can Anti-Slavery Society Report_, 1860, p. 44.

CHAPTER IV

THE SOCIAL STATUS OF THE SLAVE

As many of the slave regulations were enacted to deal with extreme
cases and some of them were not generally enforced, it is necessary to
consider also the social status of the blacks to determine exactly
what the institution was in Kentucky. In this commonwealth slavery was
decidedly patriarchal. The slave was not such an unfortunate creature
as some have pictured him. He usually had set apart for himself and
his family a house which was located near the master's mansion. While
this home may have been a rude cabin made of small logs, with a roof
covered with splits and an earthen floor, likely as not the master's
son was attending school a few weeks in the year in a neighboring log
cabin which boasted of no more luxuries than the humble slave
dwelling. The servant and his family were well fed and had plenty of
domestic cloth for all necessary wearing apparel.

The kind of clothing which the Kentucky slave had can be seen best by
a study of the runaway slave advertisements where a description of
apparel was often essential to the apprehension of the Negro. "Billy"
in 1803 ran away from his owner in Lexington and took such a variety
of clothing with him that the master was unable to give a description
of them.[356] "Jack," running away from his owner in Mercer County,
had on when he left and took with him "one pale blue jeans coat, one
gray jeans coat, and an old linsey coat; one pair of cloth pantaloons,
one pair of jeans, and one of linen."[357] "Thenton," when leaving his
master in Warren County, took with him "a new black smooth fur hat, a
yellow woollen jeans frock coat, more than half worn; three shirts,
two of coarse cotton and one entirely new, the third a bleached
domestic and new; one blanket; one pair of pantaloons, of cotton and
flax."[358] "Jarret," from Leitchfield, wore when he left "a smooth
black Russia hat" and took with him "a pair of buckskin saddle bags
... and a great deal of clothing, to wit: one brown jeans frock coat,
and pantaloons of the same; also, a brown jeans overcoat, with large
pockets in the side; a new dark colored overcoat, two pair blue cloth
pantaloons, and an old silver watch."[359] The clothing of "Esau,"
from Meade County, was described as "brown jeans pants, black cassinet
pants, blue cloth pants, three fine shirts, one black silk vest and
one green vest, one brown jeans frock