The following particulars of this memorable person are chiefly taken
from a work, now very scarce, entitled "The Life of Elisha Tyson, the
Philanthropist, by a Citizen of Baltimore."
"The eldest known ancestor of Mr. Tyson was a German Quaker,
converted to the faith of Fox by the preaching of William Penn.
Persecuted by the government of his native country for his
religion, he gathered up his all and followed Penn to England;
with whom, and at whose request, he afterwards embarked for
America, and was among the first settlers of Pennsylvania. He
established himself within what are now called the environs of
Philadelphia, married the daughter of an English settler, and
became the happy father of sons and daughters. From these, many
descendants have been derived.
"Elisha Tyson was one of the great grandsons in direct descent
of the German Quaker, and was born on the spot which he had
chosen for his residence. The religion and virtues of this
ancestor were instilled into the minds of his children and
children's children, to the third and fourth generation--not by
transmission of blood, but by the force of a guarded and a
Christian education. In the subject of this memoir, they blazed
forth with superior lustre. From his infancy he was conspicuous
in his neighborhood for that benevolence of heart and
intrepidity of soul, which so highly distinguished him in after
life."
In his early manhood he removed to Baltimore, in the slave State of
Maryland. Here, from his first residence, he took an active part in
various benevolent and public spirited enterprises, although he had to
struggle with early difficulties, having no resources for his support
but honesty, industry, and perseverance. The cause of the oppressed
slaves very soon engaged his attention, and his unwearied exertions in
their behalf ceased not till the close of a long and energetic life. In
the following quotation, describing the American slave trade, although
the past tense is employed by his biographer, yet if Louisiana be
substituted for Georgia, the whole representation is true of the present
time. That dreadful traffic has increased many fold since the date here
alluded to, at which E. Tyson's career of benevolence commenced.
"Even the most creditable merchants felt no compunction in speculating
in the flesh and blood of their own species. These articles of
merchandize were as common as wheat and tobacco, and ranked with these
as a staple of Maryland. This state of things was naturally productive
of scenes of cruelty. Georgia was then the great receptacle of that
portion of these unfortunate beings, who were exported beyond the limits
of their native soil; and the worst name given to Tartarus itself could
not be more appalling to their imaginations than the name of that sister
State. And when we consider the dreadful consequences suffered by the
victims of this traffic; a separation like that of death between the
nearest and dearest relatives; a banishment for ever from the land of
their nativity and the scenes of their youth; the painful inflictions by
the hands of slave drivers, to whom cruelty was rendered delightful by
its frequent exercise; with many other sufferings too numerous to
mention, we cannot wonder at this horror on the part of these
unfortunate beings, and that it should cause them to use all the means
in their power to avoid so terrible a destiny. The slave-trader, aware
of all this, and fearful lest his victims might seek safety by flight,
became increasingly careful of his property. With these men, and upon
such subjects, care is cruelty; and thus the apparent necessity of the
case came in aid of the favorite disposition of their minds. They
charged their victims with being the authors of that cruelty, which had
its true origin in their own remorseless hearts. Their plea for
additional rigor, being plausibly urged, was favorably received by a
community darkened by prejudice. Few regarded with pity, and most with
stoical indifference, this barbarous correction for crimes anticipated,
and rigorous penance for offences existing only in the diabolical
fancies of their tormentors. The truth is, it was the love these poor
wretches bore their wives, children, and native soil, for which they
were punished. They were commonly bound two and two by chains, riveted
to iron collars fastened around their necks, more and more closely, as
their drivers had more and more reason to suspect a desire to escape. If
they were conveyed in wagons, as they sometimes were, additional chains
were so fixed, as to connect the right ancle of one with the left ancle
of another, so that they were fastened foot to foot, and neck to neck.
If a disposition to complain, or to grieve, was manifested by any of
them, the mouths of such were instantly stopped with a gag. If,
notwithstanding this, the overflowings of sorrow found a passage through
other channels, they were checked by the 'scourge inexorable;'--the
cruel monsters thus endeavoring to lessen the appearance of pain, by
increasing its reality. These were scenes of ordinary occurrence; troops
of these poor slaves were continually seen fettered as before described,
marching two and two, with commanders before and behind, swords by their
sides, and pistols in their belts--the triumphant victors over unarmed
women and children. The sufferings of their victims, were, if possible,
increased, when they were compelled to stop for the night. They were
crowded in cellars, and loaded with an additional number of fetters. On
those routes usually taken by them to the South, stated taverns were
selected as their resting places for the night. In these, dungeons under
ground were specially contrived for their reception. Iron staples, with
rings in them, were fixed at proper places in the walls; to these,
chains were welded; and to these chains the fetters of the prisoners
were locked, as the means of certain safety. It was usual every day for
these slave-drivers to keep a strict record of the imagined offences of
their slaves; which, if not to their satisfaction expiated by suffering
during the day, remained upon the register until its close; when, in the
midst of midnight dungeon horrors, goaded with a weight of fetters, in
addition to those which had galled them during their weary march, these
reputed sins were atoned by their blood, which was made to trickle down
'the scourge with triple thongs.'"
Such was the evil with which Elisha Tyson, when "young, solitary, and
friendless," undertook to grapple; the means he chiefly employed, were
such as tended to purify and enlighten public opinion.
"He had two principal modes of operating upon the public mind;
by conversation in public and private places, and by the press.
Through the means of the first, he worked upon the feelings and
sentiments of the higher and more influential classes; by means
of the latter, he influenced in a great degree, the mass of the
community. In private conversation, his arguments were so
cogent, his appeals so energetic, and his manner so sincere and
disinterested, that few could avoid conviction. It is true,
indeed, as it regards the press, that he did not publish very
much of his own composing; but he procured the publication of a
vast deal of his own dictating. By his arguments and entreaties,
he aroused the zeal of many individuals, each of whom enlisted
himself as a kind of voluntary amanuensis, who wrote and
published his dictations. Many important essays have in this way
been communicated to the public."
But he undertook also, services requiring a yet sterner resolution, and
more heroic perseverance, services which demanded that he himself should
be in bondage neither to riches, honor, nor reputation, since his
exertions endangered all his personal interests in such a community as
that by which he was surrounded.
"Of those held in servitude, two classes of beings felt in a
peculiar manner the kindness and sympathy of Mr. Tyson--those
entitled to their freedom, and illegally held in slavery--and
those, who, though not illegally kept in bondage, yet were
treated with inhumanity by their masters.
"Where he had reason to believe that a person claimed as a slave
was entitled to his freedom, he would, in the first place, in
order to avoid litigation, lay before the reputed owner, the
grounds of his belief. If these were disregarded, he then
proceeded to employ counsel, by whom a petition for freedom was
filed in the proper court, and the case prosecuted to a final
determination. What excited most astonishment in these trials,
was the extraordinary success which attended him. Very few were
the cases in which he was defeated; and his failure even in
these, was more generally owing to the want of testimony, than
to the want of justice on his side. To enumerate his successes,
would be as impossible, on account of their vast number, as it
would be tedious on account of their similarity to each other.
Whole families were often liberated by a single verdict, the
fate of one relative deciding the fate of many. And often
ancestors, after passing a long life in illegal slavery, sprung
at last, like the chrysalis in autumn, into new existence,
beneath the genial rays of the sun of liberty, which shed at the
same time its benign influence upon their children, and
children's children.
"The titles of the individuals, thus liberated, to their
freedom, were variously derived. Sometimes from deeds of
manumission, long suppressed, and at last brought to light, by
the searching scrutiny of Tyson--sometimes from the genealogy of
the petitioner, traced by him to some Indian or white maternal
ancestor--sometimes from the right to freedom, claimed by birth,
but attempted to be destroyed by the rapacity of some vile
kidnapper, and sometimes from the violation of those of our laws
which manumitted slaves imported from foreign parts.
"The labors of Mr. Tyson, were not confined to a single
district--they extended over the whole of Maryland. There is not
a county in it, which has not felt his influence, or a court of
justice, whose records do not bear proud testimonials of his
triumphs over tyranny. Throwing out of calculation the many
liberations indirectly resulting from his efforts, we speak more
than barely within bounds, when we say, that he has been the
means, under Providence, of rescuing at least two thousand human
beings from the galling yoke of a slavery, which, but for him,
would have been perpetual.
"And here let me join my readers in expressions of wonder and
astonishment at this extraordinary display of human benevolence,
in the person of a single individual--unsupported by power,
wealth, or title, beneath the frowns of society, and against a
torrent of prejudice."
In the year 1789 an "Abolition Society," (see antecedent pages 23 and
24,) was formed in Baltimore, of which Elisha Tyson was a member until
its dissolution, seven years afterwards.
"From that time, Mr. Tyson supported alone the cause of
emancipation in Maryland. Alone, I mean, as the sole director
and prime mover of the machinery by which that cause was
maintained. Assisted, he was, no doubt, from time to time; but
that assistance was procured through his influence, or rendered
effectual under his inspection and advice.[A]
[Footnote A: "One of the most active assistants was his brother
Jesse, much younger than Elisha. He followed him to this State a
few years after the arrival of the latter, was an active member
of the Abolition Society, and continued, to the day of his
death, to co-operate with Elisha."]
"The slave traffic gave rise to an evil still greater--I mean
the crime of _kidnapping_. If the horrors arising from the first
were so great as I have described them, how shall I depict those
of the other! Slaves only were the victims of the slave trade.
In passing from hand to hand, they merely exchanged one
condition of slavery for another. And though on such occasions
they fell from a less degree of misery into a greater, they
could not number among their privations any thing so bitter as
the loss of liberty. It was this that made the difference
between them and the victims of the kidnapper; not that they
laid their hands exclusively upon the freeman, for sometimes
their rapacity seized upon a slave. But this was very seldom,
for the vigilance of slave owners was always alive to detect,
and their vengeance to punish such daring felony. In almost all
cases of man stealing, the stolen beings were of those who had
tasted the sweets of liberty. To the kidnapper, who made these
his prey, there were great facilities for escaping with
impunity; not only because, in the depth and darkness of a
dungeon, his limbs loaded with fetters, and utterance choked
with a gag, his suffering could not be made visible or audible,
but also because the deadness of sensibility on this subject,
which still pervaded the public, though in a less degree than
formerly, seemed to have unnerved every eye and palsied every
ear. Sights of misery passed darkly before the one and sounds of
wo fell lifeless on the other.
"On one occasion Mr. Tyson received intelligence that three
colored persons, supposed to have been kidnapped, had been seen
under suspicious circumstances, late in the evening, with a
notorious slave-trader, in a carriage, which was then moving
rapidly towards a quarter of the precincts of Baltimore in which
there was a den of man-hunters. It was late in the day when he
received the information, which was immediately communicated to
the proper authorities. As the testimony offered to these was
not, in their opinion, sufficiently strong to induce them to act
instantaneously, Mr. Tyson was obliged to seek for aid in other
quarters. He accordingly requested certain individuals, who had
sometimes lent him their assistance, to accompany him to the
scene of suspicion, in order to obtain, if possible, additional
proof. One after another made excuse, (some telling him that the
evidence was too weak to justify any effort, and others saying
that it would be better to postpone the business for the next
morning,) until Mr. Tyson saw himself without the hope of
foreign assistance. But he did not yield or despair--one hope
yet remained, and that rested on himself. Alone he determined to
search out the den of thieves, to see and judge for himself. If
there was no foundation for his suspicions, to dismiss them; if
they were true, to call in the aid of the civil power, for the
punishment of guilt and the rescue of innocence.
"So much time had been spent in receiving the excuses of his
friends, that it was late at night when he set out, on foot and
without a single weapon of defence. In the midst of silence and
darkness, he marched along until he arrived at the place of
destination. It was situated in the very skirts of the city--a
public tavern in appearance, but almost exclusively appropriated
to a band of slave-traders. Here they conveyed their prey,
whether stolen or purchased; here they held their midnight
orgies, and revelled in the midst of misery. The keeper of this
place was himself one of the party, and therefore not very
scrupulous about the sort of victims his companions chose to
place beneath his care. Mr. Tyson ascended the door-sill, and,
for a moment, listened, if perchance he might hear the sounds of
wo. Suddenly a loud laugh broke upon his ears, which was soon
lost in a chorus of laughter. Indignant at the sound, he reached
forth his hand and rapped with his whole might. No answer was
received. He rapped again--all was silence. He then applied
himself to the fastening of the door, and finding it unlocked,
opened it and entered. Suddenly four men made their appearance.
They had been carousing around a table which stood in the centre
of a room, and when a little alarmed by the rapping at the door,
they had gone in different directions to seize their weapons.
Mr. Tyson immediately recognised in the countenance of one of
these, who appeared to be their leader, the slave-trader whose
conduct had given rise to the suspicions that had brought him
thither. Nor was it many moments before the person and character
of Mr. Tyson became known.
"'I understand,' said he, 'that there are persons confined in
this place entitled to their freedom?'
"'You have been wrongly informed,' said the leader of the
quartette; 'and, besides, what business is it of yours?'
"'Whether I am wrongly informed,' said Mr. Tyson, calmly, 'can
be soon made to appear; and I hold it my business, as it is the
business of every good man in the community, to see that all
doubts of this kind are settled!'
"'You shall advance no further,' rejoined the leader, swearing a
tremendous oath, and putting himself in a menacing attitude.
"With the rapidity of lightning, and with a strength that seemed
to have been lent him for the occasion, Mr. Tyson broke through
the arms of his opponent. As he had been repeatedly at this
house on similar errands, he knew the course he should steer,
and made directly for the door of the dungeon. There he met
another of the band, with a candle in one hand, and in the
other, a pistol, which, having cocked, he presented full against
the breast of Mr. Tyson, swearing that he would shoot him if he
advanced a step further.
"'Shoot if thee dare,' said Mr. Tyson, in a voice of thunder,
'but thee dare not, coward as thou art, for well does thee know,
that the gallows would be thy portion.'
"Whether it was the voice and countenance of Mr. Tyson, or the
terror of the word gallows, that affected the miscreant, his arm
suddenly fell, and he stood as if struck dumb with amazement.
Mr. Tyson taking advantage of the moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, snatched the candle from the hand of the kidnapper, entered
the dungeon door, which was providentially unlocked, and
descended into the vault below.
"There he beheld a dismal sight; six poor creatures chained to
each other by links connected with the prison wall! The
prisoners shrunk within themselves at the sight of a man, and
one of them uttered a shriek of terror, mistaking the character
of their visitor. He told them that he was their friend; and his
name was Elisha Tyson. That name was enough for them, for their
whole race had been long taught to utter it. He inquired, 'if
any of them were entitled to their freedom?' 'Yes,' said one,
'these two boys say that they and their, mother here are free,
but she can't speak to you, for she is gagged.' Mr. Tyson
approached this woman, and found that she was really deprived of
her utterance. He instantly cut away the band that held in the
gag, and thus gave speech to the dumb. She told her tale; 'she
was manumitted by a gentleman on the eastern shore of Maryland;
her sons were born after her emancipation, and of course free.
She referred to persons and papers. She had come over the
Chesapeake in a packet, for the purpose of getting employment;
and was, with her children, decoyed away immediately on her
arrival, by a person who brought her to that house. Mr. Tyson
told her to be of good comfort, for he would immediately provide
the means of her rescue. He then left the dungeon and ascended
the stair way, when he reached the scene of his preceding
contest; he, looked around, but saw no one save the keeper of
the tavern. Fearing that the others had escaped, or were about
to escape, he hastened out of the house, and proceeded with
rapid strides in pursuit of a constable. He soon found one and
entreated his assistance. But the officer refused, unless Mr.
Tyson would give him a bond of indemnity against all loss which
he might suffer by his interference. Mr. Tyson complied without
hesitation. The officer, after summoning assistance, proceeded
with Mr. Tyson to the scene of cruelty. There meeting with the
tavern keeper, they compelled him to unlock the fetters of the
three individuals claiming their freedom. They then searched the
house for the supposed kidnappers, and found two of them; in,
bed, whom, together with the women, and children, they conveyed
that night to the jail of Baltimore county, to await the
decision of a court of justice. The final consequence was, the
mother and children were adjudged free. One of the two
slave-traders, taken as afore-mentioned in custody, was found
guilty of having kidnapped them, and was sentenced to the
Maryland penitentiary, for a term of years.
"On another occasion, Mr. Tyson having received satisfactory
evidence that a colored person, on board a vessel about to sail
for New Orleans, in Louisiana, was entitled to his freedom,
hastened to his assistance. On reaching the wharf, where the
vessel had lain, he learned that she had cleared out the day
before, and was then lying at anchor, a mile down the river. He
immediately procured two officers of the peace, with whom he
proceeded in a batteau, with a full determination to board the
suspected ship.
"When he arrived alongside, he hailed the captain and asked him
'whether such a person, (naming him,) having on board negroes
destined for the New Orleans market, was not among the number of
passengers.' Before the captain had time to reply, the passenger
alluded to, who had overheard the question, stepped to the side
of the vessel, and recognising Mr. Tyson, asked what business
_he_ had with him. 'I understand,' said Mr. Tyson, 'that a
colored person,' describing him, 'now in thy possession, is
entitled to his freedom.' 'He is my slave,' said the trader; 'I
have purchased him by a fair title, and no man shall interfere
between him and me.'
"'If these documents speak the truth,' said Mr. Tyson, holding
certain papers in his hand, 'however fairly you have purchased
him he is not your slave.' He then proceeded to read the
documents. At the same time a light breeze springing up, the
captain ordered all hands to hoist sail and be off. Mr. Tyson
seeing that there was not a minute to be lost, requested the
constables to go on board with him for the purpose of rescuing
the free man who had been deprived of his rights. The trader
immediately drew a dagger from his belt, (for this sort of men
went always armed,) and swore that 'the first man that dared set
his foot upon the deck of that ship was a dead man.' 'Then I
will be that man,' said Mr. Tyson, with a firm voice and
intrepid countenance, and sprang upon the deck. The trader
stepped back aghast. The officers followed, and descended the
hold of the ship. There they soon saw the object of their
search. Without any resistance being made on the part of a
single person on board, they led their rescued prisoner along
and safely lodged him in the boat below. Then Mr. Tyson,
addressing the trader, said, 'If you have any lawful claim to
this man, come along and try your title; if you cannot come,
name your agent, and I will see that justice is done to all
parties.' The trader, who seemed dumb with confusion, made no
answer; and Mr. Tyson requested his boatmen to row off. Ere they
had proceeded half their distance from the ship, her sails were
spread and she began to ride down the stream. Had Mr. Tyson's
visit been delayed half an hour longer, his benevolent exertions
would have been in vain.
"No one appearing to dispute the right of the colored man to
freedom, his freedom papers were given him and he was set at
liberty.
"The whole life of Mr. Tyson was diversified by acts such as we
have just described. Those I have given to the reader may be
considered as specimens merely, a few examples out of a vast
many, which, if they were all repeated, would satiate by their
number and tire by their uniformity.
"The joy manifested by the poor creatures whom he thus rescued
from misery, on their deliverance, may be imagined, but cannot
well be described. Sometimes it broke forth in loud and wild
demonstrations; sometimes it was deep and inexpressible, or
expressed only by mingled tears of gratitude and ecstacy,
rolling silently but profusely down their wo-worn cheeks.
"Mr. Tyson, it is remarkable, would always turn his eyes from
these manifestations. He would listen to no declarations of
thanks. When these were strongly pressed upon him, he would
usually exclaim, 'Well, that will do now; that is enough for
this time.' And once when one of these creatures, fearful that
Mr. Tyson would not consider him sufficiently grateful, cried
out, 'Indeed, master, I am very thankful, I would die to serve
you,' Mr. Tyson exclaimed, 'Why, man, I have only done my duty;
I don't want thy thanks;' and turned abruptly away.
"Equalled only by the delight of the rescued victims, was the
chagrin and vexation of the slave-traders, when they saw their
prey torn from their grasp. They cursed the law; they cursed its
ministers; but above all, they invoked imprecations upon the
head of Tyson.
"They swore that they would murder him, that they would fire his
dwelling over his head, that they would do a thousand things,
all full of vengeance. None of these threats were ever put into
execution; for though a plot was once laid to take away his
life, fear dispersed the actors long before the day of
performance. Thus does it always happen that the wickedest of
men are also the meanest, and therefore the most dastardly. And
thus did the cowardice of Mr. Tyson's enemies shield him from
the effects of their enmity. Nor did he profit less by that
individual fear of him which these slave-traders were made to
feel. They feared him because they deprecated his hostility. In
order, if possible, to lessen this hostility, they frequently
became informers on others engaged in the same traffic. This
they were further inclined to do, in consequence of the jealousy
that subsisted between them--a jealousy very natural to
competitors in the same line of business. It was always a time
of exultation with them when one of their number found his way
into the penitentiary.
"It sometimes happened that Mr. Tyson extracted from the mouths
of these monsters, evidence which afterwards went to criminate
those who had uttered it. It was usual with him when he could
not obtain testimony against a suspected person, to send for
such person and interrogate him. No one refused his
summons--fear forbade the refusal; and after they had come, the
very fear which brought them there sacrificed them to injured
humanity. Sometimes those who came voluntarily for the purpose
of criminating others, involved themselves in toils of their own
weaving; where they were no sooner seen, by the penetrating eye
of Tyson, than he reached forth his hands and secured his
astonished prisoner, before he had a suspicion of his danger.
"Mr. Tyson's knowledge of the sort of people with whom he had
principally to deal was perfect. His quickness of perception and
self-command were also remarkable. These qualifications gave him
an extraordinary power in the examinations just alluded to.
"One evening the servant announced a stranger at the door, who
wished to see Mr. Tyson privately. Mr. Tyson requested that he
might be asked into the room where we were then sitting, and if
further privacy were necessary he should have it.
"When the door opened and the stranger appeared, he was no other
than the slave-trader we have just alluded to.
"'Your humble servant,' said the man, casting off his hat and
bowing profoundly; 'I hope you are well, sir; I have a few words
for your private ear.'
"'Every one present may be safely trusted,' said Mr. Tyson; 'but
sit down.'
"The man seated himself. 'Well,' said Mr. Tyson, 'what is there
new in thy way of business; I suppose it continues as usual to
be a good business?'
"'Ah! sir,' said the man, 'I believe it to be a bad business in
more ways than one. I am resolved to quit it.'
"'Not while thee can get two hundred dollars profit per man,'
said Mr. Tyson.
"'Notwithstanding that,' said the trader, 'it's a bad business;
it's a hard business; I must quit it, and that very soon.'
"'Hast thou heard of the old saying,' said Mr. Tyson, 'Hell is
paved with good intentions? I fear,' said he, 'when thee goes
there thee will find thine among the number.'
"'I know,' said the trader, 'you think me very bad; but when you
hear what I have to communicate, perhaps your opinion will alter
a little.'
"'I wish it may; but,' said Mr. Tyson, 'thy progress down hill
has been so rapid, and thou hast got so far, that thee will find
it rather hard to turn about and ascend.'
"These doubtings, attended with a shrewd, suspicious, yet
satirical look, had the effect intended; for the man became
doubly anxious to do what he had come to do, and what he thought
would be esteemed a great favor by Mr. Tyson. Accordingly, after
a word or two of preface, he stated that he 'had reason to
believe that ----', naming a certain trader, 'had kidnapped two
free blacks.'
"'Thee is certainly mistaken,' said Mr. Tyson, affecting great
surprise; 'it is hardly possible that so worthy a man could have
been guilty of so great a crime.'
"This apparent doubt on the part of Mr. Tyson, made the man more
anxious to bring out all his testimony.
"'But who told thee this piece of news?' said Mr. Tyson. There
was a breach at once into the man's order and arrangement and he
hesitated for a reply. 'Mr. ----, Mr. ----, Mr. ----, what do ye
call him, spoke to me about it.' 'Who?' said Mr. Tyson. 'Mr.
----,' said the man; mentioning the name of a veteran dealer in
human flesh.
"'Is he engaged in the traffic now?' asked Mr. Tyson.
"'Yes, sir; very deep in it.'
"'By himself, or in partnership?' asked Mr. Tyson carelessly.
"'Why, I believe he is in partnership with some body.'
"'Is he not in partnership,' said Mr. Tyson, 'with ----?' naming
the person whom the man was anxious to inculpate.
"'I believe he was, but I don't know that he is now.'
"'Thee don't know of their having dissolved?' asked Mr. Tyson at
the same time, as if thoughtlessly lighting his pipe.
"'No, I do not. But as I was going to say,' said the trader--
"'Ah, true,' said Mr. Tyson, 'we must not forget. Thee was
talking about a case of kidnapping; well?'
"'Last night,' said the trader, 'a hack drove up to the tavern
where I lodge. The hackman inquired the way to ----'s tavern,
which is the place of rendezvous for ---- and his gang;' naming
the person whose guilt _seemed_ to be the principal object of
inquiry. 'I looked into the carriage, and saw two boys.'
"'Did thee speak to them?'
"'No, they were gagged, and that made me think they were
kidnapped.'
"'Was any body with them?'
"'Nobody but the driver, and he was black.'
"'Did thee direct him as he requested?' asked Mr. Tyson.
"'Yes.'
"'And they arrived accordingly?'
"'Yes.'
"'Did thee follow them?'
"'No sir, not immediately--but I went this morning, and inquired
whether a hack with two boys and a black driver, had not arrived
late last night, and they said there had.'
"'What o'clock last night was it when thee saw the carriage?'
"'About ten, sir.'
"'Was the hack close, or were the curtains down?'
"'The curtains were down, and that increased my suspicion.'
"Mr. Tyson had now heard enough to convince him that if there
was any kidnapping in this case, the trader who stood before him
had a much nearer connection with it than that of a mere
spectator.
"He had said in the first place that he obtained his knowledge
from a trader who had been partner with the party implicated. He
then stated that he derived it from seeing the kidnapped persons
in a hack. And though it was ten o'clock at night, (at a time,
too, as Mr. Tyson knew, when there was no moon,) yet he could
not only see that these two persons were in the hack, but that
they were gagged. He could not have done this by the light of a
candle or the moon, because 'the hack was tight, and the
curtains were down.'
"Fearing lest the suspicions of the trader might be excited as
to the sentiments of Mr. Tyson towards him, an end was put to
the part of the dialogue which related to the kidnapping, by
saying, 'Well, I am much obliged to thee for thy information;
we'll see this ----, and settle the matter with him;' and then
turned the tide of conversation into a different direction.
"The same day Mr. Tyson sent for the person who was first
mentioned as the person communicating the knowledge of the
transaction, and asked him as to the fact of such communication.
It was positively denied. He had 'not seen the informer for six
weeks, except the last evening, when he brought a hack load of
negroes to the tavern where he and his partner were lodgers.'
"'Were two boys among the number?'
"'Yes.'
"'Were they gagged?'
"'Yes.'
"The moment this man left his house, Mr. Tyson went in search of
bailiffs and civil process. With these he proceeded to the place
where the two boys were confined, and had them and all three of
the traders taken into custody.
"It turned out afterwards, in the further prosecution of this
investigation, (by what testimony we do not distinctly
recollect,) that the informer who first came to Mr. Tyson had
himself kidnapped the two boys. He sold them to the person upon
whom he had endeavored, in the manner we have detailed, to affix
the whole crime; who, refusing afterward to pay their price, and
yet determined to retain them, exasperated the seller to such a
degree that he resolved to sacrifice him; in attempting which he
sacrificed himself, for he was afterward convicted and sentenced
to the penitentiary.
"During the progress of any investigation originated by Mr.
Tyson in behalf of individual freedom, his anxiety about the
final issue, though concealed from the world, burned with
intensity. His days were restless, his nights were sleepless,
and himself, except when in company, which he avoided at those
times, lost in the abstractions of hope or of despondency.
"When he succeeded, his joy was strong, but invisible or
inaudible, save to the Father of all mercies. To him he never
failed 'to pour out his soul' in pious thanksgivings for that he
made him a humble instrument in the restoration of a fellow
being to light and liberty.
"When he failed, which was seldom, after he had seriously
undertaken a case, his sorrow was equally great, and as
inscrutable to human observation, excepting that of the
unfortunate objects of his care, who saw him mingling tears of
sympathy with theirs of suffering.
"Though Mr. Tyson seldom failed in those cases which he had
commenced in legal form, yet very many persons were turned
hopelessly away whose cases were too groundless for
adjudication; and often those who knew they had no cause for
hope,--condemned to be torn from their connections and sold, as
if to death, never to be heard of more,--would call merely to
obtain his sympathies, as if the universe had no other friend
for them.
"A man who lived with his master, in Anne Arundel county, came
late one evening to Mr. Tyson, and begged that he would listen
to his case. His master had promised him his freedom, provided
he would raise and pay him the sum of five hundred dollars in
six years; and he had earned half of the money, which he had
given his master. The six years were not expired, yet he was
about to be sold to Georgia. Mr. Tyson asked if 'there was any
receipt for the money.' 'No.' 'Was there any witness who could
prove its payment?' 'Nobody but his master's wife.' 'Then,' said
Mr. Tyson, 'the law is against thee, and thou must submit. I can
do nothing for thee.' Never, said Mr. Tyson, when relating this
story, shall I forget the desperate resolution which showed
itself in the countenance and manner of this man when he said,
with clenched fist, his eyes raised to Heaven, his whole frame
bursting with the purpose of his soul, while a smile of triumph
played around his lips, 'I will die before the Georgia man shall
have me.' And then suddenly melting into a flood of tears, he
said, 'I cannot live away from my wife and children.' After this
poor fellow had left me, said Mr. Tyson, I said to a person
present, 'That is no common man; he will do what he has
resolved.'
"A short time afterwards, the remains of a colored person who
had been drowned in the basin at Baltimore were discovered. The
fact coming to the knowledge of Mr. Tyson, he went to see the
body, and recognized in its features and from its dress, the
remains of the unfortunate man who, a short time before, had
breathed the dreadful resolution in his presence."
Such are a few of the memorials which this friend of the human race has
left behind him. He was not less persevering, and scarcely less
successful in his endeavors to obtain the mitigation of the slave laws
in Maryland. Some of the most repulsive of these were repealed or
altered, particularly those restricting manumissions. Thus the condition
and the prospects of the whole body of slaves was improved, in addition
to _more than two thousand_ delivered by his immediate instrumentality
from illegal bondage. Hundreds of free and happy families have cause at
this day to bless the memory of "Father Tyson."
He also deeply interested himself on behalf of the Indian tribes; and
once in company with another individual, as a deputation from the
Society of Friends in Baltimore, undertook a dangerous journey to visit
several tribes 1000 miles distant, to the north-west of the Ohio. The
main object of the mission was to induce the Indians to refrain from the
use of ardent spirits--of whose destructive effects the chiefs were
themselves fully sensible. The following affecting address was made to
an assembly of "Friends" in Baltimore, by Little Turtle, a chief famous
for courage, sagacity and eloquence:
"Brothers and Friends:--When our forefathers first met on this
great Island, your red brethren were very numerous! But since
the introduction among us of what you call spirituous liquors,
and what we think may justly be called poison, our numbers are
greatly diminished. It has destroyed a great part of your red
brethren.
"My Brothers and Friends:--We plainly perceive, that you see the
very evil which destroyed your red brethren; it is not an evil
of our own making; we have not placed it among ourselves; it is
an evil placed among us by the white people; we look to them to
remove it out of our country. We tell them, 'Brethren, bring us
useful things; bring goods that will clothe us, our women and
our children; and not this evil liquor, that destroys our
reason, that destroys our health, and destroys our lives.' But
all we can say on this subject is of no service, nor gives
relief to your red brethren.
"My Brother and Friends:--I rejoice to find that you agree in
opinion with us, and express an anxiety to be, if possible, of
service to us, in removing this great evil out of our country;
an evil which has had so much room in it; and has destroyed so
many of our lives, that it causes our young men to say, 'we had
better be at war with the white people.' This liquor, which they
introduce into our country, is more to be feared than the gun
and the tomahawk. There are more of us dead, since the treaty of
Greenville, than we lost by the six years war before. It is all
owing to the introduction of this liquor amongst us.
"Brothers:--When our young men have been out hunting, and are
returning home, loaded with skins and furs, on their way if it
happens that they come along where some of this whiskey is
deposited, the white man who sells it, tells them to take a
little drink; some of them will say 'no, I do not want it;' they
go on till they come to another house, where they find more of
the same kind of drink; it is there offered again; they refuse;
and again the third time. But finally, the fourth or fifth time,
one accepts of it and takes a drink; and getting one, he wants
another; and then a third, and a fourth, till his senses have
left him. After his reason comes back to him again, when he gets
up and finds where he is, he asks for his peltry. The answer is,
'You have drank them,' 'Where is my gun?' 'It is gone?' 'Where
is my blanket?' 'It is gone.' 'Where is my shirt?' 'You have
sold it for whiskey!!' Now, Brothers, figure to yourselves, the
condition of this man. He has a family at home; a wife and
children, who stand in need of the profits of his hunting. What
must be their wants, when he himself is even without a shirt?"
The journey of Elisha Tyson and his companion, James Gillingham,
occurred a few years subsequent to the interview at which the preceding
speech was made. They met a council of the Indians at Fort Wayne, whom
Elisha Tyson addressed to the following effect:
"He painted in glowing colors the dreadful effects of
intemperance--both upon civilized and savage life--told them
that they must resolve to abstain entirely from it. If they
admitted it at all among them, it would soon conquer them, and
reduce them to a condition worse than that of the brute
creation. That not until they abandoned altogether the use of
ardent spirits would they be fit subjects for civilization. If
they were ready to do this he would then unfold to them the
blessings of civilization--the superiority of such a condition
over the one in which they then subsisted. He traced their
history from the earliest period to the present time--shewed
them how, as the white population had expanded itself, they had
retreated into the western wilderness--that if they did not
remain, but continued to retreat, in a few years they would have
no territory upon this continent. In order, therefore, to their
permanent establishment, he recommended to them the practice of
agriculture, as a substitute for hunting. He advised them to
mark out their lands, and ask advice of the agents established
by the Society of Friends among them, with respect to their
cultivation. They stood ready, not only with their advice, but
with their assistance; they were furnished for their use with
all the necessary implements of husbandry, with beasts of the
plough also, and beasts of burden.
"They had come a great distance, endured much privation and
fatigue in order to see them, and must endure a great deal more
before they could again behold their wives and their children.
But they could bear it all with patience, nay with joy, if they
could only have the satisfaction of seeing them adopt the
disinterested advice which he had thus given them."
The following is one of the speeches made in reply, by White Loon, an
influential chief:
"Brothers:--Ever since your great father Onas, (William Penn,)
came upon this great island, the Quakers have been the friends
of red men. They have proved themselves worthy of being the
descendants of their great father. And now, when all the whites
have forgotten that they owe any thing to us, the Quakers of
Baltimore, though so far distant from us, have remembered the
distressed condition of their red brethren, and interceded with
the Great Spirit in our behalf.
"Brothers:--You have travelled very far to see us--you have
climbed over mountains--you have swam over deep and rapid
torrents--you have endured cold, and hunger, and fatigue, in
order that you might have an opportunity of seeing your red
brethren. For this, so long as life exists within us, we shall
be very grateful.
"Brothers:--That wide region of country over which you have
passed, was once filled with red men. Then was there a plenty of
deer and buffalo, and all kinds of game. But the white people
came from beyond the great water; they landed in multitudes on
our shores; they cut down our forests; they drove our warriors
before them, and frightened the wild herds, so that they sought
security in the deep shades of the west.
"Brothers:--These white men were not your grandfathers; for, as
I said before, the sons of Onas were always the friends of red
men.
"Brothers:--The whites are still advancing upon us. They have
reached our territory, and have built their wigwams within our
very hunting grounds. Our game is vanishing away.
"Brothers:--Formerly our hunters pursued the wild deer, and the
buffalo, and the bear; and when they killed them they ate their
flesh for food, and used their skins as covering for themselves,
their old men, their women, and their children. But now, they
kill them that they may have plenty of skins and furs to sell to
the white men. The consequence of this is, the game is destroyed
wantonly, and faster than our necessities require.
"Brothers:--We would not mind all this, provided these skins and
furs were exchanged for useful articles--for implements of
husbandry, or clothes for our old men, our women, and our
children. But they are too often bartered away for whiskey, that
vile poison, which has sunk even Wapakee into the dust.
"Brothers:--We shall soon be under the necessity either of
leaving our hunting grounds or of converting them into pastures
and fields of corn. Under the kind assistance of our brothers,
the Quakers, we have already proceeded a great way. You have
witnessed, as you have passed among us, the good effects of the
kindness of our brothers. We are disposed to go on as we have
begun, until our habits and manners, as well as the face of our
country, shall be changed and look like those of the white
people.
"Brothers:--Accept from us this belt of wampum and pipe of
peace. And may the Great Sasteretsy, who conducted you here in
safety, still go with you and restore you in peace and happiness
to the arms of your women and children."
After this, with ceremonies such as those already described, but, if
possible, accompanied with more solemnity, the chiefs dissolved the
council.
It is a melancholy reflection, that soon such memorials as these will be
the only remains of that noble but unfortunate race who once peopled the
continent of North America. _War_ has slain its thousands, but _alcohol_
its tens of thousands; and the fortitude which could bear without
shrinking the most cruel inflictions of torture, has proved powerless to
resist the seductions of strong drink. It is to be feared a heavy
retribution awaits the white man, the pitiless author of their
extermination.
The biographer of E. Tyson has taken great pains to represent him as a
friend to the Colonization Society, but in this respect I am informed,
by one who well knew him, he has done him great injustice. It is
confessed, indeed, that for a long period E. Tyson viewed this scheme
with great jealousy. "When we saw," remarks this writer, "domestic
tyrants, and men who had actually, in the southern slave-trade,
speculated in the flesh and blood of their fellow creatures, united with
their betters in a society, the professed object of which was the
peopling of a continent with freemen by the depopulation of a continent
of slaves, he argued, as he had a right to argue, mischief to the
cause." No evidence is adduced to show that this same distrust of the
Colonization Society was ever removed, beyond the fact that, having been
the means of liberating eleven native Africans from a slave-ship, he
cooperated with Gen. Harper, an influential colonizationist, in
restoring them to their native country, which bordered upon the colony
of Liberia. This was the last public act of his life.
"The great concern in which he had spent his life was the
constant topic of his conversation; and he continued with his
latest breath to enforce the claims of the unhappy sons of
slavery upon the humanity of their brethren. It was natural that
he should feel a strong anxiety about the fate of those who,
through his exertions, had been restored to their friends in
Africa. He was on the alert to hear intelligence of their
fate--his spirit seemed to follow them across the mighty waters.
On one occasion he was heard to say, 'If I could only hear of
their safe arrival I should die content;' and on another, that
he 'had prayed to the Father of Mercies that he would be pleased
to spare his life until he could receive the pleasing
intelligence.' His prayer was heard. The news reached his ears
amid the last lingerings of life. He shed tears of joy on the
occasion; and when he had sufficiently yielded to the first
burst of feeling, exclaimed, like one satiated with earthly
happiness, 'Now I am ready to die; my work is done.' His
expressions were prophetic; for in the short space of
forty-eight hours, on the 16th of February, 1824, at the age of
75 years, he breathed his soul into the hands of God Almighty."
The following are some notices of his personal appearance and mental
characteristics:
"The person of Mr. Tyson was about six feet in height, though
the habit of leaning forward as he walked, gave a less
appearance to his stature. The rest of his frame was suited to
his height.
"The features of his countenance were strong. His forehead was
high; his nose large, and of the Roman order; his eyes were dark
and piercing; his lips so singularly expressive, that even in
their stillest mood they would almost seem to be uttering the
purposes of his mind. Indeed his whole face was indicative, to a
striking degree, of the passions and feelings of his soul.
"The mind of Mr. Tyson was strong, rather than brilliant. With
scarcely any imagination, he possessed a judgment almost
infallible in its decisions; great powers of reason, which were
more conspicuous for the certainty of its conclusions than
remarkable for displaying the train of inferences by which it
arrived at them. He possessed wonderful acuteness of
understanding, quickness of perception, and readiness of reply.
"For these qualities he was indebted more to nature than to art.
He was not educated for the exalted station of a philanthropist,
but for the business of the world; and yet he seemed fitted
exactly for the part he acted. He possessed not the refinements
of education; he had not learned to soar into the regions of
fancy, his destiny was upon the earth; and he knew no flight but
that which bears the soul to heaven."