We do not know what Rachel Patton looked like. What we know about Rachel, the mistress of Patton Plantation, comes from a collection of receipts, the memories of a 90-year-old woman, and testimonies of a litigation to prove the insanity of her enslaver. From these scattered sources, we can speculate with some assurance that she was an enduring woman.
Born in 1814, Rachel was an enslaved woman. We do not know who her parents were, or where she came from, other than she was acquired by the Patton family in 1833. The Patton family consisted of John Patton, his wife Margaretta Hester Patton, and their children St. Clair, Charles Fox, America, Margaretta, William and Columbus. The Patton family, along with two to three enslaved people migrated from Kentucky to Texas in 1834 to establish a sugarcane plantation that we know today as Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site.
After the death of John Patton and his wife Margaretta, Rachel Patton lived as the mistress of Patton Plantation and acted as Columbus Patton’s wife. While the term "mistress" has a different connotation today, in the antebellum era a mistress is defined as the white female head of the house, usually in charge of the domestic servants. Rachel’s role would have included selecting the meal menu, decorating the home, hosting guests, selecting the chinaware and more. How and exactly when Rachel came into her unique position as mistress is unclear. Sarah Ford, an enslaved woman born at Patton Plantation, recollected for the Federal Writers' Project' Slave Narrative Project published in 1936 that “Massa Kit have a Arfican woman from Kentucky for he wife, and dat’s de truth. I ain’t sayin’ iffen she a real wife or not, but all de slaves have to call her Miss Rachel.” While it was illegal for a white man and a black woman to be married at the time, Rachel and Columbus’s relationship lasted for at least 21 years. We can only guess at the exact nature of their relationship. Although long, their relationship still existed in a deeply oppressive system where she was enslaved and he was her enslaver.
Rachel’s unique position gave her privileges that most enslaved people would not have access to. We know that Rachel lived in the Plantation house with Columbus. If you have ever visited Varner-Hogg Plantation, Rachel and Columbus’s room is the upper left side room, closest to the kitchen. We know that Rachel was able to go into town and make purchases for herself, on her own horse. She would have had access to the Patton buggy. John Adriance in a court testimony remarked that Rachel “bought dry goods for herself to a larger amount than any wife bought. Her bills with me…her accounts were at least one hundred and fifty dollars a year. Mostly fine dresses.” Multiple people comment on Rachel’s fashion sense, including George O. Jarvis saying “whenever there was any new good brought to town and the young ladies would purchase dresses, Rachel was sure to go and purchase some just like them.” Rachel’s position was not easier or better than that of another enslaved person. Rachel used her strength to maintain her position while facing unimaginable opposition.
As Sarah Ford once said of Rachel Patton, “iffen a bird fly up in de sky, it mus’ come down sometime.” That descent came swiftly after the fall of Columbus Patton. In 1854, Columbus was declared insane by his family and sent to the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, where he died two years later. It is suspected that he may have had a brain tumor, which could explain the deterioration in his vision and behavior. Almost immediately after his institutionalization, Rachel was stripped of her privileged position in the household and forced to labor in the fields for a period of time.
Columbus Patton’s will acknowledged Rachel’s importance. In it, he granted Rachel and three other enslaved individuals annual payments of $100 from his estate and gave them the choice to stay and work with whomever they chose. Instead of leaving the plantation to Matthew Patton, the Patton family’s expected heir, Columbus left it to his 12-year-old niece. This unexpected decision triggered a legal contest over the will. The family used Columbus’s relationship with Rachel as evidence of his supposed mental instability, presenting it as proof that he could not have been of sound mind when drafting the will. Ironically, it is through this legal battle that the historical record reveals information about who Rachel was. Witnesses of the court case described her as intelligent, eloquent, and treated by Columbus with notable respect and admiration.
After the will was contested, Rachel was coerced into moving to Ohio. But she eventually returned to Brazoria County and brought a lawsuit against John Adriance, a local merchant, for failing to deliver the payments guaranteed to her by Columbus’s will. Rachel won the case, securing a substantial financial settlement (exact sum unknown), and affirming her right to the promises made to her. Although Rachel never left behind written testimony of her own, her determination to claim what was rightfully hers stands as a testament to her strength. She refused to be silenced or erased. Rachel remained in Brazoria County in the years that followed, likely working as a housekeeper at various locations. The last known record of her life appears in the 1880 U.S. Census, where she is listed as Rachel Patton: Black, female, 60 years old, widowed, and “keeping house.”
