginia. He speaks about an acquaintance who lost money through a crooked card game. At the end of the letter he lists current price ranges for young adult enslaved men and young adult enslaved women and notes, "young women are fetching a better price than any other description." He continues, "I think of dealing in women and children tho it will be very hard to get them home," meaning taking them from Virginia to Kentucky. The paper is folded in half with the letter written on the right hand side and continuing onto both sides of the reverse. The address is written on the left hand front side with a postmark dated December 21 in Richmond, Virginia.

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