Preliminary Findings Related to Slavery at the University of Mississippi
PRIMARY SOURCES | SECONDARY SOURCES
Partial names of campus slaves
George
—July 12, 1849: “Ordered by the board that the Treasurer pay the College servant George Five dollars as a present for the faithful manner in which he has performed his duties during the past session.” BTM p. 110
—July 13, 1853: “On motion it was ordered that the a/c of Dr. Millington for services of servant George as Janitor be allowed by deduction the time he was sick, and that the Proctor pay the same.” BTM p. 193
—It is probable that George is listed, unnamed, in the 1850 slave schedule under Millington’s name as one of his 7 slaves (2 male: one age 53, the other age 40)
Jane
Slave owned by Chancellor Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard. Name is cited in Faculty Minutes and Board of Trustee Minutes in what is known as the “Branham Affair” in which she was assaulted on Dr. Barnard’s premises by student S.B. Humphreys (see below). She is also probably listed, unnamed, in the 1860 slave schedule under Barnard’s name as one of his two female slaves (one age 30, the other age 35).
Martin?
According to “African American Experience” website in the Department of African American Studies, “Martin” is listed as one of the “two servants hired” by University in the Proctor report 1859.
Marcus?
According to “African American Experience” website in the Department of African American Studies, “Marcus” is listed as one of the “two servants hired” by University in the Proctor report 1859.
Named campus servants after 1865
Alford
—November 11, 1869—“Mr. Wharton presented himself & stated in answer to a charge of threatened violence against the College servant, Alford, that he had not been guilty of any thing of the kind: and the Chancellor stated that the servant had withdrawn the charges and admitted that he had misunderstood Mr. Wharton.”
FM P. 255 (page 345 of typescript)
Collins
—January 6, 1874—“The Chancellor laid before the Faculty the following communication from the Mayor of Oxford. ‘Oxford, Miss. Jan’y 20, 74—Dear Sir, A negro man named Collins living beyond the University near Austin States, has complained to me that Lewis Green, Frank Walter, and Hall Gill, gave him a pretty severe whipping last Wednesday evening. Preferring that the Faculty should deal with such cases, I have declined for the present to issue a warrant for the arrest of the young gentlemen. Rev. J.N. Waddel, Uny. Of Miss. Yr. Friend J.M. Phipps.’ Therefore the Faculty proceeded to investigate the affair by summoning before them Mssrs. Walter, Green, Gill, Hamblin, Houston, McIntosh, Craig, Tate and Adams—after considerable debate, the following Resolution was adopted…Resolved—That the Faculty having thoroughly examined the case by sending for every student who knows any thing of the transaction, find that a violation of the peace has occurred, and that the provocation in the case largely if not entirely condones the offence upon the part of the students.”
FM P. 381 (p. 535-536 of typescript)