some of my companions were sold to the slave-traders and taken farther
south. Husbands were separated from their wives, and children torn from
the arms of their agonizing mothers. These outrages were committed by
the man whom nature compelled me to look upon as my father. My mother
and brothers were sold and taken away from me; still I bore all, and
made no attempt to escape, for I yet had near me an only sister, whom I
dearly loved. At last, the negro driver attempted to rob my sister of
her virtue. She appealed to me for protection. Her innocence, beauty,
and tears were enough to stir the stoutest heart. My own, filled with
grief and indignation, swelled within me as though it would burst or
leap from my bosom. My tears refused to flow: the fever in my brain
dried them up. I could stand it no longer. I seized the wretch by the
throat, and hurled him to the ground; and with this strong arm I paid
him for old and new. The next day I was tried by a jury of slaveholders
for the crime of having within me the heart of a man, and protecting
my sister from the licentious embrace of a libertine. And--would
you believe it, sir?--that jury of enlightened Americans,--yes, sir,
Christian Americans,--after _grave_ deliberation, decided that I had
broken the laws, and sentenced me to receive five hundred lashes upon
my bare back. But, sir, I escaped from them the night before I was to
have been flogged.
"Afraid of being arrested and taken back, I remained the following day
hid away in a secluded spot on the banks of the Mississippi River,
protected from the gaze of man by the large trees and thick cane-brakes
that sheltered me. I waited for the coming of another night. All was
silence around me, save the sweet chant of the feathered songsters in
the forest, or the musical ripple of the eddying waters at my feet.
I watched the majestic bluffs as they gradually faded away, through
the gray twilight, from the face of day into the darker shades of
night. I then turned to the rising moon as it peered above, ascending
the deep blue ether, high in the heavens, casting its mellow rays
over the surrounding landscape, and gilding the smooth surface of the
noble river with its silvery hue. I viewed with interest the stars
as they appeared, one after another, in the firmament. It was then
and there that I studied nature in its lonely grandeur, and saw in it
the goodness of God, and felt that He who created so much beauty, and
permitted the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field to roam at
large and be free, never intended that man should be the slave of his
fellow-man. I resolved that I would be a bondman no longer; and, taking
for my guide the _north star_, I started for Canada, the negro's land
of liberty. For many weeks I travelled by night, and lay by during the
day. O, how often, while hid away in the forest, waiting for nightfall,
have I thought of the beautiful lines I once heard a stranger recite:--
'O, hail Columbia! happy land!
The cradle land of liberty!
Where none but negroes bear the brand,
Or feel the lash of slavery.
'Then let the glorious anthem peal,
And drown "Britannia rules the waves:"
Strike up the song that men can feel--
"Columbia rules four million slaves!"'
"At last I arrived at a depot of the Underground Railroad, took the
_express train_, and here I am."
"You are welcome," said Colonel Rice, as he rose from his chair, walked
to the window and looked out, as if apprehensive that the fugitive's
pursuers were near by. "You are welcome," continued he; "and I will aid
you on your way to Canada, for you are not safe here."
"Are you not afraid of breaking the laws by assisting this man to
escape?" remarked Squire Loomis.
"I care not for laws when they stand in the way of humanity," replied
the colonel.
"If you aid him in reaching Canada, and we should ever have a war with
England, may be he'll take up arms and fight against his own country,"
said the squire.
The fugitive eyed the law-abiding man attentively for a moment, and
then exclaimed, "Take up arms against my country? What country, sir,
have I? The Supreme Court of the United States, and the laws of the
south, doom me to be the slave of another. There is not a foot of
soil over which the _stars and stripes_ wave, where I can stand and
be protected by law. I've seen my mother sold in the cattle market. I
looked upon my brothers as they were driven away in chains by the slave
speculator. The heavy negro whip has been applied to my own shoulders
until its biting lash sunk deep into my quivering flesh. Still, sir,
you call this my country. True, true, I was born in this land. My
grandfather fought in the revolutionary war; my own father was in the
war of 1812. Still, sir, I am a slave, a chattel, a thing, a piece
of property. I've been sold in the market with horses and swine; the
initials of my master's name are branded deep in this arm. Still, sir,
you call this my country. And, now that I am making my escape, you feel
afraid, if I reach Canada, and there should be war with England, that
I will take up arms against my own country. Sir, I have no country but
the grave; and I'll seek freedom there before I will again be taken
back to slavery. There is no justice for me at the south; every right
of my race is trampled in the dust, until humanity bleeds at every
pore. I am bound for Canada, and woe to him that shall attempt to
arrest me. If it comes to the worst, I will die fighting for freedom."
"I honor you for your courage," exclaimed Squire Loomis, as he sprang
from his seat, and walked rapidly to and fro through the room. "It is
too bad," continued he, "that such men should be enslaved in a land
whose Declaration of Independence proclaims all men to be free and
equal. I will aid you in any thing that I can. What is your name?"
"I have no name," said the fugitive. "I once had a name,--it was
William,--but my master's nephew came to live with him, and as I was a
house servant, and the young master and I would, at times, get confused
in the same name, orders were given for me to change mine. From that
moment, I resolved that, as slavery had robbed me of my liberty and my
name, I would not attempt to have another till I was free. So, sir, for
once you have a man standing before you without a name."
SAMUEL R. WARD.
Few public speakers exercised greater influence in the pulpit and on
the platform, in behalf of human freedom, than did Samuel R. Ward, in
the early days of abolition agitation. From 1840 up to the passage
of the Fugitive Slave Law, in 1850, he either preached or lectured
in every church, hall, or school house in Western and Central New
York. Endowed with superior mental powers, and having, through the
aid of Hon. Gerrit Smith, obtained a good education, and being a
close student, Mr. Ward's intellectual faculties are well developed.
He was, for several years, settled over a white congregation, of the
Presbyterian order, at South Butler, N. Y., where he preached with
great acceptance, and was highly respected. As a speaker, he was
justly held up as one of the ablest men, white or black, in the United
States. The first time we ever heard him, (in 1842,) he was announced
in the advertisement as "the black Daniel Webster." Standing above
six feet in height, possessing a strong voice, and energetic in his
gestures, Mr. Ward always impressed his highly finished and logical
speeches upon his hearers. No detractor of the negro's abilities ever
attributed his talents to his having Anglo-Saxon blood in his veins. As
a black man, Mr. Ward was never ashamed of his complexion, but rather
appeared to feel proud of it. When Captain Rynders and his followers
took possession of the platform of the American Anti-Slavery Society,
at their anniversary, in New York, in the spring of 1852, Frederick
Douglass rose to defend the rights of the Association and the liberty
of speech. Rynders objected to the speaker upon the ground that he was
not a negro, but half white. Ward, being present, came forward, amid
great applause, and the rowdy leader had to "knock under," and confess
that genuine eloquence was not confined to the white man. William J.
Wilson says of Ward, "Ideas form the basis of all Mr. Ward utters. If
words and ideas are not inseparable, then, as mortar is to the stones
that compose the building, so are his words to his ideas. In this, I
judge, lies Mr. Ward's greatest strength. Concise without abruptness;
without extraordinary stress, always clear and forcible; if sparing of
ornament, never inelegant,--in all, there appears a consciousness of
strength, developed by close study and deep reflection, and only put
forth because the occasion demands it. His appeals are directed rather
to the understanding than the imagination; but so forcibly do they take
possession of it, that the heart unhesitatingly yields."
Mr. Ward visited England in 1852, where he was regarded as an eloquent
advocate of the rights of his race. He now resides at Kingston, Jamaica.
SIR EDWARD JORDAN.
Edward Jordan was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in the year 1798. After
quitting school he entered a clothing store as a clerk; but his deep
hatred to slavery, and the political and social outrages committed upon
the free colored men, preyed upon his mind to such an extent that, in
1826, he associated himself with Robert Osborn, in the publication
of _The Watchman_, a weekly newspaper devoted to the freedom and
enfranchisement of the people of color. His journal was conducted
with marked ability, and Mr. Jordan soon began to wield a tremendous
influence against the slave power. While absent from his editorial
duties, in 1830, an article appeared in _The Watchman_, upon which its
editor was indicted for constructive treason. He was at once arrested,
placed in the dock, and arraigned for trial. He pleaded "not guilty,"
and asked for time to prepare for his defence. The plea was allowed,
and the case was traversed to the next court. The trial came on at the
appointed time; the jury was packed, for the pro-slavery element had
determined on the conviction of the distinguished advocate of liberty.
The whole city appeared to be lost to every thing but the proceedings
of the assize. It was feared, that, if convicted, a riot would be the
result, and the authorities prepared for this. A vessel of war was
brought up abreast of the city, the guns of which were pointed up one
of the principal streets, and at almost every avenue leading to the
sea, a merchant vessel was moored, armed at least with one great gun,
pointing in a similar direction, to rake the streets from bottom to
top. A detachment of soldiers was kept under arms, with orders to be
ready for action at a moment's warning. The officers of the court,
including the judge, entered upon their duties, armed with pistols;
and the sheriff was instructed to shoot the prisoner in the dock if a
rescue was attempted. If convicted, Mr. Jordan's punishment was to be
death. Happily for all, the verdict was "not guilty." The acquittal of
the editor of _The Watchman_ carried disappointment and dismay into
the ranks of the slave oligarchy, while it gave a new impetus to the
anti-slavery cause, both in Jamaica and in Great Britain, and which
culminated in the abolition of slavery on the 1st of August, 1834. The
following year, Mr. Jordan was elected member of the Assembly for the
city of Kingston, which he still represents. About this time, _The
Watchman_ was converted into a daily paper, under the title of _The
Morning Journal_, still in existence, and owned by Jordan and Osborn.
In 1853, Mr. Jordan was elected mayor of his native city without
opposition, which office he still holds. He was recently chosen premier
of the island and president of the privy council.
No man is more respected in the Assembly than Mr. Jordan, and reform
measures offered by him are often carried through the house, owing to
the respect the members have for the introducer. In the year 1860, the
honorable gentleman was elevated to the dignity of knighthood by the
Queen. Sir Edward Jordan has ever been regarded as an honest, upright,
and temperate man. In a literary point of view, he is considered one of
the first men in Jamaica.
It is indeed a cheering sign for the negro to look at one of his race,
who, a few years ago, was tried for his life in a city in which he is
now the chief magistrate, inspector of the prison in which he was once
incarcerated, and occupying a seat in the legislature by the side of
the white man who ejected him from his position as a clerk, on account
of his color. To those who say that the two races cannot live in peace
together, we point to the Jamaica Assembly, with more than half of its
members colored; and to all who think that the negro is only fit for
servitude, we reply by saying, Look at Sir Edward Jordan.
JOSEPH CARTER.
The subject of this sketch is a native of the city of Bridgetown,
Barbadoes, where he was born on the 16th of February, 1831. At the
early age of eleven years, he was apprenticed to William Howell, a
cabinet-maker of his native place. The boy showed so much genius and
skill even at this tender age, that he excited an interest in his
behalf, which culminated in his becoming the ward of Miss Hayes, a
talented lady, of English origin, whose guardianship of young Carter
did much to pave the way for the development of his hidden powers.
In his seventeenth year, Joseph came to the States in company with
his guardian, and settled in the city of Philadelphia, where he now
resides. Buoyant with hopes, knowing his own capacity, and aspiring in
his nature, the young man went forth in search of employment, little
dreaming of the insurmountable prejudice which every man of his color
has to meet in this country, and more especially in cities in the
border states. In vain he went from shop to shop, appealing for simple
justice, feeling confident that if once in employment, he could keep
his situation by his ability as a workman. Wherever he appeared before
a manufacturer, the reply was, "I would hire you if my hands, who are
white, would not leave me." This calls to mind an incident that was
related to me by a master gilder in Sixth Street, Philadelphia, a
few years since. I had stepped into his place to purchase a picture
frame, when, on learning that I was from Boston, he inquired if I was
acquainted with Jacob R. Andrews. I replied that I was. "Then," said
he, "do you see that bench there?" "Yes." "There was where he learned
his trade." "Was he apprenticed to you?" I inquired. "No," said he;
"he came to me, wishing to learn the business: my men refused to work
in the same room with him, although he was as white as most of them.
So, rather than turn him away, I put up a table there, and set him
to work. In a short time he was able to turn out as good a job as
any man in the establishment. He worked for me several years, and I
must say that I never had a better workman, or a more reliable man
in every respect, than he. Andrews often waited on my customers in
my absence, and, whether at the bench at work or behind the counter,
he was always the gentleman." I was pleased to hear so favorable
an account of Mr. Andrews, for I had formed a high opinion of him,
both as a man of integrity and a mechanic. He is now a flourishing
manufacturer himself, in Beach Street, Boston, where he can count
among his patrons some of the first families in the city. Mr. Carter,
therefore, had energy similar to Mr. Andrews, and kept applying till he
obtained work. A writer, to whom I am indebted for the early history
of my subject, says, "Two years after his arrival we find Carter in
business, manufacturing all sorts of furniture, from a pine table to
the rarest cabinet. In 1859 we find him building organs for churches.
One of the principal churches in this city (Philadelphia) has an organ
manufactured by him. The whole work is done by his own hands; the rough
stuff enters his establishment, and leaves it a perfect specimen of
art and ingenuity, pure and mellow in tone, and polished, and carved,
and elegantly finished. Unlike those extensive manufactories having
branches and departments for fashioning the various portions of such
instruments, his has none. You know it is said of the ancient Egyptians
that their sculpture had an odd and awkward appearance, because their
sculptors never chiselled out an entire figure. Some made the arms,
some the legs, some the body, some the head. Perhaps Mr. Carter has
the advantage of more extensive manufacturers by giving uniqueness
and symmetry to his instruments. He is now making a very large one to
order, having nine stops and pedals. The one he proposes to send to
the Art Exhibition is an elaborately finished one of five stops and
pedals, of walnut, carved, gothic style, and of exceeding richness of
tone. This business he has taken up without ever receiving an hour's
instruction. He was imperceptibly drawn into it through a fondness for
music. He purchased a melodeon for his own use and amusement, and
feeling the want of more stops and pedals, set about the work; and this
attempt not being satisfactory, he built an organ which proved to be a
very excellent one."
JAMES LAWSON.
James Lawson was born in slavery in the State of Virginia, where, for
many years, he was the chief man on his master's plantation; and when
the rebellion broke out, the rebel owner felt sure, from James's former
fidelity, that he would stand by him in that contest. So confident was
he of this, that he sent the chattel to an important military station
with the following recommendation: "You may trust Jim in any way that
you can use him, for he has been my slave fourteen years, and I never
knew him to deceive me or any member of my family. Indeed, I have more
respect, esteem, and good feeling for him, and more confidence in
his integrity, than any white man of my acquaintance. He is able to
undertake any affair, of either great or small importance."
When the history of the "Slaveholders' Rebellion" shall be impartially
written, it will be found that no class has done more good service
to the Union cause, and were more reliable in every respect, than
those who had formerly been slaves. A correspondent of the "New York
Times," writing from the head-quarters of the army of the Potomac,
July 29, 1862, says, "Some of the most valuable information McClellan
has received in regard to the position, movements and plans of the
enemy, the topography of the country, and the inclination of certain
inhabitants, has been obtained through contrabands. Even spies and
traitors have been detected, and brought before the proper authorities,
upon evidence furnished by this much-abused, but generally loyal class
of people."
Probably no ten men have done so much in the way of giving information
and performing daring acts in the enemy's immediate locality, as James
Lawson. At one time we find him mounted on horseback, riding with the
commanding general and his staff, piloting the Union forces through
the enemy's country, and at another heading a scouting party, and
saving them all from capture, by his superior knowledge of the district
through which they travelled. After doing considerable service for the
army, "Jim," as he was generally called, shipped on board the flag
gunboat Freeborn, Lieutenant Samuel Magaw commanding. An officer from
that vessel says of Jim, "He furnished Captain Magaw with much valuable
intelligence concerning the rebel movements, and, from his quiet,
every-day behavior, soon won the esteem of the commanding officer.
"Captain Magaw, shortly after Jim's arrival on board the Freeborn,
sent him upon a scouting tour through the rebel fortifications, more
to test his reliability than any thing else; and the mission, although
fraught with great danger, was executed by Jim in the most faithful
manner. Again Jim was sent into Virginia, landing at the White House,
below Mount Vernon, and going into the interior for several miles,
encountering the fire of picket guards and posted sentries, returned
in safety to the shore, and was brought off in the captain's gig, under
the fire of the rebel musketry.
"Jim had a wife and four children at that time still in Virginia. They
belonged to the same man as Jim did. He was anxious to get them; yet it
seemed impossible. One day in January Jim came to the captain's room
and asked for permission to be landed that evening on the Virginia
side, as he wished to bring off his family. 'Why, Jim,' said Captain
Magaw, 'how will you be able to pass the pickets?'
"'I want to try, captain. I think I can get 'em over safely,' meekly
replied Jim.
"'Well, you have my permission;' and Captain Magaw ordered one of the
gunboats to land Jim that night on whatever part of the shore Jim
designated, and return for him the following evening.
"True to his appointment, Jim was at the spot with his wife and family,
and were taken on board the gunboat, and brought over to Liverpool
Point, where Colonel Graham had given them a log house to live in, just
back of his own quarters. Jim ran the gantlet of the sentries unharmed,
never taking to the roads, but keeping in the woods, every foot-path of
which, and almost every tree, he knew from his boyhood up.
"Several weeks afterwards, another reconnoissance was planned, and
Jim sent on it. He returned in safety, and was highly complimented by
Generals Hooker, Sickles, and the entire flotilla.
"On Thursday, a week ago, it became necessary to obtain correct
information of the enemy's movements. Since then, batteries at
Shipping and Cockpit Points had been evacuated, and their troops moved
to Fredericksburg. Jim was the man picked out for the occasion by
General Sickles and Captain Magaw. The general came down to Colonel
Graham's quarters about nine in the evening, and sent for Jim. There
were present the general, Colonel Graham, and myself. Jim came into the
colonel's.
"'Jim,' said the general, 'I want you to go over to Virginia to-night
and find out what forces they have at Aquia Creek and Fredericksburg.
If you want any men to accompany you, pick them out.'
"'I know two men that would like to go,' Jim answered.
"'Well, get them and be back as soon as possible.'
"Away went Jim over to the contraband camp, and returning almost
immediately, brought into our presence two very intelligent looking men.
"'Are you all ready?' inquired the general.
"'All ready, sir,' the trio responded.
"'Well, here, Jim, you take my pistol,' said General Sickles,
unbuckling it from his belt, 'and if you are successful, I will give
you a hundred dollars.'
"Jim hoped he would be, and bidding us good by, started off for the
gunboat Satellite, Captain Foster, who landed them a short distance
below the Potomac Creek Batteries. They were to return early in the
morning, but were unable, from the great distance they went in the
interior. Long before daylight on Saturday morning the gunboat was
lying off the appointed place.
"As the day dawned, Captain Foster discovered a mounted picket guard
near the beach, and almost at the same instant saw Jim to the left of
them, in the woods, sighting his gun at the rebel cavalry. He ordered
the 'gig' to be manned and rowed to the shore. The rebels moved along
slowly, thinking to intercept the boat, when Foster gave them a shell,
which scattered them. Jim, with only one of his original companions,
and two fresh contrabands, came on board. Jim had _lost the other_. He
had been challenged by a picket when some distance in advance of Jim,
and the negro, instead of answering the summons, fired the contents of
Sickles's revolver at the picket. It was an unfortunate occurrence, for
at that time the entire picket guard rushed out of a small house near
the spot, and fired the contents of their muskets at Jim's companion,
killing him instantly. Jim and the other three hid themselves in a
hollow, near a fence, and after the pickets gave up pursuit, crept
through the woods to the shore. From the close proximity of the rebel
pickets, Jim could not display a light, which was the signal for Foster
to send a boat.
"Captain Foster, after hearing Jim's story of the shooting of his
companion, determined to avenge his death; so, steaming his vessel
close in to the shore, he sighted his guns for a barn, which the rebel
cavalry were hiding behind. He fired two shells: one went right through
the barn, killing four of the rebels and seven of their horses. Captain
Foster, seeing the effect of his shots, said to Jim, who stood by,
'Well, Jim, I've avenged the death of poor Cornelius' (the name of
Jim's lost companion).
"General Hooker has transmitted to the war department an account of
Jim's reconnoissance to Fredericksburg, and unites with the army and
navy stationed on the left wing of the Potomac, in the hope that the
government will present Jim with a fitting recompense for his gallant
services."
The gunboat soon after was ordered to Newbern, N. C., where James
Lawson was again to be the centre of attraction, but in a new
character. Anxious that his fellow-slaves (many of whom had shipped
in the same vessel) should excel as oarsmen, he was frequently out
practising with them, until a race was agreed upon, in which the blacks
were to pull against the whites. A correspondent of the "New York
Times" gives the following as the result:--