From the "Richmond (Va.) Enquirer," April 10, 1838.
"LABORERS WANTED.--The James River, and Kenawha Company, are in immediate want of SEVERAL HUNDRED good laborers. Gentlemen wishing to send negroes from the country, are a.s.sured that the very best care shall be taken of them.
RICHARD REINS, _Agent of the James River, and Kenawha Co_."
From the "Vicksburg (Mis.) Register," Dec. 27, 1838.
"60 NEGROES, males and females, _for hire for the year_ 1839. Apply to H. HENDREN."
From the "Georgia Messenger," Dec. 27, 1838. "NEGROES To HIRE. On the first Tuesday next, Including CARPENTERS, BLACKSMITHS, SHOEMAKERS, SEAMSTRESSES, COOKS, &c. &c. For information; Apply to OSSIAN GREGORY."
From the "Alexandria (D.C.) Gazette," Dec. 30, 1837.
"THE subscriber wishes to _employ_ by the month or year, ONE HUNDRED ABLE BODIED MEN, AND THIRTY BOYS. Persons having servants, will do well to give him a call. PHILIP ROACH, near Alexandria."
From the "Columbia (S.C.) Telescope," May 19, 1838.
"WANTED TO HIRE, twelve or fifteen NEGRO GIRLS, from ten to fourteen years of age. They are wanted for the term of two or three years.
E.H. & J. FISHER."
"NEGROES WANTED. The Subscriber is desirous of hiring 50 of 60 _first rate Negro Men_. WILSON NESBITT."
From the "Norfolk (Va.) Beacon," March 21, 1838.
"LABORERS WANTED. One hundred able bodied men are wanted. The hands will be required to be delivered in Halifax by the _owners_. Apply to SHIELD & WALKE."
From the "Lynchburg Virginian," Dec. 13, 1838.
"40 NEGRO MEN. The subscribers wish to hire for the next year 40 NEGRO MEN. LANGHORNE, SCRUGGS & COOK."
"HIRING of NEGROES. On Sat.u.r.day, the 29th day of December, 1838, at Mrs. Tayloe"s tavern, in Amherst county, there will be _hired_ thirty or forty valuable Negroes.
In addition to the above, I have for _hire_, 20 men, women, boys, and girls--several of them excellent house servants. MAURICE H. GARLAND."
From the "Savannah Georgian," Feb. 5, 1838.
"WANTED TO HIRE, ONE HUNDRED prime negroes, by the year. J.V.
REDDEN."
From the "North Carolina Standard," Feb. 31, 1838.
"NEGROES WANTED.--W. & A. St.i.tH, will give twelve dollars per month for FIFTY strong Negro fellows, to commence work immediately; and for FIFTY more on the first day of February, and for FIFTY on the first day of March."
From the "Lexington (Ky.) Reporter," Dec. 26, 1838.
"WILL BE HIRED, for one year; on the first day of January, 1839, on the farm of the late Mrs. Meredith, a number of valuable NEGROES.
R.S. TODD, Sheriff of Fayette Co. And Curator for James and Elizabeth Breckenridge."
"NEGROES TO HIRE. On Wednesday, the 26th inst. I will hire to the highest bidder, the NEGROES belonging to Charles and Robert Innes.
GEO. W. WILLIAMS. _Guardian_."
The following _nine_ advertis.e.m.e.nts were published in one column of the "Winchester Virginian," Dec. 20, 1838.
"NEGRO HIRINGS.
"WILL be offered for hire, at Captain Long"s Hotel, a number of SLAVES--men, women, boys and girls--belonging to the orphans of George Ash, deceased. RICHARD W. BARTON." _Guardian_.
"WILL be offered for hire, at my Hotel, a number of SLAVES, consisting of men, women, boys and girls. JOSEPH LONG. _Exr. of Edmund Shackleford, dec"d_."
"WILL be offered for hire, for the ensuing year, at Capt. Long"s Hotel, a number of SLAVES. MOSES R. RICHARDS."
"WILL be offered for hire, the slaves belonging to the estate of James Bowen, deceased, consisting of men, and women, boys and girls. GILES COOK. _One of the Exrs. of James Bowen dec"d_."
"THE _hiring_ at Millwood will take place on Friday, the 28th day of December, 1838. BURWELL."
"N.B. We are desired to say that other valuable NEGROES will also be _hired_ at Millwood on the same day, besides those offered by Mr. B."
"The SLAVES of the late John Jolliffe, about twenty in number, and of all ages and both s.e.xes, will be offered for hire at Cain"s Depot.
DAVID W. BARTON. _Administrator_."
"I WILL hire at public hiring before the tavern door of Dr. Lacy, about 30 NEGROES, consisting of men, and women. JAMES R. RICHARDS."
"WILL be hired, at Carter"s Tavern, on 31st of December, a number of NEGROES. JOHN J.H. GUNNELL."
"NEGROES FOR HIRE, (PRIVATELY.) About twelve servants, consisting of men, women, boys, and girls, for hire privately. Apply to the subscriber at Col. Smith"s in Battletown. JOHN W. OWEN."
A volume might easily be filled with advertis.e.m.e.nts like the preceding, showing conclusively that _hired_ slaves must be a large proportion of the whole number. The actual proportion has been variously estimated, at 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/2, &c. if we adopt the last as our basis, it will make the number of hired slaves, in the United States, FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY THOUSAND!
6th. _Slaves under overseers whose wages are a part of the crop_.--That this is a common usage; appears from the following testimony. The late Hon. John Taylor, of Caroline Co. Virginia, one of the largest slaveholders in the state, President of the State Agricultural Society, and three times elected to the Senate of the United States, says, in his "Agricultural Essays," No. 15. P. 57,
"This necessary cla.s.s of men, (overseers,) are bribed by agriculturalists, not to improve, but to impoverish their land, _by a share of the crop for one year_.... The _greatest_ annual crop, and not the most judicious culture, advances his interest, and establishes his character; and the fees of these land-doctors, are much higher for killing than for curing.... The most which the land can yield, and seldom or never improvement with a view to future profit, is a point of common consent, and mutual need between the agriculturist and his overseer.... Must the practice of hiring a man for one year, by a share of the crop, to lay out all his skill and industry in killing land, and as little as possible in improving it, be kept up to commemorate the pious leaning of man to his primitive state of ignorance and barbarity? _Unless this is abolished_, the attempt to fertilize our lands is needless."
Philemon Bliss, Esq, of Elyria, Ohio, who lived in Florida, in 1834-5, says,
"It is common for owners of plantations and slaves, to hire overseers to take charge of them, while they themselves reside at a distance.