Bill of sale for Flora, a woman enslaved in Connecticut
date: label: Date
content: December 13, 1796
name: label: Written by
content: Margaret DeWitt Dwight, American, 1765 - 1824
label: Subject of
content: Flora, ca. 1777 - 1815
label: Subject of
content: Asa Benjamin, American, 1763 - 1833
label: Signed by
content: Abraham Van Horn DeWitt, American, 1772 - 1820
notes: label: Description
content: A framed bill of sale for Flora, an enslaved woman, dated "this 13th Day of December, 1796." The document is handwritten in brown ink on cream laid paper. The document transfers the ownership of "a certain Negro Wench named Flora" from Margaret Dwight in Milford, Connecticut to Asa Benjamin in Stratford, Connecticut for the amount of twenty five pounds sterling. The document is signed "Margaret Dwight" with her seal at bottom right. It is witnessed at bottom left by Dwight's brother, Abraham Van Horn DeWitt: [Present / Abm. V.H. DeWitt]. Written at the center of the very bottom of the document is [19 years old]. There are two vertical creases and two horizontal creases extending across the page. At bottom right is a spot of extraneous ink and along the left side center text written on the back of the sheet is visible where it has seeped through the paper to the front. The paper has a watermark at lower right, upside down, reading: [BAND 1795].
label: Description
content: The full text of the document reads:
label: Description
content: [Know All Men by these Present that I Margaret Dwight of Milford in the County of New Haven & State of Connecticut for the Consideration of Twenty Five Pounds L S money Received to my full satisfaction of Asa Benjamin of Stratford in Fairfield County in Sd State have Bargain'd & sold & do by these Present Bargain Sell & Deliver unto this Benjamin a certain Negro Wench named Flora to have and to hold Sd Negro Wench to him the Sd Benjamin his Heirs & Assigns forever & I do by these Present bind myself & my Heirs Executors or Administrators firmly by these present to warrant & defend the Sd Wench from all Claims or demands Whatsoever
label: Description
content: In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & Seal this 13th Day of December 1796].
place: label: Place made
content: Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Domestic slave trade
label: Topic
content: Finance
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1783-1815
label: Topic
content: Women
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 and National Portrait Gallery, Museum purchase through the American Women’s History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2021.48.2
objectType: label: Type
content: bills of sale
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: ink on laid paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (sheet): 14 × 13 in. (35.6 × 33 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (frame): 23 3/4 × 31 3/4 × 1 15/16 in. (60.3 × 80.6 × 4.9 cm)