oung man was
not allowed to give his girl any form of gift, and the efforts of some
girls to secretly receive gifts which they claimed to have "found", were
in vain, for these were taken from them. After the proposal, the
procedure was practically the same as is observed today. The consent of
the parent and the master was necessary. Marriages were mostly held at
night and no pains were spared to make them occasions to be remembered
and cherished. Beautiful clothes--her own selections--were given the
bride, and friends usually gave gifts for the house. These celebrations,
attended by visitors from many plantations, and always by the Towns
family, ended in gay "frolics" with cakes, wine, etc., for refreshments.

During the first year of married life the couple remained with the
bride's mother who instructed her in the household arts. Disputes
between the newlyweds were not tolerated and punishment by the parents
was the result of "nagging". At the end of a year, another log cabin was
added to the quarters and the couple began housekeeping. The moral code
was exceedingly high; the penalty for offenders--married or single,
white or colored--was to be banished from the group entirely. Thus
illegitimate children were rare enough to be a novelty.

Young Phil was in his teens when he began his first job--coach driver
for "Gov." Towns. This was just before they moved to Georgia. He
traveled with him wherever he went, and as the Gov. purchased a
plantation in Talbot County, (the house still stands), and a home in
Macon, (the site of Mt. De Sales Academy), a great deal of his time was
spent on the road. Phil never did any other work except to occasionally
assist in sweeping the large yard. The other members of this group split
rails, did field work, spinning, tailoring and any of the many things
that had to be done. Each person might choose the type of work he liked
best.

Opportunities to make cash money were plentiful. Some made baskets and
did hand work which was sold and the money given the maker. A man or
woman who paid Gov. Towns $150.00 might hire himself to the Gov. for a
year. When this was done he was paid cash for all the work he did and
many were able to clear several hundred dollars in a year. In addition
to this opportunity for earning money, every adult had an acre of ground
which he might cultivate as he chose. Any money made from the sale of
this produce was his own.

Recreation was not considered important so