But there was one drawback to Sam, and that was his color.
He was one of the blackest of his race. This he evidently regarded
as a great misfortune; but he endeavored to make up for it in dress.
Mr. Wilson kept his house-servants well dressed, and as for Sam,
he was seldom seen except in a ruffled shirt. Indeed, the washerwoman
feared him more than any one else in the house.
Agnes had been inaugurated chief of the kitchen department,
and had a general supervision of the household affairs.
Alfred, the coachman, Peter, and Hetty made up the remainder
of the house-servants. Besides these, Mr. Wilson owned
eight slaves who were masons. These worked in the city.
Being mechanics, they were let out to greater advantage than
to keep them on the farm.
Every Sunday evening, Mr. Wilson's servants, including the brick-layers,
assembled in the kitchen, where the events of the week were fully discussed
and commented upon. It was on a Sunday evening, in the month of June,
that there was a party at Mr. Wilson's house, and, according to custom
in the Southern States, the ladies had their maid-servants with them.
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