Unusual handwritten marriage contract dated September 7, 1820 at Madison County, Alabama, between Sarah Bass and her soon-too-be husband, Joseph Fenwick. The document details Sarah’s right of ownership to slaves that were left to her by her previous husband who had died, similar to a modern pre-nuptial agreement. It reads in part:
…it is agreed and understood between them in order to secure and provide a competent jointure to the said Sarah…the said Joseph doth hereby convey relinquish and release to the said Sarah his intended wife all the right and title that he may have from and after the solemnization of the marriage to all the Negroes that the said Sarah may  have and receive as her distributive share of the Negroes belonging to the Estate of Uriah Bass her husband…and it is expressly understood and agreed that the said Sarah is to have and enjoy a full and complete right and title to all the Negroes she may be entitled to from the Estate of the said Uriah Bass dec., as fully as if the marriage had never taken place between her and the said Joseph, and the said Sarah is to have full power to give and devise all or any of the said Negroes to her children or any one of them which gift shall not take effect till after her death…
Historically interesting document that helps illustrate the complicated system of slavery in the early United States.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Abolitionist, Slave, Slavery, Emancipation Proclamation, 13th Amendment, Civil Rights, Abraham Lincoln]