In what was once known as the colony's capital, Williamsburg, Virginia, enslaved individuals worked as artisans: carpenters, joiners, coppers, masons, blacksmiths, shoemakers, cabinetmakers, and coach makers. Others worked in service occupations, serving as cooks, butlers, coachmen, gardeners, carters, and barbers.
An urban center, Williamsburg's population of nearly a thousand people was 50% black in 1775. More enslaved women and children lived and worked in Williamsburg than did enslaved men. Some of the children learned to read at the Bray School, an Anglican philanthropic establishment. In the 1780's, one-third of Williamsburg's enslaved population lived alone in a white household or else with only one other slave. Skilled enslaved carpenters and stonemasons helped build many of Williamsburg's remaining original buildings.
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P. O. Box 1776