Bina's Poetry
Missing
by Bina F.
The story of Lettuce Bailey
(also known as Lettice Bailey):
A hard story to tell
many parts are missing,
Unrecorded,
Gone.
Slaves were seen as unimportant, not worthy of their life being recorded.
Lettuce, born in 1765
into enslavement -
It was like she was bound to Reverend Todd with chains.
Her story needs to be remembered!
Her life is important too.
And we will piece it together one fact at a time.
Lettuce’s life
Lettuce,
An enslaved woman.
Kept in servitude -
Hidden.
She was born in 1765
By her mother Tamar.
Jonothan Todd was her enslaver,
kept her from having a normal life.
She was finally freed
“As long as she maintained herself”.
Not a child, a grown woman
who could make her own decisions-
Maybe she would’ve wanted her own house,
Her own job,
Her own life.
Instead, she was enslaved,
Then went to the Almshouse
Willingly.
Servant maid she became.
Weaver she became.
A workplace,
The Almshouse, a prison it was like.
In 1810 she became Lettuce Bailey,
A wife of Caesar Bailey
Mother of Sukey, Peleg, Emma, Fredrick Bailey, Eli, and Daughter R she was named
Finally a life of her own.
Dec 4, 1820, she was gone,
Gone forever,
Dead.
Frustration
Lettuce’s story, digging through primary
document after
document
after document
Is this true or false?
Did this really happen?
Was she born into slavery?
These are questions that we had to ask ourselves.
There are many holes in her story that we may not be able to fill.
There were many bumps in the road along the way,
sometimes it got frustrating when we didn't know the answer.
Sometimes when we thought we were getting closer,
instead we were just going in circles.
Lettuce’s story was like a winding dark tunnel that seemed to never end,
but we had to get to the end of it.
Was she married?
Yes, it was believed she was married to Caesar Bailey.
Was she a weaver?
Yes, in the Almshouse.
Who was her mother?
Tamar.
How many children did she have?
She was assumed to have around three to six.
Are we still learning more about her life?
Yes.
Is her life important to remember?
Yes, because she was a person too and her story deserves to be heard
Author’s statement:
My intention with writing this collection was to try to shed light on Lettuce’s story and remember her, because until now her story was forgotten. I also wanted to bring up the fact that Lettuce’s story has many holes in it and it got frustrating at times, such as trying to find out how many children she actually had. I wanted to show the struggle of the enslaved people back then. I tried to show the struggle with the line “Jonothan Todd was her enslaver, kept her from having a normal life.” I hope people notice that enslaved people’s lives were forgotten and we need to share their story. I also was able to tie in my historical knowledge by writing a biography on Lettuce’s life and the struggles she went through.
Bina's artwork.