The "Trustees of the Estate of Dr De La Howe and the Lethe School" ask that the legislature "authorize the purchase four negroes, two men and two women, that is, two men and their wives" for use at the school and on the Lethe Farm. The petitioners argue that "it is a difficult matter to find a negro to hire, and when one is found, the probability is that he is such an abandoned character as to make him of little value." They purport that purchasing slave couples, on the other hand, would provide a more stable labor force and the cost of interest on money borrowed to purchase four slaves would be less than yearly hiring costs. They therefore assert that "the advantages to the proper and successful management of the Estate by purchasing are so clear and decided in its favour, that the Trustees deem it unnecessary to say any thing further, but request your Honorable body to take the matter into consideration."
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
