"Ephraim Butler...does by these presents specially mortgage, and hypothecate in favour of the said J E Lewis the following discribed and named slaves... Louisa a negro woman of dark complexion aged about twenty eight years, Stephen a Boy black complexion aged about nine years Cezar a boy also Black aged about five years Roze a girl aged two years..."

Enslaved African Americans like Louisa, Stephen, Cezar, and Rose were property, lawfully bought, sold and used as collateral to secure loans. When planter Ephraim Butler became indebted to Dr. John E. Lewis for nearly $500, he gave the physician a promissory note secured with a mortgage on his slaves.

[SLAVE TRADE].Manuscript Document. Mortgage of Ephraim Butler to John E. Lewis, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, April 12, 1855. 2 pp., with integral leaf with docketing on verso. 7¾ x 12½ in.

Ephraim Butler (c. 1808-aft. 1880) was born in Kentucky, and married in Alabama in 1846. In 1850, he was a planter in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana with $1,700 in real property including four slaves. Butler apparently paid his debt. By 1860, he had $6,000 in property, including six slaves.

Louisa Butler (b. c. 1830) was born into slavery in Alabama. By 1870, she was a free farm laborer in De Soto Parish, Louisiana. Her daughter Rose Butler (b. c. 1851) lived with her and also worked as a farm laborer, as did four younger children.

John E. Lewis (1814-1861) was born in Georgia and became a physician. He settled in western Louisiana by the late…

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