Slave Cabin

In 1843, the Bratton family owned 139 slaves, whose names were listed in the estate papers of Dr. John S. Bratton, though those papers give little insight into daily life on the Bratton plantation. One family customarily lived in each slave cabin, and the brick cabins that once flanked the Homestead house could not have housed the entire enslaved population, so additional wooden quarters elsewhere on the plantation are believed to have housed field workers. Archaeological work has provided a better understanding of daily activities through artifacts found at the site, including sewing needles, buttons, clay marbles, carpentry tools, perfume jars, a bone comb, pottery, pieces of English dinnerware, and slave-made bricks.

South Carolina · United States