Letter describing defeat of slave catchers in a battle with ten fugitives
date: label: Date
content: November 9,1858
name: label: Written by
content: Jasper L. Hall, American
label: Received by
content: James E. Hall
notes: label: Description
content: A wove paper letter (ab) and original envelope (c) from 13-year old Jasper L. Hall to his brother James E. Hall, describing the defeat of slave catchers in a pitched battle with ten fugitive slaves, Pennsylvania.
label: Description
content: This eight-page correspondence, written in black ink across two sheets of paper, details the successful mass escape of fugitive slaves. Some of the letter reads:
label: Description
content: "I told you bout Uncle Nedy Armstrong going after his negroes that ran away. He caught up with them and caught them. When they caught them, he had to shoot them to save his life. He shot three times. The first ball cut the skin of one of the negroes' forhead. The second ball went through his ear. The third ball missed and the negro stabed him. I am not certain whether he has got them all or not. Whether the stab that Mr. Armstrong got was considered dangerous or not, we have not heard." Two days later, he continued: "We heard some more of Mr. Armstrong's case. Him and five others went and caught them . . . all unarmed except Mr. Armstrong, and was taking hold of them, and they refused and commenced fighting, and Mr. Armstrong shot three times (as I stated), and they had him down, and would have killed him, only he called (to his negro) and said 'Dave, are you going to let them kill me!' and then Dave took them off. They did not get one of the negroes, but they got the horses. This happened 9 miles below Morgantown. Mr. Armstrong was taken to Morgantown and got his wounds dressed (he was very badly cut and bruised up). I do not know whether he is considered beond reach of recovery or not."
label: Description
content: The original stamped hand-cancelled wove paper envelope (c) is addressed on recto to a Mr. James E. Hall of Westerville, Ohio. In the top right corner of the is a red three cents George Washington postage stamp with a black 'X' over it. On the reverse of the envelope, on the flap in graphite, is "1858".
place: label: Place depicted
content: Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Correspondence
label: Topic
content: Fugitive enslaved
label: Topic
content: Law
label: Topic
content: Self-liberation
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2021.16.1abc
objectType: label: Type
content: envelopes
label: Type
content: letters (correspondence)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: (abc): ink on paper (fiber product)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (a (open)): 7 11/16 × 9 15/16 in. (19.5 × 25.2 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (b (open)): 7 11/16 × 9 15/16 in. (19.5 × 25.2 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (b (closed)): 7 11/16 × 4 15/16 in. (19.5 × 12.5 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (c): 2 3/8 × 4 in. (6.1 × 10.2 cm)