My mother's name was
Matilda Hale and my father was Gilbert Whitlew. My mother and father
belonged to different master's, but the plantations that they lived on
were near each other and so my father was allowed to visit us often. My
mother had two other girls who were my half-sisters. You see--my mother
was sold to the speculator in Virginia and brought to Georgia where she
was sold to Mr. Hale, who was our master until freedom was declared.
When she was sold to the speculator the two girls who were my
half-sisters had to be sold with her because they were too young to be
separated from their mother. My father, Gilbert Whitlew, was my mother's
second husband.
"Mr. Hale, our master, was not rich like some of the other planters in
the community. His plantation was a small one and he only had eight
servants who were all women. He wasn't able to hire an overseer and all
of the heavy work such as the plowing was done by his sons. Mrs. Hale
did all of her own cooking and that of the slaves too. In all Mr. Hale
had eleven children. I had to nurse three of them before I was old
enough to go to the field to work."
When asked to tell about the kind of work the slaves had to do Mrs.
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