Anonymous - The memoirs of Dolly Morton

Randolph was a clever man and well read, but he was a thorough libertine who considered women merely toys for the gratification of his sensual desires. Before my arrival at Woodlands all the pretty quadroon and octoroon slave girls had been his concubines. Not that he had been in the habit of sleeping with any one of them, but, whenever he wanted a girl, he would give her orders to be in his room at a certain hour of the day or night, as the case might be; then, after he had amused himself with her for an hour or two, he would send her away.

But though he used the girls as playthings whenever he felt inclined, he had not the slightest soft feeling towards them. They were his slaves, nothing more; and, whenever a girl misbehaved or offended him in any way, he either would send her to one of the overseers to be whipped or would inflict the punishment with his own hands.

He did not love me in the least. But he admired me, often telling me that I was a pretty girl and that I had a good figure. He was fond of seeing me naked and of posing me in various positions before the large mirror in my room so he might be able to see both the back and front of my body at the same time. He soon acquainted me with the meaning of all the naughty words in the vocabulary of love-words which I never had heard before-and in course of time he taught me practically all the different positions in which it is possible for a man carnally to possess and enjoy a woman, either by day or by night, either in bed or out.

Invariably I was submissive to his whims. He was a masterful man, and his strong will dominated my weak one. Moreover, I was always rather afraid of him. In my innocence I had thought that there was only one way of administering the stroke, and, at first, I was greatly astonished at the number and variety of the positions in which he rogered me. He would have me lying on my back, or on my side; also standing, kneeling, sitting or on all fours. He would do it to me from behind, while I leaned over the side of the bed or the back of a chair or the edge of a table, and he sometimes would lie on his back and make me straddle him with my knees, my back being turned towards his face, so that he could see my bottom. In this latter case, I had personally to fix the weapon in the sheath, and do all the work by raising myself up and down on my knees.

Sometimes Randolph rode me when I was stark naked, sometimes when I was half dressed and sometimes in my chemise, stockings and shoes, or perhaps with nothing on but my drawers. Frequently after dinner he would have me in full evening dress, with tightly laced stays. On these occasions he would sit on a chair while I would stand in front of him with my back turned. Then, putting his hands up my clothes, he would feel me till he was properly excited. Finally, unbuttoning his trousers, he would let out his member in full erection, with the red tip uncovered and ready for action. I had then to pull open the slit of my drawers and to hold my petticoats above my waist, then lower myself upon the dart until it was into me as far as it could go and my bottom rested on his thighs. In that position he would possess me.

He used to say that a woman should never be had twice in succession in the same way, and he told me that if a man always poked a woman in the same position, he would get tired of her sooner than if he varied the embraces.

After my shame had worn off and I had got used to being stroked in this way, I discovered that there was a strain of voluptuousness in my disposition, and, though I never liked Randolph, I was not adverse to his embraces. I always let him do what he liked, by day or night, without murmuring; and he often told me that I was a very good mount. (Randolph was a man who always called a spade a spade.)

I don’t think that after my arrival in the house he had much to do with the slave girls; anyhow, he always slept with me, and it was rarely that a night passed without his poking me once at least.

I should have been better pleased had he let me more alone at night, for I was a sound sleeper and I hated being awakened to be pulled about in all sorts of ways and then poked in some uncomfortable position. I gradually had grown accustomed to him, and called him by his first name, George, and, though he often we very ill-tempered and sometimes spoke extremely harshly to me, he never laid his hand upon me in anger during the whole time I lived with him.

Randolph was one of the richest planters in Virginia and his family was one of the oldest, but I soon found out that he was not, so to speak, in society. His character as a libertine was well-known throughout the State: consequently no ladies ever came to the house. But he often gave dinner parties, at which I took my place at the table opposite him. On these occasions, all the young women in the house, chambermaids as well as parlormaids, were very smartly dressed in well-fitting black frocks with white caps and aprons, and it often happened that three, four or even more of the gentlemen who had come from a distance would remain in the house all night.

These parties always wound up with high card play, during which a good deal of liquor was drunk, and the house became a regular Liberty Hall. Randolph allowed his guests to do whatever they liked. If a guest took a fancy to any particular girl, all he had to do was to inform Randolph, who at once would send for the damsel. The gentleman then would take her to a bedroom and poke her, returning afterwards to the card room. And every guest who stayed in the house for the night could take a woman to bed with him if he felt inclined to do so.

However, I was always treated with respect by the men-to my face, at any rate-for Randolph, having chosen to put me at the head of his table, always insisted on his friends’

treating me as if I really had been the lady of the house. Since he was known to be a dead shot with a pistol, and always ready to use it, not one of the gentlemen who visited Woodlands ever attempted to take a liberty with me. Nor did one ever speak to me in an improper manner.

The weeks slipped away. My health remained good, my spirits revived and I was not unhappy. I had plenty of books to read, I rode nearly every day- sometimes alone, sometimes with Randolph-and I often took a long buggy ride.

We occasionally spent a few days in Richmond, staying at the best hotel and going every night to the theatre or to some other place of amusement. Before that time, I never had been in a theatre, so I enjoyed the performances immensely and wished very much that I could go on the stage. I told Randolph one day, but he only laughed, telling me that I was a little goose and that I had not enough go in me to make an actress.

At Woodlands I often amused myself by roaming about the plantation, which was very extensive. There were upwards of two-hundred field hands, male and female, all of whom were engaged in cultivating the cotton. Randolph fed his slaves well and did not overwork them, but otherwise he was a hard master. His four overseers had orders never to pass over a fault or to allow the least shirking of work; consequently, the strap, switch and paddle constantly were being used on both men and women.

The slaves’ quarters were divided into three blocks of cabins, as they were called; one block was for the married couples, another for the single men and the third for the unmarried women and girls. But as soon as work was over for the day, all the slaves of both sexes met together round a fire, where they spent most of the night dancing, singing and playing the banjo.