Free African Disappearances, Rio de Janeiro, 1835-1863

This dataset documents the public notice of 660 Free African “disappearances,” including flights, kidnappings, thefts, and “seductions,” published in various newspapers of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between March 1835 and August 1863. The dataset draws from the three main dailies of the Brazilian capital circulating in the middle decades of the nineteenth century—Correio Mercantil e Instructivo, Politico, Universal; Diário do Rio de Janeiro; and Jornal do Commercio—and selectively from the short-lived O Despertador. All data was extracted from digitized newspaper sources searched online from the Hemeroteca Digital, Fundação Biblioteca Nacional. Each row of the dataset draws from one disappearance event. The data extracted isolate by column the date(s) and source(s) of the public notice(s); the date disappearance; the given name, “nation” (nação), sex, and reported age of the disappeared Free African; the name of the disappeared African's concessionaire; and, the location(s) of disappearance and/or residence. The textual columns “Disappeared African Description” and “Disappeared African Clothing and Belongings” transcribe from the original key passages of the disappeared African’s clothing and belongings as well as physical appearance and demeanor.