Figure 3

Citation

Myron H. Kimball (New York). “Wilson Chinn, a branded slave from Louisiana.” 1863. Greg French Collection. Mirror of Race, 11 Feb. 2021, mirrorofrace.bc.edu/items/show/142. Accessed 18 May 2024.

Title

Wilson Chinn, a branded slave from Louisiana

Subject

Wilson Chinn, a branded slave from Louisiana

Creator

Myron H. Kimball (New York)

Date

1863

Type

Studio Portrait

Identifier

Figure 3

Rights Holder

Greg French Collection

Original Format

carte de visite, albumen print

Factual Commentary

This portrait shows Wilson Chinn, branded on his forehead with the initials of his former master, Volsey B. Marmillion, and displaying implements of bondage and punishment for slaves. The device with the three prongs around his neck would prevent a person from lying down, and the rigid leg iron would prevent running to escape. The perforated paddle on the floor was for beatings. Marmillion ran a sugar plantation outside of New Orleans, and 105 of his slaves, including Chinn, escaped to the Union lines. Harper’s Weekly in a story of January 30, 1864, reported that “Thirty of them had been branded like cattle with a hot iron, four of them on the forehead, and the others on the breast or arm.”