The Robert F.W. Allston with Robert Adger and Co. Account Book, 1860, is a journal recording household and grocery expenses for Robert Allston. Among the lists includes items for enslaved persons such as cloth and toothbrushes. Many entries also contain records of payments to specific individuals.
The Robert F.W Allston Account Book, 1860-1861, documents payments, a recipe to help cure rabies, stocks for Nightingale Hall and Chicora Wood Plantations and the names, births and deaths of enslaved people. The book also includes diary entries for when Robert Allston visited Manassas, Virginia at the Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War, recording conversations he had about the battle, the atmosphere of the army camps and the death of General Barnard E. Bee.
A fragment of a plantation journal listing enslaved persons at Murry Hill Plantation. The pages include a list of enslaved men, women and children, notes on clothes for enslaved persons and births and deaths.
A document discussing the sale of two enslaved women named Flora and Mary sold to Langdon Cheves Jr. and his sister-in-law Isabella Cheves from Alexander Verdiu.
A bill of sale between Robert F.W. Allston and Joseph Allston for two enslaved persons named Wiltshire, a bricklayer, and Jimmy who has a weak bladder. The enslaved persons were bought for $1,500.
A list of enslaved persons bought and sold between Mrs. Withers and Dr. Fraser. The names of the enslaved persons are listed as Francis, Caesar, Sary, Israel, Esther, William, Dinah, Quash and William.
A bill of sale for thirty-one enslaved persons sold to Langdon Cheves Jr. and his sister-in-law Isabella Cheves from R.B. Rhett for $19,775. The names of the enslaved persons are Moses, Caesar, Sylvia, Juliet, Linda, Johnson, Katy, Carolina, Joanne, Maria, Oliver, Violet, Marley, John, Dembo, Bina, Minty, Ben, Nelly, Sampson, Betty, Sharper, Dick, Peggy, Grace, "Glasee," Tyra, Hannah, Rinah, and Hannah.
A mortgage for thirty-one enslaved persons between R.B. Rhett, Langdon Cheves Jr. and his sister-in-law Isabella Cheves for $14,200. The names of the enslaved persons are Moses, Caesar, Sylvia, Juliet, Linda, Johnson, Katy, Caroline, Joanne, Maria, Oliver, Violet, Marley, John, Dembo, Bina, Minty, Ben, Nelly, Sampson, Betty, Sharper, Dick, Peggy, Grace, "Glasee," Tyra, Hannah, Rinnah, and Hannah.
A letter sent to Robert F.W. Allston from David Risley concerning a potential foreclosure on the mortgage for Waties Point Plantation. The following page includes Robert Allston's response.
Receipt of a bond of $4,500 from Ezra and David Risley for Benjamin Allston under the will of Mrs. Elizabeth Blythe following the sale of a tract of land from Waties Point Plantation.
A letter from D.F. Jamison in which he discusses a trial over a disturbance at a religious gathering by enslaved persons. He writes about a quarrel that ensued between two enslaved men, Allen and Jim, at St. Matthew's Parish, which later involved multiple enslaved persons, including Jamison's own "slave boy Sam." The court decided that those involved would receive between twenty-five to one-hundred lashes, depending on the individual's involvement in the quarrel. Jamison makes note that even though his enslaved boy Sam was said to not have been involved due to testimony, the court still sentenced him to lashes and Jamison did not appeal it due to the encouragement of his neighbors. While not present for the lashings, he heard they were severe since a constable, known for his cruelty, was brought in from a neighboring district to perform the lashings. Due to indignation from the crowd over the cruelty performed, the enslaved man Jim, who was sentenced to one-hundred lashes, only received fifty.
A letter to Woodward Manning outlining articles shipped to him by a steamer. The writer makes a notation that he has not found an enslaved person that meets the qualifications Woodward Manning has asked for and that "very few negroes have been in market, and they are selling at high prices."
A statement made by Robert F.W. Allston concerning a bond of $2,250 for a tract of land. The letter names Robert F.W. Allston as trustee for Joseph B. Allston, William Allan Allston and Benjamin Allston under the will of Elizabeth Blythe.
