People of Culture and Refinement

Abstract

Ben Major, who owned and then freed Tolbert, Austin, and their families, is a good-looking man with wavy dark hair, thick brows, and expressive eyes. In his late teens, he moves to New Orleans, where he and his brother work in a mercantile business. Slaves are one of the many commodities flowing into and out of the Crescent City. Ben is surrounded by slave markets and auction houses, and his time in the city influences his views on “the peculiar institution.” In 1819, following his brother’s death from yellow fever, Ben returns to Kentucky and marries Lucy Davenport. The couple settles in Christian County, Kentucky, where nearly half the population is enslaved. Supported by slave labor, the couple builds a home and farm, and starts a family.