held
there was no work done outside of the regular chores. The general
election day in those times was the first Monday in August and it was
the custom for most of the slaves throughout the "penny-royal" and
"bluegrass" to journey to the county seat, where they would all
congregate and have a general frolic in accordance with Negro
standards of a good time. In the later years of slavery the towns had
established sufficient control of the Negroes gathering in their
jurisdiction so that the drink evil was more or less mitigated. The
fear of the law was a great incentive to their proper conduct on those
rare occasions when they had a whole day in town to themselves without
any tasks to perform for their master. As Rothert has well observed,
however, the slave sometimes did have to care for his drunken owner
and take him home. To the student acquainted with Kentucky history and
social conditions such a brief statement suggests a wealth of material
on the local type of slavery.

That ardent abolitionist from across the sea, James Silk Buckingham,
has recorded a characteristic picture of the Kentucky slave at rest
and in gala attire:

"We remained at Henderson the greater part of the day, it being a
holiday with the negro slaves on the estate, so that it was
difficult to get the requisite number of hands to complete the
landing in a short time. Some of the female slaves were very
gaily dressed, and many of them in good taste, with white muslin
gowns, blue and pink waists, ribbons, silk handkerchiefs or
scarfs, straw bonnets, and a reticule for the pocket handkerchief
held on the arm. In talking with them, and inquiring the reason
of the holiday, one said she believed it was Easter, another said
it was Whitsuntide, and a third thought it was midsummer. They
were chiefly the household slaves, who are always better treated,
better dressed, and more indulgent than the field laborers. The
men who were employed in landing the cargo appeared to be more
cheerful in their general aspect and behavior than the field
slaves I have seen at the South: and there is no doubt that in
Kentucky their condition is very much better than in most other
states, their work lighter, their food and clothing better, and
their treatment more kind and humane."[366]

Legally, there were no marriages among the slaves. They were not
citizens, but property. The men w