This article examines the possibilities of family life among captives of three wealthy slave-holding families in the forest region of Minas Gerais [Zona da Mata Mineira], which was an area of thriving coffee plantations during the nineteenth century. Utilizing diverse types of documentation, the paper examines the lives of these families' slaves and their family structures. The data reveal that the captives were able to live together and that they created family environments in a variety of ways. Relations of symbolic (spiritual) kinship point to the existence of networks of solidarity and reciprocity. The captives of the three families studied maintained some stability in their emotional and spiritual ties, even after the division of property of his master, establishing ties, spiritual and consanguineous, with individuals of different social status.
slave family; godparents; stability; large slaveholding