For every nail or spike he forged for Master he forged one for the ninety-one that went away when the girl was married. They look like eye teeth. Each one is slight bit different from the next, but are all of a kind.
He did it -- the forging -- secretly though they must have known he was doing it. It was only that they were loath to lose his value if he sickened and died or cut himself down in grief. They hoped the work would steady him. A man good for making a good -- nay excellent nail- is a valued slave man. He did twice the work though his output was the same. He put the seconds aside -- except that these were more uniform than his firsts and would not be called seconds by anyone with eyesight to judge. His face was volatile -- explosive -- like a bag of fiery gasses that is closed , but may burst at any moment. They said nothing -- only let him be. He forged the nails so as not to forget a single one of them. He remembered that Clovis took her youngest three with her, but had to leave behind her first girl. A nail for each. A mark for each.
His hammer rings were heard at all hours. The overseer thought about forcing him to halt and put away his hammers. He thought better of the plan. He saw the face. He smelled the sulfurous rage.





(hand-forged nails circa 1690 - 1800 discovered at the William Robinson plantation in Clark, New Jersey)


One Hundred Questions about 91 Individuals:

what were their names -- each name,
what were their ages,
how many adult women,
how many adult men,
how many male children?
how many female children,
how many males over 50,
how many females over 50,
what is the age of each,
what is the name for each?
where was each one born,
when did each one die,
where is each one buried,
how many were legally married?
how many were formally committed couples,
how many were members of informally committed families,
how many were parents,
what work did each do,
how many did agricultural/field work?
how many worked within the household,
how many worked at Tudor House,
what are the names of the household people,
what are the names of the plantation workers,
what is the height of each person?
what is the weight of each person,
Are any physically disabled,
Is there anyone who is blind,
Is there anyone who is deaf,
Is there anyone who is missing a limb?
If yes, how many blind,
If yes, how many deaf,
If yes, how many without a limb,
how many limbs,
If yes, how many?
If yes, who,
did any one use a stick or cane to assist with walking,
did any woman pierce her ear,
did any man have a mustache,
did any one or two make the candles?
did any one or two or three shoe the horses,
was there a gang that made the lye soap,
if yes, who were these women,
who were the men,
who cut the hay?
who baled the hay,
who sold it but did not keep the money,
what is the average number of good teeth of the group,
what are the family groups,
how are family groups identified?
were family groups separated at MarthaÕs marriage,
what became of slaves sold at MarthaÕs marriage,
were separated family members ever reunited,
are there parents who have lost children to sale,
who has lost a child this way?
who are the children who were sold in this circumstance,
what is known of their lives after sale,
what is known of their parentsÕ lives after the sale,
Are there any who are perceived as mixed race,
Are there any who are biologically related to Thomas and Martha Peter?
were any who were sold biologically related to the Peters,
were any sold for the reason of their relationship to the Peters,
what number can read,
what number can write,
who can read?
who can write,
what clothes did household enslaved women wear at Tudor House,
what clothes did household enslaved men wear at Tudor House,
did male field workers wear shoes,
did female field workers wear shoes?
what is the average number of pairs of shoes worn by enslaved people at Tudor House,
did the clothes of enslaved children in service at Tudor House differ from adults,
how was hair of enslaved women dressed among those in service at Tudor House,
how was hair of enslaved men dressed among those in service at Tudor House?
did enslaved at Tudor House wear uniforms typical of their positions,
did enslaved people leave Tudor House by day to shop at the market,
what clothes did male field workers in service on Peter family lands wear,
what clothes did female field workers in service on Peter family lands wear,
did the enslaved who worked at Tudor House carry slave tags/identifying tags or papers?
how many/who carried slave tags,
did any one(s) attend church services,
did any attend church services with the Peter family,
what church(s) were attended by the enslaved,
was any one above the average in height for the time?
was any one more corpulent than the average of the day,
was any one perceived as leader of the entire group,
was any one recognized as a leader of a subset of the group,
was any one seriously injured by an employee of the Peter family,
was any one known to have committed suicide?
was any one known to have been murdered,
what facts are known of any of the enslaved people prior to the marriage of Thomas and Martha Peter,
did any individual attempt to escape from slavery,
did any individual succeed in escaping slavery,
was any escapee recaptured and returned to slavery?
what punishment was suffered for escape,
from what sources can answers be found?



Nails
A nail consists of a metal rod or shank, pointed at one end and usually having a formed head at the other, that can be hammered into pieces of wood or other materials to fasten them together. A nail is usually made of steel, although it can be made of aluminum, brass, or many other metals. The surface can be coated or plated to improve its corrosion resistance, gripping strength, or decorative appearance. The head, shank, and point may have several shapes based on the intended function of the nail. Of the nearly 300 types of nails made in the United States today, most are used in residential housing construction. The average wood frame house uses between 20,000 and 30,000 nails of various types and sizes.
Nails are divided into three broad categories based on their length. In general nails under 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length are called tacks or brads. Nails 1-4 inches (2.5-10.2 cm) in length are called nails, while those over 4 inches (10.2 cm) are some-times called spikes. These categories are roughly defined, and there is considerable crossover between them.
The length of a nail is measured in a unit called the penny. This term comes from the use of nails in England in the late 1700s when it referred to the price of one hundred nails of that size. For example, a "ten penny nail" would have cost ten pennies per hundred. The symbol for penny is "d," as in 10d. This designation is believed to go back to the time of the Roman Empire when a similar form of measurement for hand-forged nails involved a common Roman coin known as the denarius. Today the term penny only defines the length of a nail and has nothing to do with the price. The shortest nail is 2d which is 1 inch (2.5 cm) long. A 10d nail is 3 inches (7.6 cm) long, and a 16d nail is 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) long. Between 2d and 10d the nail length increases 0.25 inch (0.64 cm) for each penny designation. Beyond 10d there is no logical progression to the lengths and designations.
Nails may have been used in Mesopotamia as early as 3500 B.C. and were probably made of copper or bronze. Later, iron was used to make nails. Early nails were shaped, or forged, with hammers. They were usually made one at a time, and were consequently scarce and expensive. By the 1500s a machine was developed which produced long, flattened strips of iron, called nail rods. These strips could then be cut into lengths, pointed, and headed. Nails were so valuable in the early American settlements that in 1646 the Virginia legislature had to pass a measure to prevent colonists from burning down their old houses to reclaim the nails when they moved. Two early nail-making machines were patented by Ezekial Reed of the United States in 1786 and Thomas Clifford of England in 1790. These machines cut tapered pieces from flat iron sheet, then flattened the head. In rural areas, black-smiths continued to make nails from wrought iron right into the 20th century. The first machine to make nails from metal wire was introduced in the United States in about 1850, and this technique is now used to make most of the nails today.