, Nelly

Nelly was born enslaved around 1803. Her mother’s name was Betty and she had a sister named Eady who was very close to her in age, possibly a twin. Nelly was born in Loudoun County, probably at the estate of her owner, Robert Armistead III, who resided in a house called “the Cottage.” Nelly appears not to have lived with her father. Slaveholders at this time usually prioritized keeping children with their mother and were not as concerned about keeping the father close to his children.

Early in her life, Armistead deeded Nelly and her family to his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Nelly was probably childhood playmates with the Armistead daughters since they were only slightly older than Nelly, and it was not uncommon for white and enslaved children to play together. Unlike her white playmates, however, Nelly may have started working around the age of six by taking care of smaller children or helping in the kitchen.

In 1811, Robert Armistead deeded Nelly and her family to Armistead T. Mason in trust for Armistead’s minor daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Nelly probably moved to Mason’s Raspberry Plain estate at this time. From 1813 to 1816, Mason hired out Nelly each year, together with her mother and sister, using the profits to pay for clothes and schooling for Mary and Elizabeth and probably also to increase the value of their estate. Slaveholders often hired out enslaved people to generate income, especially if those people would have been surplus labor in their own households.

Nelly was hired out on her own for the first time in 1817.  The move to solo, full-time work usually happened around the age of fourteen or fifteen for girls. Mason charged $7 for her hire for 1817. By comparison, Nelly, Betty, and Eady were all hired out together for $5 in 1816, probably because enslaved mothers with children were seen as less productive and required more resources to feed, shelter, and clothe than an unencumbered enslaved woman. After 1817, the record of Nelly’s life is silent.

By Nina Erickson