The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1880-10-13

$1,000, ~SS't S0A SANJ WIZ Oi6O SlTGu
piece ofland for provision ground.
They were worked on estates duty
for six days in the week and on Sun
days were compelled to work their
own provision grounds, to grow
their own food. They were given
salted behring's at the rate of two or
three each week for every member of
the family, and were also given two
suits of osnaburgh clothing, and one
wooden blanket and a cap each year.
The women got checked stuff for
dresses and handkerchiets to tie on
their heads, they wore neither shoes
or stockings, for they are not required
in that climate. The slaves had
plenty of hogs and chickens which
they were allowed to sell to whom
they liked. Some of the industrious
ones were well off and took pride in
making good houses and plastering
them. A real good slave was even
allowed to own cattle and pasture
them on the estate We have seen
genuine silver spoons in their houses
in daily use, for some OF them aped
the aristocracy of their owners and
we have often heard them from
different estates dlsputing which had
the grandest master. At one time
they only had one name given by
the overseer who if a Scotchman,
would name the children Douglass"
"Wallace" ETC., after Scotch heroes,
and if an Irish overseer, the names
would have the brogue strong.
When the overseer happened to be
classic scholar, the heather nv.
thology was drawn ON for names,
and Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Hercules,
along with Venus, Menerva Proser.
pine, ETC., figured on the estate books.
When the emancipation took place
they all took new names, in most
cases that of their masters and some
of Englands nobility have their
names now common on black stock.
The names however, have become in
most instances gfrsncefv s7is%sd
from the fanciful way OF spelling
them INDUCED in by their owners.
On taking new names the slaves
were christened, which they had not
been before, by Episcopal Clergy
men, Tor that purpose they were
made to stand in row and the par
son baptised them at s1.OO per head,
which was paid by the estate. Black
people in the West Indies are not
called "colored," this term was only
applied to the people Of mixed blood,
mulattoes, sambos, mustees, etc. The
colored people were never made to
work in the fields, the men were
bred up rs carpenters, masons, black
smiths, ETC., and the women put to
household work, which in the case of
the latter was only another name for
idleness, for some households had
from twenty to thirty of these pests
hanging around doing nothing, some
estates would have ten or more of
them on the books as "washer-
women" The English people who
owned them would never allow them
to be sold. and woe be unto the
manager who illtreated slave, tor
they would soon get the minister or
some one to write to "massa" in
England, who would Immediately
order an investigation, and the man>
ager would be discharged if he had
acted unjustly. Stories of cruelty to
the slaves were much magni6ed by
outsiders to carry some scheme of
their own. 1t stands to reason that
the owner of slave costing 500 to
$1,000 would no more illtreat him
than he would his horse costing
5000, his best policy was to take
care of, and get the most work he
could out of him. Cases of cruelty
have undoubtedly taken place, as we