Z 2286.000 Blackwell (John G.) Papers
Z 2286.000 F
BLACKWELL (JOHN G.) PAPERS
Biography/History:
John G. Blackwell was born on January 29, 1819, in Smith County, Mississippi. He married Mary Thorton on October 12, 1837, and had eleven children: Sarah Matilda (b. November 16, 1839), Joseph Brown (b. November 4, 1841), John Wesley (b. October 14, 1843), Miranda Ann (b. February 24, 1845), Nimrod Austin (b. December 13, 1846), Fulton Worth (b. February 27, 1848), Flavia Agnes Jane (b. June 23, 1849), Theresa A. (b. January 4, 1851), Franklin Pearce (b. August 16, 1853), Elizabeth (b. 1855) and Albert (b. 1856). The Blackwells lost four of their children in infancy and one, Miranda Ann, in childhood.
John G. Blackwell was a wealthy merchant and planter near Raleigh, Smith County, Mississippi. He owned twenty-five slaves and employed a farmer from Sweden, a schoolteacher, and a shoemaker. After the Civil War (1861-1865), John G. Blackwell retired from the merchant trade. From 1871 to 1874, he served as an alderman for the town of Raleigh. Blackwell was a justice of the peace from 1878 to 1881 and served as a constable from 1887 until his death in 1890.
Charles Blackwell was born about 1842 in Mississippi. He was an enslaved laborer on John G. Blackwell’s farm. By age fifteen, Blackwell was listed as a member in the John G. Blackwell household. Charles Blackwell was a paid employee of John G. Blackwell in 1865 and 1866. As of 1870, Charles Blackwell lived in Smith County, Mississippi, with Elizabeth (b. ca. 1850), Thomas (b. ca. 1858), Sally (b. ca. 1864), Mary (b. ca. 1867), Franklin (b. ca. 1868), and Willi (sic) (b. ca. 1869).
Scope and Content:
This collection consists of a handwritten labor contract between John G. Blackwell and Charles Blackwell, a freedman. Charles Blackwell agrees to be John G. Blackwell’s driver for the sum of ten dollars a month, to be paid at the end of the contractual year. In return, John G. Blackwell agrees to recognize the Smith County Court as the arbiter in any disputes that may arise between him and his employee.
Series Identification:
- Contract. 1866. 1 folder.