f any
other means of earning a living. Moreover, farming was almost the only
occupation open to them in the colony. Some, who had been trained upon
the plantations as artisans, doubtless made use of their skill after
becoming free to increase their incomes, but even these were forced to
turn their attention chiefly to farming. With the payment that was
made by the former master, and the land which it was so easy to
obtain, the new freeman, if he were sober and industrious, was sure to
wrest from the soil an abundant supply of food and perhaps enough
tobacco to make him quite prosperous. He must first plant corn, for
were he to give all his land to tobacco, he would starve before he
received from it any returns. If things went well with him, he would
buy hogs and cattle, and thereafter these would constitute his most
valuable possession.

Some of the servants upon the expiration of their terms of indenture
secured work as overseers, if they found it impossible to obtain
patents to estates of their own. Throughout the greater part of the
colonial period the position occupied by the overseer was preferable
to that of the poorest class of independent farmers. His usual
remuneration was a part of the crop. Sometimes he received only
one-tenth of what was produced, but often his share was much greater,
for cases are on record where he was to keep one half. Later the pay
was regulated by the number of persons under his management, slaves as
well as hired and indentured servants forming the basis of the
calculation. Under both systems of payment he was liberally rewarded
for his services.[194] The control of many laborers, the necessity for
a knowledge of all the details of farming, the contact with his
employer in matters of business made requisite in the overseer both
intelligence and the power of command. Many were men of much ability
and were trusted by the planters with the entire management of their
estates. When the overseer worked upon the "home" plantation, he
usually dwelt either in the mansion itself or in one of the group of
houses nearby, in which were sleeping rooms used by members of the
household or guests. He was treated always with courtesy and was
accorded some social recognition by his aristocratic employer.
Sometimes the overseer through ability and care accumulated property
and became an independent planter.

Occasionally the servants upon the close of their term of indenture
earned a subsistence as hir