LOT #47315 |
Current Bid: $1
Printed Promissory Note for Hire of an Enslaved Person....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
Printed Promissory Note for Hire of an Enslaved Person. One partially printed page, 6 1/2 x 8 inches, [Palestine, Texas]; January 1, 1861. Promises "W. W. Quarles, as guardian of Caro M. Quarles, one hundred & fifty one Dollars for the hire of a Negro [unengrossed] named [unengrossed]...And, we are to pay the Taxes, and to employ a Physician, when necessary, and pay the Physicians bill..." Signed, "John Billings," "G. W. Beauchamp," "T M Henderson," and "J J Davis." Docketed on the verso.William Washington Quarles immigrated to Texas from Alabama with his family and their slaves in the early 1840s, where they settled on 1100 acres of land near Palestine, in present-day Elkhart. The 1860 Slave Census lists five slaves' quarters and between twenty-two and twenty-eight slaves on the Quarles plantation, all of whom were freed at the end of the Civil War in 1865.
Condition: Lightly toned with smoothed folds. Scattered staining and ink smudging; ink blotting at Davis's signature. Rough left edge where integral page was removed.
Auction Info
2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction #6328 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
February
26th
Thursday
5:50 pm CT
Auction Dates
February
26th
Thursday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
3 Days
7h 45m 25s
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 1
Lot Tracking Activity: 15
Page Views: 124
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid (minimum $49) per lot.
This lot is in: 2 -
Signature® Internet Session - No Floor or Phone Bidding (Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live):
(Lots 47283-47495) - 6:00 PM Central Time, Thursday, February 26, 2026.
[Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session.]
Exhibition Viewing Times, Title Page, Floor Session and License Information
Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms