THE CALHOUN, KY NARRATIVES By: Rachel, Bridget, Alyssa, and Amanda

Characters Josephine Hall- 26 years old Isaac Hall- 8 years old William Douglass- 47 years old Elijah Walker- 32 years old Lucy Walker- 22 years old Jamie Walker- 5 years old

PHASE ONE: CAPTIVITY

Slave Auction Took place in Morgantown, KY in August, 1855 Dehumanizing, invasive examinations of the slaves. Josephine and Isaac were bought by Elijah Walker. William is also bought by Elijah. Elijah also bought ten other field hands.

Josephine: House Slave Worked under Lucy, the mistress of the plantation Cleaned, cooked, took care of Jamie, Lucy and Elijah's son, did the laundry, did the housework, knit Under high scrutiny and dealt with a lot of frustration from Lucy

Isaac: Playmate Appointed as playmate for Jamie Keeps him company, plays games with him Given to Jamie as personal slave Wasn't allowed to learn how to read and write with Jamie

William: Blacksmith Worked as a blacksmith Had a higher position among the slaves because of his skill Took pride in his work Helped build furniture for the slave quarters in his spare time

The Wedding of Lucretia and Solomon Six Months After Arriving on the Walker Farm Had no legal standing Was preformed outside their slave quarters on Sunday night with a Bible that they had smuggled in William preformed the ceremony "Jumping the broom": signified that they were truly married Small, quiet reception in the slave quarters afterwards- Josephine and William meet here and get to know each other, Isaac gets to play with the other children

William and Josephine While Dancing "Tha's a might fine chile there, ma'am," "Thank you, suh. T'what do I owe the pleausuh?" "I'm William, from the smithin' shop. What can I call you?" "My name's Josephine. I work up in the big house over yonder." "What's the boy's name?" "He's Isaac. He's workin' up to go out on the field soon, but for now he's up in the house with me."

(continued) "Dat's a hard life, out on the fields. I had a son about that age back in South Carolina. His name was Benjamin." "Sorry, 'was' named Benjamin?" "Boy put rocks in his cotton bag once. Not a pretty sight what come of it, mass'a brought the whip. He didn't fare all too well afta...died from a fever."

Three Years Later (1858) Isaac is now working in the fields at age eleven Hard for him to adjust to the long hours and the hard labor after working as a playmate Lucy has had the baby (a three year old girl named Sarah) Josephine has more responsibilities around the house, but her and Lucy have grown rather close

The Overseer Mr. Severe was the overseer on the Walker plantation He noticed that Isaac wasn't picking enough cotton and whipped him often All the slaves hated him and Lucy thought he was barbaric because he whipped the slaves every morning as they left the slave quarters William saw the aftermath of the whipping and resolved to get Isaac off of the plantation before he died like his son Benjamin

PHASE TWO: ESCAPE

William and Isaac's Escape One Year Later (1859) Elijah went into town on business for the weekend and Lucy and Josephine were busy taking care of Sarah William and Isaac slip away into the woods under the cover of night to travel north to freedom Josephine was unable to go with them but she was willing to remain a slave knowing that her son had a chance at freedom

(continued) William and Isaac travel by the North Star until they find a house that is part of the Underground Railroad They are provided with help from others on the Underground Railroad until they reach the free state of Indiana

Josephine When the master returned he was infuriated at the fact that two of his slaves had escaped during his absence. Knowing that Isaac was her son, Elijah kicked her out of the house and forced her to become a field slave, much to Lucy's dismay Josephine worked in the fields until 1865, when she was freed after the Civil War

PHASE THREE: FREEDOM

William and Isaac Freed At first they have no money, no home, and they have to steal food to survive. William eventually gets a job as a blacksmith in Rising Sun, Indiana Isaac learns the trade of black smithing from William They help other escaped slaves by becoming a part of the Underground Railroad They did this up to and during the Civil War, since Isaac was to young to fight and William was too old

Josephine Josephine never reunited with William or Isaac and never knew what became of them. She found her husband, Jack, and they had two more children by the names of the William and Meredith. They lived in poverty for many years but eventually built and settled in a small log cabin in Georgia

Works Cited