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“…called the grapevine…”
Lussana, S. (2016). My brother slaves: Friendship, masculinity, and resistance in the antebellum south. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. See Chapter Five, “Enslaved Men, the Grapevine Telegraph, and the Underground Railroad.”
“…ropes stretched across roads…”
Narratives of James Henry Stith and Preston Kyles.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Arkansas Narratives, Vol. 6, p. 242; Vol. 4, pp. 220-21.
“…Dr. Harris told John Duncan…”
For a variety of reasons—including the fact that Anarcha does not appear on certain later Harris plantation records of enslaved persons—I have speculated that Anarcha first left Alabama in 1853, when Nathan Harris traveled north with his family, in the company of a “nurse,” as is described below. It follows, then, that Harris would have informed Duncan of her particular skill set.
See “…the plantation’s doctor woman…,” above.
“…acres of flower gardens…”
See “…hothouses with chimneys…,” above.
“…evergreen hedge heart bed…”
The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), March 3, 1907, p. 10.
“…a great beauty and belle…”
Three images of Catherine Duncan, who will go on to play an important role in Anarcha’s life.
“Anarcha ran her finger…”
The full contents of the John Duncan estate are held at the probate office of the Autauga County Courthouse in Prattville, Alabama.
“…she could access the medical chest…”
This list of medications is drawn from an advertisement from Mobile, Alabama, held at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama.
“The misery in Anarcha’s foot…”
See “…the misery that had begun to gather…,” above.