Crafting the Overseer's Image (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Crafting the Overseer's Image Glen McClish Crafting the Overseer's Image. By William E. Wiethoff. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2006; pp xxii + 234. $39.95 cloth. William E. Wiethoff's Crafting the Overseer's Image begins and ends with a vexing scholarly quandary: how does one study the constructed character, the image of a historical figure who left few substantial texts to scrutinize? More specifically, how should one reveal the reputation of the Southern plantation overseers of the colonial and antebellum periods, when in fact they provided few written accounts of their lives and work? The problem is one of agency: "Largely silent for audiences of his own era, the overseer speaks not at all to twenty-first century audiences. In traditional rhetorical theory, he cannot possess an ethos for us because he stands mute before us" (167). The solution, for Wiethoff, is to turn to other colonial and antebellum voices for help. In this study, thus, it is not the overseers themselves who craft their image, but the "friends and enemies, neighbors and strangers" (xiii) who wrote and spoke about them, particularly plantation owners, legislators, judges, and slaves. To organize the multifaceted—often conflicting—components of the overseer's reputation, Wiethoff posits three primary dimensions of image construction: personal, professional, and public. With each dimension, he seeks to push beyond standard perceptions of the overseer's role in plantation culture. Wiethoff's treatment of the personal image, which comprises part 1 of the study, is divided into three chapters. Each chapter considers a primary aspect of the overseer's constructed character as related to the slaves he managed: the taskmaster, the scoundrel, and the rival. Not surprisingly, slaves' narratives are essential for the construction of the personal image. In chapter 1, which takes up the first of these personal roles, Wiethoff reaffirms the common image of the cruel taskmaster who savagely beat the slaves he controlled, yet he also features two elements previously neglected in the scholarship—the overseer's mental abuse of slaves and his failed efforts at intimidation. Chapter 2, Wiethoff's treatment of the image of the scoundrel, [End Page 352] emphasizes, in addition to the overseer's well-documented sexual exploitation, his attempts to curtail slaves' social activities, as well as slaves' efforts to earn money, develop literacy, and engage in corporate worship. The neglected role of the rival, which stems from the little-known fact that many overseers were compelled to compete with slaves for employment on the plantations, is the focus of chapter 3. Wiethoff's discussion of the overseer's professional image, which comprises part 2, features plantation owners' perceptions of their relationships with their overseers. Chapter 4 scrutinizes the common view of the overseer as subaltern, an inferior inevitably tainted by "dirty" work. In contrast, chapter 5 takes up the more favorable perception of the overseer as the plantation owner's "competent and trustworthy colleague" (105), who demonstrates considerable expertise and devotion to his employer. Wiethoff reveals how regional norms, family ties, friendship, and business associations helped to shape the role of the overseer as colleague. In part 3, Wiethoff focuses on two understudied components of the overseer's public image originating in colonial and state regulations: the spy and the warrior. Chapter 6, which features the former, discusses the overseer's work as plantation warden and neighborhood patroller. Unfortunately for the overseer, these roles were unpopular with both the planter, who associated them with the subaltern, and the slaves, for whom "there was little difference between a spy and a scoundrel" (141). In chapter 7, Wiethoff focuses on perceptions of the overseer as a warrior, detailing his attendance at musters of the colonial and state militia, as well as his work representing the Confederate army during the Civil War. Although neither role brought the overseer lasting public credibility, his efforts to maintain his employer's plantation during the 1860s earned him some momentary respect. Wiethoff's conclusion recapitulates the central findings of the study—particularly those claims that complicate or conflict with previous perceptions—and speculates on the challenge of studying a class of individuals whose image is largely shaped by others. Although Wiethoff admits...