Letter from J. Pearce to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 15, 1865

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Letter from J. Pearce to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 15, 1865

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Each transcribed document contains links that connect it to other documents on the same topic in the collection.

People

Barnard, Unknown Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873 Vick, Henry W.

Events

Conventions Conventions--Mississippi. Constitutional Convention (1868)Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure--Sentencing Political Office--Appointment to office

Military Units

Confederate States of America. Army

Organizations

Plantations

Occupations

Clerks Laborers Law Enforcement Law Enforcement--Police Legal Profession--Judges Manufacturers Medical Profession Medical Profession--Physicians Military Role--Provost Marshals Planter

Places

Massachusetts--Suffolk County. Boston Mississippi--Hinds County. Jackson Mississippi--Sharkey County. Nitta Yuma

Social Identifiers

African Americans African Americans--Enslaved people

Vital Statistics

Death

Page 1

Nitta Yuma July 15/65

Gov W. L. Sharkey
Jackson Miss

Dear Sir

Having had twelve years e~~xperi~~ence in employing white labor, and having worked in a factory in Boston to learn a business practi=cally after I became involved in it, and having had the management of this estate (since the death of my brother-in law Col Henry W. Vick) in 1861) with one hundred and sixty four negroes on it now, and there was even two hundred at one time—I have had to think about our present, and what our future condition may be, and although my ideas are rather crude and undigested, ~~and~~ where we all are so much interested in arriving at some order and system I hope you wil not think it im=pertinent in my submitting the following suggestions, for I am sure no harm can follow if it does no good—1^st,, It is very important that the negroes should understand their condition, and that they will have to work. The citizen Provost Marshall Col Barnard has been here to talk to them and they don't believe a word he said to them and they are now in a worse condition than before he came—I would propose that you send a bodyies of soldiers with a discreet commanders to read the law to the negroes and to show them an officer (in Blue) that would be left to carry it out by the aid of the citizens if he had to use force—citizens and former Confederate soldiers concur with me in the idea, and my immediate neighbors and myself would hold ourselves personally responsible for

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the personal safety of any officer while in our vicinity—

2^nd I would suggest that you would appoint a commissioner of intelligent well known planters to go to the north to examine minutely into the system of employing white labor both upon the farms and in manufactories, and then with their knowledge of the negro they could could form some systematic plan and fix a rate of wages that would be acceptable to the planter and negro and would I believe be generally adopted if endorsed by yourself—*

I submit herewith the plan I shall try and mature (if every man is left to himself to get along the best way he can) to put in operation on this place if I can make up my mind to work the place for my neice, and do not think I shall unless there should be some systematic plan adopted in the State or at least in the management of the large estates in the river counties—My idea is to make the negro wholly self sustaining and if he does not work, he can not eat my bread and meat or wear my clothes and I think ^a^ proper allow=ance should be made, for house rent, garden spaces, wood, milk and butter and feeding his poultry from corn crib &c in the amount of money wages to be paid to him—By sending the commission at an early day, ~~that~~ they could return and be prepared to submit a plan to the Convention if one meets—Yours Resp'y Jn'a Pearce

* Appoint them without their knowledge that any other was engaged in the same mission, and require that each was to make a written report and be at Jackson upon a certain day thereafter, when they could be introduced and their several reports referred to themselves to select the best or form one from the number—To send them together one would probably do all the work and thinking for the party and the balance, would drink champagne and old Bourbon

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Plan to work 100 Free Laborers

1^st,, Contract with ^them^ by the year, but to pay a stipulated price for every day (only) that they work in ordinary plantation labor, and a price per pound for all the cotton they pick and store in the gin, with a heavy forfeiture for stealing cotton or cheating in any other way—

2^nd Settle with them every day or a week at farthest (in order to avoid disputes as to time worked) by giving them checks representing the amount due them (say have pieces of brass stamped the size of our coins, or printed tickets representing five, ten, twenty five, fifty cents and one and five dollars) not transferable or payable to any one off of the plantation, and not redeemable until the end of the year except in payment of their necessary provisions, clothing and medicines at the store kept to supply them, by settling with them every day or week I would keep no ~~a/c~~ mer=chandise a/c with them, but would only keep an a/c with them of what might be deemed necessary to keep back until the end of the year, to guarantee a faithful per=formance of their contract ~~of their contract~~, and which amount would be entered in a book, and which they would keep in possession as a voucher until settled—

3^d I would then want two honest, industrious, white men and put one to each of the hoe and plough gangs, to go, stay and come with them, to keep their time and to see that they did work, the time allot=ted that they should (It is possible that four would be able to render a better account at the end of the year)

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4^th I will then have a first rate planter to look after outside laborers and to direct plantation affairs gener=ally, and to see that the time keep=ers had the work well performed as to quantity and quality—

5^th,, I would propose to pay the Planter Clerk and Time Keepers a stipulated price per annum, to pay them off and get others if they did not suit, but if they proved indus=trious and competent and made a crop, would in lieu of wages pay them a price per Bale or a percentage of the crop, that would pay them handsomely if they made a good one—

6^th It would be absolutely necessary to have some mode of punishment and do not know how to get at that, unless every plantation, were declared a town, with the planter as Judge of Police to hear complaints and decide according to law evidence, with power to sentence and inflict—Or the neighborhood Physician might be best as feigned sickness, will be one of the greatest causes of complaint and he could decide better in such cases—

It might by all means to be gener=ally understood amongst planters and negroes, that a discharge of a negro without a recomm=dation would be equivalent to to a sentence upon the public works for the balance of the year