A closer view of the names on the estate inventory. The youngest child, Amy, was four years old. A note says that she was to serve until age 18, at which time she would be set free. The boy listed above her, Berry, was to be set free when he was 25. Such pledges were common, and may have been intended to ensure the obedience of enslaved workers — but were not always honored by the slaveholder's heirs.

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