Book (1827-1860) including correspondence, account book, expenses, notation on hiring of Black individuals, enslaved persons etc. 1 Volume. The Hiring-out system allowed a hirer to temporarily lease an enslaved person from an enslaver, generating revenue for the enslaver through the labor of the enslaved people completing the work
Matthew M. Drake (died ca. 1865) was a enslaver and had tobacco farm that was harvested by people he enslaved in Warrenton, Warren County, N.C. He was the administrator of at least one estate, that of Mrs. Harriet Fitts, and guardian of three Fitts children.
This account book is primarily a record of sales of crops and agricultural supplies and loans which Drake made between 1827 and 1860 as well as the differing methods of payment: cash, barter, and day labor. The first 110 pages of the book are numbered. Between 1854 and 1859, Drake provided security for Mrs. Fitts and others, while earlier he had held a bond due her. There are records of his involvement with the estate of Polly Jenkins in 1843 (p. 52), the H. Fitts estate in 1847 (p. 77), as executor for Mary Nicholson in 1845 and 1847 (pp. 57, 78, & 80), and as agent in the sale of land in 1845 (p. 60). In the back section of the book there is a record of bonds he held. There is also the undated inventory of two estates, including land, enslaved persons, farm implements, livestock, produce, and household furnishings. One of these lists show names and values of the enslaved persons.
The names of (Drake's?) children who attended school and a record of "loss time" for 1842 are also recorded. The college expenses of his two sons, H[enry] F. and W[illiam] C. Drake are recorded for the years 1848-1851. Also included is information on various crops such as tobacco, wheat and oats raised by enslaved persons and other unspecified planters; electioneering expenses for 1837-1838; and notations on the hiring of enslaved persons and others for labor. The Hiring-out system allowed a hirer to temporarily lease an enslaved person from an enslaver, generating revenue for the enslaver through the labor of the enslaved people completing the work.
Gift of Mrs. Lucy Garnett
Processed by C. Crews, January 1991
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023
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