Amelia, Antebellum Period

Known only as Amelia, this nine-year-old girl was included in a list of chattels purchased to work a sugar plantation in Louisiana. Married to a man named David at age 19, Amelia lost her first child while pregnant due to frequent beatings. Of her three children who survived, Amelia was allowed to raise only one, as the others were sold away from her. Amelia was brought to St. Augustine where she worked as a laundress for her owner.