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Four Documents Manumitting Stephen Jamison into the 4th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops....
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Description
Four Documents Manumitting Stephen Jamison into the 4th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops. Four partially printed documents consisting of one oath of allegiance dated February 13, 1864; one confirmation of manumission dated February 13, 1864; one evidence of title of slave ownership dated February 13, 1864; and one deed of manumission and release of service dated September 12, 1864. Documents measure 7.75" x 9.75". Stephen Jamison mustered into Company F of the 4th Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry on September 1, 1863 and mustered out on May 4, 1866.By the end of the Civil War, 179,000 Black soldiers had fought for the Union cause. Though Maryland remained part of the Union, it was a slave border state with an almost equal number of free and enslaved Black individuals. In 1863, Union Major General Robert Schenk feared that Lee might attack Baltimore and received the approval to raise a segregated Maryland unit comprised of both free and formerly enslaved soldiers, known as the 4th United States Colored Infantry (USCI). It is this regiment into which Jamison enlisted. Though the men fought alongside white soldiers, they were paid $3 less per month and were barred from receiving any bounty.
The 4th USCI was attached to the Departments of Virginia and North Carolina. For the first year of service, the men performed duty at Yorktown and participated in several expeditions throughout Virginia. They continued on to participate in the Siege of Petersburg, including the fateful mine explosion, as well as the battles of Fair Oaks, Fort Fisher, and Wilmington. Jamison and his compatriots exhibited particular bravery during the Battle of New Market Heights on September 29 and 30, 1864, where they were the first to make contact with Confederate troops. In April 1865, they helped occupy Raleigh and witnessed the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston.
The documents featured here depict the logistics of enlisting in the Union Army as an enslaved man. In order for Jamison to fight for the northern cause as a free man, his owner, Julia Treadaway, needed to sign several documents. The first, a title of Treadaway's ownership, confirmed that she had not purchased Jamison from someone in the Confederacy. The document reads, in part, "I, Julia Treadaway, of Harford County, Md., do solemnly swear that Stephen Jamison who has been enlisted in the Fourth Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, Co. F; is my slave for life and that I became possessed of him by descent from her ancestors. And I do further swear that I have not purchased said slave from any person or persons disloyal to the Government of the United States, with the object of obtaining compensation for the same; and furthermore, that I have no agency for obtaining compensation for any person or persons but such as, to my knowledge, are loyal citizens of the United States."
Treadaway also had to swear an oath of allegiance, promising that, "I have never joined, or been concerned in, any insurrection or rebellion; that I have never borne arms against the United States; that I have never given any aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to any person or persons engaged, or whom I had reason to believe were about to engage, in insurrection, rebellion, or army hostility against the United States; that I have neither sought, nor accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office, civil or military, nor to perform any service whatever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any insurrection, rebellion, or pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States hostile thereto. And I do further swear that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I have supported and defended, and will continue to support and defend, the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; and that I have supported, defended, and obeyed, and will continue to support, defend, and obey, the Constitution and laws of the United States; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I take this oath freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion: So help me God."
Finally, Treadaway formally manumitted Jamison and backdated his freedom. The document reads, in part, "Whereas my slave Stephen Jamison has enlisted in the service of the United States: now, in consideration thereof, I, Julia Treadaway of Harford County, State of Maryland, do hereby in consideration of said enlistment, manumit, set free, and release the above named Stephen Jamison from all service due me; his freedom to commence from the 4th August, 1863, the date of last enlistment as aforesaid in the 4th Regiment of Colored Troops, in the service of the United States."
Condition: All documents are creased along folds with minor separations at the creases. Evidence of title almost completely separated along the center crease. Toned throughout with minor stains. Offsetting to the confirmation of manumission.
Auction Info
2023 September 21 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6272 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
September, 2023
21st
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 7
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