The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk
If you believe you should have access to this document, click here to Login.
| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC08945.01 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to the 1860s |
| Title | Harrison Stearns to Mary Jane Ferris Stearns regarding the death of her husband, his former master |
| Date | 16 November 1867 |
| Author | Stearns, Harrison (fl. 1868) |
| Recipient | Stearns, Mary Jane Ferris |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | In response to a letter from Mary, the wife of his former master, William F. Stearns, Harrison, a freed slave, offers condolence for William's death and inquires about a gift of land William promised him. Writes in part: "You said something bout conveying my lots to me. I had just write to mass Wiliam a little before his death...he promest to convey to me as soon as he could be satisfied that the laws of Miss. would allow colored people to hold land. Colored people has the same right to hold land as the white people." |
| Subjects | African American History Slavery Freemen Estate Land Transaction Death |
| People | Stearns, Harrison (fl. 1868) Stearns, Mary Jane Ferris (b. 1833 |
| Place written | Oxford, Mississippi |
| Theme | Slavery & Abolition; Government & Politics; African Americans |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945 |
| Additional Information | Harrison Stearns (fl. 1868) became an alderman and later gave a plot of the land he received for the Methodist Episcopal Church of Oxford. The Burns A.M.E. Church, founded in 1870, survives there today. William F. Stearns (b. 1817?) was a law professor at Ole Miss born in Vermont. He committed suicide after the Civil War. |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Related documents | Harrison Stearns to Mary Jane Ferris Stearns regarding a gift of land |