This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Letter of Jourdan Anderson to his old master in 1865
The Jourdan Anderson letter to Col Patrick Henry Anderson, a former slave freed in 1864, asks for back wages and safe return to the Tennessee plantation. It underscores enslaved peoples' wit and agency, notes wages due for decades of work, mentions schooling for children, and seeks justice and education for his family, with a cautious tone about safety. The text, once published in Cincinnati and distributed widely, is examined for authenticity by AP amid scholarly corroboration.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
Jordan
Anderson
Tennessee
Ohio
Cincinnati
Patrick Henry Anderson
Nashville
Tenn
Associated Press
Jordan Anderson
Dayton
Valentine Winters
Abraham Lincoln
Winters
Roy Finkenbine
University of Stroit Mercy
College of Liberal Arts and Education
Cincinnati Commercial
Lydia Maria Child
South
United States
Finkenbine
Switzerland
Cone
Martin
Mary
Martha
Allen
Esther
Green
Lee
Henry
Department of Nashville
Mandy
Milly
Jane
Matilda
Catherine
Howdy
George Carter
Jourdan Anderson