But the more I thought of the trap laid by Mrs. Price to make me
satisfied with my new home, by getting me a wife, the more I determined
never to marry any woman on earth until I should get my liberty. But
this secret I was compelled to keep to myself, which placed me in a
very critical position. I must keep upon good terms with Mrs. Price and
Eliza. I therefore promised Mrs. Price that I would marry Eliza; but
said that I was not then ready. And I had to keep upon good terms with
Eliza, for fear that Mrs. Price would find out that I did not intend to
get married.
I have here spoken of marriage, and it is very common among slaves
themselves to talk of it. And it is common for slaves to be married; or
at least to have the marriage ceremony performed. But there is no such
thing as slaves being lawfully married. There has never yet a case
occurred where a slave has been tried for bigamy. The man may have as
many women as he wishes and the women as many men; and the law takes
no cognizance of such acts among slaves. And in fact some masters, when
they have sold the husband from the wife, compel her to take another.
There lived opposite Captain Price’s, Doctor Farrar, well known in St.
Louis. He sold a man named Ben, to one of the traders. He also owned
Ben’s wife, and in a few days he compelled Sally (that was her name)
to marry Peter, another man belonging to him. I asked Sally “why she
married Peter so soon after Ben was sold.” She said, “because master
made her do it.”
Mr. John Calvert, who resided near our place, had a woman named Lavinia.
She was quite young, and a man to whom she was about to be married was
sold, and carried into the country near St. Charles, about twenty miles
from St. Louis. Mr. Calvert wanted her to get a husband; but she had
resolved not to marry any other man, and she refused. Mr. Calvert
whipped her in such a manner that it was thought she would die. Some of
the citizens had him arrested, but it was soon hushed up. And that was
the last of it. The woman did not die, but it would have been the same
if she had.
Captain Price purchased me in the month of October, and I remained with
him until December, when the family made a voyage to New Orleans, in a
boat owned by himself, and named the “Chester.” I served on board as
one of the stewards. On arriving at New Orleans, about the middle of the
month, the boat took in freight for Cincinnati; and it was decided that
the family should go up the river in her, and what was of more interest
to me, I was to accompany them.
The long looked for opportunity to make my escape from slavery was near
at hand.
Captain Price had some fears as to the propriety of taking me near a
free state, or a place where it was likely I could run away, with a
prospect of liberty. He asked me if I had ever been in a free state. “Oh
yes,” said I, “I have been in Ohio; my master carried me into that state
once, but I never liked a free state.”
It was soon decided that it would be safe to take me with them, and what
made it more safe, Eliza was on the boat with us, and Mrs. Price, to try
me, asked if I thought as much as ever of Eliza.
I told her that Eliza was very dear to me indeed, and that nothing but
death should part us. It was the same as if we were married. This had
the desired effect. The boat left New Orleans, and proceeded up the
river.
I had at different times obtained little sums of money, which I had
reserved for a “rainy day.” I procured some cotton cloth, and made me
a bag to carry provisions in. The trials of the past were all lost in
hopes for the future. The love of liberty, that had been burning in
my bosom for years, and had been well-nigh extinguished, was now
resuscitated. At night, when all around was peaceful, I would walk the
decks, meditating upon my happy prospects.
I should have stated, that, before leaving St. Louis, I went to an old
man named Frank, a slave, owned by a Mr. Sarpee. This old man was very
distinguished (not only among the slave population, but also the whites)
as a fortune-teller. He was about seventy years of age, something over
six feet high, and very slender. Indeed, he was so small around his
body, that it looked as though it was not strong enough to hold up his
head.
Uncle Frank was a very great favorite with the young ladies, who would
go to him in great numbers to get their fortunes told. And it was
generally believed that he could really penetrate into the mysteries of
futurity. Whether true or not, he had the _name_, and that is about half
of what one needs in this gullible age. I found Uncle Frank seated in
the chimney corner, about ten o’clock at night. As soon as I entered,
the old man left his seat. I watched his movement as well as I could by
the dim light of the fire. He soon lit a lamp, and coming up, looked me
full in the face, saying, “Well, my son, you have come to get uncle to
tell your fortune, have you?”
“Yes,” said I. But how the old man should know what I came for, I could
not tell. However, I paid the fee of twenty-five cents, and he commenced
by looking into a gourd, filled with water. Whether the old man was a
prophet, or the son of a prophet, I cannot say; but there is one thing
certain, many of his predictions were verified.
I am no believer in soothsaying; yet I am sometimes at a loss to know
how Uncle Frank could tell so accurately what would occur in the future.
Among the many things he told was one which was enough to pay me for
all the trouble of hunting him up. It was that I _should be free!_ He
further said, that in trying to get my liberty I would meet with many
severe trials. I thought to myself any fool could tell me that!
The first place in which we landed in a free state was Cairo, a small
village at the mouth of the Ohio river. We remained here but a few
hours, when we proceeded to Louisville. After unloading some of the
cargo, the boat started on her upward trip. The next day was the first
of January. I had looked forward to New Year’s day as the commencement
of a new era in the history of my life. I had decided upon leaving the
peculiar institution that day.
During the last night that I served in slavery I did not close my eyes
a single moment. When not thinking of the future, my mind dwelt on the
past. The love of a dear mother, a dear sister, and three dear brothers,
yet living, caused me to shed many tears. If I could only have been
assured of their being dead, I should have felt satisfied; but I
imagined I saw my dear mother in the cotton-field, followed by a
merciless taskmaster, and no one to speak a consoling word to her! I
beheld my dear sister in the hands of a slave-driver, and compelled to
submit to his cruelty! None but one placed in such a situation can for
a moment imagine the intense agony to which these reflections subjected
me.