During this period Lloyd traded a Merino ram for "Sailor," a male Newfoundland that had a reputation for spectacularly enthusiastic water dog retrieving of ducks.

In the Senate, Lloyd served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia (Eighteenth and Nineteenth Congresses).

Lloyd was an important slaveholder and vocal defender of the institution of slavery throughout his political career.

The book describes the acts of cruelty committed by Lloyd's overseers, and dwells at length on Lloyd's own despotic treatment, including whippings of two slaves caring for his horses: To all these complaints no matter how unjust, the slave must answer never a word.

I have seen Colonel Lloyd make old Barney, a man between fifty and sixty years of age, uncover his bald head, kneel down upon the cold, damp ground, and receive upon his naked and toil-worn shoulders more than thirty lashes at the time.