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Collection Number: 05067-z

Collection Title: Sam Thomas Papers, 1786-1835

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 11 items
Abstract Sam Thomas was a free black man in Stokes County, N.C., in 1786. It appears that he was able to free his wife Amy in 1802. It also appears that members of the Thomas family moved to Ohio in the early 1800s, settling in Zanesville and Chillicothe. Their relationship to Sam Thomas is unknown. At some point, a Sam Thomas was accused of several crimes in Salem, N.C., including poisoning his wife. The collection includes items relating to the Thomas family, who had been slaves in Stokes County, N.C. In the earliest document, 1786, Frederick Marshall gave the "Negro Sam" the right to work some land for a yearly rent of either crops or money. There are also bonds, dated 1802, that freed Pleasant Thomas, Sam Thomas, John Thomas, and Amy, identified as Sam Thomas's wife. These bonds were signed by Sam Thomas and several white men from Salem, N.C., including Francis Clark, Archibald Campbell, and Gottlieb Shober. Also included are an 1826 letter to Mary Thomas in Zanesville, Ohio, from a sibling in Chillicothe, Ohio, which chiefly discusses the health of various relatives; a small printed paper stating that Thomas Laurence of Zanesville, Ohio, was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1835; and an undated statement, signed by William Johnson and Garrard Johnson, certifying certain criminal charges against "Black Sam Thomas" of Salem, N.C., who was charged with stealing clothes, robbing a wagon, fighting "whitemen," and poisoning his wife and others who were to be witnesses against him.
Creator Thomas, Sam, fl. 1786-1802.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English.
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Sam Thomas Papers #05067, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Provenance
Received from Ray Swick in July 2001 (Acc. 98999) and Michael T. Ward in March 2010 (Acc. 101289).
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Sam Thomas was a free black man in Stokes County, N.C., in 1786. It appears that he was able to free his wife Amy in 1802. It also appears that members of the Thomas family moved to Ohio in the early 1800s, settling in Zanesville and Chillicothe. Their relationship to Sam Thomas is unknown. At some point, a Sam Thomas was accused of several crimes in Salem, N.C., including poisoning his wife.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes items relating to members of the Thomas family, African Americans who had been slaves in Stokes County, N.C. In the earliest document, 1786, Frederick Marshall gave the "Negro Sam" the right to work some land for a yearly rent of either crops or money. There are also bonds, dated 1802, that freed Pleasant Thomas, Sam Thomas, John Thomas, and Amy, identified as Sam Thomas's wife. These bonds were signed by Sam Thomas and several white men from Salem, N.C., including Francis Clark, Archibald Campbell, and Gottlieb Shober. Also included are an 1826 letter to Mary Thomas in Zanesville, Ohio, from a sibling in Chillicothe, Ohio, which chiefly discusses the health of various relatives; a small printed paper stating that Thomas Laurence of Zanesville, Ohio, was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1835; and an undated statement, signed by William Johnson and Garrard Johnson, certifying certain criminal charges against "Black Sam Thomas" of Salem, N.C, who was charged with the crimes of stealing clothes, robbing a wagon, fighting "whitemen," and poisoning his wife and others who were to be witnesses against him.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Papers, 1786-1835.

8 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

The collection includes items relating to members of the Thomas family, African Americans who had been slaves in Stokes County, N.C. In the earliest document, 1786, Frederick Marshall gave the "Negro Sam" the right to work some land for a yearly rent of either crops or money. There are also bonds, dated 1802, that freed Pleasant Thomas, Sam Thomas, John Thomas, and Amy, identified as Sam Thomas's wife. These bonds were signed by Sam Thomas and several white men from Salem, N.C., including Francis Clark, Archibald Campbell, and Gottlieb Shober. Also included are an 1826 letter to Mary Thomas in Zanesville, Ohio, from a sibling in Chillicothe, Ohio, which chiefly discusses the health of various relatives; a small printed paper stating that Thomas Laurence of Zanesville, Ohio, was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1835; and an undated statement, signed by William Johnson and Garrard Johnson, certifying certain criminal charges against "Black Sam Thomas" of Salem, N.C, who was charged with the crimes of stealing clothes, robbing a wagon, fighting "whitemen," and poisoning his wife and others who were to be witnesses against him.

Folder 1

Papers, 1786-1835

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Additions

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. Papers (Addition of 2010)

3 items

Acquisitions Information: Accession 101289

Folder 2

Papers, 1797-1820

Includes research notes.

Note: The 1797 document is a facsimile.

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