coat, one pale blue coat, velvet
collar; coarse shoes and black hat."[360] "Stewart" left his master in
Bullitt County dressed in typical Negro attire--"a black luster coat,
made sack fashion, and a pair of snuff colored cassinet pantaloons;
also, a black fur hat with low crown and broad brim, and vest with
purple dots on it."[361] "George," living in Marion County, had an
outfit of "Brown jeans frock coat (skirt lined with home-made flannel
dyed with madder), a pair of new black and yellow twilled negro jeans
pantaloons, white socks, factory shirt with linen bosom, and black
wool hat."[362] An owner advertising in 1852 stated that his slave
"Andy" had three suits of clothes with him when he ran away.[363] It
is perfectly evident from the reading of these slave advertisements
that the male Negroes were as substantially clothed as any members of
their race could expect to be at that time even in a state of freedom.
The surplus clothing as described above was all a part of the slave's
own property and not taken from the master's wardrobe. There were many
cases of theft but they need not be considered in this discussion. A
large majority of all runaway slaves were men and even when
advertisements dealt with female fugitives it was only on rare
occasions that the owner attempted to give a description of the
clothing which was worn. Will Morton in 1806 gave a list of "Letty's"
clothing as "two or three white muslin dresses, one of fancy chintz,
salmon colored linsey petticoat, white yarn stockings, and good shoes,
with sundry other clothing of good quality."[364] At such an early
date in the history of Kentucky slavery the apparel of this young
slave woman compares very favorably with that which was worn by the
white people.

In sickness the slaves were cared for by the same physician who looked
after the master and his family and should occasion demand assistance
any member of the owner's household might be found nursing a sick
Negro. There was no limit to the supply of fuel for the winter, for
the slaves had the right to cut timber for their own use anywhere in
the woods of the estate.[365]

As in Virginia, the slave was permitted to have a little "truck-patch"
of half an acre or more, where he could raise any crop that he
desired. In Kentucky these small plots of ground were nearly always
filled with sweet potatoes, tobacco and watermelons. The soil was not
only conducive to their cultivation but they were the three fav