I found two references to sub-floor pits in slave quarters
for a short paper I wrote for William Kelso around 1981,
one each from an ex-slave and a slaveowner. The paper (10
pages max, as I recall) was for an introductory course in
which many of the students were in the Masters program in
architectural history at the University of Virginia. The
assignment was to do a brief architectural history of a
building type and predict the sort of archaeological remains
one might find after it's gone (the building, not the type).
There was quite a bit of prescriptive reform literature
devoted to slave management in the early 19th century (echoing
the so-called cult of domesticity) and one source that I
found particularly helpful was James Breeden's _Advice Among
Masters_, an anthology of writings from contemporary newspapers,
agricultural journals, and the like. I wrote elsewhere, "The
majority of these writers agreed that the best slave dwelling
was built of hewn log, measuring 16 by 18 feet, elevated two
to three feet above the ground for ventilation and ease of
cleaning underneath. Brick or stone chimneys were recommended
over the earlier stick-and-mud types. Shingled roofs and
glazed window were preferred to 'cabin roofs' [logs of
diminishing length in the gables connected by log purlins and
covered with shakes] and shuttered ports. . . . [in
Breeden's work] five out of ten planters who mentioned building
construction recommended log houses, three suggested frame
cabins, and one each proposed brick and plank buildings. Of
eight slave-owevers who specified dimensions, six said that
16 X 18 feet was optimum, and one favored 16 feet square."
Basically, this was the traditional English house type dubbed
the 'square cabin' by Henry Glassie.
Of course these writers were discussing an ideal, not the actual
built environment. Though some did refer to observed practice
when making their proposals. Regarding pits, one wrote "Many
persons, in building negro houses, in order to get clay
convenient for mortar dig a hole under the floor. As such
excavations uniformly become a common receptacle for filth,
which generate disease, they should by no means be allowed."
(Breeden, p. 121 #91) Im guessing that by 'mortar' he meant
clay for chinking a log hut and/or a stick-and-mud chimney.
Other slave-owners commented on the accumulation of trash
under slave houses and recommend high foundations. Obviously,
there was an issue of control here and concern that slaves
might be hiding contraband about their cabins. An ex-slave in
Virginia, Charles Grandy, told how such a pit was indeed used to hide loot and dump the inedible remains of stolen
livestock, "I got so hungry I stealed chickens off de roos'.
Yessum, I did, chickens used roos' on de fense den, right out
in de night. We would cook de chicken at night, eat him an'
bu'n de feathers. Dat's what dey had dem ole paddyroller fer.
Dey come roun' an' search de qua'ters fer to see what you bin stealin'. We
always had a trap in de floor fo' de do' to hide dese chickens
in." This is from _Weevils in the Wheat_ edited by my father,
Charles L. Perdue, Jr., with two of his English dept. grad
students, p. 116 in the original 1976 ed. By the way, for
anyone doing research in slavery, Weevils is unique in that the
WPA ex-slave interviews for Virginia were conducted by African
Americans. As far as I know all the other participating states
used white interviewers.
I suppose I ought to ask John to put me on his list. :)
Marty Perdue
(doctoral candidate in architectural history)
University of Virginia
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