Jekyll Island's Early Years by June Hall McCash;

Author:June Hall McCash;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)
Published: 2014-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Southern gentlemen often used the north end of Amelia Island, Florida, for their duels, as did Henri du Bignon and his adversary, H. D. Holland, in 1833. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

We are fortunate to have an extensive description of slave life on the du Bignon plantation under Henri’s supervision. An enslaved woman named Julia Rush (her married name) left an account of her life there with her mother and three sisters, all of whom lived together in a log cabin in the slave quarters behind the du Bignon house. Born in 1826, the year following Christophe’s death, Julia would live much of her life under the supervision of Henri du Bignon. Although both her parents had worked on the Jekyll plantation, Colonel du Bignon, as she referred to him throughout her account, had sold her father away when she was only a baby, and she never knew him. She did, however, recall being the playmate of Henri’s youngest daughter, Eugenia, who had been born in 1825. Her earliest memories were happy ones, when “all she had to do was play from morning till night.” When she was old enough to help, she was put to work in the kitchen of her master’s house, a position that afforded a certain privilege. Later, however, for reasons she does not mention, she was sent to the fields to work alongside her mother and sisters. Even so, she contended with a certain pride that she could “outplow” any man. According to Julia’s account, Colonel du Bignon’s black driver would awaken the field hands before dawn and set them to work. The slaves toiled under the task system. Each worker was assigned a certain amount of labor to complete and could expect a whipping if it was not finished. Breakfast was sent to them in the fields, but at lunchtime they were permitted to go home to eat and, no doubt, to escape for a while the worst heat of the day. Julia and her family also prepared their own evening meals in their individual cabins. All able-bodied slaves worked, she pointed out, even women with young babies, who carried their infants to the fields in a basket on their head.

Living conditions for the slaves were sparse but not unbearable. The houses that du Bignon provided Julia’s family and his other slaves had wooden floors, beds, benches, and a fireplace where they did their cooking. Chinks in the wall were filled with mud. The colonel issued them clothing twice a year, once in summer and once in winter. Summer issues for men consisted of two shirts, two pairs of pants, and two pairs of undergarments, all of cotton and all made on the plantation. Women received two dresses, two underskirts, and two pairs of underwear. The slaves went barefoot in the summer, but in winter du Bignon issued shoes along with their clothing. Julia particularly recalled a pair of “heavy red leather brogans” that she received in the winter issue. Du Bignon also provided them some food, though not enough to sustain them without their own effort.

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