Near our plantation lived as cruel a planter as ever God suffered to
live, named doctor Jackson; who was the owner of a large farm, with
several slaves. He was destitute of heart, soul, and conscience;
while his wife was of the same character. She often induced him to
ill-treat the slaves, especially those about the house; she being as
ready to complain of them, as he was to punish them.
One day, she became displeased with Sarah, her cook, and wanted her
husband to whip her. She said to Sarah, “I swear I will make your
master whip you, as soon as he comes to the house”; to which Sarah
replied, “Those who will swear, will lie!” This reply she reported to
the doctor upon his return; upon which he tied Sarah up and whipped
her, until the flesh so cleaved from the bone, that it might easily
have been scraped off with the hand; while the blood stood in puddles
under her feet.
After taking her down, he anointed her lacerated back with a mixture
of grease and tar, which was a new application; the usual one being
strong brine. For a long time after this, the poor creature could
neither walk nor stand, and it was dreadful to see her crawling about
in such painful agony. To Mrs. Jackson, however, it was a delightful
sight, for she seemed to gloat over the sight of such bloody, mangled
victims. Her cook had often before been flogged, but never so much to
her satisfaction.
I was one day sent upon an errand to the doctor’s house, and
being acquainted, I did not ask permission to enter, but went in
unannounced at the dining-room door. There I saw a little slave girl,
about eight years of age, running about the room; while Mrs. Jackson
was following and lashing her, and the blood running upon the floor!
The child’s offense was breaking a dish!!
On another side of our plantation lived another tyrant, by name
Clinton Hanley; who also had a large farm well stocked with slaves.
In his cruelty, this man had invented a somewhat different way of
punishing his slaves, from that practised by most masters. He whipped
severely, drove hard, and fed poorly. In cold weather he sent his
slaves, both men and women, through the snow, without shoes, to cut
wood.
He had one slave, named Mary, who was thus sent out to cut wood,
until her feet were so frozen and cracked, that she could be tracked
by her blood. To punish her, he one day ordered two men to lift up
the fence and put her head under, while he sat upon it to increase
the weight. While thus occupied, he was suddenly seized with a
violent pain at his heart, of which he died within three days.
I was hired out one year to a Mr. Compton, who was a kind master;
feeding and clothing well, and seldom beating his slaves, of which he
owned about one hundred able bodied and intelligent men and women.
His wife was equally as kind as a Mistress.
Mr. Compton was a sportsman, and very fond of gaming, horse racing
and drinking. His slaves were all religious, and much attached to
their master and mistress. They were allowed to hold their prayer
meetings unmolested, in their own quarters, and I felt thankful that
I had once more got among Christians.
Mr. Compton finally got so in debt, by his extravagance, that he was
obliged to sell his slaves to pay his creditors. The slaves, little
suspecting for what purpose, were sent down to town to pack tobacco.
While busily engaged at this work, the warehouse door was suddenly
closed, to prevent their escaping; when about sixty of them were
fettered and put on board a schooner, then lying at anchor in the
river, for the express purpose of conveying them far to the South.
Only three were fortunate enough to make their escape. The women and
children were brought down from the farm in wagons, and put on board
the vessel.
But O! reader, could you have seen those men, loaded down with irons,
as they passed weeping from the warehouse, you must have exclaimed,
“Great God, how long wilt thou suffer this sin to remain upon the
earth?”
The three men who made their escape, were sold to new masters.
Mrs. Compton, being from home at the time, knew nothing of this
transaction until her return. When she first heard of it, she
fainted; but upon recovering exclaimed, in the anguish of her heart,
“O, my people; husband, my heart will break!”
But her tears were of no avail; it was too late; the vessel,
freighted with its human cargo, had already weighed anchor, and was
under sail. Wafted by the northern breeze she gallantly sailed down
the stream at the rate of nine knots per hour; while the multitude
stood upon the banks and watched her disappearance, tears of pity
flowing down their cheeks.
She soon vanished from their sight. But God, who has his ways in the
wind, and manages the sea, had his purpose fixed; so thought one of
the slaves, who, in his faith, raised his cry of petition to the
living God; so while some were dancing to please the captain and
crew, others were crying.
The vessel ran well for about four days, when suddenly the sky
became overcast with dense black clouds, from whence flashed the
forked lightnings, and pealed the fearful thunders. The raging
billows lashed into fury, rolled mountain high, until there seemed no
possible escape from the frowns of a sin-avenging God. The captain
summoned all hands on board, and the vessel was finally driven upon a
sand beach, near one of the West India Islands, where all on board,
except one of the sailors, was saved. And thus did these slaves
obtain their freedom. The trader himself was not on board, having
gone by land, to the place where he expected to meet the slaves,
after giving them in charge to another person.
From this time to the day of her death, Mrs. Compton always wore the
marks of a sorrowful woman, while her husband became a miserable
wretch. In consequence of his inability to pay my year’s wages, I
only remained with him until Christmas; after which I was hired out
to Richard Thomas, my mistress’s brother; who was the most humane of
the family, and who, notwithstanding he liked to whip them himself,
did not choose that any one else should chastise his slaves. I lived
with him two years.
He had a hired plantation about thirty-five miles from his father’s,
where were my father, mother and five brothers; all having been hired
out to him. Here I had an opportunity of improving in my education,
for many of the planters in this region were not only rich, but
humane, and many of their slaves could read and write. Miserable
loafing white people were scarce in that vicinity, their services not
being needed. Neither was slave hunting much practised, therefore
there was no patrolling, and the land being less cursed by cruelty,
was rich and fertile; producing in abundance corn, wheat, and
tobacco, together with cotton enough for home consumption.
Religion also flourished in that region, where there were no Catholic
churches, but only Methodists and Episcopalians. Finally the masters
concluded to build a church for their slaves. So they united in
the work and soon had a large church, under the superintendance of
a white preacher; although a colored man could preach in it, if
qualified and licensed by the whites. The congregation was large.
Many white people went there to hear the colored ones sing and
praise God, and were often much affected by their simple but earnest
devotion.
Mr. Thomas, being a lawyer of great reputation and extensive
practise, was necessarily often called from home on business,
disconnected with his farm; consequently he employed an overseer to
attend to this and the slaves. This overseer was a very proud and
haughty fellow, made so by this sudden promotion; he never before
having held such an office, which made him fancy himself, if not a
god, at least an emperor!
Our living, which before had been decent, he soon entirely changed;
frequently allowing us but one meal of victuals a day, consisting of
corn bread, sometimes baked in the ashes, with two salted herring.
This was to be eaten before going to the field in the morning, and
we were called at break of day, after which we had no more until our
return at night. Now you must know, reader, that chopping wood all
day, upon an empty stomach, is not what it is cracked up to be!
One cold winter’s day in February he sent us to the woods to chop.
I worked until I became so hungry and faint, that I thought I could
stand it no longer, when I resolved to go to the house for something
to eat; or failing, to die in the attempt. Some of the hands
promising to follow me, I started, supposing them close at hand; but
I soon found myself alone, they having backed out, their courage
failing. They thought, as I had troubled the waters, I might drink
them alone; but they declined to partake of such bitter streams.
Before I reached the house, the overseer saw me and inquired where I
was bound, to which I replied, “to the house, for something to eat.”
He ordered me back, but I, being homeward bound, and under full sail,
thought best not to ’bout ship, so he ran after me, caught me by the
back of the neck, struck me with the butt end of the whip upon my
head, but did not fell me to the ground. I seized hold of the whip,
wrung it from his hand, threw him upon the ground, clenched him
somewhere about the throat, and for a few moments stopped his mortal
respiration.
When I released him, he lost no time in running for the house, to
tell his story to master Richard; after which he hastened back to the
woods. I went to our quarters, ate my corn cake and herrings, and
returned to the chopping. Nothing was said; the silence of the grave
seemed to reign around, broken only by the sound of the axes. The men
seemed to cut more wood that afternoon, than at other times they had
for a whole day.
Next morning upon going, as usual, to the stable to attend to the
horses, the overseer followed me, entered the stable and shut the
door. He took from his pocket a rope, and ordered me to cross my
hands, which I refused to do; upon which he seized a tobacco stick
about four feet long and two inches thick, with which he struck and
brought me to the ground. He then sprang upon me, for the purpose of
tying my hands, but did not succeed, for I rose to my feet with him
upon my back, shook off my uncomfortable load, and in turn mounted
his back, wrung the stick from his hand, and with it commenced
beating him.
As soon as he could escape from my hands, he opened the stable door
and ran for the house; from whence I soon saw him returning in great
haste, accompanied by master Richard; who, coming up to me, bade me
surrender. I did so, and he tied my hands across each other, then
tied me to one of the beams in the barn, and told the overseer to
whip me. Accordingly he divested himself of his coat, rolled up his
sleeves, and commenced flogging with all his might. But after giving
me about ten cuts, to his extreme disappointment, he was told to
desist, as that was sufficient.
I thought much of being thus punished for nothing, and resolved
that, should the overseer again attempt to whip me, I would kill him
and abide the consequences. I therefore told master Richard, that I
had rather die than again be whipped; that the punishment of death
was not so dreadful, and I should know next time what to do. “What
will you do, sir?” said he. I replied, “You alone have the right to
correct me, sir. Had you been made acquainted with all the facts in
the case, you would not have had me whipped so; and if the overseer
strikes me again, I will kill him and be hung at once, that there
may be an end of me.” He bade me hold my tongue, and go to work;
after which, turning to the overseer, he said, “Whenever that fellow
disobeys, I wish you to inform me, that I may learn what is the
fault; I do not wish you to flog him; I know he is a good hand, and
needs no flogging to make him work.”
After this, we had three meals a day, larger in proportion, and
everything went on well, until the following July, when a difficulty
arose between master and overseer.