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Dixon Evans letter to James Evans about Dixon's murder of an enslaved person

 Collection — Box: BW 49, Folder: 1/1
Identifier: MSS 16719

Content Description

Autographed signed letter from Dixon Evans to his brother James Evans in Fayetteville, North Carolina with his acccount of his shooting, and killing an unnamed enslaved person from Marion, South Carolina. The enslaved person was trying to obtain food from the dairy and smokehouse. Dixon Evans was being sued by Nathaniel Evans who was the owner of the enslaved person. Dixon Evans blames the enslaved person for Dixon's own murderous actions.

Dates

  • Creation: 1850-10-04

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Extent

0.03 Cubic Feet (1 letter size folder)

Language of Materials

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased from L & T Respess Books by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 2 July, 2019.

General

Content warning: material is offensive. The purpose of this note is to give users the opportunity to decide whether they need or want to view these materials, or at least, to mentally or emotionally prepare themselves to view the materials.

The letter from Dixon Evans tries to justify his killing of an enslaved person. The unnamed person was trying to obtain food from a dairy and smokehouse and was shot and killed by Evans. Nathaniel Evans wanted to sue Dixon Evans for compensation for the loss of his enslaved laborer. Dixon Evans blamed the enslaved person for his own murderous actions.

Title
Dixon Evans to James Evans about Dixon's murder of an enslaved person
Author
Ellen Welch
Date
2022-09-26
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library Repository

Contact:
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22904-4110 United States