September 22, 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/22/2011
Autograph Letter Signed by Lynde Cottier, 2pp. quarto, New York, January 6, 1802, with integral leaf addressed to Stephen Twining, an attorney in Connecticut, with nice New York cds, it reads in part: "...When Mr. Tallmadge was in N. Haven he made some inquiry for a servant boy for us, he had a particular one in view but he thought him older than we wished one you perhaps may know - the boys at that time we wished one from 6 to 8 years old but fine, owing to our parting with one of our black girls, we would prefer a boy from 11 to 15 years old - will you have the goodness to make some inquiry for me? I dont want to purchase a slave - I want a boy bound to me until he is 21 - if such can be had please to inform me the terms..." Near fine condition. In the aftermath of the Revolution, men examined the institution of slavery against the rights of men they had fought for. In 1781, the state legislature voted to manumit slavery for men who fought with the rebels during the Revolution. Further action toward abolition took longer, but manumission was made easier. By 1790 one in three blacks in New York was free. They began to organize a separate community, with churches, benevolent organizations and businesses. Steps toward abolition of slavery accumulated, but the state also took steps back as society wavered in its commitment to freedom and rights for all persons. In 1799, the legislature passed a law for gradual abolition. It required African Americans born after the legislation to serve long apprenticeships to young adulthood before gaining full freedom.
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