While studying The First Census of Texas 1835, I found my ancestors. It said their belongings consisted of..... One mule, one slave and one wooden clock. I doubt that the slave lived a much more difficult life than my ancestors did, it was tough for all back then.
Slavery was and is wrong but in case you are wondering, I inherited nothing from these people, not even the wooden clock
Ulysses S. Grant had a single slave given to him when he was a young man. Grant and the slave worked the small farm together till it failed.
Grant freed the slave which agitated his neighbors mostly due to the fact that their slaves knew about it and freedom was not something they wanted their slaves considering.