there; Sam replied it was he, and he had a letter for him; on this he
got up and came to the door; they immediately seized him and dragging
him out a little from the door, he was despatched by repeated blows on
the head. There was no other white person in the family. We started
from there to Mrs. Reese's, maintaining the most perfect silence on our
march, where, finding the door unlocked, we entered and murdered Mrs.
Reese in her bed while sleeping; her son awoke, but only to sleep the
sleep of death; he had only time to say, 'Who is that?' and he was no
more. From Mrs. Reese's we went to Mrs. Turner's, a mile distant, which
we reached about sunrise, on Monday morning. Henry, Austin, and Sam,
went to the still, where, finding Mr. Peebles, Austin shot him; the
rest of us went to the house. As we approached, the family discovered
us and shut the door. Vain hope! Will, with one stroke of his axe,
opened it, and we entered, and found Mrs. Turner and Mrs. Newsome in
the middle of a room, almost frightened to death. Will immediately
killed Mrs. Turner with one blow of his axe. I took Mrs. Newsome by the
hand, and with the sword I had when apprehended, I struck her several
blows over the head, but was not able to kill her, as the sword was
dull. Will, turning round and discovering it, despatched her also. A
general destruction of property, and search for money and ammunition,
always succeeded the murders.
"By this time, my company amounted to fifteen, nine men mounted, who
started for Mrs. Whitehead's, (the other six were to go through a
by-way to Mr. Bryant's, and rejoin us at Mrs. Whitehead's.) As we
approached the house we discovered Mr. Richard Whitehead standing in
the cotton patch, near the lane fence; we called him over into the
lane, and Will, the executioner, was near at hand, with his fatal
axe, to send him to an untimely grave. As we pushed on to the house,
I discovered some one running round the garden, and thinking it was
some of the white family, I pursued, but finding it was a servant
girl belonging to the house, I returned to commence the work of
death; but they whom I left had not been idle: all the family were
already murdered but Mrs. Whitehead and her daughter Margaret. As I
came round to the door I saw Will pulling Mrs. Whitehead out of the
house, and at the step he nearly severed her head from her body with
his broadaxe. Miss Margaret, when I discovered her, had concealed
herself in the corner formed by the projection of the cellar cap from
the house; on my approach she fled, but was soon overtaken, and after
repeated blows with a sword, I killed her by a blow over the head
with a fence rail. By this time the six who had gone by Mr. Bryant's
rejoined us, and informed me they had done the work of death assigned
them. We again divided, part going to Mr. Richard Porter's, and from
thence to Nathaniel Francis's, the others to Mr. Howell Harris's and
Mr. T. Doyles's. On my reaching Mr. Porter's, he had escaped with his
family. I understood there that the alarm had already spread, and I
immediately returned to bring up those sent to Mr. Doyles's and Mr.
Howell Harris's; the party I left going on to Mr. Francis's, having
told them I would join them in that neighborhood. I met those sent to
Mr. Doyles's and Mr. Howell Harris's returning, having met Mr. Doyles
on the road and killed him. Learning from some who joined them, that
Mr. Harris was from home, I immediately pursued the course taken by
the party gone on before; but knowing that they would complete the
work of death and pillage at Mr. Francis's before I could get there,
I went to Mr. Peter Edwards's, expecting to find them there; but they
had been there already. I then went to Mr. John T. Barrow's; they had
been there and murdered him. I pursued on their track to Captain Newitt
Harris's. I found the greater part mounted and ready to start; the
men, now amounting to about forty, shouted and hurrahed as I rode up;
some were in the yard loading their guns, others drinking. They said
Captain Harris and his family had escaped; the property in the house
they destroyed, robbing him of money and other valuables. I ordered
them to mount and march instantly; this was about nine or ten o'clock,
Monday morning. I proceeded to Mr. Levi Waller's, two or three miles
distant. I took my station in the rear, and as it was my object to
carry terror and devastation wherever we went, I placed fifteen or
twenty of the best mounted and most to be relied on in front, who
generally approached the houses as fast as their horses could run; this
was for two purposes, to prevent their escape and strike terror to the
inhabitants--on this account I never got to the houses, after leaving
Mrs. Whitehead's, until the murders were committed, except in one case.
I sometimes got in sight in time to see the work of death completed,
viewed the mangled bodies as they lay, in silent satisfaction, and
immediately started in quest of other victims. Having murdered Mrs.
Waller and ten children, we started for Mr. William Williams's. We
killed him and two little boys that were there: while engaged in this,
Mrs. Williams fled, and got some distance from the house; but she was
pursued, overtaken, and compelled to get up behind one of the company,
who brought her back, and after showing her the mangled body of her
lifeless husband, she was told to get down and lie by his side, where
she was shot dead. I then started for Mr. Jacob Williams's, where the
family were murdered. Here we found a young man named Drury, who had
come on business with Mr. Williams; he was pursued, overtaken, and
shot. Mrs. Vaughan's was the next place we visited; and after murdering
the family here, I determined on starting for Jerusalem. Our number
amounted now to fifty or sixty, all mounted and armed with guns, axes,
swords, and clubs. On reaching Mr. James W. Parker's gate, immediately
on the road leading to Jerusalem, and about three miles distant, it was
proposed to me to call there; but I objected, as I knew he was gone
to Jerusalem, and my object was to reach there as soon as possible;
but some of the men having relations at Mr. Parker's, it was agreed
that they might call and get his people. I remained at the gate on
the road, with seven or eight, the others going across the field to
the house, about half a mile off. After waiting some time for them, I
became impatient, and started to the house for them, and on our return
we were met by a party of white men, who had pursued our blood-stained
track, and who had fired on those at the gate, and dispersed them,
which I knew nothing of, not having been at that time rejoined by any
of them. Immediately on discovering the whites, I ordered my men to
halt and form, as they appeared to be alarmed. The white men, eighteen
in number, approached us in about one hundred yards, when one of them
fired, and I discovered about half of them, retreating. I then ordered
my men to fire and rush on them; the few remaining stood their ground
until we approached within fifty yards, when they fired and retreated.
We pursued and overtook some of them, whom we thought we left dead;
after pursuing them about two hundred yards, and rising a little hill,
I discovered they were met by another party, and had halted, and were
reloading their guns, thinking that those who retreated first, and
the party who fired on us at fifty or sixty yards distant, had only
fallen back to meet others with ammunition. As I saw them reloading
their guns, and more coming up than I saw at first, and several of my
bravest men being wounded, the others became panic-struck and scattered
over the field; the white men pursued and fired on us several times.
Hark had his horse shot under him, and I caught another for him that
was running by me; five or six of my men were wounded, but none left
on the field. Finding myself defeated here, I instantly determined to
go through a private way, and cross the Nottoway River at the Cypress
Bridge, three miles below Jerusalem, and attack that place in the rear,
as I expected they would look for me on the other road, and I had a
great desire to get there to procure arms and ammunition."
Reënforcements came to the whites, and the blacks were overpowered and
defeated by the superior numbers of their enemy. In this battle many
were slain on both sides. Will, the bloodthirsty and revengeful slave,
fell with his broadaxe uplifted, after having laid three of the whites
dead at his feet with his own strong arm and his terrible weapon. His
last words were, "Bury my axe with me." For he religiously believed
that in the next world the blacks would have a contest with the whites,
and that he would need his axe. Nat Turner, after fighting to the last
with his short sword, escaped with some others to the woods near by,
and was not captured for nearly two months. When brought to trial he
pleaded "not guilty;" feeling, as he said, that it was always right
for one to strike for his own liberty. After going through a mere form
of trial, he was convicted and executed at Jerusalem, the county seat
for Southampton county, Virginia. Not a limb trembled or a muscle was
observed to move. Thus died Nat Turner, at the early age of thirty-one
years--a martyr to the freedom of his race, and a victim to his own
fanaticism. He meditated upon the wrongs of his oppressed and injured
people, till the idea of their deliverance excluded all other ideas
from his mind, and he devoted his life to its realization. Every thing
appeared to him a vision, and all favorable omens were signs from
God. That he was sincere in all that he professed, there is not the
slightest doubt. After being defeated he might have escaped to the free
states, but the hope of raising a new band kept him from doing so.
He impressed his image upon the minds of those who once beheld him. His
looks, his sermons, his acts, and his heroism live in the hearts of
his race, on every cotton, sugar, and rice plantation at the south.
The present generation of slaves have a superstitious veneration for
his name, and believe that in another insurrection Nat Turner will
appear and take command. He foretold that at his death the sun would
refuse to shine, and that there would be signs of disapprobation
given from heaven. And it is true that the sun was darkened, a storm
gathered, and more boisterous weather had never appeared in Southampton
county than on the day of Nat's execution. The sheriff, warned by the
prisoner, refused to cut the cord that held the trap. No black man
would touch the rope. A poor old white man, long besotted by drink,
was brought forty miles to be the executioner. And even the planters,
with all their prejudice and hatred, believed him honest and sincere;
for Mr. Gray, who had known Nat from boyhood, and to whom he made his
confession, says of him,--
"It has been said that he was ignorant and cowardly, and that his
object was to murder and rob, for the purpose of obtaining money to
make his escape. It is notorious that he was never known to have a
dollar in his life, to swear an oath, or drink a drop of spirits. As
to his ignorance, he certainly never had the advantages of education;
but he can read and write, and for natural intelligence and quickness
of apprehension, is surpassed by few men I have ever seen. As to his
being a coward, his reason, as given, for not resisting Mr. Phipps,
shows the decision of his character. When he saw Mr. Phipps present
his gun, he said he knew it was impossible for him to escape, as the
woods were full of men; he therefore thought it was better for him
to surrender, and trust to fortune for his escape. He is a complete
fanatic, or plays his part most admirably. On other subjects he
possesses an uncommon share of intelligence, with a mind capable of
attaining any thing, but warped and perverted by the influence of
early impressions. He is below the ordinary stature, though strong and
active; having the true negro face, every feature of which is strongly
marked. I shall not attempt to describe the effect of his narrative, as
told and commented on by himself, in the condemned hole of the prison;
the calm, deliberate composure with which he spoke of his late deeds
and intentions; the expressions of his fiend-like face, when excited by
enthusiasm--still bearing the stains of the blood of helpless innocence
about him, clothed with rags and covered with chains, yet daring to
raise his manacled hands to heaven, with a spirit soaring above the
attributes of man; I looked on him, and the blood curdled in my veins."
Well might he feel the blood curdle in his veins, when he remembered
that in every southern household there may be a Nat Turner, in whose
soul God has lighted a torch of liberty that cannot be extinguished by
the hand of man. The slaveholder should understand that he lives upon a
volcano, which may burst forth at any moment, and give freedom to his
victim.
"Great God, hasten on the glad jubilee,
When my brother in bonds shall arise and be free,
And our blotted escutcheon be washed from its stains,
Now the scorn of the world--four millions in chains!
O, then shall Columbia's proud flag be unfurled,
The glory of freemen, and pride of the world,
While earth's strolling millions point hither in glee,
'To the land of the brave and the home of the free!'"
Fifty-five whites and seventy-three blacks lost their lives in the
Southampton rebellion. On the fatal night when Nat and his companions
were dealing death to all they found, Captain Harris, a wealthy
planter, had his life saved by the devotion and timely warning of his
slave Jim, said to have been half-brother to his master. After the
revolt had been put down, and parties of whites were out hunting the
suspected blacks, Captain Harris, with his faithful slave, went into
the woods in search of the negroes. In saving his master's life, Jim
felt that he had done his duty, and could not consent to become a
betrayer of his race, and, on reaching the woods, he handed his pistol
to his master, and said, "I cannot help you hunt down these men; they,
like myself, want to be free. Sir, I am tired of the life of a slave;
please give me my freedom, or shoot me on the spot." Captain Harris
took the weapon and pointed it at the slave. Jim, putting his right
hand upon his heart, said, "This is the spot; aim here." The captain
fired, and the slave fell dead at his feet.
From this insurrection, and other manifestations of insubordination by
the slave population, the southern people, if they are wise, should
learn a grave lesson; for the experience of the past might give them
some clew to the future.
Thirty years' free discussion has materially changed public opinion in
the non-slaveholding states, and a negro insurrection, in the present
excited state of the nation, would not receive the condemnation that it
did in 1831. The right of man to the enjoyment of freedom is a settled
point; and where he is deprived of this, without any criminal act of
his own, it is his duty to regain his liberty at every cost.
If the oppressor is struck down in the contest, his fall will be a just
one, and all the world will applaud the act.
This is a new era, and we are in the midst of the most important crisis
that our country has yet witnessed. And in the crisis the negro is an
important item. Every eye is now turned towards the south, looking for
another Nat Turner.
MADISON WASHINGTON.
Among the great number of fugitive slaves who arrived in Canada
towards the close of the year 1840, was one whose tall figure, firm
step, and piercing eye attracted at once the attention of all who
beheld him. Nature had treated him as a favorite. His expressive
countenance painted and reflected every emotion of his soul. There was
a fascination in the gaze of his finely-cut eyes that no one could
withstand. Born of African parentage, with no mixture in his blood,
he was one of the handsomest of his race. His dignified, calm, and
unaffected features announced at a glance that he was one endowed with
genius, and created to guide his fellow-men. He called himself Madison
Washington, and said that his birthplace was in the "Old Dominion." He
might have seen twenty-five years; but very few slaves have any correct
idea of their age. Madison was not poorly dressed, and had some money
at the end of his journey, which showed that he was not from among the
worst used slaves of the south. He immediately sought employment at a
neighboring farm, where he remained some months. A strong, able-bodied
man, and a good worker, and apparently satisfied with his situation,
his employer felt that he had a servant who would stay with him a
long while. The farmer would occasionally raise a conversation, and
try to draw from Madison some account of his former life; but in this
he failed, for the fugitive was a man of few words, and kept his own
secrets. His leisure hours were spent in learning to read and write,
and in this he seemed to take the utmost interest. He appeared to take
no interest in the sports and amusements that occupied the attention of
others. Six months had not passed ere Madison began to show signs of
discontent. In vain his employer tried to discover the cause.
"Do I not pay you enough, and treat you in a becoming manner?" asked
Mr. Dickson one day when the fugitive seemed in a very desponding mood.
"Yes, sir," replied Madison.
"Then why do you appear so much dissatisfied, of late?"
"Well, sir," said the fugitive, "since you have treated me with such
kindness, and seem to take so much interest in me, I will tell you
the reason why I have changed, and appear to you to be dissatisfied.
I was born in slavery, in the State of Virginia. From my earliest
recollections I hated slavery and determined to be free. I have never
yet called any man master, though I have been held by three different
men who claimed me as their property. The birds in the trees and the
wild beasts of the forest made me feel that I, like them, ought to be
free. My feelings were all thus centred in the one idea of liberty, of
which I thought by day and dreamed by night. I had scarcely reached
my twentieth year when I became acquainted with the angelic being who
has since become my wife. It was my intention to have escaped with her
before we were married, but circumstances prevented.
"I took her to my bosom as my wife, and then resolved to make the
attempt. But unfortunately my plans were discovered, and to save myself
from being caught and sold off to the far south I escaped to the woods,
where I remained during many weary months. As I could not bring my
wife away, I would not come without her. Another reason for remaining
was, that I hoped to get up an insurrection of the slaves, and thereby
be the means of their liberation. In this, too, I failed. At last it
was agreed between my wife and me that I should escape to Canada, get
employment, save my money, and with it purchase her freedom. With the
hope of attaining this end I came into your service. I am now satisfied
that, with the wages I can command here, it will take me not less than
five years to obtain by my labor the amount sufficient to purchase the
liberty of my dear Susan. Five years will be too long for me to wait,
for she may die or be sold away ere I can raise the money. This, sir,
makes me feel low-spirited, and I have come to the rash determination
to return to Virginia for my wife."
The recital of the story had already brought tears to the eyes of the
farmer, ere the fugitive had concluded. In vain did Mr. Dickson try
to persuade Madison to give up the idea of going back into the very
grasp of the tyrant, and risking the loss of his own freedom without
securing that of his wife. The heroic man had made up his mind, and
nothing could move him. Receiving the amount of wages due him from
his employer, Madison turned his face once more towards the south.
Supplied with papers purporting to have been made out in Virginia, and
certifying to his being a freeman, the fugitive had no difficulty in
reaching the neighborhood of his wife. But these "free papers" were
only calculated to serve him where he was not known. Madison had also
provided himself with files, saws, and other implements with which
to cut his way out of any prison into which he might be cast. These
instruments were so small as to be easily concealed in the lining of
his clothing; and armed with them the fugitive felt sure he should
escape again were he ever captured. On his return, Madison met, in the
State of Ohio, many of those whom he had seen on his journey to Canada,
and all tried to prevail upon him to give up the rash attempt. But to
every one he would reply, "Liberty is worth nothing to me while my wife
is a slave." When near his former home, and unable to travel in open
day without being detected, Madison betook himself to the woods during
the day, and travelled by night. At last he arrived at the old farm at
night, and hid away in the nearest forest. Here he remained several
days, filled with hope and fear, without being able to obtain any
information about his wife. One evening, during this suspense, Madison
heard the singing of a company of slaves, the sound of which appeared
nearer and nearer, until he became convinced that it was a gang going
to a corn-shucking, and the fugitive resolved that he would join it,
and see if he could get any intelligence of his wife.
In Virginia, as well as in most of the other corn-raising slave
states, there is a custom of having what is termed "a corn-shucking,"
to which slaves from the neighboring plantations, with the consent of
their masters, are invited. At the conclusion of the shucking a supper
is provided by the owner of the corn; and thus, together with the bad
whiskey which is freely circulated on such occasions, the slaves are
made to feel very happy. Four or five companies of men may be heard
in different directions and at the same time approaching the place
of rendezvous, slaves joining the gangs along the roads as they pass
their masters' farms. Madison came out upon the highway, and as the
company came along singing, he fell into the ranks and joined in the
song. Through the darkness of the night he was able to keep from being
recognized by the remainder of the company, while he learned from the
general conversation the most important news of the day.
Although hungry and thirsty, the fugitive dared not go to the supper
table for fear of recognition. However, before he left the company that
night, he gained information enough to satisfy him that his wife was
still with her old master, and he hoped to see her, if possible, on the
following night. The sun had scarcely set the next evening, ere Madison
was wending his way out of the forest and going towards the home of his
loved one, if the slave can be said to have a home. Susan, the object
of his affections, was indeed a woman every way worthy of his love.
Madison knew well where to find the room usually occupied by his wife,
and to that spot he made his way on arriving at the plantation. But in
his zeal and enthusiasm, and his being too confident of success, he
committed a blunder which nearly cost him his life. Fearful that if he
waited until a late hour Susan would be asleep, and in awakening her
she would in her fright alarm the household, Madison ventured to her
room too early in the evening, before the whites in the "great house"
had retired. Observed by the overseer, a sufficient number of whites
were called in, and the fugitive secured ere he could escape with his
wife; but the heroic slave did not yield until he with a club had laid
three of his assailants upon the ground with his manly blows; and not
then until weakened by loss of blood. Madison was at once taken to
Richmond, and sold to a slave trader, then making up a gang of slaves
for the New Orleans market.
The brig Creole, owned by Johnson & Eperson, of Richmond, and commanded
by Captain Enson, lay at the Richmond dock waiting for her cargo, which
usually consisted of tobacco, hemp, flax, and slaves. There were two
cabins for the slaves, one for the men, the other for the women. The
men were generally kept in chains while on the voyage; but the women
were usually unchained, and allowed to roam at pleasure in their own
cabin. On the 27th of October, 1841, the Creole sailed from Hampton
Roads, bound for New Orleans, with her full load of freight, one
hundred and thirty-five slaves, and three passengers, besides the crew.
Forty of the slaves were owned by Thomas McCargo, nine belonged to
Henry Hewell, and the remainder were held by Johnson & Eperson. Hewell
had once been an overseer for McCargo, and on this occasion was acting
as his agent.
Among the slaves owned by Johnson & Eperson was Madison Washington.
He was heavily ironed, and chained down to the floor of the cabin
occupied by the men, which was in the forward hold. As it was known by
Madison's purchasers that he had once escaped and had been in Canada,
they kept a watchful eye over him. The two cabins were separated, so
that the men and women had no communication whatever during the passage.