Original manuscript bill of sale for a 26-year-old enslaved woman named Tisha and her two children: Mary (5 years old) and Simon (3 years old). The bill is signed on June 20th, 1844 in Desoto Parish, Louisiana. The buyer, Daniel Lee, paid $375 for all three.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Abolitionist, Slave, Slavery, Emancipation Proclamation, 13th Amendment, Civil Rights, Abraham Lincoln] Pictured in the image are freed slaves ‘Rosa’ (Rosina Downs), ‘Charley’ (Charley Taylor), and ‘Rebecca’ (Rebecca Huger), three light-skinned children born to African Americans in bondage. The three children are wrapped in an enormous American flag. As described on the verso, this and other similar photos were produced as a way to raise money for “the education of colored people in the "Department of the Gulf," which during the war was for a time under the command of Union General Nathanial P. Banks. The decision to photograph light-skinned children was a deliberate choice, meant to stir the passions of white Americans. This particular example, which is nearly flawless, was produced c. 1864 by a photographer named Charles Paxson who operated in New York City.

[19th Century Photography, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, CDV, carte-de-visite, albumen, cabinet card] [Abraham Lincoln]

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Abolitionist, Abolition, Slave, Slavery, Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln] [19th Century Photography, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, CDV, carte-de-visite, albumen, cabinet card] [Abraham Lincoln]