Accounting of debts for Mr. Jessa Butler

Accounting of debts for Mr. Jessa Butler

This is a portion of a document that was used to track the amount of money owed by Jessy (also spelled Jessa) Butler to Charles R. Miller. Jessy Butler was a tenant farmer on the land of Miller. Along with this accounting of debt is a chattel mortgage, where Butler promises to Miller that he will pay off his debt, and if he does not, then Miller may sell his horse to pay the debt.

The system of sharecropping ensured that the sharecropper -- in this case, Jessy Butler -- remained poor and in debt to the owner of the land, and therefore would never be able to farm indepedently and earn a profit for themselves.

These documents are from the W. R. Miller Papers, North Carolina State Archives.

Public Domain

[Documents of contracts between Charles R. Miller and Jessy Butler.] W. R. Miller Papers, PC.1437, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.
Finding aid: https://axaem.archives.ncdcr.gov/findingaids/PC_1437_W__R__Miller_Paper…