Personal "Gifts" of Homeowners

George Mason IV was not the only master to have a personal servant at Gunston Hall. Each of the Mason children was "gifted" an enslaved person by their maternal grandfather, William Eilbeck. Each enslaved young person was around the age of the Mason children that he or she was given to. As previously stated in the Enslaved Children of Gunston Hall exhibit page, William Eilbeck's "chattel property" named Dick, Penny, Cato, Cupid, Priss, and Nan were willed in 1763 to the following offspring  of George Mason IV: George (V), Ann, William, Thomson, Sarah, and Mary Mason, respectively. 

Many of the enslaved children of Gunston Hall, who were bequeathed either to a son or daughter of George Mason IV, probably learned that they had to play in the home with their (peer-age) master or mistress. A power imbalance shaped this interaction because the African-American friends of William and Sarah Mason, for example,  were rightless persons governed by the harsh restrictions of racial slavery. For a more detailed discussion of this subject, please consult the exhibit page titled, "Enslaved Children as Gifts."

Creator: Ayman Fatima