Former Slave of Jefferson Davis Speaks

Autograph letter signed by Martha G. Russell (1838-after 1880), to her sister Ruth Priscilla ("Priscie") Russell (1850-1930). Bridgeton Centre, [Maine], 21 February [1864]. 4 pages, 8vo, 5 1/8 x 8 in.

Wartime letter written by a Maine woman to her sister in which she exults in her experience of hearing a lecture given by a former slave of Confederate President Jefferson Davis: "Oh Priscie, we went to hear a lecture by one of Jeff Davis's slaves. You ought to see his eyes shine & Hear him talk. I wish every copperhead in the United States could hear him. They never would hiss again. The hall was crowded full and many could not get in at all. I was fortunate enough to get a front seat and hear every word."

The lecturer, William Andrew Jackson, was enslaved in Richmond, Virginia by G.W. Jones, where he was compelled as a messenger in the courts. In 1861, his enslaver hired him out to Jefferson Davis to be the Confederate President’s coachman. After learning that Jones was planning on selling him and separating him from his wife and three children, Jackson escaped behind Union lines. Jackson quickly began sharing military information with Union officers and began speaking in abolitionist circles about his enslavement/escape.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, African Americana, African American History, Slavery, Abolition, Enslavement, Emancipation, Letters, Manuscripts, Ephemera, Documents]