The collection consists of a handwritten announcement regarding an enslaved person that ran away from the Cuckooville neighborhood of Louisa County, Virginia. Dated August 3, 1840, this letter describes in detail -- including physical characteristics and temperament -- the escaped 18-year-old named Sam. The author of this document, Joseph Coats Jr., presumably Sam's enslaver, offers a ten dollar reward to "any persons who will deliver him to me at my house, or secure him in such a manner that I get him again."

It is unclear how this written announcement was meant to circulate, whether as a handbill or possibly a submission to the local newspaper.