Sentence:  Early in the war it <WSD>was</WSD> not uncommon for planters ' sons to retain in camp Negro `` body servants '' to perform the menial chores such as cooking , foraging , cleaning the quarters , shining shoes , and laundering clothes . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)