During his lifetime, Jefferson owned more than 600 enslaved people and hired more than 100 white artisans to work on his plantations. Of those, Monticello staff historians have identified 87 known individuals who likely lived and worked on Mulberry Row. The stories of these free and enslaved workers, some of which are chronicled here, convey the complex and dynamic world of Monticello’s main plantation street.

The enslaved men, women, and children who lived and worked on Mulberry Row were part of the larger landscape of slavery on Jefferson’s plantations -- hundreds of men, women, and children labored on Jefferson’s landholdings between the 1770s and 1831. Members of several enslaved families, including the Grangers, Gillettes, Hemingses, Herns, and Fossetts, lived on Mulberry Row and worked in its workshops or in the main house. Some slaves worked in Jefferson’s household as domestic servants—seamstresses, chambermaids, house parlor maids, valets, cooks, wet nurses, and laundresses. Others worked directly on Mulberry Row as skilled artisans—tinsmiths, blacksmiths, nailers, carpenters, sawyers, house joiners, charcoal-burners, hostlers, weavers, and spinners.

Bartlet (b. 1786), Enslaved Nailer
 
Ben (b. 1785), Enslaved Nailer
 
Cary (b. ca. 1785–sold 1803), Charcoal-burner, Nailer
 
Burwell Colbert (1783–1862), Enslaved Nailer
 
Brown Colbert (1785–after 1831), Enslaved Nailer
 
Davy (b. 1785), Enslaved Charcoal-burner, Nailer, Sawyer
 
Dolly (b. 1794), Enslaved Weaver
 
Eliza (b. 1805), Enslaved Quiller
 
Jupiter Evans (1743–1800), Enslaved Coachman, Hostler, Stonecutter, Valet
 
Joseph Fossett (1780–1858), Enslaved Blacksmith, Nailer
 
Frank (1757-1809), Enslaved Charcoal-burner
 
Barnaby Gillette (1783–after 1827), Enslaved Cook, Nailer

Agnes Gillette (1798–1817), Enslaved Spinner
 
Israel Gillette (1800–c. 1879), Enslaved Carder (links to page in the Getting Word African American Oral History Project)
 
George Granger, Sr. (1730–1799), Enslaved Overseer

George Granger, Jr., (1759–1799), Enslaved Blacksmith, Manager, Nailer
 
Isaac Granger Jefferson (1775–1846), Enslaved Blacksmith, Nailer, Tinsmith

Ursula Granger (1737–1800), Enslaved Cook, Dairymaid, Laundress, Nursemaid
 
Critta Hemings (b. 1769), Enslaved
 
Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings (1735–1807), Enslaved Domestic Servant
 
Eston Hemings (1808-1856), Enslaved Joiner
 
James Hemings (b. 1787), Enslaved Nailer
 
Harriet Hemings (1801–after 1822), Enslaved Spinner
 
Madison Hemings (1805–1877), Enslaved Joiner

Nance Hemings (1761–post 1827), Enslaved Brewer, Cook, Weaver

Peter Hemings (1770–after 1834), Enslaved Brewer, Cook, Spinner, Tailor

Sally Hemings (b. 1773–1835), Enslaved Domestic Servant
 
John Hemmings (1776–1833), Enslaved Carpenter, Joiner
 
Priscilla Hemmings (ca.1776–1830), Enslaved Nursemaid
 
Cretia Hern (b. 1779), Enslaved Spinner

David Hern, Jr. (1784–after 1829), Enslaved Blacksmith, Charcoal-burner, Nailer, Wagoner

Mary Hern (b. 1780), Enslaved Weaver
 
Moses Hern (1779–after 1832), Enslaved Blacksmith, Field Laborer, Nailer
 
John Hern (b. 1800), Enslaved Carder

Randall Hern (b. 1802), Enslaved Carder
 
Ben Hix (1784–1799), Enslaved Nailer
 
Kit Hix (b. 1786), Enslaved Nailer

James Hubbard (1783–after 1812), Enslaved Charcoal-burner, Nailer, Stonecutter
 
Phil Hubbard (1786–1819), Enslaved Nailer, Sawyer
 
Wormley Hughes (1781–1858), Enslaved Coachman, Gardener, Hostler
 
Isabel (1800–1822), Enslaved Spinner
 
Isaiah (b. 1800), Enslaved Carder
 
John (b. 1785), Enslaved Nailer
 
Lewis (1758/60–1822), Enslaved Carpenter, Field Laborer, Joiner
 
Lewis (b. 1788), Enslaved Nailer
 
Maria (b. 1798), Enslaved Spinner
 
Nanny (b. 1799), Enslaved Spinner
 
Sally (b. 1797), Enslaved Weaver
 
Shepherd (b. 1782), Enslaved Nailer

Suck (b. 1758), Enslaved Worker

Edmund Bacon (1785–1866), Hired White Overseer
 
David Barnet, Hired White Sawyer
 
William Beck, Hired White General Laborer, Lime Burner
 
Hugh Chisholm, Hired White Bricklayer, Carpenter, Mason
 
Benjamin Colvard, Hired White Carpenter
 
James Dinsmore (ca. 1771–1830), Hired White Joiner, Manager
 
Gideon Fitz, Hired White Carpenter
 
William Fossett, Hired White Carpenter
 
Humphrey Gaines, Hired White Carpenter
 
Anthony Giannini (1747–after 1811), Hired White Gardener, Vigneron
 
John Holmes (d. 1801), Hired White Joiner
 
H. Hough, Hired White Charcoal-burner
 
Bartholomew Kindred, Hired White Weaver
 
Gabriel Lilly, Hired White Overseer
 
William Maddox, Hired White Mason
 
James McGee, Hired White Carpenter
 
William McLure, Hired White Weaver
 
John Neilson, (d. 1827), Hired White Joiner
 
Joseph Neilson, Hired White Carpenter, Joiner
 
James Oldham, (d. 1843), Hired White Joiner
 
William Orr, Hired White Blacksmith
 
John M. Perry, Hired White Carpenter
 
Reuben Perry, Hired White Carpenter
 
Richard Richardson, (b. ca. 1775), Hired White Bricklayer, Overseer, Plasterer
 
---- Robinson, Hired White Sawyer
 
Jacob Silknitter, Hired White Charcoal-burner
 
William Stewart, Hired White Blacksmith, Nailer
 
Thomas Walker, Hired White Joiner
 
Elisha Watkins, Hired White Carpenter
 
David Watson, Hired White Joiner

At Montiello, Jefferson recorded only one free black man and two “mulatto” servants who worked in the 1770s and 1780s as general laborers.  Jefferson hired enslaved laborers, often termed “jobbers” or “hirelings,” from nearby owners to build the canal for his mills at Shadwell mills, dig an icehouse, excavate the foundations of the main house wings, construct the Shadwell toll mill, and begin the initial work on the Shadwell manufacturing mill. In some cases, these hired slaves ran away to their home plantations; others married and formed families with Monticello slaves. In the 1770s and 1780s, Jefferson hired white indentured servants and “bonded” mixed-race workers to work at Monticello. Indentured servitude – contract work with no pay – was a kind of temporary slavery that was a common form of labor in colonial Virginia.

George Bradby, a Free Black General Laborer

William Rice, an Indentured Servant and Stonecutter

Buck, a Hired Enslaved Shoemaker

Edmund, a Hired Enslaved Field Laborer

Essex, a Hired Enslaved Sawyer

Several members of Jefferson's household oversaw work on Mulberry Row. Jefferson's daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, supervised the smokehouses, dairy, wash house, and textile workshop. Her husband, Thomas Mann Randolph, was tasked with ensuring that Jefferson's work instructions were carried out on Mulberry Row. Both reported on plantation activities to Jefferson during his frequent absences from Monticello.

Martha Jefferson Randolph, Jefferson's daughter

Thomas Mann Randolph, Jefferson's son-in-law