The Children of Francis West from Duxbury

I've told a number of people through the years, that I use the mornings as research time, no matter where I call home.  I sit with coffee, and I read, and write, and search for things old and unknown.  Discoveries.  Documents, photos.  I've been called a detective of sorts. Yesterday, as I was wondering if I had been sitting too long in this apartment (I'm living in Chiang Mai Thailand right now), I came across a stash of old wills and probate papers.  It always happens like this, right when I'm about to pull the plug, something comes my way.  It was a kind of estate accounting from 1862.  Some business, er, executors, er whatever whoever it was at the time, was trying to value an estate.  And that's when I saw the short list of "negros," right above "1 Bed & Furniture," "1 Bureau," and "1 Falling leaf Table." Now I have to say, it's nothing new to see a list like this, the dichotomy of valuing human life with that...