Griffin & Pullum
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Slave trading |
| Founded | 19th century |
| Founder | Pierce Griffin, William A. Pullum |
| Headquarters | Natchez , United States |
Area served | Kentucky, Mississippi |
Key people | Pierce Griffin, William A. Pullum, Asa Blackwell, F. G. Murphy |
| Products | Enslaved people (interstate slave trade) |
Griffin & Pullum, which later became known as Griffin, Pullum & Co., was a 19th-century American enterprise engaged in interstate slave trading, established by Pierce Griffin and William A. Pullum. Their main business involved acquiring enslaved individuals in Kentucky and selling them in Mississippi.
As detailed by J. Winston Coleman in Slavery Times in Kentucky, Griffin had established operations in Natchez by 1833, with tax documentation showing sales surpassing six thousand dollars during that year.
Historian Frederic Bancroft recorded an interview in 1902 with Alfred Wornell, who had been transported from Lexington, Kentucky to Natchez by Pullum in the late 1840s. Wornell recounted being confined in a Lexington jail before being moved along with 62 other enslaved people to Griffin’s holding area at the Forks of the Road market. The trip included scheduled stops for rest and supplies, and escape attempts were met with severe punishment.
Instead of always marching enslaved people southward in coffles, Griffin & Pullum occasionally utilized steamboats for transportation. Testimony from a Pullum representative in court revealed that captives were chained until they reached the Mississippi River to deter any escape attempts into free states across the Ohio River.
The company played a role in the trafficking of Henrietta Wood to Mississippi. By the 1850s, operating under the name Griffin, Pullum & Co., the business included Asa Blackwell and F. G. Murphy as partners. In 1860, they promoted sales held at the "old Elam House" located at the Forks of the Road slave market, previously owned by R. H. Elam. According to historian Steven Deyle, local periodicals such as the Mississippi Free Trader advertised Griffin & Pullum as a trustworthy firm recognized for integrity in their dealings.