Paul Cameron Letter, November 27, 1844

Paul Cameron Letter, November 27, 1844

Antebellum Plantation Life

Paul writes from Mr. Ruffin's place in Marengo County, Alabama, to his father in Raleigh, that he has negotiated purchase of an 1100-acre plantation in Greene County, three miles from a landing, from a Col. Armistead, paying $17.50 per acre. The counsel of noted friends, Mr. Cain and Mr. Ruffin, encouraged Paul with the terms. Mobile notes and Charleston checks are discussed as forms of currency for payment of terms. The cotton harvests of 1840-44 are described, as are the existing buildings and general state of the plantation. The previous owner Armistead notes he has only lost "two grown negroes" from "disease of the climate in 10 years." Paul notes that Mr. Laws mentioned in a prior September 4, 1844, letter as the person overseeing the transfer of slaves from North Carolina to Alabama, has yet to arrive, but the slaves will be placed in cabins when they do and given provisions by Mr. Armistead in exchange for help in getting his harvest out.

Paul Cameron

Cameron Family Papers, 1757-1978

Photographed, transcribed, tagged, and shared in this Omeka Collection by Dr. Kevin Oliver, North Carolina State University College of Education

November 27, 1844

As noted in the source collection, “copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.”

The Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

PDF

English

Personal correspondence, letter

series: 1.3.3, box: 40, folder: 937

United States: Alabama (Greene County; Greensboro; Marengo County; Mobile; Montgomery)

United States: South Carolina (Charleston)

Paper