ADEPT AT CREATING ITS OWN WEATHER

THE VAULT

Tracking a Slave Trader Through His Expense

Reports
BY
REBECCA ONION
APRIL 07, 2014 • 9:30 AM

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Slave trader William James Smith kept these records of his business activities from 1844
through 1854. These three pages show how he tallied some of the expenses he incurred on a
trading trip in 1844. (You can see all 41 pages of the Smith ledger on the Flickr stream of
Wofford College, which holds the book.)

The expenses cover the early part of Smith’s 1844 trip within South Carolina and Virginia.
That year, Smith visited Charleston, S.C., Richmond, Va., and several smaller cities in
Virginia. It seems likely that he would have made purchases in Charleston and Richmond—
two larger cities where slave markets thrived in the antebellum period—and then traveled
with the enslaved people he’d purchased, selling them in smaller cities and towns along the
way.

Through his meticulous record-keeping, you can track Smith’s passage through Charleston
(“Boy for carrying my trunk,” 25 cents) onward to Richmond (“Omnibus in Richmond,” 50
cents).

The expenses for feeding and clothing the people he purchased begin with “1 qt of whiskey
for Negroes,” 25 cents. Smith buys dresses ($2 for two) and suits of clothes ($1.50), to make
his investments look presentable to buyers. He pays to put them up (“Dorcas and her child,
board, 17 days,” $4.25).

The second half of the ledger (starting on this page) is a parade of first names: people
Smith bought and sold from 1849–54, along with their prices and the trader’s net gains. At
the end of the book, leaves of scratch paper show Smith’s rough mathematical calculations,
used to generate his total profits.  
Thanks to Mitch Fraas for the tip. Click on the images below to reach zoomable versions, or
visit the ledger’s page on Flickr.  

“Slave trader ledger of William James Smith, 1844-1854.”

The Littlejohn Collection, Wofford College.

“Slave trader ledger of William James Smith, 1844-1854.”

The Littlejohn Collection, Wofford College.

“Slave trader ledger of William James Smith, 1844-1854.”

The Littlejohn Collection, Wofford College.