Rice C. Ballard Papers

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CONTENT WARNING: the contents of these papers include depictions of brutal violence and human trafficking by enslavers.

Rice Carter Ballard (c. 1800–1860) was a slave trader based in Richmond, Va., who worked in partnership with the large slave trading firm of Isaac Franklin and John Armfield in the late 1820s and early 1830s. By the early 1840s, Ballard had settled down as a planter with several plantations in the Mississippi Valley. He married Louise Berthe around 1840 and made his home in Louisville, Ky. Ballard and his wife had three children: Ella (b. 1841), and twins Ann Carter and Charlotte Berthe (b. 1847). The collection includes letters, financial and legal materials, volumes, and other material documenting Rice Ballard's life as a slave trader and planter. Letters include several from Henry Clay about court cases involving the legality of the slave trade and one from Mississippi Governor John Anthony Quitman about payment of a debt. Letters and financial records, 1820s-early 1830s, document day-to-day operations of the interstate slave trade among Ballard in Richmond, Va., John Armfield in Alexandria, Va., and Isaac Franklin in Natchez, Miss., and New Orleans, La. Records, 1840s-1860, document Ballard's administration, in partnership with Judge Samuel S. Boyd, of a number of cotton plantations in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, especially Karnac, Magnolia, and Outpost. There are many letters from Boyd, from the overseers at the various places, and from Ballard's cotton commission merchants in New Orleans. Letters discuss the slaves, improvements on the plantations, family life, politics (including especially the Know-Nothing Party), and financial arrangements. Also included are letters to and from Louise Ballard about her life in Louisville, Ky. There are also three letters from slaves, 1847, 1853, and 1854, all from women asking Ballard for help with emancipation or with pending sales of themselves or others. Volumes and other materials in the collection supplement the letters with details of the slave trade, Ballard's other financial activities, and plantation life.

04850_0107: Letters, 1 August, 5 November, 8 December 1846

04850_0107: Letters, 1 August, 5 November, 8 December 1846

10 pages: 70% complete (100% transcribed, 30% needs review)
04850_0108: Letters, January 1847

04850_0108: Letters, January 1847

Collaboration is restricted.

16 pages: 50% complete (88% transcribed, 38% needs review)
04850_0109: Letters, February 1847

04850_0109: Letters, February 1847

Collaboration is restricted.

20 pages: 50% complete (95% transcribed, 45% needs review)
04850_0184: Letters, 1-14 January 1853

04850_0184: Letters, 1-14 January 1853

Collaboration is restricted.

19 pages: 42% complete (84% transcribed, 42% needs review)
04850_0188: Letters, March 1853

04850_0188: Letters, March 1853

Collaboration is restricted.

48 pages: 54% complete (92% transcribed, 38% needs review)
04850_0189: Letters, 1-15 April 1853

04850_0189: Letters, 1-15 April 1853

Collaboration is restricted.

17 pages: 47% complete (88% transcribed, 41% needs review)
04850_0190: Letters, 16-30 April 1853

04850_0190: Letters, 16-30 April 1853

Collaboration is restricted.

28 pages: 42% complete (97% transcribed, 54% needs review)
04850_0191: Letters, 6-20 May 1853

04850_0191: Letters, 6-20 May 1853

Collaboration is restricted.

19 pages: 26% complete (94% transcribed, 68% needs review)
04850_0192: Letters, 21-30 May 1853

04850_0192: Letters, 21-30 May 1853

14 pages: 78% complete (100% transcribed, 21% needs review)
04850_0193: Letters, 2 June 1853

04850_0193: Letters, 2 June 1853

Collaboration is restricted.

29 pages: 44% complete (86% transcribed, 41% needs review)
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