Piecing Together Minerva Granger's Life

Minerva Granger was one of the enslaved women who was essential to Jefferson’s agricultural endeavors on his plantation. Along with her family and other members of the enslaved community, she planted and harvested tobacco and later wheat, which Jefferson sold on Atlantic markets. While Jefferson's writings contain numerous references to the enslaved individuals who worked in his house or along Mulberry Row, he rarely wrote in detail about the enslaved field workers with whom he had little contact. Since Minerva Granger was an agricultural laborer, Jefferson wrote about her in terms of the type of work she performed, the rations and tools she received, and the children she bore. We can learn more about the life of Minerva Granger and other enslaved female agricultural workers by using the archaeological record to understand what their lives may have looked like.