Plantation owner question...

Lillith1991

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I'm working on a fairly historical vampire tale. My MC is a mixed race vampire(born in 1812) who's father, a plantation owner, brings her into his house and raises her. Is this historically possible? I did some research, so I know she would of been considered a slave by birth. But would such a man, when faced with no other known heirs or family to take over have done this?

I'm writing about the life of a vampire, how she came to be what she is etc., but I still want things as accurate as I can make them.
 
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RhodaD'Ettore

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look into the women's property laws. women werent permitted to inherit property until later in the 1800s...not even from their husbands. so i doubt that what you are proposing would be correct. I could see him taking her into the house as a servant/slave..... do i think he would say to the world, "this is my child, and she is my heir"... no. i seriously dont... unless it was someplace like New orleans.. but I would have to research that to be accurate. even if it were more socially acceptable in one place, he would have to name a man as the heir in any event-- that was the law. later in the century, it was legal for a married woman to inherit from the father... but you truly need to research this, from not only a race/slave angle but a gender angle. good luck
 

Chris P

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From all I've read about that era (I lived in Mississippi for about 10 years), slave children often played with the white children, and the "us and them" separation didn't really start until the slave children were old enough to start doing work. At the time, it wasn't so much "those people are icky and you should stay away from them," (unlike post slavery, especially twentieth century) it was more "that's your job, and this is ours. No questions about it."

Whether or not a mixed race child of the plantation owner would be raised as his own would depend on the plantation owner, and doesn't seem very far fetched at all. I'm sure it wouldn't take much digging to find real-life examples of this happening.

For contemporary accounts, try "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man" and "The Bondswoman's Narrative," which was supposedly written by a slave who was still a slave at the time. "Roots" also describes slave life in the 1800s, although it was written in the 1970s. There are surely many, many others.
 
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ULTRAGOTHA

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Women could own, sell, buy and inherit property in 1812 in the US. RhodaD'Ettore, are you referring to married women? Married women inherited property from their husbands.

Leaving one's plantation to an illegitimate daughter of a slave would require a lot of very good writing to make me as a reader buy into it. Children of slaves had it far worse than white women and I can't think the neighbors would have put up with it well.

Bringing the girl into the house would not bother me, that happened. Teaching her to read might be a problem. At times that was illegal. I'm not sure when and where freeing mulatos was legal in the South.
 

angeliz2k

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I'm working on a fairly historical vampire tale. My MC is a mixed race vampire(born in 1812) who's father, a plantation owner, brings her into his house and raises her. Is this historically possible? I did some research, so I know she would of been considered a slave by birth. But would such a man, when faced with no other known heirs or family to take over have done this?

I'm writing about the life of a vampire, how she came to be what she is etc., but I still want things as accurate as I can make them.

The girl would be a slave, yes, but it would not at all be unusual if the white father took her into his home and raised her. This kind of behavior--ie, white men having two families, one white and one mixed-race--was one of the things pointed to by anti-slavery advocates. It was unchristian for a man to take advantage of his slaves and cheat on his white wife. And more often than not, while the white father might have some affection for his slave children, it wouldn't necessarily stop him from selling them away or treating them like dirt.

Plenty of men, though, kept mistresses and children with them in the house. It was noticed and commented upon but not unknown.

The girl probably would not be able to inherit, however. Slaves could NOT own property (they WERE property), so she would have to be free to get anything. That is a possibility in some times and places. If she was born in 1812, there's a chance she could have been freed before state laws began banning manumission. After those laws went into effect, it was essentially impossible to free a slave. If she were free, she could inherit. The poster above who said women could not inherit is incorrect; women could and did inherit. The caveat is that a married woman's inheritance belonged to her husband.
 

Lillith1991

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What if she was his ownly "known" child, and his white wife couldn't have children? That's part of what I've written so far actually. I planned on her being a freed slave if it's possible.
 

angeliz2k

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What if she was his ownly "known" child, and his white wife couldn't have children? That's part of what I've written so far actually. I planned on her being a freed slave if it's possible.

Wouldn't change the legal situation in any way. She was a slave because she was born to a slave woman. No leeway there. She couldn't inherit as a slave. No leeway there. She might be able to be freed. Some leeway there.

In what way are you thinking that her being his only child would change things? It might change his personal feelings towards her, but not much else.
 

Lillith1991

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Wouldn't change the legal situation in any way. She was a slave because she was born to a slave woman. No leeway there. She couldn't inherit as a slave. No leeway there. She might be able to be freed. Some leeway there.

In what way are you thinking that her being his only child would change things? It might change his personal feelings towards her, but not much else.

I was thinking he would have more invested in her being freed than if he someone else to pass things on to. I'm less than 1k into the book, I can easily rewrite if need be.
 

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As others have pointed out, it will be very difficult to believably let her inherit legally. Then again, I'm not sure how the others will pass away, but could some disaster strike and then she keeps up apperances so she's the effective owner, but never the actual legal owner?

I would suspect that if the father passed away with no heirs in a situation and time like this that the legal system would just take the plantation and sell it to the highest bidder.
 

angeliz2k

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[As you can tell, I find this topic interesting.]

If she were his only child, he certainly could be more invested in making it possible for her to inherit. And I think it's possible, though it might not come across as particularly believable.

I think jeffo is on to something. There could be some subterfuge here. Maybe she can "pass" as white, and he pretends she's an orphan and adopts her? Everyone on the plantation knows the truth, and a few beyond the plantation might know, too, but it could be kept quiet. Or, perhaps after he dies, she pretends for as long as possible that he's still alive. Maybe she finds someone who offers to buy the place in her name and then allow her to effectively have the run of it . . .
 

Lillith1991

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That reminds me of interview with a vampire a little too much. Maybe a business partner of his helping her keep up the charade of him being alive would work in that case instead? I could make the business partner a vampire, have he or she be the one who turns her eventually.
 

ULTRAGOTHA

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In general a man can leave his property to whomever he wishes in a will, relation or not. That wasn't different in 1812.

What is different is that he can’t leave property to a slave. He might be able to free her before his death or in his will but that would depend on State law at the time. By 1800 in South Carolina at least, it was very difficult to free a slave even in a will. Prior to 1825 in Mississippi it was not uncommon for slaves to be freed. In Alabama after 1825 it was very hard to manumit a slave in a will. In Kentucky (or perhaps more accurately that should be Virginia) before the end of the 18th century it was quite legal. So which state or territory this takes place in is very important.

Even if he could free her before his death and then willed his property to her, she’d have to face the neighbors. Lots of things that legally might be allowed weren’t socially allowed. Plus several states mandated that a free slave leave the state. If she’s more or less immortal, there are ways and ways she could go about controlling the property even if she didn’t own it. Or, can she pass as white? Can she go away for a while and come back as white? Can she marry a white man and control *him*?

Here is some information on freeing slaves in Alabama (after 1812).


Some Mississippi information.

I found a book called Fathers of Conscience: Mixed-Race Inheritance in the Antebellum South by Bernie D. Jones. Try searching for that in archive.org or Google books.
 

Lillith1991

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Louisiana is where the begining of the story takes place. Where she is born and grows up etc. I personally would rather go with subterfuge of some sort than have her pass as white, it would play into the stereotype all mulato women are light skinned if she was to pass as white. And that isnt something I want to play into. I'm considering having him leave the land to a business partner as a proxy of some sort.
 
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jeffo

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Depending on how involved he is and where his motivations are, I suppose he could set up a complex web of legal companies and trusts that would actually end up letting her own it without having her name on it anywhere...
 

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Louisiana is where the begining of the story takes place. Where she is born and grows up etc. I personally would rather go with subterfuge of some sort than have her pass as white, it would play into the stereotype all mulato women are light skinned if she was to pass as white. And that isnt something I want to play into. I'm considering having him leave the land to a business partner as a proxy of some sort.

Louisiana had its own legal quirks, so I'd be looking into their laws specifically. There are some Louisiana legal codes on Google Books that might be the right era.

Here's a thread that might be of interest, concerning a white man with a (free) colored mistress and how he left money and slaves to their children, in the 1830s. There were legal limitations on how much could be left and he left more than allowed by law, so the estate had to be adjusted so more would go to his white siblings.

The thread shows how complex the law and the social situation was. And also how easily modern people can take offense.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/a-genuine-black-confederate-combat-soldier-sort-of.81250/

I do think that an heir would need to be manumitted before being given property, though I suspect that could be done in the will, but Louisiana manumission laws would be something else you'd need to check.
 

Lillith1991

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Thanks pup, I will check it out! Anything that means I don't get forced to play into the all mulato people are light skinned crap is good in my book. I really, really want to avoid that.