Slavery-Era Insurance Policies
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's Division of Insurance unveiled today its Slavery Era Policies Register, an online database of slave insurance policies once issued by companies that still do business in Illinois.
As expected, most companies reported back to the state they had no such policies simply because they weren't around during that period, but some of the companies are that old. A law signed earlier this year required insurance companies doing business in the state to report any slavery-era policies to the insurance regulators by June 15.
I didn't see any for Illinois and particularly for Crenshaw, but there were at least a half dozen for slaves from Union Co., Kentucky, which is just across the river. However, I didn't recognize any of the names. Most of the Union County slaves were listed as workers on either the Bunker Hill or Ambassador steamboats. The latter burned and sank on April 25, 1847, according to information I found on the Twain Times site.
That's actually one of the interesting finds in these policies. They were generally written for slaves who were working off of the plantation, on steamboats, in coal mines, or other industrial activities.
I saw at least one policy taken out by Lewis C. Robards, one of the most notorious slave traders and kidnappers in antebellum Kentucky. Robards ran a famous slave jail in a converted theater in Lexington that was known for its high-class, light-skinned female slaves. Physical descriptions of that slave jail by the way do show some similarities with the third floor of the Old Slave House. For additional trivia, Robard's uncle Lewis Robards was the first husband of President Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel, the one that Jackson thought had already divorced Rachel when he married her.
I also saw a few policies for John H. Morgan of Fayette Co., Kentucky. He's better recognized as Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan, and his troops as Morgan's Raiders. It was men ultimately under his command that raided into Gallatin Co., Illinois, during the Civil War.
You can search by name for either the slave or the slave holder at the Slavery Era Insurance Policies Registry on the state's website.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's Division of Insurance unveiled today its Slavery Era Policies Register, an online database of slave insurance policies once issued by companies that still do business in Illinois.
As expected, most companies reported back to the state they had no such policies simply because they weren't around during that period, but some of the companies are that old. A law signed earlier this year required insurance companies doing business in the state to report any slavery-era policies to the insurance regulators by June 15.
I didn't see any for Illinois and particularly for Crenshaw, but there were at least a half dozen for slaves from Union Co., Kentucky, which is just across the river. However, I didn't recognize any of the names. Most of the Union County slaves were listed as workers on either the Bunker Hill or Ambassador steamboats. The latter burned and sank on April 25, 1847, according to information I found on the Twain Times site.
That's actually one of the interesting finds in these policies. They were generally written for slaves who were working off of the plantation, on steamboats, in coal mines, or other industrial activities.
I saw at least one policy taken out by Lewis C. Robards, one of the most notorious slave traders and kidnappers in antebellum Kentucky. Robards ran a famous slave jail in a converted theater in Lexington that was known for its high-class, light-skinned female slaves. Physical descriptions of that slave jail by the way do show some similarities with the third floor of the Old Slave House. For additional trivia, Robard's uncle Lewis Robards was the first husband of President Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel, the one that Jackson thought had already divorced Rachel when he married her.
I also saw a few policies for John H. Morgan of Fayette Co., Kentucky. He's better recognized as Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan, and his troops as Morgan's Raiders. It was men ultimately under his command that raided into Gallatin Co., Illinois, during the Civil War.
You can search by name for either the slave or the slave holder at the Slavery Era Insurance Policies Registry on the state's website.
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