Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/135

 These facts were embodied in a petition which he entered in court for the purpose of constraining Mrs. Lucas to remunerate him for the three years beyond his legal term which she had forced him to serve.

Nicholas Martian, of York, directed in his will that when the first crop of tobacco had been gathered after the payment of the debts which he left at his decease, his two negroes, Philip and Nicholas, should be set free, and that one cow, three barrels of Indian corn, clothes, and nails should be given to each of them. Each one was also to be permitted during his life to have a certain area of land in which to plant.

Thomas Whitehead, of York, by will emancipated his slave, John, and bequeathed to him a great variety of clothing, and also two cows, ordering that he should be allowed the use of as much ground as he could cultivate, and the possession of a house. So great was his confidence in the discretion and integrity of this negro, that he appointed him the guardian of Mary Rogers, a ward of Whitehead&#8217;s and overseer of her property, offices which the court refused to suffer him to fill.

Daniel Parke showed equal generosity to a favorite slave. He instructed his executors to pay to this negro, whom he set free by his will, fifteen bushels of shelled Indian corn, and fifty pounds of dried beef, annually, as long as the man should live. In addition, he was to receive each year from Parke&#8217;s estate, a kersey coat, a pair of breeches, a hat, two pairs of shoes, two pairs of yarn stockings, two shirts, a pair of drawers, and an axe and hoe. His levies were also to be paid.