Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-05-31
The Old Plantation.
BY L. Il. $.


we wondered at the number OF
people it took to do the work.
There we're over an hundred
slaves belonging to the place, not
counting the children, who, in
deed, seemed as hard to count as
little black ants swarming about.
OF course, most of these men
and women were field hands and
worked the large wheat and
tobacco crops. But, compared
with our simple experience of
village life there seemed to be n
little army of servants about the
house. There was, for the care
Of two pair of carriage horses and
four or FIVE riding nags, an old
coschman, Isham, who had young
Manuel as an assistant. Isham
had been stable boy for an earlier
generation and was an old man of
sense and character. He honestly
believed himself indispensable to
the white folks as the "gret hus"
Gas the family dwelling was called
on the plantation) and to the
whole black settlement. His es.
timation of himself was equaled
by the readiness with which he
found excuses for his short
comings. He was sent ON one
occasion to meet the canal boat
and reached the landing 80 late
that the expected guest had taken
o shorter route and walked to
Oakenwold before the carriage
returned.
''Isham, you wretch" said my
aunt, "what made you SO late /"
You sees, mistiss," gravely
bowling, cap in hand, "dese
wheels fuse to tu'n."
Manuel, Isham's assistant, was
a powerful young fellow, black,
shiny and good.natured. He was
as strong as a bull, could have
tossed Isham up with one hand,
but was dreadfully afraid Of the
old man and entirely under hack.
The horses were brought under
my uncle's window a little after
daylight every morning for his in
spection. To this early confer-
ence also came Ralph, the gar
dener, who had two grievances
that served him in all weathers
ode mizry in de back" and "dem
onnat'ral lazy nigga boys what de
mistiss posters him by sendin' in
de garden for to help"
The dining-room was supplied
with three walters: Shepherd,
the aristocrat, who carried the
keys Abner, put under Shepherd
"to 1arn," and Godfrey, boy
whose use l could never see, un-
less it was to wait on Abner.
Shepherd could not hand your
plate nor fill your glass without
impressing you with the solemnity
OF life and particularly of this
occasion; but Abner was wag,
an undeveloped Mark Twain. He
wss a young elephant for clumsi-
ness, and the very fact of his
being put into the position of
waiter was itself good Joke.
His agility in making excuses,
however, was, like "Uncle
Ishsm's," something fine. For
his many breakages he had one
ever-repeated defense: "But you
knows, mistis, ax'dens does hap
pen in de bes' regulated fam lies. "
Being sent to the dining.room for
a little table, which he had just
smashed by falling over, he earn.
estly declared that ode top oh
dat table done lei' de legsl"
Each successive cook, always a
man, was kept for several years
at irst-class restaurant in Rich
mond, "to learn good manners
and jump Jim Crow l suppose,
for | am sure my aunts kitchen
could have afforded him sufficient
instruction. The kitchen was
some distance from the house,
and you will wonder how four
kinds of hot bread for breakfast
and four hot meats could issue
from it, when l tell you there was
nothing like a stove on the whole
plantation. The most elaborate
dinners were prepared in the big,
wide Fireplace, furnished with
spits and iron pots and ovens.
Besides these men there were two
laundresses, dairy woman, two
chambermaids, and my aunt's
maid, all attended by satellites,
supposed to be "larnin'.
Then a host of carders, spin
ners, weavers and seamstresses,
for all wooden clothes were spun
and woven and both wooden and