Washington, Arkansas – February 7, 1852
An exceptional and historically important antebellum Arkansas manuscript written by Mr. Bynum, a Washington, Arkansas planter, to the Trustees of the Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas. The letter concerns his inability to satisfy his stock debt following the collapse of one of the South's most notorious banking institutions.
In this lengthy appeal, Bynum explains that he cannot comply with the Bank's newly imposed requirement that stock debtors pay 10% in par funds, asks that lawsuits against him be withdrawn, and pleads for additional time so that he can avoid financial ruin while repaying his debt.
Most notably, Bynum offers the Bank his mortgaged 240-acre plantation with its improvements to satisfy the obligation.
If the land is insufficient, he explicitly offers his "negro property"—enslaved people—to be appraised and accepted as additional collateral toward the debt.
This is an extraordinary primary-source reference demonstrating how enslaved people were legally treated as financial assets and pledged as collateral within the antebellum banking system.
"...take the mortgage land at valuation and two hundred and forty acres with the... improvements thereon..."
"...if that will not be sufficient to pay my debt... then I will also have negro property valued by the same appraisers..."
"...I will apply all my means from my farms by instalments to the liquidation of the debt within eight years..."
Original handwritten manuscript with expected folds, age toning, and edge wear. Small loss to the signature edge, but the document remains highly legible and historically significant.
An outstanding museum-quality manuscript documenting the financial realities of the antebellum South, illustrating how land, plantations, and enslaved people were intertwined within the credit system of the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas.