William made no complaint against his master of a serious nature
touching himself. True, he said his "master was a frolicker, and fond of
drink," but he was not particularly unkind to him. His name was Tunis;
he was a military man, and young; consequently William had not been in
his hands long. Prior to his being owned by the young master, he had
lived with old mistress Tunis. Concerning her the following is one of
William's statements:
"My sister about the first of this month, three weeks after her
confinement, had word sent to her by her mistress, Mrs. Tunis, that she
thought it was time for her to come out and go to work, as she had been
laying by long enough." In reply to this message, William said that "his
sister sent word to her mistress, that she was not well enough, and
begged that her mistress would please send her some tea and sugar, until
she got well enough to go to work. The mistress' answer was to the
effect that she did not intend to give her anything until she went to
work, and at the same time she sent word to her, that she had better
take her baby down to the back of the garden and throw it away, adding
'I will sell her, etc.'"
It was owing to the cruelty of Mrs. Tunis that William was moved to
flee. According to his statement, which looked reasonable and appeared
truthful, he had been willed free by his master, who died at the time
that the plague was raging in Norfolk. At the same time his mistress
also had the fever, and was dreadfully frightened, but recovered. Not
long after this event it was William's belief that the will was made
away with through the agency of a lawyer, and in consequence thereof the
slaves were retained in bondage.
* * * * *