Creator / Contributor Bolton, Dickens & Co. Bolton, Washington Bumpass, G. L. Waddell, B. B. Title Bolton, Dickens & Co. account book, 1856-1858 Collection Title Bolton, Dickens & Co. Account Book, 1856-1858 Publisher New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, 212-873-3400 Date 1856-1858 Physical Description 1 volume (approximately 95 pages) Description Account book, 1856-1858, kept by the prominent slave trading firm of Bolton, Dickens & Co. of Lexington, Kentucky, with branches in Memphis, Charleston, Natchez, and New Orleans. It chiefly records people purchased and sold by the firm, with entries giving the names of enslaved people, purchase and selling price, profit, names of suppliers, and occasional remarks. Some persons involved in the firm's recorded transactions were Washington Bolton, Isaac Bolton, Samuel Dickens, and the slave trader G.L. Bumpass. Of additional note is a copy of an 1857 letter to Isaac Bolton, probably written by his brother Washington Bolton while Isaac was in prison awaiting trial for the murder of slave dealer James McMillan of Kentucky following a dispute in Memphis concerning McMillan's sale to Bolton of an enslaved 16-year old boy who was later revealed to be free, and other related documents. The volume was later employed as a day book by "B.B.W." (possibly B.B. Wadell) and contains accounts for the year 1865. Institution New-York Historical Society Identifier Mss Collection - BV Slavery - Bolton, Dickens & Co. Subject Bolton, Isaac Dickens, Samuel Dickens, Thomas McMillan, James, d. 1857 Murder--Tennessee--Memphis Slave trade--Southern States Slave traders--Southern States Slaves--Southern States Subject geographic name Memphis (Tenn.) Material type or medium of original Account books Correspondence Text Rights