{"id":5762,"date":"2017-07-03T19:08:08","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T00:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/?p=5762"},"modified":"2017-07-03T19:38:46","modified_gmt":"2017-07-04T00:38:46","slug":"the-southern-plantation-overseer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/the-southern-plantation-overseer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Southern Plantation Overseer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of my ancestors worked for a time as a plantation overseer in or around Carroll County, Mississippi, in the 1840s or 1850s. I was curious about this employment as he was a small landowner himself &#8211; why would he leave his own property to work for others? Well, I still don&#8217;t know the answer to this but I&#8217;m assuming it&#8217;s for the money. I looked for some source material on overseers and found various newspaper articles and ads, books, images, etc., which I&#8217;ll share here.<br \/>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-5762 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/the-southern-plantation-overseer\/vicksburg-whig-vicksburg-ms-wed-sep-21-1859-p3-overseer-wanted\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Sep-21-1859-p3-Overseer-Wanted-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Vicksburg Whig (Vicksburg, MS) Wed Sep 21, 1859, p3, Overseer Wanted\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Sep-21-1859-p3-Overseer-Wanted-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Sep-21-1859-p3-Overseer-Wanted-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Sep-21-1859-p3-Overseer-Wanted-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5769'>\n\t\t\t\tVicksburg Whig (Vicksburg, MS) Wed Sep 21, 1859, p3, Overseer Wanted\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/the-southern-plantation-overseer\/vicksburg-whig-vicksburg-ms-wed-nov-25-1857-p4-overseer-wanted\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Nov-25-1857-p4-Overseer-Wanted-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Vicksburg Whig (Vicksburg, MS) Wed Nov 25, 1857, p4, Overseer Wanted\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Nov-25-1857-p4-Overseer-Wanted-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Nov-25-1857-p4-Overseer-Wanted-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Nov-25-1857-p4-Overseer-Wanted-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5770'>\n\t\t\t\tVicksburg Whig (Vicksburg, MS) Wed Nov 25, 1857, p4, Overseer Wanted\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/the-southern-plantation-overseer\/vicksburg-whig-vicksburg-ms-wed-oct-19-1859-p2-overseers-place-wanted\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Oct-19-1859-p2-Overseers-Place-Wanted-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Vicksburg Whig (Vicksburg, MS) Wed Oct 19, 1859, p2, Overseer&#039;s Place Wanted\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Oct-19-1859-p2-Overseers-Place-Wanted-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Oct-19-1859-p2-Overseers-Place-Wanted-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vicksburg-Whig-Vicksburg-MS-Wed-Oct-19-1859-p2-Overseers-Place-Wanted-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5771'>\n\t\t\t\tVicksburg Whig (Vicksburg, MS) Wed Oct 19, 1859, p2, Overseer&#8217;s Place Wanted\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<br \/>\nThe job of overseer was usually a difficult and thankless one. Usually unnecessary for smaller plantations, those with fifty or more slaves often employed one, especially by an absentee owner who relied on the overseer in matters of daily management. Largely responsible for the success or failure of an estate, these middlemen occupied an impossible position, required to balance the competing goals of producing profitable crops to ensure that quotas were met, while maintaining a healthy workforce of slaves. The overseer kept records of most crop inventories and held the keys to various storehouses.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5776\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5776\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a class=\"boxer\" title=\"Cotton Field, Caroline Mays Brevard, A History of Florida (New York American Book Company, 1904) 108\" href=\"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Field-Caroline-Mays-Brevard-A-History-of-Florida-New-York-American-Book-Company-1904-108.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Field-Caroline-Mays-Brevard-A-History-of-Florida-New-York-American-Book-Company-1904-108.gif\" alt=\"Cotton Field, Caroline Mays Brevard, A History of Florida (New York American Book Company, 1904) 108\" width=\"1024\" height=\"692\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5776\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5776\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cotton Field, Caroline Mays Brevard, A History of Florida (New York American Book Company, 1904) 108. Source: Florida Center for Instructional Technology ClipArt ETC. Although this is a 1904 depiction, one can easily imagine a similar scene in the pre-Civil War years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The white overseer historically has a bad reputation for cruelty, known for arbitrarily whipping slaves for small infractions, working them for long hours, providing them with poor food stuffs. He was usually portrayed as violent and uneducated and many were. In reality, however, these men were a varied lot. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSome were the sons of planters who served their fathers as overseers, learning the art of plantation management before striking out on their own. Others, perhaps the largest number, were semiprofessional managers hoping one day to set up their own agricultural operations. And still others lived up to the worst reputation of their class: violent men, often drunkards, unable to hold steady jobs, who moved repeatedly from plantation to plantation. But the average overseer rarely lasted in any master&#8217;s service for more than a few years. The best moved on to other things. The worst were fired. And even the merely competent rarely satisfied an employer for long. A bad crop year, sickly slaves, or the untenable contradictions of the job itself ensured that few overseers lasted long on any one plantation.\u201d (Source: http:\/\/www.encyclopedia.com\/history\/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases\/overseer-and-driver)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5780\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5780\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a class=\"boxer\" title=\"Cotton Plantation, Wilbur F. Gordy, American Leaders and Heroes (New York Charles Scribner&#039;s Sons, 1905) 299\" href=\"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-Wilbur-F.-Gordy-American-Leaders-and-Heroes-New-York-Charles-Scribners-Sons-1905-299-1.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-Wilbur-F.-Gordy-American-Leaders-and-Heroes-New-York-Charles-Scribners-Sons-1905-299-1.gif\" alt=\"Cotton Plantation, Wilbur F. Gordy, American Leaders and Heroes (New York Charles Scribner&#039;s Sons, 1905) 299\" width=\"640\" height=\"385\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5780\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cotton Plantation, Wilbur F. Gordy, American Leaders and Heroes (New York Charles Scribner&#8217;s Sons, 1905) 299<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Samuel A. Cartwright, M.D., of Natchez, Mississippi, wrote in 1842 that \u201c\u2026the best overseers, who get the highest wages, pursued a middle course\u2014seldom punishing, except when necessary to preserve order and discipline\u2014using every means to make the operatives comfortable, happy and attached to their homes\u2014relying chiefly upon the more trustworthy slaves themselves, to limit or extend the amount of each day\u2019s labor.\u201d (Source: Samuel A. Cartwright, \u201cInductions,\u201d Letter to The Mississippi Free Trader (Natchez, MS) Tuesday, January 4, 1842, p. 2.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5766\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5766\" style=\"width: 1489px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a class=\"boxer\" title=\"Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi, Currier &amp; Ives, 1884\" href=\"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-on-the-Mississippi-Currier-Ives-1884.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-on-the-Mississippi-Currier-Ives-1884.jpg\" alt=\"Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi, Currier &amp; Ives, 1884\" width=\"1489\" height=\"986\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5766\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-on-the-Mississippi-Currier-Ives-1884.jpg 1489w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-on-the-Mississippi-Currier-Ives-1884-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-on-the-Mississippi-Currier-Ives-1884-768x509.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1489px) 100vw, 1489px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5766\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi, Currier &#038; Ives, 1884. http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/item\/91722891\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mississippi cotton plantation owners paid their overseer an average annual salary of about $450 with a range from $200 to $1,000. Overseers were also usually provided housing, a small garden of their own, other provisions, and, possibly, a horse or a servant. <\/p>\n<p>An overseer often lived in isolation. Overseers were not permitted to fraternize with the slaves or to socialize with those of the planter class. No other people of the yeoman class were resident on the property. The overseer may have been scorned by slaves and master alike as a \u201cpoor white.\u201d W. E. Collins of Mayersville, Mississippi, wrote in 1886 about the Delta that <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This was no place for the white man seeking his fortune. There was only one avenue open to him and that was to engage as an overseer of slaves, and these situations were usually sought by young men without means, dependent upon their own exertions for a livelihood. It paid good salaries and to the economical furnished the means to start in business for themselves. Every dollar that could be accumulated was invested in slaves, until a sufficient number were owned to start planting. Then lands were purchased and clearing and improving began. A few years and the beginner was among the planters, at least in name. Society was exclusive in those days. Overseers were considered inferior to the slave owner. It was a taint that his after wealth could not wipe out. The Southern planter was an aristocrat, of his own creation if not to the \u201cmanor born.\u201d Those, and they were many, who could trace their ancestry to old English families, in Virginia were proud of the distinction. Their plantations were usually in a charge of overseers, who managed the business while the planter enjoyed himself in travel abroad or entertaining his friends at home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(Source: W. E. Collins, Negro Prosperity in the South, The Vicksburg Herald (Vicksburg, MS) Saturday, March 13, 1886, p. 2, newspapers.com.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cotton_Plantation_Record_and_Account_Book<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of my ancestors worked for a time as a plantation overseer in or around Carroll County, Mississippi, in the 1840s or 1850s. I was curious about this employment as he was a small landowner himself &#8211; why would he leave his own property to work for others? Well, I still don&#8217;t know the answer&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41],"tags":[39,58,67],"class_list":["post-5762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-occupations","tag-slavery","tag-smith"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3viLY-1uW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9496,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/useful-genealogy-links\/","url_meta":{"origin":5762,"position":0},"title":"Useful Genealogy Links","author":"Karen","date":"September 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Primary Sources Making of America is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. MOA Journal Articles | MOA Books | MOA Maps Newspaper Abstracts - articles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Genealogy Miscellany&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Miscellany","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/genealogy-miscellany\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Useful-Genealogy-Links-ChatGPT-Image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Useful-Genealogy-Links-ChatGPT-Image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Useful-Genealogy-Links-ChatGPT-Image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Useful-Genealogy-Links-ChatGPT-Image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Useful-Genealogy-Links-ChatGPT-Image.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Useful-Genealogy-Links-ChatGPT-Image.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9423,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/the-showman-leblond-oval-print\/","url_meta":{"origin":5762,"position":1},"title":"The Showman, LeBlond Oval Print","author":"Karen","date":"September 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Showman Le Blond No. 83 Date: 1854-1867 Size: 6 3\/4\" \u00d7 5 1\/4\" A traveling showman attracts the attention of villagers with his entertainment. Below is a scan from the Lewis book in black and white. From The LeBlond Book by C. T. Courtney Lewis, 1920 After a painting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;LeBlond Prints&quot;","block_context":{"text":"LeBlond Prints","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/prints-postcards\/leblond-prints\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/The-Showman-Detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/The-Showman-Detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/The-Showman-Detail.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/The-Showman-Detail.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7742,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/may-day-leblond-oval-print\/","url_meta":{"origin":5762,"position":2},"title":"May Day, LeBlond Oval Print","author":"Karen","date":"June 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"May Day Le Blond No. 85 Date: 1850\u20131870 Size: 6 3\/4\" \u00d7 5 1\/4\" A lively May Day village scene unfolds near the smithy and the Swan Inn. From The LeBlond Book by C. T. Courtney Lewis, 1920, page 94 On the right we see the business premises of 'Mr.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;LeBlond Prints&quot;","block_context":{"text":"LeBlond Prints","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/prints-postcards\/leblond-prints\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/May-Day-cropped-square.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4468,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/will-the-real-john-farquhar-please-stand-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":5762,"position":3},"title":"Will the Real John Farquhar Please Stand Up?","author":"Karen","date":"March 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"If you research your family history long enough, you'll come to understand the thrill of finding a long-lost photograph of an ancestor. It's so great to attach a face to the name you've spent so much time with. Many times we find these photos in the attics of family members,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Genealogy News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy News","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/genealogy-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"1648 John Fraser Farquhar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1648.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7019,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/glossary-of-colonial-terms\/","url_meta":{"origin":5762,"position":4},"title":"Glossary of Colonial Terms","author":"Karen","date":"August 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Here I share some of the terms I've learned about throughout my years of research. Adz, adze Sharp-edged wood-cutting tool with an arching blade set at right angles to the handle and curving inward. Logs and beams were shaped with the adze. Auger A tool for boring holes in wood,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Genealogy Miscellany&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Miscellany","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/genealogy-miscellany\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blog-Featured-Images-ColonialTerms.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blog-Featured-Images-ColonialTerms.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blog-Featured-Images-ColonialTerms.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blog-Featured-Images-ColonialTerms.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9454,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/reading-old-handwriting-a-genealogists-guide-to-colonial-script\/","url_meta":{"origin":5762,"position":5},"title":"Reading Old Handwriting: A Genealogist\u2019s Guide to Colonial Script","author":"Karen","date":"September 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Anyone who spends enough time researching family history eventually encounters a document that seems almost impossible to read. Wills, deeds, church registers, court records, letters, and family papers may contain unfamiliar letter forms, obsolete abbreviations, inconsistent spelling, and handwriting styles very different from those used today. The study of old\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Genealogy Miscellany&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Miscellany","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/genealogy-miscellany\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feather-Pen-and-Ink-Writing-Paper.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feather-Pen-and-Ink-Writing-Paper.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feather-Pen-and-Ink-Writing-Paper.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feather-Pen-and-Ink-Writing-Paper.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feather-Pen-and-Ink-Writing-Paper.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feather-Pen-and-Ink-Writing-Paper.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cotton-Plantation-on-the-Mississippi-Currier-Ives-1884.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5762"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5835,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5762\/revisions\/5835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}