FROM LOUDON CO., VA., NORFOLK, BALTIMORE, MD., PETERSBURG, VA., &C.,
ABOUT THE MONTH OF JUNE, 1855.
Arrival 1st. David Bennett and family.
Arrival 2d. Henry Washington, alias Anthony Hanly, and Henry Stewart.
Arrival 3d. William Nelson and wife, William Thomas, Louisa Bell, and
Elias Jasper.
Arrival 4th. Maria Joiner.
Arrival 5th. Richard Green and his brother George.
Arrival 6th. Henry Cromwell.
Arrival 7th. Henry Bohm.
Arrival 8th. Ralph Whiting, James H. Forman, Anthony Atkinson,
Arthur Jones, Isaiah Nixon, Joseph Harris, John Morris, Henry Hodges.
Arrival 9th. Robert Jones and wife.
The first arrival to be here noticed consisted of David Bennett, and his
wife Martha, with their two children, a little boy named George, and a
nameless babe one month old. This family journeyed from Loudon county,
Va. David, the husband, had been in bonds under Captain James Taylor.
Martha, the wife, and her two children were owned by George Carter.
Martha's master was represented as a very barbarous and cruel man to the
slaves. He made a common practice of flogging females when stripped
naked. This was the emphatic testimony of Martha. Martha declared that
she had been so stripped, and flogged by him after her marriage. The
story of this interesting young mother, who was about twenty-seven years
of age, was painful to the ear, particularly as the earnestness and
intelligence of this poor, bruised, and mangled soul bore such strong
evidence to the truthfulness of her statements. During the painful
interview the mind would involuntarily picture this demon, only as the
representative of thousands in the South using the same relentless sway
over men and women; and this fleeing victim and her little ones, before
escaping, only as sharers of a common lot with many other mothers and
children, whose backs were daily subjected to the lash. If on such an
occasion it was hard to find fitting words of sympathy, or adequate
expressions of indignation, the pleasure of being permitted to give aid
and comfort to such was in part a compensation and a relief. David, the
husband of this woman, was about thirty-two years of age. No further
notice was made of him.
Arrival No. 2 consisted of Henry Washington, alias Anthony Hanly, and
Henry Stewart. Henry left Norfolk and a "very mild master," known by the
name of "Seth March," out of sheer disgust for the patriarchal
institution. Directly after speaking of his master in such flattering
terms he qualified the "mild," &c. by adding that he was excessively
close in money matters. In proof of this assertion, Henry declared, that
out of his hire he was only allowed $1.50 per week to pay his board,
clothe himself, and defray all other expenses; leaving no room whatever
for him to provide for his wife. It was, therefore, a never-failing
source of unhappiness to be thus debarred, and it was wholly on this
account that he "took out," as he did, and at the time that he did. His
wife's name was "Sally." She too was a slave, but "had not been treated
roughly."
For fifty long years Henry had been in the grasp of this merciless
system--constrained to toil for the happiness of others, to make them
comfortable, rich, indolent, and tyrannical. To say that he was like a
bird out of a cage, conveys in no sense whatever the slightest idea of
his delight in escaping from the prison house. And yet, his pleasure was
sadly marred by the reflection that his bosom companion was still in
bondage in the gloomy prison-house. Henry was a man of dark color, well
made, and of a reflective turn of mind. On arriving in Canada, he
manifested his gratitude through Rev. H. Wilson, as follows--
ST. CATHARINES, Aug. 20th, 1855.
DEAR BR. STILL:--I am requested by Henry Washington to inform
you that he got through safe, and is here in good business. He
returns to you his sincere thanks for your attention to him on
his way. I had the pleasure of receiving seven fugitives last
week. Send them on, and may God speed them in the flight. I
would like to have a miracle-working power, that I could give
wings to them all so that they could come faster than by
Railroads either underground or above.
Yours truly,