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“Fanny
has had six children; all dead but one, she came
to beg to have her work in the field lightened.
Nanny has had three children; two of them are
dead. She came to implore that the rule of sending
them into the field three weeks after their confinement
might be altered.
Leah,
Caesar's wife, has had six children; three are
dead.
Sophy, Lewis's wife, came to beg for some old
line. She is suffering fearfully; has had ten
children; five of them all dead. The principal
favor she asked was a piece of meat, which I gave
her.
Sally, Scipio's wife, has had two miscarriages
and three children born, one of whom is dead.
She came complaining of incessant pain and weakness
in her back. This woman was a mullatto daughter
of a slave called Sophy, by a white man of the
name of Walker who visited the plantation.
Charlotte, Renty's wife, has had two miscarriages,
and was with child again. She was almost crippled
with rheumatism, and showed me a pair of poor
swollen knees that made my heart ache. I have
promised her a pair of flannel trousers, which
I must forthwith see about making.
Sarah,
Stephen's wife; this woman's case and history
alike are deplorable. She has had four miscarriages,
had brought seven children into the world, five
of whom were dead, and was again with child. She
complained of dreadful pains in the back, and
an internal tumor which swells with the exertion
of working in the fields; probably I think, it
is ruptured.... I suppose her constant childbearing
and hard labor in the fields at the same time
may have produced... temporary insanity...”
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