Ned

John Tyler enslaved Ned at Sherwood Forest in Charles City, Virginia. In 1857, John Tyler sold Ned to a man named William L. Day who lived in Spotsylvania County, Virginia—almost 100 miles away. [1] Christopher Leahy writes in his biography of Tyler that “…Day paid $1,200 for Ned, a figure indicating that he considered the enslaved man valuable, perhaps because he was of an age and possessed the physical strength to make him what was known as a ‘prime field hand’ or because he possessed certain skills.” [2] Ned’s sale may have been the result of Tyler’s financial insecurity, as was the case when he sold Ann Eliza, or it may have been punishment. Regardless of the reason for Ned’s sale, Tyler knowingly separated Ned from family and friends at Sherwood Forest and completely shifted the foundation of Ned’s life by selling him to William L. Day.

[1] William L. Day, receipt from John Tyler for slave sale, 28 Feb. 1857, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia.

[2] Leahy, Christopher. President without a Party: The Life of John Tyler, LSU Press 2020, p. 388.