I represent Maria Sophia, a negra woman enslaved in the household of Celeste Tala de Villiers. In 1847 I was freed by Deed of Manumission from Celeste for “many faithful services rendered” and the sum of one dollar. I had three children with her slave Auguste, all of whom were also later manumitted. In 1850, I and my children appear in the census as servants in the household of Celeste and her sister, Constanza Tala de Alba, both widowed; along with the family of Manuel and Victorie de Villiers Pargas.