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The Scavengers

 

Nineteenth Century American towns and cities were dirty environments and Savannah was no exception. In an effort to control diseases and provide healthy living spaces, city and health officials promoted cleaning and disinfecting policies as well as garbage and sewage removal, and street paving. Savannah’s City Council worked to keep streets free of obstructions. The City Pound was created to corral roaming cows and pigs that seemed to be a constant problem in Savannah. To remove dead animals and rubbish from streets and lanes, the City Council hired cart drivers known as scavengers. Throughout the 1820s, the Streets and Lanes Committee hired local enslaved men to work as scavengers. The City Treasurer seldom recorded the names of these scavengers, but instead listed the names of owners paid for the service.[1]

 

Among the Savannah City Treasurer records are the purchases of three enslaved men in 1830 for use in the Scavengers Department. Chance, Monday, and Bob were purchased between May and July of 1830 and all three men are found in the Annual Settlements 1819-1853, as well as the Cash Books from 1830.[2]  By February of 1831, City Council authorized the City Marshal to purchase two men for the Streets and Lanes Committee for repairs. These men were to repair the road on the “west end of the City” near the “Bridge.” The Cash Book 1824-1832 records a slave purchase under the Scavengers Department for $400; the entry in the Cash Book notes the purchase date was April 9, 1831. This enslaved man’s name was Ben.[3]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        "Slaves," Year 1830, 5600CT-400 City of Savannah-                                                          "Slaves," Year 1831, 5600CT-400 City of Savannah -

         City Treasurer Records, Annual Settlement Book, 1819-1853                                               City Treasurer Records, Annual Settlement Book, 1819-1853

 

 

At the beginning of 1832 the City Council was again resolved to purchase “two able bodied Negro men” for the use of the “City, Streets and Lanes and the Scavengers Department.” Late in February there is a recorded payment of $825 for the purchase of two men whose names are not given.[4]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Official Proceedings of City Council, 12 January 1832, 2, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council's Office, Savannah, Georgia. (Council Minutes)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                        "Purchase of Slaves," 5600CT-400 City of Savannah-City Treasurer

                                                                       Records, Annual Settlements Book, 1819-1853.

 

 

Ten years later, a railroad boom and subsequent population increase required an increase in Savannah’s municipal services. The Scavengers Department was expanded and provided with buildings, sheds, and a dwelling.  In the 1842 annual report to the City Council by the Streets and Lanes Committee, three men are listed as being owned by the City and two of these men were purchased during the previous year.  Only one purchase record was found.  The purchase was made in June 1842 for $250.00; the enslaved man's name is unknown.[5]  The Committee report describes the work the Scavenger men performed as more difficult than plantation work; requiring the men to be “young vigorous and active.” According to the Streets and Lanes Report, one of the men had been jailed at the request of the Committee. They directed the City Marshal to sell him.  The Committee believed he was planning to escape. The Committee’s report states eight other “Negro” men were hired by the year at $125.  City Council Minutes reveal that the City Marshal sold the man owned by the City in November 1842.  Named London, he was sold for $252.50.  No other purchases of enslaved men were found specifically for the Scavengers Department or for the Streets and Lanes Department.  The last known entry for Ben is dated February 22, 1845 for a pair of pants.  From this date it can be inferred that Ben was one of the men from the Streets and Lanes Committee.  The Scavengers Department was reorganized in 1853 as a contract for an annual fee of $9,000.  The carts, mules and supplies were sold under the new contract. No records were found regarding what happened to the men that were part of the Scavengers Department.[6]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

 

[1] “Expenses”, January 1827, MS 5600CT-410 City of Savannah-City Treasurer’s Records, Cash Book, 1825-1830, 83; “Streets,

      Docks, & Trees”, May 1828, 142.

[2] “Slaves”, Year 1829-1830, MS 5600CT-400 City of Savannah-City Treasurer’s Records, Annual Settlements Book, 1819-1853.

[3] Official Proceedings of City Council, 24 February 1831, 197, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council’s Office, Savannah, Georgia.

[4] Official Proceedings of City Council, 12 January 1832, 2, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council’s Office, Savannah, Georgia.;

     “Scavengers Department”, Year 1832, MS 5600CT-400 City of Savannah-City Treasurer’s Records, Annual Settlements Book,

      1819-1853.

[5] “Streets and Lanes,” June 1842, MS 5600CT-410 City of Savannah-City Treasurer’s Records, Cash Book, 1839-1844, 294.

[6] Official Proceedings of City Council, 25 August 1842, 142 & 185, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council’s Office, Savannah,

      Georgia.; “Scavengers Dept.,” February 22, 1844, MS 5600CT-410 City of Savannah-City Treasurer’s Records, Cash Book,

      1839-1844, 20. City of Savannah, Georgia Record, Annual Report, Mayor’s Report, Edward Anderson, 1856, 4.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                              THE ANTELOPE

 

 

Official Proceedings of City Council, 30 November 1842, 185, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council's Office, Savannah, Georgia.
Document Citation: "Slaves," 5600CT-400 City of Savannah-City Treasurer Records, Annual Settlement Book, 1819-1853.
Document Citation: "Slaves," 5600CT-400 City of Savannah-City Treasurer Records, Annual Settlements Book, 1819-1853.
 "Purchase of Slaves," 5600CT-400 City of Savannah-City Treasurer Records, Annual Settlements Book, 1819-1853.
Document Citation: Official Proceedings of City Council, 12 January 1832, 2, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council's Office, Savannah, Georgia.  Full transcript of text on COUNCIL MINUTES page.

"Sale of Enslaved Man, London"

Official Proceedings of City Council, 30 November 1842, 185, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council's Office, Savannah, Georgia.

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