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The article presents the partial results of a study designed to reconstruct the stories of rural black workers in Zona da Mata Mineira, Brazil in the 19th century. It explains that Zona da Mata Mineira was a principal coffee-growing region, producing 90% of the coffee in Minas Gerais during the 1880s and 70% during the 1920s. It notes that the primary units of labor in the region were black men, some of whom were slaves and some of whom were free. The article relies on the accounts of travelers, registry documents, and criminal and civil proceedings to study the economic activity of these slaves.