How three White widows bought a Black slave at Charleston Slave Market in 1857 and made him a gigolo, then jealousy set in
The house on Longitude Lane operated under rules that defied conventional Charleston dynamics. Samuel wasn’t assigned to manual labour. He was given a well-furnished room on the second floor. Catherine explained the arrangement: the three widows had formed a “domestic cooperative.” Wealthy, but without male heirs or husbands to give them social legitimacy, they needed something specific.
