Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/485

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known in the Colony; William Harrison of Henrico followed this trade, and the names of others might be mentioned.[1]

A curious instance which throws light upon the social standing of the men in the Colony who were engaged in these trades is recorded in York County. James Bullock, a tailor, entered into a wager with Mr. Mathew Slader that in a race to take place between their horses he would prove the winner. The court, instead of allowing him the amount agreed upon in the bet, which he seems to have won, fined him one hundred pounds of tobacco, on the ground that it was illegal for laborers to participate in horse-racing, this being a sport reserved exclusively for gentlemen. Tailors, nevertheless, were considered sufficiently respectable to act as the attorneys of leading planters in special transactions, and also in a long course of business.[2]

There are numerous indications that the tailors enjoyed a large measure of prosperity. In 1674, Henry Chaney of Accomac, a member of this trade, purchased a planta-

  1. Records of Henrico County, vol. 1677-1692; p. 229, Va. State Library.
  2. Records of York County, vol. 1671-1694, p. 84, Va. State Library.