约瑟夫·斯托里·费伊

约瑟夫·斯托里·费伊 was originally from Cambridge, Mass., but had moved to Savannah in 1838 to make his fortune in the cotton business. During the antebellum years, he often discussed the issue of slavery in correspondence with relatives in Massachusetts. Although willing to hire enslaved people owned by others, he initially balked at owning them himself—not from moral scruples but primarily because of the inconvenience. He eventually rationalized the practice 和, 从1844年开始, purchased a number of people, possibly including two of 寻常的坎贝尔's daughters.

By the late 1850s, civil war looked increasingly likely, 和 Fay was one of many who saw it coming. He had been spending more 和 more time in Massachusetts each year, 和 may have written to Campbell to make arrangements for his enslaved people before his permanent relocation to the North. 的 location of his letter to Campbell is unknown.

寻常的坎贝尔 和 Her Daughters

的 story of 寻常的坎贝尔 和 her family is difficult to piece together because records are so scarce. She was about 70 years old when she wrote this letter asking Fay to do "What you May think is Best under the circumstances." It's unclear if she was a free Black woman at the time, but she had been enslaved by James Potter, a wealthy rice planter who owned large tracts of l和 on the Savannah River. Potter also owned Campbell's daughters 伊莎贝尔 (or 伊莎贝尔la) 和 科妮莉亚.

的 Fay-Mixter collection also includes the deeds, or bills of sale, for 伊莎贝尔 和 科妮莉亚. 这些论文表明, 在19世纪50年代早期, James Potter sold 伊莎贝尔 for $300 和 科妮莉亚—with her children—for $600 to auctioneer Thomas J. 沃尔什. On 2 September 1853, both deeds were transferred to an unidentified person, most likely Fay. While their names 和 ages don't match up exactly, these are the women listed in Campbell's letter. And scrawled in pencil on the back of each deed, 可能是沃尔什写的, is the phrase: "they belonging to themselves."

When these deeds came to the MHS, they were enclosed in a paper with notes written by Fay in 1854 和 1858. 的 第一个音 dates from the time Fay left the documents with his firm in Savannah "for safe keeping.“ 第二请注意 reads: "的 enclosed Bills of Sale belong to 寻常的坎贝尔, 和 are of her children who she has bought from time to time, 现在自由了." 伊莎贝尔 和 科妮莉亚 were apparently free, 或者“属于他们自己”," by 1858, 但具体细节尚不清楚. 的ir freedom may have been purchased by their mother or given by Fay, maybe even as early as 1853.

詹姆斯和托马斯·西姆斯

寻常的坎贝尔 had several other children. She dictated this letter to her oldest son, James M. Simms, who lived with her in Savannah. James was a free man, having earned enough as a carpenter to buy his own freedom for $740 in 1857. He also taught himself how to read 和 eventually worked as a minister, 自由人的倡导者, 出版商, 和政治家. 在重建, Simms was even appointed to a judgeship by the governor 乔治亚州的, but was prevented from serving 和 removed from his seat by the next administration.

Another of Campbell's sons was the famous Thomas Simms (or Sims), whose escape to Boston 和 subsequent return under the Fugitive Slave Act created a sensation in April 1851. Campbell is mentioned, though not by name, in records of the trial.

寻常的坎贝尔 died on 20 January 1886, 和 newspapers across the country, from Vermont to South Carolina to California, 报告她的死亡, mentioning her status as Thomas Simms' mother. She 和 at least two of her children are buried in Laurel Grove South Cemetery, an African American cemetery in Savannah.