While alive, she sometimes felt sad that she had not had children. The travails of slave labour may have been responsible for that. As she was a widow without children or heirs, she needed to leave her possessions in good hands. When her executor read the testament, there were no surprises. She was not rich but had two Angolan slaves, Lucrécia and Antônio. She had bought them rather cheap as the trade flow between Angola and Rio de Janeiro had been gradually increasing since 1750, decreasing the average value of slaves and making it easy for small farmers to have a slave labour force. Gracia Maria also had a wellequipped manioc house. The building was quite old, but it served its purpose. Among its items, there were boxes for flour storage and tools (axes, hoes, knives and so forth). She had a rifle, usually used by Antônio to frighten away predators from the forest of Tinguá, though only on her instructions. The conciliatory accounts and remarks recorded in her testament make it clear that Gracia Maria did not like to have her slaves involved in problems with the authorities. Her property was modest even by the standards of her parish - she had no more than 30 acres. However, that was enough for a good crop of manioc, which was processed into flour before being sold. She favoured her slaves, but not for fear of being unable to find peace after death. She had already received every possible Catholic sacrament. Gracia Maria had a certain affection for Antônio and Lucrécia, especially the latter. So, in her will, both of them benefited from the manioc crop and the manioc house for one year from the day of her death. Gracia Maria hoped that Antônio and (particularly) Lucrécia would save up enough money in one year to buy their letters of manumission. However, if Antônio could not buy his freedom by the end of that period, the executor was to sell him at market price. Gracia Maria stated that, in that case, he should only be sold to someone of his liking. However, she held Lucrécia in higher esteem. As a freedwoman herself