2-831-814 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Enslaved people were traded no differently than a piece of farming equipment, livestock, or commodity crops. Slave traders and owners viewed the men, women, and children listed as inventory in this broadside as inhuman and lacking feeling, but they were loved by someone. The broadside has black text on yellowed paper. Some of the ink in the top right corner has bled and stained the paper. Additional marks and water stains appear throughout the advertisement. The broadside reads “PUBLIC SALE. / There will be sold to the highest bidder on the 26th / inst., at the residence of William Bland, sen., living 1 mile / from the Red Mills, the personal property of said bland. / 3 NEGRO MEN, 4 women, 1 boy, and some children, / 12 or 15 head of Horses, 1 yoke of Oxen, 25 or 30 / head of Cattle, 40 or 50 head of Sheep, 80 or 100 head / of Hogs, 1 five-horse Wagon, Farming Utensils of every / description. Also—a quantity of Wheat, Corn, Oats, Hay, / &c. Household & Kitchen Furniture, with many other / articles too tedious to mention. / All of the above property will be sold on a credit of 12 / months. Bond and good security will be required of the / purchasers. / L. BBLAND / JNO. A. RAIN, / E. H. BLAND, / Agents. / February 19, 1847. / T. H. Gunter & CO., Printers, Elizabethtown, Ky.”