Brown University

Receipt of five small arms and a barrel of rum: January 2, 1759

Description

Abstract:
The Sally was not the Brown family's first foray into the transatlantic slave trade. In 1736, James and Obadiah Brown, father and uncle to the four Brown brothers, dispatched the Mary to West Africa. In 1759, Obadiah and his nephews, John and Nicholas, joined with five other investors to launch the Wheel of Fortune. The voyage proved a financial disaster, when the ship was taken by a French privateer. In this document, dated January 2, 1759, William Earle, master of the Wheel, acknowledges receipt of five small arms and a barrel of rum from John Brown, the proceeds from which he is to use to "purchess one Likely Negro Boy about 13 or 14 Years Old."

Access Conditions

Rights
No Copyright - United States
Restrictions on Use
Collection is open for research.

Citation

Earle, William, "Receipt of five small arms and a barrel of rum: January 2, 1759 " (1759). Voyage of the Sally, Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:303421/

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Collections:

  • Voyage of the Sally

    Documentary evidence of the first slave trading voyage sponsored by the Brown brothers of Providence, RI. This project arose from the work of the Brown University Committee on Slavery and Justice, led by James Campbell. The committee investigated the contributions …

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  • Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice

    An archive of a wide array of historical documents, from the records of slaving voyages to student commencement orations, digitized in support of the work of the University Steering Committee on Slavery and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 …
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