Document appointing nine men to a slave patrol
date: label: Date
content: March 15, 1846
name: label: Written by
content: Col. Henry Adams, American, 1823 - 1899
label: Received by
content: Col. William Clark Grasty, American, 1817 - 1901
label: Subject of
content: Edmund Fitzgerald, American
label: Subject of
content: James M. Fitzgerald, American
label: Subject of
content: John Rice Miller, American
label: Subject of
content: Charles E. Miller, American
label: Subject of
content: Luther J. Tynes, American
label: Subject of
content: N. C. Miller, American
label: Subject of
content: Coleman Scruggs, American
label: Subject of
content: Morton Scruggs, American
notes: label: Description
content: A manuscript document, one sheet of handwritten script in black ink on white paper, written by Col. Henry Ward Adams of the Virginia Militia and addressed to Capt. William C. Grasty. The document reads [I, having been requested to / appoint a company of patrol and believing the same / to be very necessary, do (in pursuance of an act of / Assembly in that case made and provided) hereby appo- / -int William C Grasty pr Captain, and Edmund / Fitzgerald, N. C. Miller, Coleman Scruggs, Morton Scruggs, / James M. Fitzgerald, John Rice Miller, Charles E. Miller, / and Luther E. Tynes a company of Patrol within the / 2nd Battalion of the 168th Regiment of Virginia Militia in / the muster bounds of Capt Wm C Grasty to patrol / and visit all Negro quarters and other places suspect- / -ed of entertaining unlawful assemblies of slaves, / servants or other disorderly persons as aforesaid, unl- / -awfully assembled, or any others strolling from one plantation to another, without a pass from his or / her master or mistress or overseer, and take them / before the next justice of the peace, who if he shall / see cause, is hereby required to order every such / slave servant stroller or other disorderly person as / aforesaid to receive any number of lashes, not exc- / -eeding twenty on his or her bare back.]. On the reverse of the document is written [Capt. William C. Grasty / Mount Airy / Henry Adams / 15 March 1846].
place: label: Place depicted
content: Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Fugitive enslaved
label: Topic
content: Law
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1815-1861
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Liljenquist Family 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, Gift of the Liljenquist Family
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2019.26.3
objectType: label: Type
content: manuscripts
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: iron gall ink on wove rag paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 12 1/4 × 7 5/8 in. (31.1 × 19.4 cm)