So, if you just casually heard the name Franklin & Armfield bandied about, depending on what click you were in, you might think they were a couple of designers if you were into fashion, if you were into law, maybe some prestigious law firm in Manhattan or for those into culinary maybe a swank restaurant on Pacific Ave in San Fransisco… but nothing could be farther from the truth. Issac Franklin and John Armfield ran one of the largest slave markets in the history of the United States at a place called “The Forks of The Road Slave Market,” in Natchez, Mississippi.
Enslaver: “Issac, I need to purchase a couple of Nigs that know how to play the fiddle and can shuck and jive at my sweet Annabelle’s coming out party like it was the best thing that ever happened to them…”
Issac: “I only got light skinned Nigs with big feet right now Bob… but I got some dark ones with big lips coming in later this afternoon… cost ya extra though… Hey Annabelle! So, it’s your sweet 16 huh? You are a mighty pretty pickanin… uh girl…”
Enslaver: “Yeah, her mommy says she gets her dusky complexion and dark curly hair from her great grandfather’s side… he was a Roman gladiator…”
Issac: “Oh… okay?… Have them Nigs for you this afternoon Bob…”
So yeah, those varmints bought and sold black folks like they were items in a Sear and Roebuck catalogue.
Mr. Money Bags
So how did they become the biggest sellers of enslaved people in the United States. Well, we have to chalk that up to old Eli. Eli Whitney and his patented cotton gin. I hope you noticed I didn’t say his invention. According to some historians, the particular machine that Whitney patented was actually inspired by an enslaved individual. An enslaved individual’s son whose name was Sam, told Whitney about a comb his father came up with to remove the seeds and Whitney just mechanized the process.
Now there were two types of cotton plants grown down south. One type had long seeds, which were easy to remove, but only grew on land near the coastlines. The other type had short seeds and this kind did grew well in the rest of the south. They were known as long staple and short staple cotton. It was the short staple cotton that was labor intensive. Before Whitney’s cotton gin machine, it would take an enslave individual “all day” to remove the seeds from one pound of short staple cotton… yep, that’s right… all day!!! Y’all keep thinking them folks was crazy… okay?
Me: Massa might take me a couple of days to get these seeds out of dis pound of cotton… sho is a lot of ’em…”
Massa: Okay nigra… you win… but one day… one day…
As a matter of fact, cotton plantations were on the decline because of all the labor you needed to process the cotton. You needed a hundred people to process 100 pounds of cotton!
With the invention of the cotton gin, one person could process fifty pounds of cotton!!
Me: Massa it might take me a couple days to get these seeds out of this here pound of cotton… I got to learn how to run this gin…
Massa: I’m finna whip yo azz…
Anywho… so yeah, now a hundred enslaved people could process 5000 pounds of short staple cotton a day!! As the plantations grew larger, the demand for enslaved people grew larger. The price of an enslave person skyrocketed down south! Enslavers use to be able to get an enslaved person for $200- $300 bucks. After the cotton gin, the price of the average healthy male enslaved person was a thousand dollars, females went for six to eight hundred dollars and children for five hundred dollars. However, fueled by the insatiable demand of the European textile market, the price for an enslave individual was peanuts! Dixie was producing seventy five percent of the worlds cotton. It was the fourth wealthiest region in the world, only surpassed by England and at one time, there were more millionaires in the Mississippi Valley than in the entire United States… and half of them lived in Natchez! That shat you saw on TV when those enslavers were talking about, I’ll give you ten G’s for that boy… they weren’t bull crapping. They had that type of dough…
White Gold
So, in 1808 the United States “officially” ended the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. It was illegal to transport slaves from another country into the United States. Now people were still doing it, but it was illegal. Almost 13 million black people were kidnapped from Africa and brought to the Americas during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. So not all of these people ended up in the United States. The majority went to the Caribbean and South America. As a matter of fact, Brazil has the largest population of people of African decent outside of Africa. Instead of cotton being Brazil’s main export to Europe, those brothers and sisters down there mostly toiled in the sugar cane fields.
Negro Hombre: Jefe Hombre, gotta twinkle here…
Jefe Hombre: Go twinkle…
Negro Hombre: Twinkling here Jefe…
Jefe Hombre: That’s enough… zip it up…
Negro Hombre: Zipping it up Jefe…
So yeah it was tough there too. “Negro” is the Spanish word for black, “Hombre” means man and Jefe is the Spanish word for boss. You might recall a similar scene from the movie “Cool Hand Luke…” not one bit of dignity…
Anyway, it has been estimated that of the 13 million people stolen from Africa, more than 400,000 were taken to the United States. So, these 400,000 enslaved people were brought here over a period of 300 years. The other millions of black folks were sent to Brazil and the Caribbean. When the slave trade ended in the US in 1808, there were over one million enslave people. Don’t sound like many folks, but the total population of the US at the time was only five million. One in five people living in the US in the first decade of the 1800s was enslaved. By 1830 the enslave population had doubled to two million and double again by 1860 to more than four million.
But we have to remember, that no more Africans were being brought over from Africa to the US after 1808… legally… wink… wink…, in any event by the time the slave trade stopped in 1808, six hundred thousand more people had been born into slavery in the US, over double the amount that had been kidnapped!
Now I know there are going to be some readers that say I’m really throwing around the word kidnapped a lot… especially when a significant portion of the enslaved people were sold to them by their enemies. Well, all I can say is that you are on the wrong blog. If your neighbor sells me your brother who was fighting in a war against him and I take him to Africa against his will, that’s kidnapping in any law book on earth… now don’t get me wrong, human trafficking… which is what the Africans did was a crime too… but it wasn’t kidnapping. So, Ima leave that right there.
Well Ima gets off my high horse and get back to what we were talking about… just wanted to throw that out there.
So, this worked out for the enslavers after the Atlantic Slave Trade ended because they didn’t have to import enslaved people from across the Atlantic anymore and incur the cost of bringing them here. Ten generations had been born since the end of the slave trade and there was no need to bring a possible Shaka Zulu to the homeland and then he unites the kidnapped Africans and now everybody has to eat fried chicken and cornbread on Sundays.
Anyway, with advent of the cotton gin the need for labor rose exponentially in the south. Since the north had a more industrialized economy, there wasn’t the same need for labor as the agricultural economy down south, and because of this new dynamic, Franklin & Armfield flourished.
The Gift that Keeps On Giving
Issac Franklin was the general and John Armfield was the private. It was Issac Franklin that procured the enslaved people. Armfield background was in marketing.
Franklin was born in North Carolina in 1789. His father having served in the Revolutionary War was gifted a land grant of hundreds of acres along the Cumberland River. He had a total of 26 enslaved people. Around this time the area around the Cumberland River was growing and was an early center of the regional slave trade. With the slave markets being in Cumberland and the amount of enslaved people available, enslaved people were commonly leased out for work, used to pay debts, purchase property, given as prizes for lotteries, and given as gifts for children. Franklin had eight other brothers and sisters. His father had married his mother when she was thirteen years old… and yes, I want to get ugly with it, but Ima leaves it alone. Anyway, after he died, he split his land and enslaved people among his children.
Annie: “Mommy can I have that naked nigra over there that that old man is fondling on that stage?”
Mom: “He not fondling him Annie… he’s checking him for disease… and what are you doing looking over there anyway! We come to get you a pickaninny!”
Annie: “I was just wondering… I seen Daddy fondling Auntie Prissy like that yesterday in the barn…”
Mommy: “Oh you did!?”
Annie: “Yep…he had her dress up and said he was looking for some cats… he says you don’t like him looking for cats… and then he says, if I don’t tell you, he would buy me my very own pickaninny and that you and him would come out and get me one today… only don’t tell Daddy, because he won’t buy me one if he knows you know our secret…”
Mommy: “Oh honey… not in a million years…”
Daddy: “Annie, where’s your mother? Did you see a pickaninny you like?”
Annie: “Yes Daddy, I want that one right over there…”
Daddy: “Which one honeybee?”
Annie: “Right over there Daddy! You see the man who Mommy is buying the shot gun from… right next to that. Only don’t tell Mommy I told you she’s buying you a new shotgun… on account of I think it’s going to be a surprise. She said she going to let you have it when we get home…”
Nagras For Seel
Yep… there was a lot of stuff going on by the Cumberland River. Anyway, Franklin wasn’t a very educated man and ended up joining a militia and fighting in the War of 1812. In 1814 after he finished his service, he briefly worked for a bank, quit that job because of a dispute between him and the owner and finally settled on a hundred- and thirty two acre plot of land his father had given him. Now his procurement expertise in buying enslave people came before he enlisted in the militia. Him and his two older brothers used to sail down the Mississippi River selling surplus agriculture. The two older brothers frequently traveled to Maryland to purchase slaves, before returning to Tennessee and sailing downriver to sell them in the Mississippi Territory. The demand for slaves dramatically increased after the War of 1812, because large numbers of white settlers moved there and because they had chased the Indians out during the war. By 1819, Franklin with the demand for enslave people at such a feverish pitch, committed himself to the selling of human beings. His older brothers had largely retired from slave trading, settling on their plantations after marriage. Isaac Franklin continued slave trading, largely due to personal enjoyment and talent for the industry. That’s what the history books say, but I think it was because of the free nookie. There is a reason I say that, and we will get into it a little later. His earliest recorded bill of sale was in July 1819. During this portion of his career, he likely purchased slaves in Tennessee, who were then transported by river to Natchez. In 1819, Franklin was sued by a planter in Mississippi for selling him six “lame, blind, consumptive, cancerous, and otherwise diseased” slaves. Consumptive means he sold them enslave people who had TB. In 1821 Franklin and his younger brother purchased a house in Natchez. During this time the other markets in Natchez were makeshift… you know… somebody built a pen out in the open… put ten enslaved people in it and hung out a sign that said “Nag*ers for Seel…’ those illiterate #@@##$!.
Alexandria Va – Franklin & Armfield
Franklin and his brother’s establishment was large, able to accommodate a large number of people. It was outside the city limits. He had traded the owner three enslaved people for the property. After several years of work, his younger brother retired, but his eldest son, Smith Franklin, began work with Isaac in his stead. They continued operations in Natchez, acquiring additional properties adjacent to their shop. He hired agents in Virginia and Maryland to purchase slaves for his sales.
In 1824, Franklin met John Armfield. Armfield was a shopkeeper, but when Franklin met him, he was driving a stagecoach. Now Franklin already had his Nig business in gear, but he advised Armfield to start selling enslave people too. Only he wanted him to start his business in North Carolina. Franklin was in Mississippi at the time.
After several years they formed a partnership, with each contributing ten thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars back then had the buying power of three hundred and twenty thousand dollars today. So, Franklin stayed in Natchez, Mississippi and Armfield stayed in… guess where? Alexandria, Virginia. The building is still there. The location was also chosen to avoid direct competition with rival slave trader Austin Woolfolk in Baltimore. Woolfolk was a son of a hush yo mouth too… but we ain’t going to dig in his business today.
Franklin and Armfield began advertising in the Alexandria Gazette and other papers stating they would pay the highest prices for large volume purchases of enslaved people. They bought a large three-story townhouse in Alexandria with a private jail cell where they kept large numbers of enslaved people. It was also a home away from home for Franklin. After purchasing the property in Alexandria, Franklin deployed purchasing agents to Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi and Louisiana. Franklin and Armfield were living their best life between 1830 and 1836. They were so successful at selling human beings that their competitor, Woolfolk who was making money hand over foot, had lost fifty percent of his business to them.
Now before they started shipping enslaved people down south, they use to use a method called coffles. A coffle is when you chain up a bunch of folks and march them to their destination. Franklin and Armfield were the ones who first started shipping enslaved people down south. At first, he used small barge like vehicles, and then went straight bat shat crazy and start leasing whole slave ships outright! These dudes were selling and buying hundreds of black folks a day! In 1831, they partnered with another slave trader named William Ballard. Ballard had financial connections as far away as New Orleans further expanding their empire. Remember the trading of human beings required vast sums of money and this capital came from banks in large urban areas. Other such capital rich areas were Fredericksburg Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia. The new company down in New Orleans was named Franklin Ballard and Co.
If You Don’t Know…
So earlier I told you about Franklin getting into the enslave trade business because of his fondness for extra marital nookie. Ever heard of the terms “fancy maids,” or “fancy girls?” Probably not, that’s what they called sex slaves back then. Mixed-race women, especially light skinned women were considered especially desirable for sexual enslavement and sold for prices four to five times that of field hands. So, the average price of a fancy girl was around four thousand dollars but could get ridiculous if she appeared white and had straight hair. You might pay ten grand for a woman like that! As a matter of fact, Franklin referred to these women as being “white,” when he sold them.
Sex enslaved women were traded between members of the firm for their use, including between Isaac Franklin and his nephew James. In a letter dated January 1834, written to Ballard, James Franklin reported that Isaac engaged nightly in “very boyish behavior”, sexually abusing women in his possession.
Shortly before his marriage Franklin got one enslaved woman pregnant. He name was Lucinda Jackson and he purchased her from his company at a discount. After finding out there was going to be a little brown skinned Franklin, he sold her to a friend to avoid a scandal. Franklin didn’t approve of having a relationship with the merchandise. One letter to his friend Ballard has him admonishing Ballard for freeing two enslaved women he had children with. Now normally I would clown this azzhole into the ground for this type of behavior, but I don’t find anything funny about an old men having sex with adolescent girls. They called them women, but we know what was going on.
I would say something about “DT,” but I know Ima have to get my gun if I go there…
In August 1831, Nat Turner got to feeling some kind of way and recruited a small army of enslaved men to go to work. Over sixty-five white settlers were killed by the rebels. To this day, it is considered the deadliest revolt by enslaved men in the history of the United States. Of course they made an example out of Nat. He was drawn and quartered, and his limbs were displayed on poles throughout Virginia. In any event the rebellion had a profound effect on whites. They clamped down on black gatherings, such as there had to be a white preacher present during black church services, blacks could no longer possess guns and curfews were enacted. Gatherings of more than three black folks in one place could put yo life in danger… white folks were scared, and it impacted Franklins business.
Louisiana passed an official ban on slave imports by non-residents on November 19, 1831. Isaac and James Franklin started selling enslaved folks left and right. They sold over 240 people in the weeks before the ban took effect. This came with a cost. Over forty percent of his sales were made by giving plantation owners credit. Now, it was the same then as it is now. When you extend credit, sometimes people don’t have the money to pay or they pay late or they get amnesia and start talking about what slaves?
Franklin tried to get his main address changed to be in Louisiana, but they said no suh.. you ain’t bringing hundreds of Nigra’s down here to kill us in our sleep… okay I don’t know if they said that, but they refused. He tried another tactic where he would backdate invoices and then send the enslaved people after the ban, but that didn’t fly either. I’m telling you them folks wasn’t letting any more Nigra’s into Louisiana and they meant that shat. Louisiana also banned the sale of enslaved people from Louisiana residents having plantations in Mississippi or neighboring states. Remember the ban was for non-residents. Franklin got around this by forging documents to imply the slaves were instead purchased in Memphis, Tennessee, which was not a neighboring state, making them eligible for sale in Louisiana and its surrounding states. The Louisiana State Legislature was like… okay mfer… In April 1832 furthered restrictions were legislated to prohibit enslaved imports from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, closing the loophole. Louisiana: “If you want to sell nigras here… you gonna have to ship them from Alaska…” So now with Franklin having such a hard time with selling enslaved folks down south, the people that had previously bought merchandise from him began reneging on their debt.
Western Union Telegram
October 13, 1831
Franklin & Armfield
Dear Mr. Cottonsocks,
I am writing to inform you that your debt for the 85 Nigras, I sold you is overdue. Please send your remittance as soon as possible.
STOP.
Western Union Telegram
October 14, 1831
Whitey Cottonsocks
Dear Mr. Franklin,
I ain’t paying you nothing.
STOP
Western Union Telegram
October 15, 1831
Franklin & Armfield
Dear Mr. Cottonsocks,
We figured you would say that and that’s why one of the Nigras we sold you is Nat Turner’s brother…
We also sent along some of his blood thirsty friends…
We know who they are… but you don’t…
P.S… Have a good night.
STOP
Western Union Telegram
October 16, 1831
Whitey Cottonsocks
Dear Mr. Franklin
Would you like that in gold or silver?
STOP
Wait A Minute Player…
Early 1832 was a difficult time for the company. With the people down south unable to pay their bills Franklin considered retiring. He focused on building up his land holding and purchased 900 acres in Tennessee. He built a plantation there called Fairvue in Gallatin, Tennessee. It’s still there and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1977. The Club at Fairvue Plantation opened in 2004. However, in 2005, the house’s historic landmark status was withdrawn due to development that had damaged its historic integrity. It’s now a gated community of large, luxury suburban mansions. Anyway, he directed Ballard to borrow from northern banks in order to maintain cash flow until buyers in Louisiana were able to repay their debts. Their goal was to buy and sell enough slaves to pay the company’s debt until the plantation owners in Louisiana could start paying theirs. By June 1832, he was able to sell almost all of his slaves, but sales prices had greatly decreased, and he was only able to send north a fraction of what had been spent on slave purchases. The only reason they didn’t crash and burn then was because the banks down south started lending money to the plantation owners under generous loan agreements making them able to pay their debt to Franklin & Armfield.
Even though they were able to see some light, it was not enough. Not only had Mississippi outlawed interstate enslaved trade, but a cholera outbreak had made its way across the Atlantic. A Virginia coffle bought to Fairvue by his son in October 1832 was struck by the disease. Two or three had died on the way to Fairvue and another few died when they got there. Franklin caught up with the group outside of Nashville. Many more had died by then. When they got to Natchez, Franklin had them camp outside the city for several weeks so that the disease would not infect the inhabitants.
While they were camped outside of Natchez, Armfield sent a coffle with over a hundred additional enslaved people. Massive numbers of the enslaved died from the disease, leading Franklin to throw the corpses into nearby creeks and gullies and partially bury them. In April 1833, rainfall revealed the decomposing body of a teenage girl. A coroner investigation unearthed two more bodies buried nearby, including an eight-month-old infant buried head-down, “hid from view by a few shovels full of dirt”. This was just the tip of the iceberg. tens of dozens were buried haphazardly and some not at all right outside of Natchez. Most of them implicated Franklin because his company’s name was on their clothing. Franklin blamed it on his overseer who had died the week before form the disease. The fiasco was off the chain. I mean you and Lillybelle are having a picnic and your dog brings back somebody’s arm from out of the bushes. That shat wasn’t gonna be tolerated. Finding that many bodies under such awful conditions led to widespread shock, outrage, and condemnation among the white population of Natchez. Within two days, a petition circulated demanding the expulsion of slave traders. An emergency meeting was called, and they banned the selling of enslaved people in Natchez. Franklin sold his property in the city and moved operations a mile east to what would become the Forks of the Road Slave Market. It would become one of the largest enslaved markets in the history of the United States.
Well, that part one of the story of Franklin & Armfield. Join us later this week when we find out what happened to Issac Franklin and John Armfield, two of the most diabolical men in American history.
Thanks for reading ©Hill1News
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