The more interesting events to Quash were when smaller groups assembled in what was called the great hall, which had an expandable table that could seat from eight to sixteen diners. She served often at these affairs and was impressed by the diversity of Singleton’s guests. She overheard the young master reminiscing about past experiences on the plantation, and how his father had been loyal to the crown and deeply concerned about growing Whig strength in the coastal area. She was intrigued to hear her young master joking about condemnation of the Sons of Liberty in Savannah and the enthusiastic toasts to the king that had formerly prevailed in the dining hall. Nowadays, it was customary for her to serve groups of young men from Savannah who proposed different toasts—to some heroes who had thrown British tea into Boston Harbor, to General George Washington, and to independence of the colonies.

Because of a sense of duty to other slaves and her own personal interest, Quash attempted to overhear the owner’s specific instructions to the overseer about affairs on the plantation. Singleton did not seem to be very interested in the details of crop production and the management of individual fields, which everyone knew to be the responsibility of Big William. But the colony’s law required that a white man had to be in charge of any group of Negroes, and Perkins had to fulfill that role. It was he who made ultimate decisions about such things as the slaves’ housing, food allocation, rewards and punishment, and access to medical care. Quash noticed that Singleton kept careful records of overall expenses and income from the farm, liked to demonstrate his knowledge of field operations, and demanded strict accountability from Perkins. The young master seemed to know the exact yield that was expected and realized from each of his fields, and one overall standard that he mentioned often was that the average amount of rice produced per slave should be ten barrels. Earlier, she had heard him receive almost the exact same information from Big William.

One of Singleton’s primary regrets, expressed often to his wife, was the departure during the previous winter of William Overton, the dependable overseer who had served his father for fifteen years and had finally saved enough to buy his own small farm down near the Florida border. The new overseer, Andrew Perkins, had already been caught lying on two occasions and was suspected of some petty thefts, the most serious of which was an old pistol that had vanished from the owner’s saddlebag after a hunt. Quash was almost certain that this would be the only crop season over which Perkins would preside, before being discharged after the rice harvest was completed in September.