Most Slave Quarters Are 'Gone With The Wind'

I have traveled extensively over the southland and have read many historical works on this part of our country, especially as concerns the Ante Bellum and Civil War periods.
Here and there, but not often, I have seen remaining reminders of an era that is past.
Rarely are they found now, but occasionally one may see yet standing, slave quarters.
Sometimes, just one cabin of many or few still stands, likely because it was chosen to serve as a storage or utility building. In some cases, just a chimney or foundation stones form the visible evidence of what once existed.
One usually thinks of slave quarters as being composed of a row of crude log cabins. But this was not always the case.
Occasionally, one finds more elaborate quarters, well constructed of lumber or brick. Most of them are not now in a good state of repair, but there are exceptions.
Pictured with this article are the slave quarters located behind the historic and recently restored Deery Inn in Blountville, Tenn.
Here you see quarters of the more elaborate brick construction. It is also easy to determine that at least one room has been removed from the original building. Here is an example of in-town quarters.
The slaves housed in this building would have served at various tasks in the Deery Inn, or tavern as it was often called in earlier years.
One of those slaves, “Aunt” Meldora Gammon, was the “queen of the kitchen” at the inn. She served for a few years as cook for the Joseph R. Anderson family in Bristol, and her daughter, Mariah Gammon Hall, served the Andersons in that capacity until well after 1900.
Slaves were rather commonly held on larger Sullivan County, Tenn., and Washington County, Va., farms, but usually not in any large number. There were exceptions.
Around 1850, the widow of James White, residing in Abingdon, Va., owned 65 slaves, but they were kept on several widely scattered farms. Col. John Preston of Walnut Grove (near Exit 7) owned 42.
I remember some of the quarters on his plantation, but they were taken down many years ago. The Childrens Advocacy Center now occupies his old home.
The Rev. James King, the third largest slave owner in Washington County, Va., had 38. He was followed closely by Col. William Byars of Brook Hall near Glade Spring, Va., who owned 37.
A surprising number of slaves were kept in early Bristol, most of them as house servants. A few owners lived here, but kept their slaves working on nearby farms. Some were rented to large landowners in this area. The average yearly rental usually ran from $40 to $75.
As to slave cabins or other types of quarters, there were several in Bristol.
In 1854, Dr. B.F. Zimmerman built the first residential building in the Virginia portion of the original Town of Bristol. It was located about mid-way in what is now the 400 block of State Street.
Dr. Zimmerman’s garden was on the corner of what is now Lee and State. In back of this garden, he erected a board and batten cabin for his highly valued male slave, known as “big” Elbert. Two of his female slaves were housed in the attic of his detached brick kitchen nearby.
Maston J. Ayers, an early settler in Bristol, built his home about where the Dent K. Burke building is now located (513 State St.). Mr. Ayers erected a slave quarters building back near what is now Winston’s Alley to house his 10 slaves.
Joseph R. Anderson, likely the largest slave owner in the Bristol he founded in 1852, had three slave cabins erected on what is now the northern half of the 400 block and south of State Street.
One of these stood directly in back of the building that was later numbered 21 Fifth St. (The building that formerly stood at this number long housed Darr’s Cleaners.)
None of the Bristol quarters or cabins now stand. They have vanished in the relentless winds of our city’s century and a half of constant change and growth.

BUD PHILLIPS is a local historian and author. He can be reached at (276) 466-6435.