They decided to call me Phillis, after the name of the slave ship I was on. She had her daughter, Mary, to take charge of me and instruct me in my new responsibilities..

However, the most immediate task for her, though, was to teach me the language they called English. All of this, of course, was new to me. I only spoke my native tongue. However, I put my mind to it and before long I could speak English pretty good.

Mrs. Wheatley was very nice to me. She treated me more like her child than her slave. She permitted Mary, whose health was poor also, to teach me the alphabet.