pes of work. There were the plow hands,
the hoe hands, etc. Each worker had a required amount of work to
complete each day and an overseer was hired by slave owners to keep
check on this phase of the work. "We often waited until the overseer got
behind a hill, and then we would lay down our hoe and call on God to
free us, my grandfather told me," remarked Mrs. Callaway. "However, I
was a pet in the Willis household and did not have any work to do except
play with the small children. I was required to keep their hands and
faces clean. Sometimes I brought in chips to make the fires. We often
kept so much noise playing in the upstairs bedroom that the master would
call to us and ask that we keep quiet." Older women on the plantation
acted as nurses for all the small children and babies while their
parents worked in the fields. The mistress would keep a sharp eye on the
children also to see that they were well cared for. A slave's life was
very valuable to their owners.

Punishment was seldom necessary on the Willis plantation as the master
and mistress did everything possible to make their slaves happy; and to
a certain extent indulged them. They were given whisky liberally from
their master's still; and other choice food on special occasions. "I
remember once," remarked Mrs. Callaway, "my aunt Rachel burned the
biscuits and the young master said to her, "Rachel, you nursed me and I
promised not to ever whip you, so don't worry about burning the bread."
My mistress was very fond of me, too, and gave me some of everything
that she gave her own children, tea cakes, apples, etc. She often told
me that she was my mother and was supposed to look after me. In spite of
the kindness of the Willis family there were some slaves who were
unruly; so the master built a house off to itself and called it the
Willis jail. Here he would keep those whom he had to punish. I have
known some slaves to run away on other plantations and the hounds would
bite plugs out of their legs."

The Willis family did not object to girls and boys courting. There were
large trees, and often in the evenings the boys from other plantations
would come over to see the girls on the Willis plantation. They would
stand in groups around the trees, laughing and talking. If the courtship
reached the point of marriage a real marriage ceremony was performed
from the Bible and the man was given a pass to visit his wife weekly.
Following a marriage a frolic took place an