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Archiver > ALABAMA > 2005-02 > 1107815897
From:
Subject: 1841 Letter to John Meneal/Menual of Coosa Co, AL on Ebay
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:38:17 EST
_Click here: eBay item 3956467118 (Ends Feb-10-05 10:23:02 PST) - ANTEBELLUM
LETTER~GEORGIA~ALABAMA~TEXAS SLAVEHOLDER_
(http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=394&item=3956467118&rd=1)
bid ends 2/10, 10:23:02 PST, no current bids, bidding starts at $49.95
also mentioned were Seborn Arnett of Wilkes Co, GA (as of 1841) and
something about a Harrison Co, TX slave owner also written by Seborn Arnett dated
1834 (intended to move to Coosa Co, AL area and John Meneal was going to sell
him some land?), but then ended up settling in Harrison Co, TX instead (before
1850)
I have no connection to the seller (out of Phoenix, AZ) and only WISH this
was from my ancestor(s) in either Wilkes Co, GA OR Coosa Co, AL. A great number
of my ancestors from Wilkes Co, GA ended up in Coosa Co, AL, however; so
apparently this was a common migration route.
----------------------------
Seller information included regarding the author of the letter and the
contents:
My limited research indicates that the writer of this letter, Seborn Arnett
was married twice, the first time to Matilda Anderson in 1821 and then
Elizabeth Ivey in 1827. Arnett moved from Wilkes County, Georgia, sometime after the
letter was written and well before 1850. Although he inquired in his letter
as to available land in Alabama, it appears that the Texas Frontier held more
promise, so he settled in Harrison County Texas, as Slave Schedules for
that year reflect that S. J. Arnett owned a good number of slaves. No census
records exist for Harrison County, Texas prior to 1850, so it is difficult to
pinpoint Arnett’s exact residence between the time this letter was written and
his arrival in Texas.
American settlers began to arrive in Texas in large numbers during the 1830s.
The settlement of Harrison County was well under way by the time of the
Texas Revolution in 1836. A dozen Americans received land grants there from
Mexican authorities in the fall of 1835. After the revolution the area filled up
so rapidly that the Congress of the Republic of Texas officially established
Harrison County in 1839. It was drawn from Shelby County, organized in 1842,
and named for Texas revolutionary leader Jonas Harrison. Marshall, founded in
1841, became the county seat in 1842. Since then, with the exception of a
small adjustment with Marion County during Reconstruction, they have remained
unchanged.
Harrison County was settled predominantly by natives of the southern United
States, like Seborn Arnett, who duplicated the slaveholding,
cotton-plantation society they had known before moving to Texas. By 1850 the county had more
slaves than any other in the state, a distinction that it maintained through
the next decade. Arnett owned at least 20 slaves in 1850 Texas. The census of
1860 enumerated 8,784 slaves (a whopping 59 percent of the total
population), 145 planters who owned at least twenty bondsmen, and a cotton crop of
21,440 bales. Harrison County was among the richest and most productive in
antebellum Texas.
The letter is quoted below in its entirety:
“June 24th Day 1841
Dear Sir
I write you a few lines to inform you that myself and family are all well at
this time and hoping that these few lines may find you and family enjoying
the same blessing. I wish when you peruse these lines you would write to me
whether you have any land for sale or no. I have sold my plantation and shall
move and should like to move to your country. If I get some land, let me know
the quantity and price you would have to indulge me for part until I could
make [the rest]. I could commence with a half section. If you have a place that
you think would suit me, just drop me a few lines and likely I shall come to
see you this summer and if I cannot come, I entirely depend upon your
judgment for choosing me a place. If you can sell me some land at a reasonable price
so that you would lose nothing by the same, as I should like to live
neighbor to you. Nothing particular has turned up since you were here. We are going
on with Grandmother’s estate the best we know how. We have sued for the two
Negroes and the trial term this Sept. Court. Nothing more, but remaining your
friend & c.
Seborn J. Arnett
S.J. Arnett to John Menual”
----------------
Hope this helps someone!
--Briana S. Felch, Madison, AL
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