List of Mississippi slave traders

This is a list of slave traders active in the U.S. state of Mississippi from settlement until 1865.

  • Robert S. Adams, Aberdeen, Mississippi[1]
  • William L. Arick, Jackson and Choctaw Nation[2]
  • B. F. Ballance, Vicksburg[3]
  • C. J. Blackman, Yazoo City, Mississippi[4]
  • Louis Boisdore, Hancock County near Bay St. Louis[5]
  • Bright, Mississippi[6]
  • Tom Brown, Virginia and Mississippi[7]
  • Mr. Brunice, Natchez[8]
  • John L. Buck, Natchez, Mississippi[9][10]
  • Samuel W. Butler, Natchez, Mississippi[11][12]
  • Mr. Carrod, Mississippi and South Carolina[13]
  • Lewis A. Collier, Richmond, Virginia and Natchez, Mississippi[14][15]
  • James Cook, Paris, Tennessee, and Mississippi[16]
  • J. Cooper, Natchez-under-the-Hill, Mississippi[17]
  • Robert Dowling, Jackson[18]
  • English, North Carolina and Mississippi[19]
  • R. C. Faulkner, Mississippi[20]
  • William H. Gwinn, Vicksburg[21]
  • Dick Featherson, Tennessee and Mississippi[22]
  • David Fitzpatrick, Vicksburg, Miss.[23]
  • John D. Fondren, Mississippi[24][25]
  • Aaron H. Forrest, Memphis, and Vicksburg, Miss.[26]
  • Jeffrey E. Forrest, Memphis, and Vicksburg, Miss.[26]
  • E. Frazer & Co., Port Gibson, Miss.[27][28]
  • Goodman, Mississippi[29]
  • Gordan or Gordon, Maryland and Mississippi[30]
  • Griffin & Pullum, Natchez, Miss.,[31] principals Pierce Griffin, W. A. Pullum, A. Blackwell, F. G. Murphy[32]
  • Lewis K. Grigsby, Natchez, Miss.
  • Henry Hall, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi[33]
  • O. R. Haley, Mississippi[34]
  • Mr. Hall, Norfolk, Va. and Mississippi[35]
  • Jonathan Harding, Sumner Co., Tennessee, and Natchez[36]
  • G. C. Harness, Potomac River and Natchez[37]
  • William L. Harper, Virginia and Jefferson County, Miss.[38]
  • John F. Harris, Natchez
  • John Hawkins, Virginia & Robert Hawkins, Mississippi[39]
  • Robert C. Hawkins, Natchez[40]
  • Ned Herndon, Mississippi[41]
  • Peter Herndon, Monroe Co., Miss.[42]
  • Herring, Vicksburg, Miss.[43]
  • Pleasant Hunter, Natchez, Miss.[44]
  • Andrew Jackson[45][46] and John Hutchings, Nashville and Natchez
  • Robert Irwin, Natchez[47][48]
  • John D. James, Thomas G. James, and David D. James, Nashville, Richmond, Va. and Natchez, Miss.
  • Richard Johnson & Jesse Meek, Tennessee and Forks of the Road[49]
  • S. S. Jones, De Soto, Miss.[50]
  • William P. Lacey, Natchez[51]
  • Tedence Lane, Mississippi[52]
  • Lillard & Slaughter, Mississippi[53]
  • Livingston, Hanna & Co., Vicksburg, Miss.[54]
  • J. and D. Long, Natchez[55]
  • Lundy, Rives & Rives, Natchez[56]
  • Maffitt, Mississippi[57]
  • John D. Mallory, Virginia and eastern Mississippi[52]
  • John Mason, Natchez, Miss.[43]
  • Matthews, Branton & Co., Natchez, Miss.[58]
  • N. A. McNairy, Nashville and Natchez[59]
  • C. A. & I. S. Merrill, Mississippi[24]
  • Ladson Mills, North Carolina and Mississippi[60]
  • John Miller, Kentucky and Mississippi[61]
  • R. B. Miller, Hinds Co., Miss.[62]
  • Louis Miller & Co., Natchez, Miss.[63]
  • A. Mizell, Jackson[64]
  • Arthur Mosely, Virginia and Mississippi[65]
  • Oliver Neely, Jackson[64]
  • Charles Nox, Natchez[66]
  • Parker, Vicksburg, Miss.[67]
  • P. Pascal, Natchez
  • Jesse Perkins[2][68]
  • Peterson, Natchez[69]
  • R. A. Peuyeur, Natchez
  • Peyton, Mason & Co., Mississippi [70]
  • John P. Phillips, Natchez[71][72]
  • B. W. Powell, Forks of the Road[73]
  • Benjamin Ward Powell, Natchez, Miss.,[74][75] Louisville, Ky. and New Orleans[76]
  • Pryor, Memphis and Natchez?[77]
  • Dr. Ray, Tennessee (?) and Mississippi[78]
  • Redman, Mississippi and Tennessee[79]
  • Redman, Noxubee County, Mississippi[80]
  • John Reed, Tennessee and Mississippi[81]
  • John Robertson, Mississippi and either New Orleans or Mobile[65]
  • William Rochel, Virginia and Natchez[82]
  • Samuel Roe[83]
  • Rowan & Harris, Mississippi[52]
  • Thomas Sanders, Washington County, Virginia, and Mississippi[65]
  • Mr. Stokes, North Carolina and Mississippi[84]
  • Richard Terrell, Natchez[85] and New Orleans[86]
  • Tiernan & Alexander, Natchez[87]
  • Townshend & Lewis, Mississippi[52]
  • Urley, Mississippi[88]
  • Weatherly, Breden & Bagget, Yazoo City, Miss.[89]
  • Wetherby, Pigsah, Miss.[90]
  • Henry Vanhusen, Mississippi and Texas[91]
  • Benjamin W. Walker, Jackson, Miss.[92]
  • Samuel Wakefield, Natchez
  • Moses J. Wicks, Aberdeen, Miss.[1]
  • Winfield, Mississippi[52]
  • John Wood, Natchez[93]
  • Thomas Woods, North Carolina and Mississippi[94]
  • John Woolfolk, Natchez, Miss.[95]

References

  1. ^ a b Stowe (1853), p. 357.
  2. ^ a b "I caution all persons against trading for the following notes". Mississippi Gazette. January 31, 1827. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  3. ^ "Lost Pocketbook". Vicksburg Whig. November 1, 1837. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  4. ^ "C. J. Blackman & Co". The Weekly Mississippian. August 19, 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  5. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/article/sun-herald-hancock-countys-historic-cla/193096149/
  6. ^ "Mr. Bright". The Weekly Mississippian. October 28, 1836. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  7. ^ "George Peden seeking his mother Serlena and sister · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  8. ^ "List of letters". Natchez Democrat. January 17, 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-02-28.
  9. ^ "Negroes for Sale". Mississippi Free Trader. February 19, 1818. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  10. ^ "Notice". Natchez Gazette. January 10, 1818. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  11. ^ "Samuel W. Butler". Natchez Gazette. August 29, 1818. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  12. ^ "Look Here!". Natchez Gazette. October 10, 1818. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  13. ^ "Lodged at the Charleston Workhouse". The Charleston Daily Courier. November 6, 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  14. ^ "Memorandum". The Liberator. February 22, 1834. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  15. ^ Dettro, Chris (November 8, 2015). "Historical mystery comes with sale of Bissell farm". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  16. ^ "Runaways in Jail". Vicksburg Whig. November 14, 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  17. ^ "Fifty-six Virginia Negroes for Sale". Mississippi Gazette. November 14, 1829. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  18. ^ "Robert Dowling". Semi-Weekly Mississippian. December 22, 1854. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  19. ^ "Taken Up". The Charlotte Journal. July 31, 1835. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  20. ^ Menck (2017), p. 31.
  21. ^ "United States, Census, 1860 - FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6GX-PDQ - Entry for J E Forrest and Wm H Gwinn, 1860.
  22. ^ "L. W. C. Wilson searching for his father's relatives, including his paternal grandmother Henrietta · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  23. ^ "Negroes for Sale". Vicksburg Whig. December 3, 1835. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  24. ^ a b "List of taxes collected from transient venders for the fiscal year 1856". Vicksburg Daily Whig. May 15, 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  25. ^ "Negroes for Sale". Vicksburg Whig. March 21, 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  26. ^ a b Huebner, Timothy S. (March 2023). "Taking Profits, Making Myths: The Slave Trading Career of Nathan Bedford Forrest". Civil War History. 69 (1): 42–75. doi:10.1353/cwh.2023.0009. ISSN 1533-6271. S2CID 256599213.
  27. ^ "Article clipped from The Mississippi Messenger". The Mississippi Messenger. October 27, 1807. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  28. ^ Rothman (2005), p. 87.
  29. ^ "Allen Curley (formerly Henry Herne) seeking his mother Kate Herne · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  30. ^ "Affray and murder". Cherokee Phoenix, and Indians' Advocate. September 23, 1829. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  31. ^ "Negroes! Negroes!". Natchez Daily Courier. November 11, 1853. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  32. ^ "Just Received: Two First Rate Lots of Negroes". The Natchez Bulletin. April 3, 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  33. ^ "Ran-Away". Mississippi Herald and Natchez Gazette. September 28, 1802. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  34. ^ "O. R. Haley". Vicksburg Whig. May 24, 1832. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  35. ^ "Catherine Strong searching for her unnamed mother's family · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  36. ^ "Forty Dollars Reward". Mississippi Gazette. June 16, 1830. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  37. ^ "400 Dollars Reward". The Weekly Natchez Courier. November 17, 1827. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  38. ^ Powell, Susie V., ed. (1938). Jefferson County (PDF). Source Material for Mississippi History, Volume XXXII, Part I. WPA Statewide Historical Research Project. p. 21 – via mlc.lib.ms.us.
  39. ^ "The Briscoe Center recently acquired a letter by the slave trader Robert Hawkins". Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  40. ^ "Complaining letter by a young Virginian working as a Negro Trader in Mississippi, 1849". pbagalleries.com. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  41. ^ "Lucy Clarke searching for her mother Nancy Love · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  42. ^ "73473-sb3-14.tif - Pictorial History: Mississippi in Architecture, Assembled and Arranged by W.P.A. Historical Research Project". da.mdah.ms.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  43. ^ a b Sydnor (1933), p. 156.
  44. ^ "Negroes for Sale". The Mississippi Messenger. June 30, 1808. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  45. ^ Snow, Whitney Adrienne (2008). "Slave Owner, Slave Trader, Gentleman: Slavery and the Rise of Andrew Jackson". Journal of East Tennessee History. 80. Knoxville, Tennessee: East Tennessee Historical Society: 47–59. ISSN 1058-2126. OCLC 23044540.
  46. ^ Cheathem, Mark R. (April 2011). "Andrew Jackson, Slavery, and Historians". History Compass. 9 (4): 326–338. doi:10.1111/j.1478-0542.2011.00763.x.
  47. ^ McLendon, James H. (1955). "Review of The Natches Court Records, 1767–1805: Abstracts of Early Records. Volume II: The May Wilson McBee Collection". Book Reviews. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 58 (4): 576–577. ISSN 0038-478X. JSTOR 30241915.
  48. ^ Ingersoll, Thomas N. (1996). "The Slave Trade and the Ethnic Diversity of Louisiana's Slave Community". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 37 (2): 133–161. ISSN 0024-6816. JSTOR 4233285.
  49. ^ "Fifty Dollars Reward". The Rodney Telegraph. April 15, 1836. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  50. ^ Mooney (1971), p. 49.
  51. ^ "Was committed to the jail of Adams Co". The Weekly Natchez Courier. September 8, 1826. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  52. ^ a b c d e Sydnor (1933), p. 154.
  53. ^ "Fifty Dollars Reward". The Natchez Daily Courier. January 12, 1839. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  54. ^ "Negroes!". Vicksburg Daily Whig. January 17, 1846. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  55. ^ "J. &. D. Long - Mercantile Business - "a few likely negroes"". Natchez Gazette. August 29, 1818. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  56. ^ "For Sale - Fifty-Six Likely Negroes". Mississippi Free Trader. October 20, 1818. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  57. ^ "Ranaway from my plantation in Holmes county". National Banner and Daily Advertiser. August 7, 1833. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  58. ^ "Article clipped from Mississippi Free Trader". Mississippi Free Trader. January 5, 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  59. ^ "FOR SALE". The Mississippi Messenger. January 14, 1808. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  60. ^ "Diana Johnson searching for numerous relatives including her father Jack Hellard · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  61. ^ "Martha Gaines searching for her brother John Gaines and father Ned Gaines · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  62. ^ "United States Census, 1860", FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6GX-7DX Entry for J N Baker and M J Baker, 1860.
  63. ^ James (1993), p. 208.
  64. ^ a b "Notice". Semi-Weekly Mississippian. December 29, 1854. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  65. ^ a b c Sydnor (1933), p. 155.
  66. ^ "Notice". Mississippi Free Trader. October 17, 1820. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  67. ^ "Runaway in Jail". The Eastern Clarion. May 17, 1861. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  68. ^ Goodspeed Brothers (1891). Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals. Vol. 2. Chicago: Goodspeed. p. 585.
  69. ^ "Thomas Woodward". The Port Gibson Herald, and Correspondent. October 25, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  70. ^ Menck (2017), p. 30.
  71. ^ "Notice. The undersigned has removed..." The Weekly Natchez Courier. August 25, 1826. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  72. ^ "Absconded from the undersigned on Saturday night". The Weekly Natchez Courier. October 18, 1828. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  73. ^ "Choice Negroes - B. W. Powell". The Concordia Intelligencer. June 30, 1849. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  74. ^ "100 Likely Young Negroes". Mississippi Free Trader. October 20, 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  75. ^ "Runaway" Newspapers.com, The Semi-Weekly Mississippi Free Trader, September 22, 1849, http://www.newspapers.com/article/the-semi-weekly-mississippi-free-trader/143996973/
  76. ^ "$100 Reward". Baton-Rouge Gazette. June 5, 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  77. ^ "Steamer Burned". Natchez Democrat. March 2, 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-02-28.
  78. ^ "Gidden Alston (formerly Gidden Bartley) searching for his mother Lucy Bartley, father Richard Alexander, two sisters and six brothers · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  79. ^ "Amy Frances Ushley Jordan (or Amy Butler) seeking her parents Henry and Nancy Draper · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  80. ^ "21085353 - Race and Slavery Petitions, Digital Library on American Slavery". dlas.uncg.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  81. ^ "Lewis of Tennessee". Columbus Democrat. December 16, 1837. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  82. ^ "William Rochel". The Weekly Democrat. April 2, 1810. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  83. ^ "Was Committed". The Weekly Mississippian. November 4, 1836. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  84. ^ "Runaway Negro in Jail". The Arkansas Gazette. July 21, 1830. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  85. ^ "For Sale". Mississippi Gazette. February 28, 1828. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  86. ^ "To the Public". The New Orleans Crescent. June 3, 1848. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  87. ^ "Tiernan & Alexander". Mississippi Free Trader. January 10, 1819. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  88. ^ "Urley, a notorious negro trader and counterfeiter". Middlebury Free Press 1831-1837. September 8, 1835. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  89. ^ "Runaways in Jail" Newspapers.com, Vicksburg Daily Whig, April 21, 1858, https://www.newspapers.com/article/vicksburg-daily-whig-runaways-in-jail/143865165/
  90. ^ "Claiborne Co. Port Gibson". The Concordia Intelligencer. March 31, 1854. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  91. ^ "Anthony Echoles searching for his mother Julia Echoles, two brothers, and sister · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  92. ^ "Petition #21684327 Halifax County, Virginia. September 9, 1843. - September 9, 1847". Race and Slavery Petitions, Digital Library on American Slavery (dlas.uncg.edu). Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  93. ^ "Negroes for Sale". The Mississippi Messenger. February 25, 1808. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  94. ^ "Betty Allen searching for her father Bob Bannett and aunt Dinah · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery". informationwanted.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  95. ^ "120 Negroes for Sale". Statesman and Gazette. February 7, 1827. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-21.

Sources