Paul Cameron Letter, December 7, 1844

Paul Cameron Letter, December 7, 1844

Antebellum Plantation Life

From his newly acquired plantation in Alabama, Paul writes home to his father in North Carolina. The party of slaves relocated from North Carolina to Alabama arrived the prior day on December 6th with their escort Mr. Laws. Paul relays difficulty converting checks to cash for supplies. Paul was surprised by the poor condition of the cabins into which relocated slaves are placed. Paul looks to employ a Mister Lewellyn as overseer of his new plantation, and notes he would prefer to hire a man with a family. Paul references "sickly river plantations" nearby and notes he would never hire out a "negro of mine" presumably into such conditions. Paul notes the amount of money paid to Mr. Laws for services and the balance received from Mr. Laws for transporting slaves. Paul notes supplies ordered for the plantation (salt, pork) from Mobile, and suggests he may have to travel to Mobile to pay a $10,000 balance on the property. Paul notes missing family back home, and briefly mentions the "legislature" and "solicitude" over the matter of a railroad.

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

December 7, 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: 939

United States: Alabama (Greensboro; Macon; Mobile; Tuscaloosa)

Paper