The negroes came from two plantations, the one a rice plantation near
Darien, in the State of Georgia, not far from the great Okefenokee
Swamp, and the other a cotton plantation on the extreme northern point
of St. Simon's Island, a little bit of an island in the Atlantic,
cut off from Georgia mainland by a slender arm of the sea. Though
the most of the stock had been accustomed only to rice and cotton
planting, there were among them a number of very passable mechanics,
who had been taught to do all the rougher sorts of mechanical work
on the plantations. There were coopers, carpenters, shoemakers
and blacksmiths, each one equal, in his various craft, to the
ordinary requirements of a plantation; thus, the coopers could make
rice-tierces, and possibly, on a pinch, rude tubs and buckets; the
carpenter could do the rough carpentry about the negro-quarters; the
shoemaker could make shoes of the fashion required for the slaves, and
the blacksmith was adequate to the manufacture of hoes and similar
simple tools, and to such trifling repairs in the blacksmithing way
as did not require too refined a skill. Though probably no one of all
these would be called a superior, or even an average workman, among
the masters of the craft, their knowledge of these various trades sold
in some cases for nearly as much as the man--that is, a man without
a trade, who would be valued at $900, would readily bring $1,600 or
$1,700 if he was a passable blacksmith or cooper.
There were no light mulattoes in the whole lot of the Butler stock,
and but very few that were even a shade removed from the original
Congo blackness. They have been little defiled by the admixture of
degenerate Anglo-Saxon blood, and, for the most part, could boast that
they were of as pure a breed as the best blood of Spain--a point in
their favor in the eyes of the buyer as well as physiologically, for
too liberal an infusion of the blood of the dominant race brings a
larger intelligence, a more vigorous brain, which, anon, grows restless
under the yoke, and is prone to inquire into the definition of the word
Liberty, and the meaning of the starry flag which waves, as you may
have heard, o'er the land of the free. The pure-blooded negroes are
much more docile and manageable than mulattoes, though less quick of
comprehension, which makes them preferred by drivers, who can stimulate
stupidity much easier than they can control intelligence by the lash.
None of the Butler slaves have ever been sold before, but have been
on these two plantations since they were born. Here have they lived
their humble lives, and loved their simple loves; here were they born,
and here have many of them had children born unto them; here had their
parents lived before them, and are now resting in quiet graves on the
old plantations that these unhappy ones are to see no more forever;
here they left not only the well-known scenes dear to them from very
baby-hood by a thousand fond memories, and homes as much loved by
them, perhaps, as brighter homes by men of brighter faces; but all
the clinging ties that bound them to living hearts were torn asunder,
for but one-half of each of these two happy little communities was
sent to the shambles, to be scattered to the four winds, and the other
half was left behind. And who can tell how closely intertwined are the
affections of a little band of four hundred persons, living isolated
from all the world beside, from birth to middle age? Do they not
naturally become one great family, each man a brother unto each?
It is true they were sold "in families;" but let us see: a man and his
wife were called a "family," their parents and kindred were not taken
into account; the man and wife might be sold to the pine woods of North
Carolina, their brothers and sisters be scattered through the cotton
fields of Alabama and the rice swamps of Louisiana, while the parents
might be left on the old plantation to wear out their weary lives in
heavy grief, and lay their heads in far-off graves, over which their
children might never weep. And no account could be taken of loves
that were as yet unconsummated by marriage; and how many aching hearts
have been divorced by this summary proceeding no man can ever know.
And the separation is as utter, and is infinitely more hopeless, than
that made by the Angel of Death, for then the loved ones are committed
to the care of a merciful Deity; but in the other instance, to the
tender mercies of a slave-driver. These dark-skinned unfortunates are
perfectly unlettered, and could not communicate by writing even if they
should know where to send their missives. And so to each other, and
to the old familiar places of their youth, clung all their sympathies
and affections, not less strong, perhaps, because they are so few. The
blades of grass on all the Butler estates are outnumbered by the tears
that are poured out in agony at the wreck that has been wrought in
happy homes, and the crushing grief that has been laid on loving hearts.
But, then, what business have "niggers" with tears? Besides, didn't
Pierce Butler give them a silver dollar a-piece? which will appear
in the sequel. And, sad as it is, it was all necessary, because a
gentleman was not able to live on the beggarly pittance of half a
million, and so must needs enter into speculations which turned out
adversely.