THE CALHOUN, KY NARRATIVESTHE CALHOUN, KY NARRATIVESBy: Rachel, Bridget, Alyssa, and AmandaBy: Rachel, Bridget, Alyssa, and Amanda

Characters

• Josephine Hall- 26 years old

• Isaac Hall- 8 years old

• William Douglass- 47 years old

• Elijah Walker- 32 years old

• Lucy Walker- 22 years old

• Jamie Walker- 5 years old

PHASE ONE: CAPTIVITYPHASE ONE: CAPTIVITY

Slave Auction

• Took place in Morgantown, KY in August, 1855

• Dehumanizing, invasive examinations of the slaves.

• Josephine and Isaac were bought by Elijah Walker.

• William is also bought by Elijah.

• Elijah also bought ten other field hands.

Josephine: House Slave

• Worked under Lucy, the mistress of the plantation

• Cleaned, cooked, took care of Jamie, Lucy and Elijah's son, did the laundry, did the housework, knit

• Under high scrutiny and dealt with a lot of frustration from Lucy

Isaac: Playmate

• Appointed as playmate for Jamie

• Keeps him company, plays games with him

• Given to Jamie as personal slave

• Wasn't allowed to learn how to read and write with Jamie

William: Blacksmith

• Worked as a blacksmith

• Had a higher position among the slaves because of his skill

• Took pride in his work

• Helped build furniture for the slave quarters in his spare time

The Wedding of Lucretia and Solomon

Six Months After Arriving on the Walker Farm

• Had no legal standing

• Was preformed outside their slave quarters on Sunday night with a Bible that they had smuggled in

• William preformed the ceremony

• "Jumping the broom": signified that they were truly married

• Small, quiet reception in the slave quarters afterwards- Josephine and William meet here and get to know each other, Isaac gets to play with the other children

William and JosephineWhile Dancing

• "Tha's a might fine chile there, ma'am,"

• "Thank you, suh. T'what do I owe the pleausuh?"

• "I'm William, from the smithin' shop. What can I call you?"

• "My name's Josephine. I work up in the big house over yonder."

• "What's the boy's name?"

• "He's Isaac. He's workin' up to go out on the field soon, but for now he's up in the house with me."

(continued)

• "Dat's a hard life, out on the fields. I had a son about that age back in South Carolina. His name was Benjamin."

• "Sorry, 'was' named Benjamin?"

• "Boy put rocks in his cotton bag once. Not a pretty sight what come of it, mass'a brought the whip. He didn't fare all too well afta...died from a fever."

Three Years Later (1858)

• Isaac is now working in the fields at age eleven

• Hard for him to adjust to the long hours and the hard labor after working as a playmate

• Lucy has had the baby (a three year old girl named Sarah)

• Josephine has more responsibilities around the house, but her and Lucy have grown rather close

The Overseer

• Mr. Severe was the overseer on the Walker plantation

• He noticed that Isaac wasn't picking enough cotton and whipped him often

• All the slaves hated him and Lucy thought he was barbaric because he whipped the slaves every morning as they left the slave quarters

• William saw the aftermath of the whipping and resolved to get Isaac off of the plantation before he died like his son Benjamin

PHASE TWO: ESCAPEPHASE TWO: ESCAPE

William and Isaac's EscapeOne Year Later (1859)

• Elijah went into town on business for the weekend and Lucy and Josephine were busy taking care of Sarah

• William and Isaac slip away into the woods under the cover of night to travel north to freedom

• Josephine was unable to go with them but she was willing to remain a slave knowing that her son had a chance at freedom

(continued)

• William and Isaac travel by the North Star until they find a house that is part of the Underground Railroad

• They are provided with help from others on the Underground Railroad until they reach the free state of Indiana

Josephine

• When the master returned he was infuriated at the fact that two of his slaves had escaped during his absence.

• Knowing that Isaac was her son, Elijah kicked her out of the house and forced her to become a field slave, much to Lucy's dismay

• Josephine worked in the fields until 1865, when she was freed after the Civil War

PHASE THREE: FREEDOMPHASE THREE: FREEDOM

William and Isaac Freed

• At first they have no money, no home, and they have to steal food to survive.

• William eventually gets a job as a blacksmith in Rising Sun, Indiana

• Isaac learns the trade of black smithing from William

• They help other escaped slaves by becoming a part of the Underground Railroad

• They did this up to and during the Civil War, since Isaac was to young to fight and William was too old

Josephine

• Josephine never reunited with William or Isaac and never knew what became of them.

• She found her husband, Jack, and they had two more children by the names of the William and Meredith.

• They lived in poverty for many years but eventually built and settled in a small log cabin in Georgia

Works Cited

• http://www.gwu.edu/~folklife/bighouse/panel19.html

• http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=2205

• http://www.startum.com/slaveweddings.htm

• http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/anderso1.html

• http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/reynold1.html

• http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23/23-h/23-h.htm

• http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/crocket1.html