Richard Trammel's post is appreciated, for a couple of reasons. By
this point in time most serious students of slavery should NOT be
surprised that slaves had money, participated in markets,m purchased
much of their own personal property, etc. That is a subject that has
been written about fairly heavily in recent years. It helps stifle
the rush to judgement about such things as whether ceramics in a
slave quarter can only be viewed as hand-me-downs from "the big
house" or as pilfered items! On the subject of resurrectionists, I am
still in the process of studying the remains from a medical-waste
ossuary at the medical College of Virgina (1840s-50s), from which we
recovered remains of at least 60-some individuals, all of whom are
probably African Americans. The local lore at the time was certainly
filled with "urban legends" about professional ghouls, themselves
slaves who worked for the medical school. However, there has been
some evidence come about concerning the sale of bodies to med schools
by slaves with the proceeds going to family members, or, before the
fact, to the "deceased" themselves.
 
Dan Mouer
visit me at http://www.freedomnet.com~dmouer/homepage.htm