Sailors serving on a ship signed an "Articles," which listed their names, duties, and wages, as well as the dates on which they signed on, died, or were discharged. This document is the Articles of the Sally for its voyage to Africa in 1764. Note the inclusion of Edward Abby, described as a "Negro Boy." Abby was Hopkins's slave; his wages were paid to his owner's account. There were generally multiple copies of such documents, and two are included here. The first one is clearly the copy that Hopkins carried on board ship, since it includes the name of two sailors, Peter Franey and Richard Mugford, who joined the ship in Africa and Antigua, respectively, neither of whom appears on the second copy. The reverse of both documents includes details about payments and advances to different sailors.
An archive of a wide array of historical documents, from the records of slaving voyages to student commencement orations, digitized in support of the work of the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. The collection contains over one hundred …
