Newspaper ad: “Valuable Negros for Sale”

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An auction sale notice appears in the Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser on November 9, 1840. It advertises “VALUABLE NEGROES FOR SALE,” and directs interested buyers to inquire with Silas Burke about the auction. Silas was a county judge and a school commissioner [board member] at the time.

“Any information, in relation to the said negroes, may be obtained by application to Col. Silas Burke, of Fairfax County.”
 

(Note: He wasn’t a real colonel. It was an honorary rank in the Virginia Militia.) 
 

This same ad ran in 10 subsequent issues of the Gazette that year.  The full page from that day's newspaper is below. The ad appears in the upper right-hand corner.

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