11/01/2026
On November 1, 1800, Will took Chatham, a horse, from Drayton Hall back to its owner. At a glance, this entry appears simple, but Will’s labor is some of the most well-documented labor in all of the existing records that were kept at Drayton Hall.
No enslaved person was named in Charles Drayton’s records more frequently than Will. His responsibilities included caring for horses, traveling to and from Charleston and other plantations to make deliveries and carry news, driving carriages, and making reports. While there were multiple men with this first name, only one Will is mentioned carrying out these specific tasks, and he appeared in Charles’s diaries 106 times over the span of 34 years (1784-1819).
There is much about Will that his enslaver never recorded. Charles noted that Will had a dog, the only enslaved person at Drayton Hall mentioned as having one, yet wrote nothing about Will’s family. What the records do show is how often Will traveled between Drayton Hall, Charleston, and other plantations. That mobility may have allowed him to carry news for the enslaved community, helping keep families and friends connected across distance. It may also have meant long stretches away from his own loved ones.
This week, we honor Will.
