The single garment was worn summer and winter alike and the change in the weather did not cause an extra amount of clothes to be furnished for the slaves.  They were required to move about so fast at work that the heat from the body was sufficient to keep them warm.

When Charles was still a young man Mr. L’Angle sold him on time payment to W.B.  Hall; who several years before the Civil War moved from Richmond to Washington County, Georgia, carrying 135 grown slaves and many children.  Mr. Hall made Charles his carriage driver, which kept him from hard labor.  Other slaves on the plantation performed such duties as rail splitting, digging up trees by the roots and other hard work.

Charles Coates remembers vividly the cruelties practiced on the Hall plantation.  His duty was to see that all the slaves reported to work on time.  The bell was rung at 5:30 a.m. by one of the slaves.  Charles had the ringing of the bell for three years; this was in addition to the carriage driving.  He tells with laughter how the slaves would “grab a piece of meat and bread and run to the field” as no time was allowed to sit and eat breakfast.  This was a very different way from that of the master he had before, as Mr. L’Angle was much better to his slaves.

Mr. Hall was different in many ways from Mr. L’Angle, “He was always pretending” says Charles that he did not want his slaves beaten unmercifully.  Charles being close to Mr. Hall during work hours had opportunity to see and hear much about what was going on at the plantation.  And he believes that Mr. Hall knew just how the overseer dealt with the slaves.

On the Hall plantation there was a contraption, similar to a gallows, where the slaves were suspended and whipped.  At the top of this device were blocks of wood with chains run through holes and high enough that a slave when tied to the chains by his fingers would barely touch the ground with his toes.  This was done so that the slave could not shout or twist his body while being whipped.  The whipping was prolonged until the body of the slave covered with welts and blood trickled down his naked body.  Women were treated in the same manner, and a pregnant woman received no more leniency than did a man.  Very often after a severe flogging a slave’s body was treated to a bath of water containing salt and pepper so that the pain would be more lasting and aggravated.  The whipping was done with sticks and a whip called the “cat o’ nine tails,” meaning every lick meant nine.  The “cat o’ nine tails” was a whip of nine straps attached to a stick; the straps were perforated so that everywhere the hole in the strap fell on the flesh a blister was left.

The treatment given by the overseer was very terrifying.  He relates how a slave was put in a room and locked up for two and three days at a time without water or food, because the overseer thought he hadn’t done enough work in a given time.

Another offense which brought forth severe punishment was that of crossing the road to another plantation.  A whipping was given and very often a slave was put on starvation for a few days.