...they broke open old Mr Gordy's tomb on this bayou, carried his head to their home and made themselves quite merry over their old master's head...

Two 1852 letters sent to Lucy F. Pulliam of La Grange, Tennessee: Autograph letter signed by Fanny [Polk], to Lucy F. Pulliam. [Randolph, Tennessee], 3 January 1851. 3 pages. With integral address panel to Lucy F. Pulliam of La Grange, Tennessee with Centreville, La postal stamp. -- Autograph letter signed by EDB to sister Lucy. Bayou Salé, Louisiana, 18 July 1852. 4 pages. With integral address panel to Lucy F. Pulliam of La Grange, Tennessee with Randolph, Tn. postal stamp.

Some of the most sensational slave content we have ever encountered.

In the second letter included here, Lucy Pulliam's brother in Bayou Salé, Louisiana writes with reports on the rising cases of runaway slaves: "For the last 5 of 6 months, we have been much worried with runaway negroes, they are well armed and have made general attempts to kill and rob. One night our overseer was at supper they went to his house and took his trunk with about $140 dollars and a good supply of clothes, he has not been able to get any of his money yet, they stole a gun at the same time."

He continues, with a startling account: "A few weeks ago they broke open old Mr Gordy's tomb on this bayou, carried his head to their home and made themselves quite merry over their old master's head. Said they wanted to see how he looked. In another world, he had owned so many black people. They belong now to Mr. Hudson who married old Mr. G's daughter. Did you ever hear of any thing half as dreadful? One of our servants was taken for one of them and badly shot his thigh bone broken in two places, one of his hands so much injured that the Dr. thinks he may lose it. Mr. Burton keeps double barrel gun under our bed every night, he said he was very uneasy while he was gone to New Orleans. The overseer slept in the house and had two guns. I hope they will soon be caught, the owners have employed a man with blood hounds to get them."

It is possible that the man whose skull was stolen was that of William Smith Gordy (1817-1853?), or perhaps his father Peter W. Gordy (ca 1769-1830), who were planters in St. Mary Parish, a region settled by the wealthy planter class that found the geography ideal for establishing sugarcane plantations. William is enumerated in the 1850 Slave Schedule as enslaving 22 individuals. Although online records record his date of death in 1853, there are discrepancies that suggest this may be an error in transcription. Or perhaps this is a date when the skull was reinterred in the family tomb at the South Bend Cemetery.

Lucy F. Pulliam is enumerated in the 1850 Federal Census in La Grange, married to a physician, apparently living in the house of her father John W. Burton. The first letter included here from a friend, is mostly filled with news about acquaintances. The second letter is written by her brother who had evidently moved to St. Mary Parish to work on the lucrative sugar plantations. E.D. Barton is enumerated in the 1860 Federal Census with his family in neighboring Assumption Parish as an overseer. His unnerving descriptions of slavery are an incredible historical record.

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Plantation History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation, Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera]