slave quarters at roswell, georgia, plantation (2)
from an adjacent posting at the sm*th plantation (name[s] obscured at the request of my host):
"This building is representative of a slave dwelling. Though the exact age of the structure is unknown, it is believed to be one of the oldest on site. It might have been used by slaves who cleared the land prior to construction of the main house in 1845. In 1940, Archibald Sm*th’s grandson, Arthur, made alterations to a number of structures on the plantation site. He may have removed a fireplace and chimney from this cabin and replaced them with a glass paned window. Only house servants would have occupied cabins close to the main house. Field hands would have lived closer to the fields in which they worked.
By the age of 22, Archibald Sm*th owned six slaves at his home in coastal Georgia. By the 1830s his workforce had grown to sixty slaves, including a driver, two carpenters, a cook, a nurse, two house servants and twelve field hands. Archibald’s son, Archie, wrote that while his father lived in St. Marys, Georgia he became 'infected with abolition ideas and designed to free his Negroes and send them to Liberia. But attempted first to prepare them for self support and self government. In his attempt he overworked himself destroyed all discipline and effectiveness among his people. Crops failed. Father had nervous prostration. Appenzelle [the St. Marys plantation] was a failure.' Archibald had apparently such ideas from his youth. Archie wrote: 'As a young man Father was zealous in giving the Negroes religious instruction, and he endured much heat and hardship [from other slave owners] teaching them in Savannah.'
When the Sm*ths came to Roswell from the coast, twenty-one slaves accompanied the family. Four were to return to the coastal property and in their place, another thirteen slaves came to Roswell. By 1841, Archibald recorded the ownership of 39 slaves on his Roswell area properties. Apparently due to the challenges of farming in a new environment, Archibald wrote in 1844: 'I have sold some of my Negroes & reduced the number of farm hands to two men and one boy: intending to plant but a small quantity of liable products and sow a large quantity of small grain...'
To escape the occupation of Roswell by Union Troops in 1864, Archibald Sm*th moved his family to Valdosta, Georgia. At least fifteen of the slaves who accompanied the Sm*ths to Southern Georgia remained in Valdosta after the Civil War and apparently became free sharecroppers.
To encourage his workforce, Archibald Smith offered incentives in 1841. Thus the enslaved African Americans, who were looking for the opportunity to improve their lives, became consumers..."
"This building is representative of a slave dwelling. Though the exact age of the structure is unknown, it is believed to be one of the oldest on site. It might have been used by slaves who cleared the land prior to construction of the main house in 1845. In 1940, Archibald Sm*th’s grandson, Arthur, made alterations to a number of structures on the plantation site. He may have removed a fireplace and chimney from this cabin and replaced them with a glass paned window. Only house servants would have occupied cabins close to the main house. Field hands would have lived closer to the fields in which they worked.
By the age of 22, Archibald Sm*th owned six slaves at his home in coastal Georgia. By the 1830s his workforce had grown to sixty slaves, including a driver, two carpenters, a cook, a nurse, two house servants and twelve field hands. Archibald’s son, Archie, wrote that while his father lived in St. Marys, Georgia he became 'infected with abolition ideas and designed to free his Negroes and send them to Liberia. But attempted first to prepare them for self support and self government. In his attempt he overworked himself destroyed all discipline and effectiveness among his people. Crops failed. Father had nervous prostration. Appenzelle [the St. Marys plantation] was a failure.' Archibald had apparently such ideas from his youth. Archie wrote: 'As a young man Father was zealous in giving the Negroes religious instruction, and he endured much heat and hardship [from other slave owners] teaching them in Savannah.'
When the Sm*ths came to Roswell from the coast, twenty-one slaves accompanied the family. Four were to return to the coastal property and in their place, another thirteen slaves came to Roswell. By 1841, Archibald recorded the ownership of 39 slaves on his Roswell area properties. Apparently due to the challenges of farming in a new environment, Archibald wrote in 1844: 'I have sold some of my Negroes & reduced the number of farm hands to two men and one boy: intending to plant but a small quantity of liable products and sow a large quantity of small grain...'
To escape the occupation of Roswell by Union Troops in 1864, Archibald Sm*th moved his family to Valdosta, Georgia. At least fifteen of the slaves who accompanied the Sm*ths to Southern Georgia remained in Valdosta after the Civil War and apparently became free sharecroppers.
To encourage his workforce, Archibald Smith offered incentives in 1841. Thus the enslaved African Americans, who were looking for the opportunity to improve their lives, became consumers..."
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this is amazing stuff
 
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facinating story. The bed looks none to comfortable but must have been well made to last this long. Great shot.
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i'm trying to figure out if that's it for their mattress!
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freak, your photo is representative!! Hi freak!! :-))
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There would have been a matress that was homemade from cornhusks, or something similiar. Thus, there literally were bed bugs. The expression "sleep tight" comes from the rope bed--which had to be tightened by hand or a crank of some sort.
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