MARSH, NJ, MANUSCRIPTS, 1818

I made a very interesting internet find, and though it (so far) isn't doing me any good, I thought someone else might find it helpful. There is a huge collection of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantation manuscripts on microfilm and the very detailed calendar of documents listed in them is at (this is within the right website, but not the exact page, as I'm having trouble making a connection tonight:
http://www.us.net/upa/guides/plantl1.htm 

The reason it is interesting to the Ball list is that one of the members of the Marsh family from Rahway, NJ moved to Baton Rouge about 1818, while it was still in Nova Iberia. His name was John C. Marsh and he was a merchant in New York, but it looks like all of his family was still in Rahway. The collection includes a lot of his business papers and correspondence between New Jersey and Baton Rouge. The University of Michigan, where I am, has a set of these microfilms so I went to take a look. Before he left, he bought several slaves and made several indentured servant contracts to bring with him to Louisiana. Included among the microfilmed bills of sale is one from Aaron Ball, Jr. of the town of Westfield, who sold a mulatto boy of about 16 years named George to Martha Phillips, of Newtown,Sussex Co. for a term of years until he reached the age of twenty eightfor one hundred and fifty dollars. George to go free at 28. Aaron's signature is on the document dated May 20, 1817. Martha sold George's remaining years of service to John C. Marsh, July 18, 1818 for two hundred dollars. Before John could take the slaves out of the state he had to take them before two justices of the peace who examined them apart from their master and asked them if they chose to go with him to New Iberia. One wonders what would happen if they "chose" not to go!

Anyone who wants a copy of the bill of sale, with signature, can send me a SSAE at the address below and I'll send it to you.

Aprille Cooke McKay
amckay@sdss1.physics.lsa.umich.edu
1409 Granger Ave..
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

Contributed by: Ed BALL