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Special Collections Research Center
William & Mary Special Collections Research CenterFinding Aid Authors: Steven Bookman, University Archives Specialist.
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William Sims Collection regarding Fugitive Slave Adam, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Acc. 2013.019 was received by Special Collections via USPS on 1/8/2013.
Accessioned and minimally described by Steven Bookman, University Archives Specialist, in January 2013.
William Sims was a property owner from Union Couinty, South Carolina. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki: .
This collection contains three letters and a newspaper clipping regarding a fugitive slave named Adam that belonged to William Sims of Union County, South Carolina. The clipping, dated 1805 July 20, gives a description of Adam and offers a two hundred dollar reward for his caputure. The three letters describe the capture and release of Warren Hall whom Adam was last seen with. A transcription of the material found in this collection provided by the seller can be found in the Finding Aid/ Box List section of this finding aid.
This collection is not yet fully arranged and described. Researchers may wish to consult with a staff member for further information in advance of using the collection.
Duke University holds an Inventory of the William Sims Papers, 1770-1860. The finding aid is available here:
Hiram Harris Letter (Mss. Acc. 2010.772); Matthew Thomson Journal (Mss. MsV Ap38 Oversize).
Information about related materials is available at http://guides.swem.wm.edu/africanamerican
Scope and Contents The following information including summary information and partial transcriptions was provided by the seller and has been verified by Special Collections staff. Note that these are only partial transcriptions: [REWARD ADVERTISEMENT FOR CAPTURE OF SLAVE]. Original clipped newspaper advertisement from the Kentucky Gazette. From historical records, Warren Hall appears to be Sims' brother-in-law. The ad is the only time that the "Negro" is named. His ill-health and poor care are readily apparent from the description. At this point, it is unclear if Adam was kidnapped or had willingly left Sims with the aid of Hall. This clipping was sent with the following letter: BENJAMIN BAYLES (1774-1839), Signed as J.P. of Mason Co., Kentucky, July 28, 1805, Washington, Kentucky. To William Sims via Union Courthouse, S.C. With information from the above ad, Warren Hall is arrested and brought before Bayles; Adam escapes capture, sends advertisement taken out of the Kentucky Gazette offering two Hundred dollars for apprehending Warren Hall and a Negro Man & mare and lodging them in any jail, Hall was brought before a Justice of the Peace of Mason and confessed that he was the person described in the advertisement and the Negro & mare, but that they were his own. The Negro made his escape from the men that apprehended him & Hall yesterday; Hall was committed to jail, the mare is in safe-keeping, Sims will take such steps as the law of the United States direct in the business, expects the Negro will be had in a day or two. MOSES DAULTON (1760-1819), Postmaster of Maysville, Kentucky, October 24, 1805. To William Sims. Hall's arrest and Adam's escape are recounted. Hall is brought before Bayles, but because of Sims' delays, Hall is able to hire a lawyer to obtain his release. He rejoins Adam, and information on their latest whereabouts is given here, Hall came to this place about 15 or 16 of July. Mr. Sanford Carrell lives in this town and is a cousin to the said Hall. Hall at this time had the Negro and two mares at Carrell's mothers about eight miles from this place. Carrell employed four men to go out to his fathers where the said Hall was. While they were securing him the Negro ran off. They took the said Hall before Benjamin Bayles a Justice of Mason County & State of Kentucky at which time the said Bayles committed him for further trial and as he could not give security he had to go to jail, and as no person appeared to prosecute him he employed a lawyer who took him out by a writ of Habeas Corpus, for which he gave his lawyer one of the mares he had with him. Hall and the Negro are now in the neighborhood of Georgetown, Kentucky, and might be taken with very little trouble. He says he did not steal the negro, he was met by him on the road. If you come you had better be as secret as possible. Hall is there and goes armed with a large Knife. WILLIAM MURPHY, Postmaster of Washington, Kentucky, October 31, 1805 o William Sims. Hall's appearance before Bayles and subsequent release is mentioned again, "Warren Hall was committed to the person of this county at the time and under the circumstances mentioned. Hall was released by our Circuit Judge, on a Habeas Corpus and went off. The mare I am informed is in the possession of a Mr. Sanford Carrell at Maysville (otherwise Limestone) about four miles from here..." The ultimate fate of Warren Hall and Adam is unknown. Information on the Sims family indicates that Hall had married Sims' sister Mary. The Sims were children of Capt. Charles & Isabella Sims. Charles was a planter, settling in Union County, and a locally celebrated Revolutionary patriot. After the war, he was a delegate to the South Carolina Convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution, where he voted against it. William Sims apparently continued the plantation and remained in Union County.