_Receptions at Buffalo--The Lincoln's and Sutherland's Visit to
Canada--Their Grand Reception There--Our Sacrifices for the Union and
Freedom--The Difficulties of Reconstruction--Good Work of the Freedman's
Bureau--Universal Rejoicing of all the Redeemed Race--The Colored People
Settling Down to Hard Work throughout the South._
The long and terrible Civil War was all over at last, and by the grace
of God we had got our Tom home to Buffalo once more, all safe and sound.
Our sea voyage from New Orleans to New York did us all an immense lot of
good, and seemed to brighten us all up in a wonderful degree. It was at
least a grand event in the lives of the girls, and is not forgotten even
now.
By way of returning thanks and giving glory to God for the victorious
end of the war, a regular reception was given to us one night at the A.
M. E. Church on Vine street, when every member was present, and there
was such a time of rejoicing and general jollification as I thought had
never been exceeded since the world began. We were also called upon for
short speeches; hymns of praise and triumph were sung, and, indeed,
there was a high time generally. "O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is
good, for His mercy endureth forever!"
For the space of a whole month thereafter we just spent the whole time
receiving friends at our house, and entertaining them, and going out and
being entertained by them in turn. It was just one round of the purest
pleasure, in which there was neither danger nor alloy. Tom had to do an
infinite deal of talking, relating his wars and battles in the Sunny
South, and the girls and I supplemented the same by giving our
experiences of the Rivers Ohio and Mississippi, and the grand sea voyage
all the way from New Orleans to New York. People were greatly taken with
the two girls, as they were just as bright as two buttons.
After all this turmoil was over, we all sighed for some fresh air in the
country, and new scenes altogether. The glorious Gibsons of Canada had
been writing incessantly ever since we spent that never-to-be-forgotten
month at Richmond Hill, and had most urgently insisted upon us three
coming back the second time after Tom's return to Buffalo--and for us to
bring Tom along with us. And Tom himself was not only willing but he was
most anxious to go, for the tongues of our children had been going
ding-dong hammer and tongs, about the glories of Richmond Hill and
Western Canada. And when it was at last decided that we would take the
road, and the day of our departure from Buffalo had been set, nothing
would satisfy our anxious children but that they should write a conjoint
letter to the Gibsons about our coming to Canada. And this they did in
their own way, and with such an incredible amount of enthusiasm that the
good Gibsons have been laughing over it ever since.
So we got already for our journey in the beginning of August, 1865, and
when we were about to start for the railway station, what was our
surprise when Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland, in travelling costume, marched
back into the parlor, and said that they also were bound along with us
to Richmond Hill and the Canadas! We were as much knocked down by this
piece of information as if we had been prostrated on the battle-field by
a discharge of grapeshot. We four all gave a loud shout for joy, made a
general rush for them, and such a scene of embracing, kissing and
congratulation followed as certainly can never be described by the pen.
This unexpected turn of affairs put new courage into us all, and served
its purpose as well as a tremendous victory over the enemy. The girls
shouted, "Come on, father! Come on, mother! Grandpa, come on! Come on,
grandma! There's a good time coming, and no mistake this time." The
children set us all laughing. But business is business, and so we got
our trunks into a conveyance, and all the presents intended for the good
folk at Richmond Hill, and the conveyance rolled on to the railroad
station, while we six happy travelers proceeded after it on foot.
[Illustration: _HAULING COTTON TO THE GIN._]
We all reached the station in due time, and being in a very hilarious
mood, the weather being so fine, and with such pleasing prospects before
us, we were taken for a wedding party, and no wonder! We got into the
train, and soon was off for Canada. Having at length crossed over the
Niagara river, we were fairly launched upon Canadian soil. All hearts
were light, all eyes were bright, and nature's face was fair and gay.
Our ride from the river to the railway station at Ingersoll was indeed
perfectly delightful, and we had nothing to do by the way but sit back
in our seats and admire the beautiful and well-cultivated country. As
the girls and I had been here two years ago, it was not such a wonder to
us, but the beautiful hills and dales of this land of refuge, to our
oppressed people in days gone by, were a perfect inspiration, a wonder
and a delight to the rest. In due course of time we arrived at the
station at Ingersoll, where we were met by a conveyance from Richmond
Hill; but as there were six of us in all, more than they, or even than
some of our ownselves, had expected, we could not all get in, and Tom
got another conveyance and divided the company in two. When we had
almost completed our journey, the Gibsons at Richmond Hill saw us coming
over the top of the last hill, as we issued out among the trees, upon
which the entire family, dogs, cats and all, were seen leaving the
house, and going down the field for the purpose of meeting our cavalcade
at the gate that opened into the high-road. We cautiously descended the
last hill, moved down the road that leads to the Cedar Swamp, and met
these good Gibsons at the gate. I have said hundreds of times since that
the warm welcome they gave us put me in mind of heaven, and it seemed to
me at the time worth going all the way to Richmond Hill to receive!
We all steered up the field road on foot, and when we came to Richmond
Hill, and looked around us upon the country far and wide, we were all
perfectly enchanted with the view, and one and all of us exclaimed,
"What a beautiful land! Fair as the Garden of Eden before the Lord!
Beautiful as Tirzah!" Then we all went into the house, where we disposed
of our trunks, and all the rest of our things, after which we sat down
and talked, and felt thoroughly at home. Indeed, there was a home
feeling about the place that was irresistible. With true Canadian
kindness refreshments were immediately placed before the young man who
drove the hired conveyance, and after he had helped himself to his
heart's content, he took his departure for Ingersoll, where I doubt not
he arrived safely in a short time.
A good supply of bread and cheese and milk were set upon the table, and
each of us took a snack only, because the afternoon was now wearing on
apace, and supper would be ready in a couple of hours. In the meantime,
we all put on our hats and bonnets, and accompanied by several members
of the family, we took a walk up to the top of the range of hills that
ran away above the house, from whence we could see the sloping lands and
dales that lay away beyond them; and, indeed, we had a most complete
view of the whole country as far as the eye could reach. There was
something perfectly sublime in the scenery that lay all around us, far
and wide. How we did admire the fair-faced forest land, where the
streams rolled away for Lake Erie, winding round, and round, and round;
and the forests grew on both sides all down their banks, and the rest of
the country was under a course of careful, splendid cultivation.
We were so much taken with the glorious views of fair and fertile Canada
that we felt in no hurry to return, but sat down on the hill-top, like a
lot of birds of passage resting after a long flight, and inhaled the
very inspiration of the joyous scene. But at last time was called for,
and we all steered back to the house, where we found Doctor and Mrs.
McKenzie, of the Presbyterian Church, to which the Gibsons go, in the
little country town three miles off. The McKenzies live in a beautiful
mansion among the trees on the hill-top opposite Richmond Hill. (We left
the mansion on our right hand before we descended the last hill). They
had heard that we six had come, and in our absence had arrived to pay us
a visit. Dr. McKenzie and wife are excellent company; they are highly
intelligent, and come from the highlands of Scotland. We had attended
his church in the town upon our last visit in the autumn of 1863.
Supper was now ready, and we all sat down around the jovial board, which
was fairly groaning under an enormous weight of good things. Dr.
McKenzie said grace; Mary and Margaret Gibson acted as waiters, and we
had one of the best suppers that were ever served up even in hospitable
Canada. After that we resolved ourselves into a sort of open parliament,
and the night drove on with fun and conversation. One after another of
the neighbors continued to arrive, and the enthusiasm of the night went
on, grew and still increased. The piano was also brought into full play,
and the girls and some of the rest of us played and sang, and a better
time had never been heard along the sides of those peaceful and lovely
hills. I am sure it was for all a time of extraordinary enjoyment.
During a lull in the proceedings of the night, Dr. McKenzie stated that
it would be a great gratification to himself and wife, and to all their
friends over these hills if a night's entertainment were given in the
hall at the post-town, three miles off; and we could order the
proceedings of the night in any varied way that we pleased. We informed
the learned doctor that we would leave the matter entirely in his own
hands, and whenever he called us up we would answer to the summons, and
do our very best to please every man, woman or child who favored us with
their presence.
In due course the grand entertainment came off, and what with songs,
music and speeches it was declared to be one of the very best and most
enthusiastic gatherings in all the chronicles of Canada.
We spent one whole month at Richmond Hill, the month of August, 1865. We
walked the hills and dales, far and near, as on the occasion of our
former visit we spent many a pleasant day at the homes of the dear
Canadians, who never knew how to be kind enough, and a great many came
even a long way to see us. We walked along the hill-tops, and sat down
besides the purling streams in the forests, and read under the shade of
the tall trees. Once more the two girls overhauled that grand edition of
the "Pilgrim's Progress," and Tom was also taken immensely with the
pictures.
But all things come to an end. We had a most glorious time among these
good Canadians; we all felt greatly benefited by our visit to Richmond
Hill, and Tom declared that he felt at least as well as he did before he
went away to the war. So we gave the Gibsons a general invitation to
come and visit us at our home in Buffalo whenever they got ready to do
so. We took a fond leave of them at Richmond Hill, and some of them
accompanied us to the railway station at Ingersoll, where we took the 10
o'clock train for Buffalo, and arrived there safe and sound the same
afternoon.
The condition of the South after the rebel armies surrendered reminds me
of the havoc wrought when a forest of great tall trees is swept down by
a strong and mighty wind, and all the forest monarchs are flat on the
ground. Their mighty roots are exposed to the gaze of every passer-by;
an enormous quantity of earth is torn up by the terrible wrench that has
taken place; and the great branches are broken and jumbled together with
the great crash of the now prostrate and ruined forest. Such was the
state of the South after Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, in
Virginia. He had, indeed, no great army to surrender, and what little
armies remained to the rebellion elsewhere were but of small account,
and promptly laid down their arms at last.
Whilst the South fought with a valor that was worthy of a better cause,
and her slave-holders and followers actually laid down their lives in
thousands and ten thousands for their darling "independence" and
slavery, I am never able to think without regret of the dreadful
sacrifice of human lives and treasure that we of the North were forced
to make to restore the Union to its former state, and to secure the
freedom of the last slave in all the land. Never since this world began
did a defiant, haughty and valiant race of rebels so long and so
successfully resist--I might almost say the wealth, the resources, and
the physical strength of half the world. It was the "strong man armed,"
and in his own house, fighting there with all his might and main. And
how did we knock down the house and kill him? Alas, alas! we had to
sacrifice whole legions of our well-beloved, both white and black, that
the Union and liberty might be where they are at the present day.
I have just above compared the condition of the South at the close of
the war to that of a forest of mighty trees, all suddenly dashed to the
earth by the force of overwhelming and irresistible winds--even the
terrible winds that are swept upon the land from the wild and stormy
ocean that breaks upon our shores. The question next was how were we to
clear this forest land; remove all the trees with their great upturned
roots; fill up the great cavities--in a word, "clear the land," and
worst of all, restore the forest? What Abraham Lincoln might have done
if he had lived--he and his cabinet between them--I am unable to say. A
great many people are of the opinion that had Lincoln lived things would
have gone ten times better with Reconstruction than they did. That may
have been so, but the wish was father to the thought, and it has always
been my opinion that there would have been a bad time of it for years
and years to come, as there was without the great war President. Poor
fellow! Because ever during his lifetime, and when the war was going on,
there were many times when Lincoln himself confessed that he was almost
at his wit's end, and did not know what to do for the best. With the
Southerners going home, sullen, angry and defeated, and four millions of
slaves redeemed from the curse of the "peculiar institution," for the
very life of me I am unable to see that any one with much less wisdom
than that which is divine, could ever had at once brought order out of
chaos in a day, or even in a year. Even with the assistance of 10,000
giants, it must have taken time to clear away that fallen forest, fill
up the awful gaps, and put a new forest in the place of the one that had
been knocked down!
In order to make a beginning at Reconstruction it was decided to place
the late rebellious States under military governors, who acted in
concert with the Bureau for Freedmen, Refugees and Abandoned Lands. This
"Freedman's Bureau," as it was briefly called, was wisely established in
the spring of 1865 for the purpose of assisting in every possible way
those 4,000,000 of the African race whom the war had made free and
turned loose on the country. Of course they must not be permitted to
starve, and the Government at Washington wisely established the bureau
to assist them in tiding over the crisis. Richmond and the Confederacy
had not fallen yet, but the grand crash was at hand, and all things were
in readiness for the mighty changes that were at the door of the nation.
But the freedmen were not the only people who had to be provided for.
There was a host of white people--all sorts of refugees--who had also
been rendered homeless and entirely destitute, who were in precisely the
same condition as the recent slaves of African descent. These had to be
looked after the same as the rest of the people, and all had to be
clothed and fed, and encouraged to go to work at once, besides sending
their children to public schools that were to be established all over
the States lately in rebellion. Besides all these, courts of law were
set a-going to try ordinary cases throughout the new military districts
everywhere. And for the purpose of farming, it was decided to take the
lands that had been abandoned by the rebels during the war, or
confiscated by the government, and portion out the same to freedman and
refugees, not giving more than forty acres to each, and that upon the
easiest terms, for the space of three years, with the right of purchase
afterwards, if the tenants wished to buy, when the easiest terms again
would be granted. But right here I have something of a most unusual
pleasant nature to relate. My indulgent reader, my book would come far
short of the mark without it!
The war that had lasted about four years and a half was now all over and
gone. The last rebel had been forced to lay down his arms, and slavery,
that had existed under the most aggravated form for about two hundred
and fifty years, had been swept from the land, and there remained not
the shadow of a doubt that every colored man, woman and child were
entirely free. Then, like the Jews of old, after the drowning of Pharaoh
and his rebel army in the Red sea, there arose a loud and long-continued
song of joy from the hearts of all the 4,000,000 of freed people all
over Secessia--from Mason and Dixon's line to the Rio Grande river; and
from the wild Atlantic waves to the State of Missouri in the far west.
For some time after the close of the war, throughout the entire South,
the entire colored race could think of little else but rejoicing,
singing and dancing for joy. And I would think it a very strange thing
if the redeemed race had not so abandoned themselves to such joy and
rejoicing for a time at least. It was the natural song of the captive,
suddenly and unexpectedly released from his prison. Joy, joy, joy! Oh,
nothing but joy! "I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed
gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." For
two hundred and fifty years the poor, dear, oppressed people of God had
been under the lash of the task-master; but now they were free as the
masters themselves! This was right, perfectly right, and accounts for
all their joy, their songs and rejoicing all over the lately
far-extended battle-field. "Oh, praise ye the Lord, for He is good: for
His mercy endureth forever!"
When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, who
had been elected vice-president, became in turn the President of the
United States. This man had been brought up in the South, and when
Reconstruction came, all his Southern sympathies floated up to the
surface. He entered into a direct quarrel with the houses of Congress,
and vetoed almost every bill that ever came before him. But in all such
cases, Congress passed his vetoes over his head, and they were of no
effect. At last he was impeached and tried for his cross-grained,
contrary measures, but escaped conviction by the smallest majority. But
all the same he was one of the most destructive rebels that we had.
In the meantime Reconstruction went on in the late rebellious States in
the best way that Congress knew how to do it, which was not much at the
best. A race of men swept down from the North with their carpet-bags in
their hands in search of fortune, who were nick-named carpet-baggers;
then there were the middle class whites of the South, who were
nick-named the scalawags, who assisted the carpet-baggers in ruling the
South, all of whom, however, were under the eyes of the military
generals, each of whom was placed in command of one of the States, and
these generals in turn worked hand in hand along with an assistant
commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau, Major-General O. O. Howard, at
Washington, being the chief commissioner, and one of the best men that
ever lived.
Immediately after the close of the war, many of the more pronounced
rebels retired abroad, where they found employment in foreign armies, or
more peaceful occupations. They had no heart for any further rule under
the flag of Uncle Sam, which now, indeed, floated freely over all races
of people from the Lakes to the Gulf. For such arch-rebels the Sunny
South was a home no more. But many of the late rebel leaders preferred
to stay at home and take their chance, hoping for mercy and pardon from
the Northern government, which they had so terribly outraged. As a
general thing they were cross-vexed and sullen, and had no heart
whatever for the reconstruction of the Southern states, which was
entirely conducted by legislatures, composed of loyal Southerners and
colored men, all of whom were duly elected. These colored men were in
all the lower houses of legislature, while in some of the States they
were also in the Senate, and in a few of the States they filled the
office of deputy-governor. The heads and leaders of the late rebellion
showed no disposition to lend a hand; they allowed the military and
civil administrators to take their own way, assisted as the latter were
by the colored senators and representatives in the State legislature,
carpet-baggers and scalawags.
Whilst no doubt all of the above were doing the best they knew how, the
entire race of 4,000,000 of freedmen had recovered from their dance of
new and glorious liberty; had opened their eyes to the stern realities
of the changed situation, and settled down to steady work all over the
land. Many of them crowded into the towns, cities and villages, while a
host of others went to work over all the plantations and farms--some
working on shares with their former masters, whilst others farmed their
own lands, and did wonderfully. Many a brave old "prophecy" had been
uttered that the descendants of Africans were unfit for the pursuits of
freedom, and that the whole freed race would fall to pieces like a ship
on the sands; but the race went steadily to work, and with some aid from
the Freedman's Bureau, they prospered from the very beginning. In short,
the people now fairly began to see the beauties of personal liberty, and
they had a mind to work. The American Government, however, never did a
better thing than to establish that bureau, without the aid of which
entire legions of colored and white people must inevitably have
perished.
All things, however, did not work satisfactorily, and under the crooked
circumstances perhaps that was more than was to be expected. Throughout
the entire South the system of working on shares was not in favor of the
redeemed race in many cases. The white man had got a notion in his head
that he had been cheated out of his rights, and that somehow or other,
the former slave still of right belonged to him. Some of them therefore
thought themselves privileged in beating the freedman out of the fruits
of their toil in every possible way. If such white men were thus
aggrieved over the new order of things, their wives were worse, and
could find no one to comfort them! The slave was now, at least, as free
as themselves, and there was no power in the land to force him back to
his former condition. So they took their spite out of him by cheating
him on the division of the crops, and he was obliged either to stay on
the lands and be imposed upon, or leave at a loss. The public papers
were full of the freedman's complaints at the time. One way of
defrauding him who did all the hard work was to open a general store for
the sale of all kinds of groceries and other needful things. The
accounts were cooked and managed in a way to suit the bosses, and almost
everything was charged for far above the general prices of the country.
Thus, when the day of settlement came, the laborer usually found himself
from $50 to $200 in debt, owing to the system of thieving practiced on
him by his betrayer. The Southern people generally were sullen, and
almost inconsolable under the new order of things, and they refused to
be comforted for a long time. Indeed, some of them are not comforted
yet, and never will be. Andrew Johnson, the President, did much harm in
contending for the rebels in every way in his power. In fact, he went
right over to them, and even obstructed Reconstruction itself in every
way that he could.
This sullenness on the part of the Southerners at last found vent in the
organization of a secret and murderous conspiracy called the
Ku-Klux-Klan--whoever was guilty of inventing such an ugly name! This
Ku-Klux-Klan reached for their shot-guns, and went forth by night, and
shot down the carpet-baggers and their like, like crows. This was soon
after the first election of President Grant, an election, by the by, in
which the rebels took no part, but they now determined to spoil that
which they were unwilling to mend. These wicked Ku-Klux sought to
obstruct the courts of justice, harass and trouble the colored people in
every possible way, and cripple the local governments. The terror that
spread all over the South at the time was perfectly dreadful. People
were shot down everywhere, colored churches and school-houses were
burned to the ground in the night, and the work of revenge and
destruction went on night and day. It seemed as if the late rebel
soldiers, who had been beaten in the field by the North, were once more
trying to raise a rebellion in a new form. The writ of habeas corpus was
suspended for a time, and Uncle Sam put his heavy foot down upon the
whole matter. The powers of the day went forth; arrests were made; the
trials and convictions of many of those bad men were secured, and some
of the penitentiaries were filled with the enemies of law and order.
Then for a time, at least, followed a pause in the obstructing work of
the reconstruction of the late rebellious States, and the governments by
colored legislators, scalawags and carpet-baggers went on as before. How
much better it would have been if all parties, both white and black, had
been harmonious and agreeable after Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court
House! But instead of that the defeated rebel went home, nursed his
wrath to keep it warm. Robbing and stealing from the injured freedmen
followed, and then he went out working mischief after dark with the aid
of his shot-gun.