Weddings and Marriages on the Plantation
While marriages between enslaved people were not legally recognized by the state, they were a custom that provided stability and community in the uncertain world of enslavement. Still, the threat of sale away from spouse and children was ever-present, and enslavers who encouraged marriage on their plantations also stoof to financially benefit from the growth of enslaved families.
Beck
This document describes Beck’s wedding in detail, including that Louisiana (possibly Beck’s mother) wanted to draft invitations for the wedding guests, but was not allowed because Martha thought none of the guests could read. In a letter written a month later, January 17, 1842, Mildred Ann Bullitt writes, "Beck was married in the holidays, & as they thought looked very beautiful, & had quite a handsome entertainment, & a select company.”
This 1842 letter from Mildred Ann Bullitt to her son, Thomas, lists the enslaved people at Oxmoor that were married recently.
Tinah and Will
Tinah, one of the people enslaved by William Christian Bullitt, became engaged to Will Green, a free Black man, in April 1859. Little information is given on where he was from or how long they had known each other, but Will and Tinah were married in early May.
At her wedding, Tinah was described as an “Indian Queen” by a member of the Bullitt family. She wore children’s gloves and Helen Bullitt’s top, and was adorned with flowers, a sash, and a three-yard-long veil atop her white dress. Caroline, Tinah, and Mildred Ann Bullitt worked on the supper, and Sabra and Mildred decorated the table. Mildred Ann Bullitt described Tinah as “the happiest bride I’ve almost ever seen.”
Less than two weeks after Tinah's wedding, Mildred Ann Bullitt writes that her daughter, Helen, “has trouble” with Beck. Mildred mentions that the Bullitt family might move some of the women they enslave to Cottonwood.
Henry and Eliza
Henry Shipp, who drove the Bullitt’s horse-drawn carriage, was married to Eliza Julia, who was enslaved at another plantation.
In a letter to her son, John, Mildred Ann Bullitt quotes Henry in a conversation he had with his wife. Here, Henry is showing Eliza a photograph, saying, "Look, baby, see that house filled with a heap or little wifes in it, but you and I aren't there, are we, baby?"
Henry died in July 1859, as told by Mildred Ann Bullitt in a small note attached to a letter for her son, Thomas Walker.