The following text is adapted from Charles Chesnutt’s 1899 short story “Mars Jeems’s Nightmare.” The narrator and his wife have recently moved to the southern United States, and Julius is their carriage driver.

Julius [was] very useful when we moved to our new residence. He had a thorough knowledge of the neighborhood, was familiar with the roads and the watercourses, knew the qualities of the various soils and what they would produce, and where the best hunting and fishing were to be had. He was a marvelous hand in the management of horses and dogs.