Becnel Bankruptcy, Cabins' Value

This line from the bankruptcy form reveals more than it may seem at first glance. It shows that even at this plantation had grown large enough to need twelve homes for the enslaved. The form also lists 54 enslaved people, meaning that there were between 4 and five people in each home at this time.

What is also important to note is that the value is so low. The total value shows only an average value of $100 each, while the pigeon house itself is valued at $250. This kind of valuation, in my opinion, fuels the narrative of the shoddy construction of the homes, making one quite easily say that they must have been constructed poorly is a house for pigeons is worth two and a half times as much. This kind of documentary evidence, though, in context with the material evidence of the homes themselves, shows that the valuation was probably more a statement on the valuation of the enslaved people themselves more so than their actual skills and the construction of their homes.