Burwell Zilks, enslaved by Archibald Graham McIlwaine

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Petersburg, Virginia, United States

• Servants of Archibald Graham McIlwaine (1801 - 1878) as described by his son, Richard McIlwaine (1834 - 1913) in his book, Memories of Three Score Years and Ten
• Chapter II, Household Servants, Pages 22 - 23 ^[1]

• Remembering Burwell Zilks

I might go on to say something of the five or six other family servants of my father, whom I knew in my childhood and youth and remember with pleasure; but those spoken of must suffice, except that I cannot refrain from mentioning Burwell Zilks. He was a young negro man of eighteen or twenty years of age when he became a member of our family by purchase a year or two before I went to college (1850). He continued in it until some time after my father's death (1878), and with one of my brothers until his death many years later. His special sphere of service was in the dining room. He was thoroughly capable, efficient, polite, truthful, honest and trustworthy, and his allegiance to duty as a servant, a husband and a father was unsurpassed. He was a quiet, sincere, unobtrusive Christian, and regulated his life by the divine word as he understood it. As long as he lived he kept in touch with the family, every one of whom now alive will corroborate these statements.

When the bombardment of Petersburg took place my father and mother felt it to be their duty to go to the country, leaving Burwell in charge of everything. The house had to be kept open for the convenience of Rev. Dr. W. H. Foote of Romney, W. Va., an evangelist to the army, who made it his headquarters, and of my younger brother, whose command was located near the city, and of other friends in service, who when sick or worn out found refuge in it.

The servants were also there and had to be cared for. So for this time Burwell was major domo and had access not only to the storerooms but to everything else, being charged with the expenditure of money for the purchase of perishable supplies from day to day.

After an absence of some weeks, my parents, preferring the risks of the siege to further absence from home, returned. My mother afterwards told me that she found everything in perfect order and that the depletion of the abundant supplies under Burwell's supervision was far less than if she herself had been at home. To her dying day she had a tender regard for the old servant and friend and the most implicit confidence in him.

Sources

1. ↑ Memories of Three Score Years and Ten; Richard McIlwaine; Neale publishing Company, 1908. Digital download