, Jack

Jack was an enslaved man who may have worked as a skilled cooper, or barrel maker. He may have born circa 1780. Jack was likely held in bondage by Stevens Thomson Mason, and may have later passed to his son Armistead T. Mason. Jack appeared in the Mason family account book in entries for 1801 and 1802 as a go-between delivering cash to two of Stevens’s account holders.

A “Jack the cooper,” possibly the same Jack mentioned in the account book, appeared in Armistead T. Mason’s estate account in the 1820s. In part because cooper’s skills were in high demand, this Jack was often hired out. Slaveholders at this time who had a surplus of enslaved people found it economical to hire them out to other slaveholders or to farmers who did not have enslaved people of their own. Hirers would often cover all the enslaved person’s expenses for that year, including food, clothing, medical care, and any property tax for that enslaved person. Hiring contracts usually lasted from January to December; the enslaved people lived with their temporary owners during that time. Enslaved men’s experiences as hired laborers varied drastically depending on the hirer. Hiring was no guarantee against violent abuse by the hirer, and hired slaves often lacked adequate food or shelter. 

Jack, as a cooper, likely commanded a higher hiring rate than non-skilled enslaved laborers, and he may have apprenticed with a cooper for several years in order to learn the trade. Making barrels or smaller wooden casks required special skill to join staves of wood so they were waterproof. Such barrels were used to store and ship wet and dry goods such as tobacco, wheat, and wine. Jack’s skills would have been invaluable to farmers or plantation owners, especially since enslaved coopers often had their own tools, such as a saw and wood joiner.

By Nina Erickson