Nathan Guilford letter to Thomas Rotch, Cincinnati, Ohio July 16, 1817

A four page letter 8" x 9.5"(20.5cm x 24cm)from Nathan Guilford, secretary of the Western Emigrant Society to Thomas Rotch enquiring on behalf of abolitionist, Paul Cuffee regarding the relocation of 300 to 400 slaves recently freed by the will of Samuel Gist of Virginia. Guilford notes that the laws of Ohio, Indiana or Illinois do not prohibit their relocation and the Emigrant Society is committed to their protection if land could be found for such a settlement. He notes that lands bordering major Ohio rivers have already been settled and the proximity of such a settlement to the Ohio and Mississippi that separates free from slave states would put blacks in danger of being kidnapped and sold, and therefore the Emigrant Society does not encourage settlement along major river systems currently settled by emigrants from slave states such as Virginia and Kentucky. He expresses the Society's view that the settlement of freed blacks is a major concern and he regrets that Congress has made no provisions for their colonization