Boston Public Library
Ziba B. Oakes Papers, 1852-1857
The letters in this collection document the business dealings of Ziba B. Oakes, a slave broker, who lived in Charleston, South Carolina. The letters were written by several business associates and cover all aspects of the slave trade such as pricing, selling instructions, and resolving problems with runaways. Oakes's real estate business and other financial matters are also documented. There is no correspondence from Oakes.
The majority of the letters in the collection are from brokers, agents, and clients from different parts of South Carolina and other southern states with whom Ziba Oakes did business. For example, there are fifty-eight letters written to Oakes by William Wright from Savannah, Georgia; thirteen letters by Burch Kirkland and Company, from Montgomery, Alabama; and twenty-three letters by Thomas Limehouse, from Goulding, South Carolina. In addition, there are letters from traders from Richmond, Virginia and New Orleans, Louisiana. These contain specific details about slaves bought and sold, and give market prices for each city.
Of the letters written by slave traders, many were written by A. J. McElveen, whose job it was to travel throughout South Carolina's Sumpter District and purchase slaves for Oakes. The letters include details about the number of slaves that were purchased on each trip, their gender and physical descriptions, and where on the plantation they should work. Other matters include the problems he had with selling certain slaves and his dealings with other traders. McElveen's letters also provide insight into the relationship he had with Oakes.
Additional letters document Oakes's real estate and other business ventures such as the buying and selling of plantations and railroad stock.
Processing information note:
The electronic records for this collection are transcribed from legacy data. In many cases, transcriptions were not verified against collection materials at the time of transcription. As a result, descriptions could be incomplete and might only reflect a partial understanding of the material.
Legacy data often reflects the biases of time periods and cultures in which it was created and may include direct quotations or descriptions that use inappropriate or harmful language. Descriptions based on legacy data are maintained to provide as much access as possible until the collection can be reprocessed. Efforts to replace outdated descriptions and to describe our collections in an equitable way are iterative and ongoing.
The majority of the letters in the collection are from brokers, agents, and clients from different parts of South Carolina and other southern states with whom Ziba Oakes did business. For example, there are fifty-eight letters written to Oakes by William Wright from Savannah, Georgia; thirteen letters by Burch Kirkland and Company, from Montgomery, Alabama; and twenty-three letters by Thomas Limehouse, from Goulding, South Carolina. In addition, there are letters from traders from Richmond, Virginia and New Orleans, Louisiana. These contain specific details about slaves bought and sold, and give market prices for each city.
Of the letters written by slave traders, many were written by A. J. McElveen, whose job it was to travel throughout South Carolina's Sumpter District and purchase slaves for Oakes. The letters include details about the number of slaves that were purchased on each trip, their gender and physical descriptions, and where on the plantation they should work. Other matters include the problems he had with selling certain slaves and his dealings with other traders. McElveen's letters also provide insight into the relationship he had with Oakes.
Additional letters document Oakes's real estate and other business ventures such as the buying and selling of plantations and railroad stock.
Processing information note:
The electronic records for this collection are transcribed from legacy data. In many cases, transcriptions were not verified against collection materials at the time of transcription. As a result, descriptions could be incomplete and might only reflect a partial understanding of the material.
Legacy data often reflects the biases of time periods and cultures in which it was created and may include direct quotations or descriptions that use inappropriate or harmful language. Descriptions based on legacy data are maintained to provide as much access as possible until the collection can be reprocessed. Efforts to replace outdated descriptions and to describe our collections in an equitable way are iterative and ongoing.