SLAVERY IN THE MARITIME PROVINCES
The French population of the territory by the sea, the Acadians, are
described by the poet as:
Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands,
Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of heaven.
History does not bear out this idyll; but whatever their faults, at
least the Acadians had the negative virtue of possessing no slaves,[1]
Panis or Negro: nor was it until the coming of the people whose native
air was too pure for a slave that the curse came upon the land.
The permanent settlement by the English of Acadia may fairly be
considered as beginning when in 1749 Cornwallis founded Halifax.[2]
Negro slaves were among the population of Halifax from the beginning
or very shortly after. Where they came from is uncertain and it has
been suggested that they came with the original settlers across the
ocean. In the absence of any other explanation more plausible, this
might be accepted. Lord Mansfield's decision in the Somerset case was
a quarter of a century in the future. But it seems more probable that
they were brought from the English Colonies, and some almost certainly
were.
The official records of the country exhibit much evidence to this
effect. In September, 1751, the _Boston Evening Post_ advertised "Just
arrived from Halifax and to be sold, ten strong hearty, Negro men
mostly tradesman, such as caulkers, carpenters, sailmakers and
ropemakers.[3] Any person wishing to purchase may enquire of Benjamin
Halliwell of Boston." Such an advertisement indicates that
shipbuilding was slack at Halifax and more brisk at Boston. A
conjecture may be hazarded that these slaves had been taken by their
master to Halifax to build ships and then returned to the colony when
required no longer in Acadia.
Some such conjecture receives a little assistance from a will still on
record in Halifax. It was made February 28, 1752, by Thomas Thomas
"late of New York but now of Halifax" and disposed of his "goods,
chattels and negros" including one bequest to this effect: "all my
plate and my negro servant Orange that now lives with me at Halifax, I
leave and bequeath to my son."
In the same year, _The Halifax Gazette_ of May 15 contains the
advertisement "Just imported and to be sold by Joshua Mauger at Major
Lockman's store in Halifax, several Negro slaves as follows: A woman
aged 35, two boys aged 12 and 13 respectively, two of 18 and a man
aged 30." In the _Halifax Gazette_ of Saturday, May 30, 1752, sale is
advertised thus: "Just imported and to be sold by Joshua Mauger, at
Major Lockman's store in Halifax, several negro slaves, viz., a very
likely negro wench, of about thirty-five years of age, a Creole born,
has been brought up in a gentleman's family, and capable of doing all
sorts of work belonging thereto, as needle-work of all sorts and in
the best manner; also washing, ironing, cooking, and every other thing
that can be expected from such a slave: also two negro boys of about
12 or 13 years old, likely, healthy, and well-shaped, and understand
some English. Likewise two healthy negro slaves of about 18 years of
age, of agreeable tempers and fit for any kind of business: And also a
healthy negro man of about 30 years of age." In September 1759, a
Halifax merchant, Malachy Salter wrote to his wife then visiting
relatives in Boston informing her of the state of the family, saying
that "Jack is Jack still but rather worse. I am obliged to exercise
the cat or stick almost every day. I believe Halifax don't afford
another such idle, deceitful villain"--"Pray purchase a Negro boy if
possible."
In the year of the surrender of Montreal, the _Halifax Gazette_,
November 1, 1760, advertised "To be sold at public auction on Monday
the 3rd of November, at the house of Mr. John Rider, two slaves, viz.,
a boy and a girl, about 11 years old; likewise a puncheon of choice
cherry brandy with sundry other articles."
Some legal sanction, moreover, was given slavery. A General Assembly
the first Elective Legislature in what is now Canada, met at Halifax
in 1757. In 1762 the second session of the third General Assembly
passed an act[4] which seems not to have received very much attention
from legists[5] and writers. It contains a recognition of slavery. The
act provides by section 2 that "in case any soldier, sailor, servant,
apprentice, bound servant or negro slave or any other person
whatsoever shall leave any pawn or pledge with a vendor of liquor for
the payment of any sum exceeding five shillings for liquor such
soldier, sailor, servant, apprentice bound servant or negro slave ...
or the master or mistress of such servant, apprentice, bound servant
or negro slave" might by proceedings before a Justice of the Peace
obtain an order for the restoration of the pawn or pledge--and the
vendor might be fined 20 shillings "for the use of the poor."[6]
For this reason slavery could easily continue as subsequent records
prove. In July, 1767, Charles Proctor of Halifax sold Louisa, a
"Mulotta" girl, to Mary Wood of Annapolis for L15 currency[7] and next
year Mary Wood assigned the girl to her daughter Mrs. Mary Day. In
June, 1767, James Simonds of the St. John River wrote to Hazen and
Jarvis at Newburyport, Massachusetts, a letter in which he complains
of "that rascal negro, West" who cannot be got to do a quarter of a
man's work. In an advertisement in a Halifax paper in 1769 are offered
for sale to the highest bidder "two hogsheads of rum, three of sugar
and two well-grown negro girls aged 14 and 12." Those were clearly a
consignment from the West Indies. The executors of John Margerum of
Halifax deceased, in their accounts give credit for L29.9.4.1/2 "net
proceeds of a negro boy sold at Carolina." In 1770 the executors of
Joseph Gerrish of Halifax lost L30 on the sale of three Negroes for
L150 to Richard Williams and Abraham Constable, the Negroes having
been appraised at L180: and a Negro boy named John Fame was not then
sold. In April 1770, Mrs. Martha Prichard of Halifax, widow,
bequeathed to her daughter, wife of Moses Delesdernier a Negro slave
woman named Jessie. If Mrs. Delesdernier did not wish to retain the
slave, she was to be sold and the proceeds of the sale given to Mrs.
Delesdernier. If she kept her, the slave at the death of Mrs.
Delesdernier was to be the property of her son Ferdinand. By the same
instrument the testatrix bequeathed to her grand-daughter a mulatto
slave John Patten two and a half years old.
By the census of the year 1771 the Rev. James Lyon, the first
Presbyterian Minister in Nova Scotia, is shown to have owned a colored
boy, the only Negro in the township of Onslow and John Young in the
township of Amherst also a Negro boy, the only one in the township. In
Annapolis, Magdalen Winnett owned a man, woman and girl; Joseph
Winnett owned a woman and a boy; Ebenezer Messenger and Ann Williams
each a man, and John Stork of Granville owned a man the only Negro in
the township; and Henry Evans of Annapolis had the previous year owned
a colored girl.
Jacob Hurd of Halifax offered in 1773 a reward of L5 for the
apprehension of his runaway Negro, Cromwell, a "short thick set strong
fellow," strongly pock marked "especially on the nose" and wearing a
green cloth jacket and a cocked hat. In July 1773, in the _Nova Scotia
Gazette and Weekly Chronicle_ the executor and executrix of Joseph
Pierpont of Halifax advertised "a Negro named Prince to be sold at
private sale." This perhaps indicated a repugnance to offering human
beings for sale by auction. In the _Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly
Chronicle_, March 27, 1775 is an advertisement for the sale of a
"likely well-made negro boy about 16 year old."
In the inventory of the estate of the late John Rock appeared in 1776
a Negro woman named Thursday. She was inventoried at L25 but sold for
L20. In this year also a Windsor farmer, Joseph Wilson left by will
two Negro women Byna and Sylla to his wife. In January 1779 the _Nova
Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle_ advertised for sale an able Negro
woman, about 21 year old, "capable of performing both town and country
work and an exceedingly good cook." In the same year Daniel Stratford
of Halifax left to his wife a Negro man slave Adam for life, after her
death to become the property of his daughter Sarah Lawson. Matthew
Harris of Picton sold for L50 to Matthew Archibald of Truro, tanner, a
"Negro boy named Abram, about 12 years of age" born of Harris' Negro
slave in Harris' house in Maryland.
In 1780 rewards were offered, one of 3 guineas, for the apprehension
and delivery at the office of the Commanding Officer of Engineers at
Halifax of two runaway Negro men; another "a handsome reward to be
paid for securing in any gaol a Negro boy Mungo about 14 years old and
well built"--the owner Benjamin De Wolfe of Windsor to be notified.
That year the executors of Colonel Henry Denny Denson of West
Falmouth debit themselves with L75 received for "Spruce," L60 for
"John" and L30 for "Juba" and credit themselves with L2.11.6 paid for
taking two of these to Halifax probably for sale there.
Abel Michener of Falmouth advertised in 1781 a reward of L5 for the
capture of a Negro named James; and Samuel Mack of Port Medway wanted
a Negro named "Chance" returned.
Richard Wenman of Halifax in September of that year agreed to give his
Negro, Cato, his liberty "if he will faithfully serve my said
daughter, Elizabeth Susannah Pringle two years." Captain Wilson of the
transport _Friends_ requested in 1782 that masters of vessels will not
ship as a seaman his runaway Negro lad Ben, saying: "He is my own
property."
There is no need for further particularization; for we now come to the
year of the definitive peace between the mother country and the new
republic. As in the upper country so by the sea there was a great
influx of Loyalists, accompanied in many instances by their slaves.
Thereafter sales, advertisements for auctions, rewards for runaway
slaves, bequests of slaves, &c., are very common and there were some
manumissions. That, however, was not the cause of the great increase
in the Negro population of the Maritime Province. The Island of St.
John, afterwards Prince Edward Island had been set off as a separate
province in 1769 but the Province of Nova Scotia included what became
the Province of New Brunswick until 1786.
During the Revolutionary War, the British commanders, Sir Henry
Clinton in particular, had made it a point to invite the slaves to the
British line and many had accepted the invitation. No few of these
refugees were of material service to the British troops in various
ways both menial and otherwise. At the peace Washington demanded the
return of these quondam slaves.[8] Sir Guy Carleton refused but made
a careful inventory of them with full description, name, former
master, etc., so that Washington might claim compensation from the
British Government, if he saw fit.[9] In addition to these slaves
somewhere about 3,000 freed Negroes accompanied the British troops on
their withdrawal from New York, nearly all coming to Nova Scotia. Many
of these after suffering great hardships were sent to Sierra Leone on
the West Coast of Africa in 1792. Some remained in the province where
their descendants are found until this day; but not in any very great
numbers. The Loyalists, however, retained their property in their own
slaves; and immigration was encouraged by the Act of 1790.[10]
The trade in Negroes was very brisk for some years. For example, on
June 24, 1783, the _Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle_
advertised for sale a Negro woman, "25 years of age, a good house
servant." On December 11, 1783, Captain Alexander Campbell late of the
South Carolina Loyalists sold to Captain Thomas Green late of the
Royal Nova Scotia Foot a Negro woman named Nancy for L40. Nancy two
years later was sold by Green to Abraham Forst of Halifax and a year
later still with her child Tom to Gregory Townsend.
A shipment was made by John Wentworth from Halifax to Surinam, Dutch
Guiana, of nineteen Negro slaves, "all American born or well seasoned
... perfectly stout, healthy, sober, orderly, industrious and
obedient." These, said he, "I have had christened and would rather
have liberated them than send them to any estate that I am not sure of
their being treated with care and humanity which I shall consider as
the only favour that can be done to me on this occasion" by his
correspondent.[11]
On October 29, 1787, John Rapalje, a Royalist, sent from Brookligne
(Brookland or Brooklyn Ferry) to George Leonard by desire of his (R's)
father a Negro woman named Eve about 35 years and her child named Suke
about 15 to sell as he himself cannot go to Nova Scotia. Eve was one
of the best servants "perfectly sober, honest" and the only fault she
had was her near sight.
The records show occasional manumission also. In 1784 the inventory of
the estate of John Porter late of Cornwallis, a Negro man is valued at
L80. That same year Charles Montague of Halifax says: "I have only one
Negro, named Francis; he is to have his freedom." In May 1787,
Margaret Murray, widow of Halifax by her will manumitted her two
Negro women Marianne and Flora; and (when he was 21) her Negro boy
Brutus. From the records of a trial at Shelburne, in a magistrate's
court in 1788 it appears that one Jesse Gray of Argyle had sold a
Negro woman for 100 bushels of potatoes. At a trial the ownership by
Gray was proved and the sale confirmed.
We now come to the times of a Chief Justice whose heart was set on
destroying slavery in the province of Nova Scotia, therein wholly
differing from the Chief Justice of New Brunswick, George Duncan
Ludlow, who had received his appointment on the separation of that
province in 1784. The forward-looking jurist was Thomas Andrew Strange
who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1791.[12] The same
impulse for liberty which about this time was noted in the upper
country manifested itself from time to time by the sea. Slaves ran
away from their masters; the masters pursued and imprisoned them. Some
blacks claimed freedom without fleeing. When a writ of habeas corpus
came up in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Strange did his best to
avoid giving a decision. He knew that slavery was lawful but he knew
it was detestable and he pursued a course which did not require him to
stultify himself but which would nevertheless confer substantial
benefits upon the black claiming liberty.
He endeavored in every case to bring the parties to an agreement to
sign articles whereby the master would have the services of the Negro
for a stated time, after the expiration of which the Negro received
his freedom. When the master refused this, as sometimes there was a
refusal, the Chief Justice required the matter to be tried by a jury,
which usually found for the Negro.[13]
The practice adopted was like the practice in cases of alleged
villenage in England. It was recognized that slavery might exist in
Nova Scotia, but it was made as difficult as possible for the master
to succeed on the facts. Except the act already mentioned there was no
statute recognizing slavery and an attempt in 1787 to incorporate such
a recognition in the statute law failed of success by a large
majority. The existing act, too, was given what seems a very forced
and unnatural interpretation so as to emasculate it of any authority
in that regard.
Salter Sampson Blowers, the Attorney General, fully agreed with the
Chief Justice's plan. On one occasion he threatened to prosecute a
person for sending a Negro out of the province against his will.[14]
The Negro managed to get back and the master acknowledged his right,
so that no proceedings were necessary. After a number of verdicts for
the alleged slaves, masters were generally very willing to enter into
articles whereby the slave after serving faithfully for a fixed number
of years was given his freedom.
After Blowers became Chief Justice, 1797,[15] he continued Chief
Justice Strange's practice with marked results. In one case of which
he tells where he had discharged a black woman from the Annapolis gaol
on habeas corpus and an action had been brought, the plaintiff proved
that he had bought her in New York; but the Chief Justice held that he
had not proved the right of the seller so to dispose of her and
directed the jury to find for the defendant which they promptly did.
Slavery continued, however. Almost every year we find records of
sales, advertisements for runaway slaves, bequests of slaves, &c, till
almost the end of the first decade of the 19th century, the latest
known bill of sale is dated March 21, 1807 and transfers a "Negro
Woman named Nelly of the age of twenty five or thereabout." It was,
however, decadent and from about the beginning of the 19th century was
quite as much to the advantage of the Negro in many cases as that of
the master.
A final effort to legalize slavery in Nova Scotia was made in 1808.
Mr. Warwick, member for Digby Township, presented a petition from John
Taylor and other slave owners setting up that the doubts entertained
by the courts rendered their property useless and that the slaves were
deserting and defying their masters. They asked for an act securing
them their property or indemnifying them for their loss. Thomas
Ritchie member for Annapolis introduced a bill to regulate Negro
servants within the province. The bill passed its second reading
January 11, 1808, but failed to become law; and the attempt was never
renewed.
New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia in 1784. The Chief
Justice of that province was not as averse from slavery as his brother
of Nova Scotia. One of the most interesting and celebrated cases came
before the Supreme Court of New Brunswick in Hilary Term, February
1800. Captain Stair Agnew who had been an officer in the Queen's
Rangers settled opposite Fredericton. He was a man much thought of as
is shown by his being chosen for thirty years to represent York County
in the Legislature. He owned a slave Nancy Morton[16] who claimed her
freedom and whom apparently he had put in charge of one Caleb Jones. A
writ of habeas corpus was obtained directed to Jones and the matter
was arranged to be argued before the full court of four judges. For
the applicant appeared Ward Chipman[17] and Samuel Denny Street for
the master, Jonathan Bliss, Attorney General of the province, Thomas
Wetmore, John Murray Bliss, Charles J. Peters and Witham Botsford, all
men of ability and eminence. On the Bench were Chief Justice Ludlow
and Puisne Justices Allen, Upham and Saunders.
The addresses of the Attorney-General and Mr. Chipman are extant. The
former divided his speech into thirty-two heads; the latter took
eighty pages of foolscap for his. The arguments were extremely able
and exhaustive,[18] everything in history, morals and decided cases
being brought to bear. The case took two full days to argue and after
careful consideration the court divided equally, the Chief Justice and
Mr. Justice Upham affirming the right of the master and Mr. Justice
Allan and Mr. Justice Saunders held for the alleged slave.
The return of Jones to the writ was that Nancy "was at the time of her
birth and ever since hath been a female Negro slave or servant for
life born of an African Negro slave and before the removal of the said
Caleb Jones from Mary Land to New Brunswick was and became by purchase
the lawful and proper Negro slave or servant for life of him the said
Caleb Jones ..., that the said Caleb Jones in the year of our Lord
1785 brought and imported the said ... Nancy his Negro slave or
servant for life into the Province of New Brunswick ... and has always
hitherto held the said ... Nancy as his proper Negro slave or servant
for life ... or by laws he has good right and authority to
do...."[19]
The Chief Justice based his opinion on what he called the "Common Law
of the Colonies"--and although that expression was ridiculed at the
time and has been since, there is no difficulty in understanding it.
He meant custom recognized as law not contained in an express
legislative enactment. In that sense a modern lawyer will agree that
he was right. Practically all the English colonies had slavery
thoroughly recognized and often without or before legislation; and all
the well known legal maxims asserted the cogency of such custom.[20]
Mr. Justice Allen considered that no human power could justify
slavery--and his brother Saunders agreed with him. It would seem that
these judges were concerned with what the law should be, the others
with what it actually was.[21]
In the result the return was held sufficient and the master had his
slave. But the decision of the divided court had its effect. Agnew
reconveyed Nancy to William Bailey from whom he had bought her and she
bound herself to serve for fifteen years, then to receive her
freedom.[22] The result of this case was that while slavery was not
formally abolished, it before many years practically ceased to
exist.[23]
Prince Edward Island was called Isle St. Jean until 1798. In this
island slavery had the same history as in the other maritime
provinces. Shortly after the peace Negro slaves were brought into the
Island by their United Empire Loyalist masters. As late as 1802 we
find recorded the sale of "a Mulatto boy three years old called Simon"
for L20, Halifax currency, then L18 sterling, and a gift of "one
Mulatto girl about five years of age named Catherine." We also find
Governor Fanning (1786-1804), freeing his two slaves and giving one of
them, Shepherd, a farm.
In Cape Breton which was separate from 1784 to 1820, Negro slaves were
found as early as the former date: "Cesar Augustus, a slave and Darius
Snider, black folks, married 4th September 1788," "Diana Bestian a
Negro girl belonging to Abraham Cuyler Esq" was buried September 15,
1792 and a Negro slave was killed in 1791 by a blow from a spade when
trying to force his way into a public ball in Sydney.[24] In this
province, too, slavery met the same fate.
There is now to be mentioned an interesting series of
circumstances.[25] During the War of 1812-15 the British navy occupied
many bays and rivers in United States territory and in some cases
troops were landed where there was a slave population. These forces
came into possession of many slaves, mostly voluntary fugitives, some
seduced and some taken by violence from their masters. Admiral
Cochrane in April 1814 issued a proclamation inviting all those who
might be disposed to emigrate from the United States for the purpose
of becoming free settlers in some of "His Majesty's Colonies" to come
with their families on board of the British men of war and offering
them the choice of joining the British forces or being sent as free
settlers to a British possession. He did not say "slaves" but no one
could mistake the meaning.[26] Negroes came in droves. Some were taken
to the Bahamas and the Bermudas where their descendants are to be
found until this day; many were taken to Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick.[27]
When the Treaty of Peace was concluded at Ghent, December 24, 1814 the
United States did not forget the slaves who had got away from the home
of liberty. Article 1 provided for the delivery up of all places taken
by either party without carrying away any property captured "or any
slaves or other private property." The United States demanded the
restoration of "all slaves and other private property which may now be
in possession of the forces of His Britannic Majesty." The British
officers refused to surrender the slaves contending that the real
meaning of the treaty did not cover the case. At length in 1818 a
convention was entered into that it should be left to the Emperor of
Russia[28] to decide whether the United States by the true intent of
Article 1 was entitled to the restitution or full compensation for the
slaves.
In 1822 the Emperor decided in favor of the United States. Thereupon
the next year (1824) a mixed commission of two commissioners and two
arbitrators determined the average value to be allowed as
compensation;[29] for slaves taken from Louisiana $580: from Alabama
Georgia and South Carolina, $390; from Virginia, Maryland and all
other States $280.
The commissioners adjourned for the purpose of enabling evidence to be
obtained as to the numbers. Clay submitted to the British Government
that 3601 slaves had been taken away but was willing for a settlement
to accept the price of 1650. Britain declined, but the commissioners
failed to agree and finally by diplomacy in 1827 Britain agreed to pay
L250,000 or $1,204,960 in full for slaves and other property. Thus
Britain assured the freedom of more than 3,000 slaves and paid for
them, a fitting prelude to the great Act of 1833 whereby she freed
800,000 slaves and paid L20,000,000 for the privilege.[30]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] So far at all events as appears from any records that I have seen
it is just possible however that "La Liberte, le neigre" mentioned in
de Meulles' Census of Acadia in 1696 was a black slave,
notwithstanding his name.
[2] From 1720 on, Annapolis Royal had a fairly firm government and
settlement but it was not until Halifax was founded that it became
certain that the country would remain English.
[3] This and most of the facts, dates, etc., in this chapter are taken
from the Rev. Dr. T. Watson Smith's fascinating article _The Slave in
Canada_ in the _Nova Scotia Historical Society's Collections_, Vol. X,
Halifax, 1899.
[4] (1762) 2 George III, c. 1 (N. S.), _Statutes at Large, Nova
Scotia_, Halifax, 1805, p. 77.
[5] It is referred to in a letter from Ward Chipman to Chief Justice
Blowers to be mentioned later. See post, p.
[6] This Act was continued in 1784 by (1784) 24 George III, c. 14 (N.
S.). _Statutes at Large, Nova Scotia_, p. 238.
[7] "Halifax currency" was at this time nine-tenths of Sterling L10
currency = L9 sterling and the 5/ dollar being 4/6 sterling.
[8] It will be remembered that in the Treaty of Peace it was agreed by
Article VII "His Britanic Majesty shall with all convenient speed and
without causing any destruction or carrying away any negroes or other
property of the American inhabitants withdraw his armies, garrisons
and fleets from the said United States...."
Sir Guy Carleton claimed that the Negroes who had taken refuge in the
British lines at once lost their status of slavery and became free.
They were "not Negroes or other property of the American," a rather
technical not to say finely drawn distinction but _in favorem
libertatis_; and in any event Britain would not betray the helpless
who had put their faith in her.
[9] Washington did make a claim; but the United States had not carried
out its part of the contract and Britain would not and never did pay.
Jones' _Loyalist History of New York_, Vol. 2. p. 256, says that the
number of Negroes who found shelter in the British lines was 2000 at
least; probably this is an underestimate. Hay's _Historical Reading_
at p. 249 gives the number of Negroes who came into Nova Scotia with
their Masters at least 3000--and of free Negroes 1522 at Shelburne,
182 at St. John River. 270 at Guysborough, 211 in Annapolis County,
and a smaller number at other places. 1200 were sent to Sierre Leone
in 1792.
[10] See ante, p. --. The Negro population in 1784 estimated at about
3000 was included in the 28,347 of _Disbanded Troops and Loyalists
called New Inhabitants, Can. Arch._, Report for 1885, p. 10. There
were some free Negroes in various companies of the British forces in
one capacity or another.
[11] The Negroes sent were Abraham, James, Lymas, Cyrus, John, Isaac,
Quako, January, Priscella, Rachel, Venus, Daphne, Ann, Dorothy and
four children Celia, William, Venus, Eleanora--reserving Matthew and
Susannah at home. All these had been christened, February 11, 1784.
"Isaac is a thorough good carpenter and master sawyer, perfectly
capable of overseeing and conducting the rest and strictly honest;
Lymas is a rough carpenter and sawyer; Quako is a field negro has met
with an accident in his arm which will require some indulgence. The
other men are sawyers and John also a good axeman. Abraham has been
used to cattle and to attend in the house, &c. All the men are expert
in boats. The women are stout and able and promise well to increase
their numbers. Venus is useful in the hospital, poultry yard, gardens,
etc. Upon the whole they are a most useful lot of Negroes."
John Wentworth, last Royalist Governor of New Hampshire and afterwards
Sir John Wentworth, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, doubtless
believed himself to be a good man and a good Christian.
The story of Eve and Suke _infra_ is told by Archdeacon Raymond, 3 N.
B. Mag., 1899, p. 221.
[12] He went to England in 1796 (it was said, for a visit) resigned
his position in Nova Scotia, was Knighted and appointed Recorder of
Fort St. George, Bombay, India.
[13] A collateral ancestor of my own, the Reverend Archibald Riddell,
had the advantage of a similar proceeding a century before. Being
apprehended for taking part in the uprising of the Covenanters in
Scotland he was given (or sold) with others to a Scottish Laird who
chartered a vessel and proceeded to take his human chattels to America
for sale. The plague broke out on the ship, the Laird and his wife
died of it as did some of the crew. When the ship reached New Jersey,
there being no master, the "slaves" escaped up country. The Laird's
son-in-law and personal representative came to America and claimed
Riddell and others. The governor called a jury to determine whether
they were slaves and the jury promptly found in their favor. Riddell
preached in New Jersey until the Revolution of 1688 made it safe for
him to return to Scotland. Juries in such cases are liable to what
Blackstone calls "pious perjury." All this practice was based upon the
common law proceedings when a claim was made of villenage. When a
person claimed to be the lord of a villein who had run away and
remained outside the manor unto which he was regardant, he sued out a
writ of neif, that is, de nativo habendo. The sheriff took the writ
and if the nativus admitted that he was villein to the lord who
claimed him, he was delivered by the sheriff to the lord of the manor;
but if he claimed to be free, the sheriff should not seize him but the
Lord was compelled to take out a _Pone_ to have the matter tried
before the Court of Common Pleas or the Justices in Eyre, that is, the
assizes. Or the alleged villein might himself sue out a writ of
libertate probanda: and until trial of the case the lord could not
seize the alleged villein. The curious will find the whole subject
dealt with in Fitzherbert's _Natura Brevium_, pp. 77 sqq.
[14] This is very much like the Chloe Cooley case in Upper Canada. I
do not know what form the prosecution could possibly take if the Negro
was in fact a slave. See Chapter V, note 5 ante.
[15] It is said that August 1797 was the date of the last public slave
sale at Montreal, that of Emmanuel Allen for L36.
The last advertisement for sale by auction of a slave in the Maritime
Provinces seems to be that in _The Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia
Advertiser_ of September 7, 1790, where William Millet of Halifax
offers for sale by auction September 9 "A stout likely negro man and
sundry other articles."
In 1802 the census showed that there were 451 Blacks in Halifax; in
1791 there were 422.
Dr. T. Watson Smith says in a paper "Slavery in Canada" republished in
"Canadian History," No. 12, December, 1900, at p. 321.
"About 1806, so Judge Marshall has stated, a master and his slave were
taken before Chief Justice Blowers on a writ of habeas corpus. When
the case and the question of slavery in general had been pretty well
argued on each side, the Chief Justice decided that slavery had no
legal place in Nova Scotia."
I have not been able to trace such a decision and cannot think that it
has been correctly reported. Dr. Smith is wholly justified in his
statement "there is good ground for the opinion that this baneful
system was never actually abolished in the present Canadian Provinces
until the vote of the British Parliament and the signature of King
William IV in 1833 rendered it illegal throughout the British Empire."
[16] J. Allen Jack, Q. C., D. C., L., of St. John, New Brunswick,
gives a full account of this case from which (and similar sources)
most of the facts are taken. In a paper read before the Royal Society
of Canada May 26, 1898, _Trans. R. S. Can._, 1898, pp. 137 sqq., Dr.
Jack conjectures that Nancy Morton is the Negro female slave conveyed
by bill of sale registered in the office of the Register of Deeds, St.
John's, N. B. Slaves were treated as realty as regards fieri facias
under the Act of 1732 (see ante, p. --) and at least "savoured of the
realty." The bill of sale registered January 31, 1791, was dated
November 13, 1778, and was executed by John Johnson of the Township of
Brooklyn in King's County, Long Island, Province of New York. It
conveyed with a covenant to warrant and defend title to Samuel Duffy,
Innkeeper for L40 currency (say $100) "a certain negro female about
fourteen years of age and goes by the name of Nancy," pp. 141, 142.
However that may be, Stair Agnew bought Nancy from William Bailey of
the County of York in the Province of New Brunswick for L40 with full
warranty of title as a slave.
[17] He was born in Boston in 1753, the son of John Chipman, a member
of the Bar. Graduating at Harvard, he joined the Boston Bar and
practised in that City until 1776. After the Peace he went to England
and in 1784 sailed for New Brunswick of which he was appointed
Solicitor General. After a quarter of a century of successful practice
he was appointed 1808 a puisne judge of the Supreme Court. He died in
February, 1826.
His services to Nancy Morton were given without fee or hope of reward.
[18] That of Mr. Chipman is given in _Trans. R. Soc. Can._, 1898, pp.
155-184.
[19] It will be seen that the return sets up that Jones bought and
owned the slave and the case was argued on that hypothesis, but the
historians say that Captain Stair Agnew was the owner. The point is
not of importance.
[20] _Mos regit legem, Mos pro lege, Leges moribus servient,
Consuetudo est optimus interpres legum_, custom is the life of the
law, custom becomes law, &c., &c. That slavery was necessary and
therefore legal in the American Colonies was admitted in the Somerset
case.
[21] The modern lawyer, in my opinion, would find no difficulty in
coming to the same conclusion as the Chief Justice.
Mr. Chipman in his interesting correspondence with Chief Justice
Blowers (_Trans. R. Soc. Can._, 1898, pp. 148 sqq.) admits that if his
opponents had hit upon the Nova Scotia Statute of 1762 as revised in
1783 "the conclusiveness of their reasoning on their principles would
have been considered as demonstrated." He adds: "In searching your
laws upon this occasion I found this clause but carefully avoided
mentioning it," which raises a curious question in legal ethics.
[22] The reconveyance to Bailey, a quit claim deed, is witnessed by
George Leonard and Thomas Wetmore and is dated February 22, 1800. The
indenture by which Nancy bound herself for fifteen years is dated
February 23, 1800.
If Dr. Jack is right in his conjecture the argument took place when
she was 36 and she would receive her freedom when she was 51. Agnew
challenged Judge Allen for some reflection upon him by the Judge; the
challenge was declined and Agnew then challenged Street who
accepted--and they fought a bloodless duel. Street later in 1821
fought a duel with George Ludlow Wetmore over words which passed on
leaving the Court. Wetmore was struck in the head and died in a few
hours. Street was tried and aquitted. One result of this case was that
Mr. Justice Upham freed his slaves. His wife had six inherited from
her father and he himself had some, one a girl born in the East Indies
whom he had bought from her master in New York, the master of a ship,
afterwards married a soldier in Colonel Allen's regiment.
[23] What is believed to be the last advertisement for the sale of a
slave in any maritime province is in the New Brunswick _Royal Gazette_
of October 16, 1809 when Daniel Brown offered for sale Nancy a Negro
woman, guaranteeing a good title. The latest offer of a reward for the
apprehension of a runaway slave is said to be in the same paper for
July 10, 1816.
[24] For this act the perpetrator was excluded by his masonic lodge;
being brought to trial before the Supreme Court in August 1792 he was
"honourably acquitted" and afterwards he was reinstated by his lodge.
[25] Seldom mentioned and never much boasted of in the United States.
[26] The word _Camouflage_ may be new. The practice antedated
humanity.
[27] There is a record of 371 arriving at St. John from Halifax on May
25, 1815, by the _Romulus_, who had taken refuge on board the British
Men of War in the Chesapeake. The Negro settlement at Loch Lomond was
founded by them.
At the Census of 1824, 1421 "persons of color" were found in New
Brunswick. The Very Rev. Archdeacon Raymond, an excellent authority,
thinks most of these "were at one time slaves or the children of
slaves," but many were not slaves in New Brunswick.
Those that were brought by Admiral Cochrane to Halifax became a great
burden to the community. It was proposed in 1815 by the British
Government to remove them to a warmer climate, but this scheme does
not seem to have been carried out. By a census taken in 1816 there was
found to be 684 in Halifax and elsewhere in Nova Scotia. In the winter
of 1814-15 they had suffered rather severely from small pox and were
vaccinated to prevent its spread. Some were placed on Melville Island.
[28] Presumably because he had the greatest number of serfs in the
world and was, therefore, the best judge of slaves.
[29] Of course, Britain refused to give up a single fugitive. She
could not betray a trust even of the humblest. She knew that in "the
land of the free and the home of the brave" for the Negro returned to
his master, to be brave was to incur torture and death and death alone
could make him free.
[30] The Act (1833) 3, 4 William III, c. 73 (Imp.), passed the House
of Commons August 7 and received the Royal Assent August 28, 1833; and
there were no slaves in all the British world after August, 1838.