Negro Slave Auction - Atlanta

Here is another one of mine.



A casual glance would show a list of business that you might find in any city in the country at the time. To the far left of this image was “Gilbert’s Jewelry Store” (only “LBERT” can be made out in the image). To the right was F. Geutebruck who dealt Cuban and American tobacco and snuff. To its right was China, Glass and Queensware, with two more cigar manufacturer’s or wholesalers to the right of that.

In the first floor window of the China, glass store they advertised the sale of “Lamp, Pine and Kerosene oils”. It is outside of this building that an African-American solider decided to rest. Just above his head the first floor announced another commodity, slaves. “Auction & Negro Sales” available in the same building as fine china and lamp oil.

This building, as well as much of Atlanta was destroyed not long after this image was taken when the burning of Atlanta became the starting point of Sherman’s march to the sea.

Most likely the offices of a Broker with the Yard being located elsewhere.

good picture,thanks for posting

Too bad they burnt down F. Geutebruck's cigars. Looks like my kind of shop.

Nice touch..

If you take a look there are two tobacco shops and one cigar shop shown. Different era, different time.

I saw that. If I was going down that street, and wanted a good cigar, I would first go to Guetebruck's first. The one on the right looks like it may have been into the wholesale end.

This was on Whitehall Street. BorderRuffian is almost certainly correct, that this was simply a business office, and the pen was located elsewhere. The former proprietorship of the business location marked "Auction & Negro Sales" is provided in this advertisement for the tobacconist's next door, in the Southern Confederacy newspaper, May 1, 1862:



"Ripley's Crockery" was [T. R.] Ripley & [C. F.] Wood, who were advertising as "commission merchants" in the summer of 1863. They made their money by arranging transactions between other parties and taking a percentage of the transaction. From the Southern Confederacy, June 11, 1863:



Soon after, though, by July 1863, Ripley & Wood had vacated the property and it was occupied by another commission merchant, T. G. Simms, a "dealer in all kinds of country produce." From the Daily Intelligencer, September 27, 1863:



The photo at the top was taken a year or more later, sometime after the occupation of Atlanta. So the question remains which merchant was dealing in slaves -- Ripley & Wood, T. G. Simms, or some other person who'd occupied the property subsequently?

Boom! I spoke too soon -- Crawford, Frazer & Co., "Dealers in Negroes," No. 8 Whitehall St. From the Southern Confederacy, 26 May 1863:



It also notes that their "Negro Yard and Lock Up, at No. 8, [is] both safe and comfortable." Ahem.

Crawford, Frazer & Co. ads at this location actually go back as far as January 1863.

Whitehall St. still exists, but I'm pretty sure this stretch of it is now Peachtree Street, and (based on the low number, No. 8) may have been in the block between Alabama and Hunter Streets (the latter now MLK Jr Drive):



This is further supported by the notation that No. 8 Whitehall was "opp[osite] Intelligencer Office," which was immediately adjacent the rail lines, as in this LoC image:

I was in Atlanta last year and saw a Civil War exhibit at the Historical Society. They showed a number of these images along side present day images. I do not recall what they said about this image. I do remember that this area (as most of Atlanta) was destroyed when Sherman left for Savannah.

I went back and looked at the original Photoshop file to see what was going on. When I add color to an image I base it on what I see in the gray tones. In this case when I lay down sky blue pants for him they did not look right. There are many examples of soldiers wearing trousers that are the same color as the jacket, but this too does not seem to be the case. I have wondered if the pants were not regulation.

Also what is not visible in the wide shot is another soldier sitting (or laying) in the doorway. Note his pants came out correct.

Thanks, do a little everyday and you will see results!

In fact, that's exactly right.

What sort of material is the sidewalk made of? Looks like concrete. Great job!

Update: This page has lots of high-res photos taken during the Union occupation of Atlanta. By combining three of them (somewhat crudely), we can get a panoramic view that view that includes both No. 8 (left) and the Intelligencer office (right):



Based on this, with now a clear indication of where No. 8 stood relative to the tracks, I'm revising my earlier map as follows:

Thanks for posting!