2022-07 Raynors HCA Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/15/2022
Autograph Letter Signed, “H.S. Pratt,” and “I. A. Pratt.” Four pages, 8” x 9 3/4”. St. Mary’s, Georgia. December 22, 1835. H.S. Pratt writes three pages, and his wife, I.A. Pratt, pens an additional page on the integral address leaf. Addressed to “Ezra Pratt … Orville, Ashtabula County, Ohio.” The letter reads, in part: “ … The stir about abolition at the North has done the South great injury - fear & suspicion have prevailed … No man known to be an abolitionist can travel at the South - he will be taken up & put in prison without ceremony & indeed no Northern man can travel here with safety unless he have the most unexceptional recommendations - The negroes were in a fair way for great improvement before this foolish and wicked crusade was set on foot but now their improvement will probably be retarded for many years … The slaves are now enjoyed as much freedom as they are qualified to enjoy & if the Masters were let alone they would soon qualify their negroes for much more than they now have. There are multitudes of negroes in this country who have got as much liberty & as many privileges as the children of the families to which they belong … To disturb the peace of the country and anger the Union - make every Northern man a suspicious character & deprive the slaves of the religious advantages now enjoyed is criminal in the highest degree this is what the Abolitionists are doing- I hope therefore you will wash your hands of the matter- if they are in the slightest stained with it …” Interesting commentary on slavery penned during a transformation period for the American abolitionist movement. Paper loss at folds and on third page, affecting two words. Tape repair on third page. Else Fine.
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