(A.)
Every Slave who shall raise, or attempt to raise an Insurrection, in
this Province, or shall endeavour to delude or entice any Slave to
runaway and leave the Province, every such Slave and Slaves, and his and
their accomplices, aiders and abetters, shall, on conviction thereof, as
aforesaid, suffer death. _Provided always_, that it shall and may be
lawful, to and for the Justices who shall pronounce sentence against
such Slaves, by and with the advice and consent of the Freeholders as
aforesaid, if several Slaves shall receive sentence at one time, to
mitigate and alter the sentence of any Slave, other than such as shall
be convicted of homicide of a white person, who they shall think may
deserve mercy, and may inflict such corporal punishment (other than
death) on any such Slave, as they in discretion shall think fit, any
thing herein contained to the contrary thereof, in any wise
notwithstanding. _Provided_, that one or more of the said Slaves who
shall be convicted of the crimes or offence aforesaid, where several are
concerned, shall be executed for example, to deter others from offending
in the like kind. A. A. 1740. P. L. 167.
(B.)
A negro man testified as follows:[15]—I know Peter, he belongs to Mr.
James Poyas; in May last, Peter and myself met in Legare street, at the
corner of Lambol street, where the following conversation took place—He
asked me the news—I replied, none that I know of—He said, by George! we
can’t live so. I replied, how will we do? He said, we can do very well,
if you can find any one to assist us—will you join? I asked him, how do
you mean? He said, why! to break the yoke; I replied, I don’t know. He
asked me, suppose you were to hear, that the whites were going to kill
you, would you defend yourself? I replied, I’d try to escape. He asked,
have you lately seen _Denmark Vesey_, and has he spoken to you
particularly. I said no. Well then, said he, that’s all now: but call at
the shop to-morrow after knocking off work, and I will tell you more! We
then parted.—I met him the next day, according to appointment, when he
said to me, we intend to see, if we can’t do something for ourselves, we
can’t live so. I asked him, where he would get men? He said, we’ll find
them fast enough, we have got enough, we expect men from country and
town. But how, said I, will you manage it. Why, we will give them
notice, said he, and they will march down and camp round the city. But
what, said I, will they do for arms. He answered, they will find arms
enough, they all bring down their hoes, axes, &c. I said, that won’t do
to fight with here. He said, stop! let us get candidates from town with
arms, and we will then take the Guard-House and Arsenal in town, the
Arsenal on the Neck and the Upper Guard-House, and supply the country
people with arms. How, said I, will you approach those Arsenals, &c. for
they are guarded? Yes, said he, I know that, but what are these guards,
one man here, and one man there, we let a man pass before us. Well, said
I, but how will the black people from the country, and those from the
islands, know when you are to begin, or how will you get the town people
together. Why, said he, we will have prayer meetings at night, and there
notify them when to start, and when the clock strikes twelve, _all must
move_. But, said I, the whites in the back country, Virginia, &c.; when
they hear the news, will turn to, and kill you all, and besides, you may
be betrayed. Well said he, what of that, if one gets hanged, we will
rise at that minute. We then left his shop, and walked towards Broad
street, when he said, I want you to take notice of all the shops and
stores in town with arms in them, take _down their numbers, and give
them to me_. I said, I will see to it, and then we parted.
About the 1st of June, I saw in the public papers a statement that the
white people were going to build missionary houses for the blacks, which
I carried and showed to Peter, and said, see the good they are going to
do for us; when, he said,—What of that?—Have you not heard, that on the
4th of July, the whites are going to create a false alarm of fire, and
every _black_ that comes out will be _killed_, in order _to thin them_?
Do you think they would be so barbarous? (said I) Yes! (said he) I do!—I
fear _they have a knowledge of an army from San Domingo_, and they would
be _right to do it; to prevent us joining that army, if it should march
towards this land_! I was then very much alarmed. We then parted, and I
saw no more of him till the guards were very strict, (about a fortnight
ago.) At that time I saw Peter and Ned Bennett standing and talking
together, at the corner of Lambol and Legare-streets. They crossed over
and met me by Mrs. Myles’, and Ned Bennett said to me—did you hear what
those boys were taken up for the other day? I replied, No! but some say
it was for stealing. Ned asked me if I was sure I had never said any
thing to the whites about what Peter Poyas had spoken to me about? I
replied, No! Says Peter—You never did? No! I answered. Says Ned, to
me—How do you stand? At which I struck the tree box with my knuckles and
said, as firm as this box—I’ll never say one word against you. Ned then
smiled and nodded his head, and said—That will do!—when we all
separated. Last Tuesday or Wednesday week, Peter said to me—You see, my
lad, how the white people have got to windward of us? You won’t, said I,
be able to do any thing. O, yes! (he said) we will! By George we are
oblige to! He said, all down this way ought to meet and have a
collection to purchase powder. What, said I, is the use of powder—the
whites can fire three times to our once. He said, but _’twill be such a
dead time of the night, they won’t know what is the matter, and our
horse companies will go about the streets and prevent the whites from
assembling_. I asked him—where will you get horses? Why, said he, there
are many butcher boys with horses; and there are the livery stables,
where we have several candidates; and the waiting men, belonging to the
white people of the horse companies, will be told to take away their
master’s horses. He asked me if my master was not a horseman? I said,
Yes! Has he not got arms in his house? I answered, Yes! Can’t they be
got at? I said, Yes! Then (said he) it is good to have them. I asked
what was the plan? Why, said he, after we have taken the Arsenals and
Guard Houses, then we will set the town on fire, in different places,
and as the whites come out we will slay them. If we were to set fire to
the town first the man in the steeple would give the alarm too soon.—I
am the Captain, said he, to take the lower Guard-House and Arsenal. But,
I replied, when you are coming up, the Centinel will give the alarm. He
said, he would advance a little distance ahead, and if he could only get
a _grip at his throat, he was a gone man_, for his sword was very sharp;
he had sharpened it, and had made it so sharp, it had cut his finger,
which he showed me. As to the Arsenal on the Neck, he said, that it was
gone as sure as fate, _Ned Bennett, would manage that with the people
from the country, and the people between Hibbens’ Ferry and Santee would
land and take the Upper Guard-House_. I then said, then this thing seems
true. My man, said he, God has a hand in it, _we have been meeting for
four years, and are not yet betrayed_. I told him, I was afraid, after
all, of the white people from the back country and Virginia, &c. He said
that the blacks would collect so numerous from the country, we need not
fear the whites from the other parts, for when we have once got the city
we can keep them all out. He asked, if I had told my boys. I said no.
Then said he, you should do it, for Ned Bennett has his people pretty
well ranged. But, said he, take care and don’t mention it to those
waiting men who receive _presents of old coats, &c. from their masters,
or they’ll betray us_. I will speak to them. We then parted, and I have
not since conversed with him. He said the rising was to take place last
Sunday night, (16th June)—That _any of the coloured people who said a
word about this matter would be killed by the others. The little man,
who can’t be killed, shot or taken_ is named Jack, a Gullah Negro. Peter
said there was a French Company in town of three hundred men fully
armed—that he was to see Monday Gell, about expediting the rising. I
know that Mingo went often to Mr. Paul’s to see Edwin, but don’t know if
he spoke with William. Peter said he had a sword, and I ought to get
one. He said he had got a letter from the country; I think from St.
Thomas’, from a negro man who belonged to the captain of a militia
company, who said he could easily get the key of the house where the
company’s arms were put after muster, and take them all out, and help in
that way. This business originates altogether with the _African
Congregation_, in which Peter is a leader. When Bennett’s Ned asked
about those taken up, he alluded particularly to Mr. Paul’s William, and
asked me if I said any thing to him about it.
_The voluntary confession of ROLLA, to the Court, made after his trial,
but before sentence was passed on him._
I know Denmark Vesey, on one occasion, he asked me what news? I told
him, none. He replied, we are free, but the white people here won’t let
us be so; and the only way is, to raise up and fight the whites. I went
to his house one night, to learn where the meetings were held. I never
conversed on this subject with Batteau or Ned.—Vesey told me, he was the
leader in this plot. I never conversed either with Peter or Mingo. Vesey
induced me to join. When I went to Vesey’s house, there was a meeting
there, the room was full of people, but none of them white. That night,
at Vesey’s, we determined to have arms made, and each man to put in
twelve and a half cents towards that purpose. Though Vesey’s room was
full, I did not know one individual there. At this meeting, Vesey said,
we were to take the Guard-House and Magazines, to get arms; that we
ought to rise up against the whites to get our liberties. He was the
first to rise up and speak, and he read to us from the Bible, how the
_children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt from bondage_; he said,
that the rising would take place last Sunday night week, (the 16th June)
and that Peter Poyas was one.
(C.)
_Examination of SALLY, a negro woman belonging to Mr. Alexander Howard._
I know Jesse, and heard him speak several times about it; one day in
particular, he was anxious to see his brother, who has my mother for his
wife, and waited until he came, when they conversed together. Jesse
said, he had got a horse to go into the country, to bring down men to
fight the white people; that he was allowed to pass by two parties of
the patrol on the road, but that a third party had brought him back, and
that, if there were but five men like him, they would destroy the city.
This was on last Sunday week, (the 16th June,) he said, that before 3
o’clock, that night, all the white people would be killed. That, if any
person informed, or would not join in the fight, such person would be
killed or poisoned. He frequently came into the yard to see his brother,
and I threatened to inform, if he came there, and spoke in that way, to
get us all into trouble. We never had any quarrel.
_Examination of LOT, a negro man belonging to Mr. Forrester_.
I know Jesse; he met me last Sunday week (16th June) at the corner of
Boundary street, as I was coming into town; he said, he was going to get
a horse to go into the country. From what my master had told me the
Thursday before, I distrusted his errand, and gave him a caution. When,
as I was going down into town towards Mr. Hibbens’ ferry slip, and
conversing with him, he said, you shall see to night, when I come down,
what I am going up for, and, _if my own father does not assist, I will
cut off his head_. He said, he was going as far as Goose Creek bridge,
and would get a horse if it cost him nine dollars. The church bells were
then ringing, and at half past eleven o’clock, same day, I saw him at
Mr. Howard’s, and afterwards understood from Sally, that he had set off
for the country, and had been brought back by the Patrol.
(D.)
_Examination of FRANK, a negro man belonging to Mrs. Ferguson_.
I know Denmark Vesey, and have been to his house; I have heard him say,
that the negroe’s situation was so bad, he did not know how they could
endure it; and was astonished they did not rise and fight for
themselves, and he advised me to join, and rise. He said, he was going
about to see different people, and mentioned the names of Ned, Bennett
and Peter Poyas, as concerned with him; that he had spoken to Ned and
Peter on this subject, and that they were to go about and tell the
blacks, that they were free, and must rise and fight for themselves:
that they would take the Magazines and Guard Houses, and the City, and
be free; that he was going to send into the country to inform the people
there, too; he said, he wanted me to join them. I said, I could not
answer. He said, if I would not go into the country for him, he could
get others; he said, himself, Ned Bennett, Peter Poyas and Monday Gell,
were the principal men, and himself the head man.—He said, they were the
principal men to go about and inform the people, and fix them, &c.; that
one party would land on _South Bay_, one about Wappoo and about the
Farms; that the party which was to land on South Bay, was to take the
_Guard-House, and get arms, and then they would be able to go on_; that
the attack was to commence about 12 o’clock at night; that great numbers
would come from all about, and it must succeed, as so many were engaged
in it; that they would kill all the whites; that they would leave their
masters’ houses, and assemble near the Lines, march down and meet the
party which would land on South Bay; that he was going to send a man
into the country on a horse, to bring down the country people, and that
he would pay for the horse. He gave two dollars to Jesse, to get the
horse on Saturday week last, (15th June) about 1 o’clock in the day, and
myself and witness (No. 8,) also put in 25 cents a piece, and he told
Jesse, if he could not go, he must send some one else. I have seen Ned
Bennett at Vesey’s. I one night met at Vesey’s a great number of men,
and as they came in, they each handed him some money.—Vesey said, there
was a _little man, named Jack_, who could not be killed, and who would
furnish them with arms; he had a charm, and would lead them; that
Charles Drayton had promised to be engaged with them. Vesey said, the
negroes were living such an abominable life, they ought to rise. I said,
I was living well. He said, though I was, others was not, and that it
was such fools as I, that were in their way, and would not help them,
and that, after all things were well, he would mark me. He said, he did
not go with _Creighton to Africa, because he had not a will, he wanted
to stay and see what he could do for his fellow creatures_. I met Ned,
Monday, and others, at Denmark Vesey’s, where they were talking about
this business.
The first time I spoke with Monday Gell, it was one night at Denmark
Vesey’s house, where I heard Vesey tell Monday, that he must send some
one into the country to bring the people down. Monday said, he had sent
up Jack, and told him to tell the people to come down and join in the
fight against the whites; and also to ascertain and inform him how many
people he could get. A few days after, I met Vesey, Monday and Jack in
the streets, under Mr. Duncan’s trees, at night, where Jack stated, he
had been into the country, round by Goose Creek and Dorchester; that he
had spoken to 6,600 persons, who had agreed to join. Monday said to
Vesey, that it Jack had so many men, they had better wait no longer, but
begin the business at once, and others would join. The first time I saw
Monday at Vesey’s, he was going away early, when Vesey asked him to
stay, to which Monday replied, he expected that night a meeting at his
house, to fix upon and mature the plan, &c. and that he could stay no
longer. I afterwards conversed with Monday in his shop, when he asked
me, if I had heard that Bennett’s and Poyas’ people were taken up, that
it was a great pity. He said, he had joined in the business. I told him
to take care he was not taken up. Whenever I talked with Vesey, he
always spoke of Monday Gell as being his principal and active man in
this business.
(E.)
_Examination of Witness No. 10, a Negro Man._
Peter Poyas was the first man who spoke to me, and asked me to join. I
asked him what, the church? He said no, have you not heard, that the
blacks were joining, to try and take the country. I asked him, if he
thought he had men enough to do it? He said yes, a plenty of men, and
the Society will contribute money, with which a white man would purchase
guns and powder for them. He said he would call back, and I must
consider if I would join them. He called back, and asked me, if I was
willing now? Why Peter, said I, you have not got force enough. He said,
if I did not join, he would turn all my country people against me. Said
I, if so, I’ll join you, but you must not put my name down, when you
come out, if I find you strong enough, I’ll join you. Well, said he, if
you don’t join you’ll be killed. Peter and Harry Haig called on me
afterwards, I was not at home; but the next morning I met Harry, who
asked me for my name. I refused it. He said, I would be killed if I did
not join. I said, I would join when they came out, if they were stronger
than the whites. Harry called on me again, and asked me, if I was
willing that the thing would break out soon. I asked him, where they
would begin? He said, in Boundary street. At what hour? He said, at 12
o’clock at night, or early in the morning, as soon as the guard is
discharged. Jack Pritchard called on me, he is sometimes called Gullah
Jack, sometimes Couter Jack, he gave me some dry food, consisting of
parched corn and ground nuts, and said, eat that, and nothing else, on
the morning when it breaks out, and when you join us as we pass, put
into your mouth this crab claw, and you can’t be wounded, and, said he,
I give the same to the rest of my troops—if you drop the large crab claw
out of your mouth, then put in the small one. Said I, when do you break
out, and have you arms. He said, plenty, but they are over Boundary
street, we can’t get at them now, but as soon as the patrol was slack,
they could get them; this was previous to the 16th June, on which day,
he said, they were to break out. On that day he came to me, and said,
they could not break out that night, as the patrol was too strong; he
said, he would let me know when they were ready. That Sunday fortnight,
the 30th June, he came to me and said, I must lay by still, they would
not break out then, that he had been round to all his company and found
them cowards. I said, thank God, then! He said, give me back my corn and
cullah, (that is crab claw). I said, I would not, and upbraided him for
having deluded so many. He said, all his country born promised him to
join, because he was a Doctor, (that is a Conjurer). He said, the white
people was looking for him, and he was afraid of being taken, that two
men came to his master’s wharf, and asked him, if he knew Gullah Jack,
and that he told them, no. He said, his charms would not protect him
from the treachery of his own colour. He went away, and I have not seen
him since. Harry Haig has since seen me several times, and told me to
hold myself ready. I said, I’m ready when called on. He said, all the
draymen came to his master’s cooper yard, and said they were ready, but
he told them, he was only waiting for Gullah Jack. He said, he would
tell me when they were ready, that they were only waiting for the head
man, who was a white man; but he, although asked, would neither tell me
the white man’s name, nor where the powder and arms were; this was last
Tuesday, the very day the six negroes were hanged, about six o’clock, A.
M. this was the last time we spoke, though I have seen him since. I saw
Charles Drayton before the 16th, at Monday Gell’s, I was going to
market, and Charles called to me as I crossed the street; Joe, who has a
wife at Mr. Remoussin’s, asked me, if I did know that Monday was at the
head of the Ebo Company, who are going to fight the white people; Monday
is an Ebo. I asked Joe, if he was one of that company. He said yes, he
was. I asked him, what he could do, as he was an invalid.—He said, he
would take Remoussin’s sword and gun, and tell him to lay down in his
bed and be quiet. We parted. Previous to the 16th of June, Monday Gell
called me into his shop; I went in, and said to him, I heard he was
captain of his countrymen’s company, the Ebo’s. He said, he was a sort
of a one. I bid him good morning, when he said, when you want to hear
the news, come here. I never saw him afterwards.
I met Charles Drayton on the 1st of July in the streets, when he said,
now get ready, we must break out at once, for we will not let six lives
be taken. I asked him, where they would begin? He said, in Boundary
street, directly as the patrol and light horse turned in. I said, had
you not better wait till after the 4th of July. He said, no, because in
the mean time the people would be hanged. Charles said, they had force
enough, and we parted. I met him in Market, betwixt 8 and 9 o’clock, on
the 2d of July, and said to him, now the people are hanged, I suppose
you are sorry you joined in the business. He said yes, and we parted.
Peter Poyas told me also, that they had force enough, that some would
come from James’ and John’s islands, and some from Christ’s Church
Parish, where he generally went over to a meeting to have a talk, and
that he had some about and in town, the number of which he would show me
from the Society books, if I would only come to the Society. He said,
they were to fight the whites, and keep on fighting, till the English
came to help them. Harry told me the same thing. Jack being the head
man, I asked him about the plan, he told me the same thing; that the
English were to come here to help them, that the Americans could do
nothing against the English, and that the English would carry them off
to St. Domingo. Monday and Charles were very great together. John, Mr.
Horry’s coachman, came to me one day, and asked me what I thought? Every
one is ready, said John, to fight the whites, are you ready? He said, I
am ready. This took place sometime before the 16th June, and every day
he asked me the same questions.—About this time George Vanderhorst came
to me and said, they were going to take the country, and he had joined;
that he was ready whenever the blacks broke out. He requested me to let
him sleep at my wife’s house near Boundary street; I saw him almost
every day after the 16th June, and he always said, he was ready whenever
the troops were ready. On the 16th June, Jack requested me to let twelve
men sleep at my wife’s, as they were to break out that night, and he
wanted them to be near Boundary street. On being refused, he departed in
anger, and reproached me. George called on me yesterday morning, and
asked, if I knew that Charles Drayton was taken up, and said, he was
afraid Charles would name him, not because he was on his list, for he
had joined Jack’s company, but because Charles had met him at Gullah
Jack’s, when they were consulting on the subject; that, if he could near
that Charles had named him, he would run off. On Monday, 1st July,
Charles Drayton told me, that there would be an insurrection on the
morning of the 6th July, as soon as the Guard turned in; he said, he
commanded the country born company. Jack told me on the 1st July the
same thing, and in addition, that they were to rush in with their dirks,
guns and swords, &c. they had got, kill the City Guard, and take all the
arms in the arsenals; he also said, there were some arms in King street,
beyond Boundary street, in possession of a white man, which they
intended to take, (alluding to the arms of the Charleston Neck Company,
deposited at Wharton’s, in King street). Charles Drayton said, he had
prepared for himself a gun and a sword. John Horry came to me very
often, and once said, he had a sword, and that, as soon as it broke out,
he would go up stairs and kill his master and family. On the 17th of
June, on his carriage box, he expressed himself to me in the same manner
he had done previous to the 16th. The blacks would have risen on the
night of the 16th, had the Guards not been so strong; this I know from
Gullah Jack and Harry Haig, who said, that if the Guards were not too
strong, they would get the arms near the Lines, but if the Guards were
out, they could not get them to break out with.
(F.)
_Confession of_ HARRY HAIG.
Julius Forrest, and myself, always worked together. Gullah Jack calls
himself a negro doctor, he induced Julius and myself to join at last,
but at first we refused; before the 16th June, Jack appointed to meet us
at Bulkley’s Farm; when we got there, Jack was not there, but Peter
Poyas came; we broke up at day-light. Not quite a month before the 16th
June, Jack met me, and talked about war. I asked Jack, how he would do
for arms? Bye and bye, said Jack, we will have arms; he said, he would
have some arms made at the blacksmiths. Jack was going to give * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Until Jack was taken up
and condemned to death, I was just like I was bound up, and had not the
power to speak one word about it. Jack charmed Julius and myself at
last, and we then consented to join. Tom Russell, the blacksmith and
Jack are partners, (in conjuring) Jack learnt him to be a doctor. Tom
talked to Jack about the fighting, and agreed to join, and those two
brought Julius and myself to agree to it. Jack said, Tom was his second,
and “when you don’t see me, and see Tom, you see one.” Jack said, Tom
was making arms for the black people; Jack said, he would not be killed,
nor could a white man take him.
(H.)
_Confession of JESSE, the slave of Thomas Blackwood, Esqr.; furnished to
the Court by the Rev. Dr. D. HALL._
I was invited to Denmark Vesey’s house, and when I went, I found several
men met together, among whom was Ned Bennett, Peter Poyas, and others,
whom I did not know. Denmark opened the meeting by saying, he had an
important secret to communicate to us, which we must not disclose to any
one, and if we did, we should be put to instant death. He said, we were
deprived of our rights and privileges by the white people, and that our
church was shut up, so that we could not use it, and that it was high
time for us to seek for our rights, and that we were fully able to
conquer the whites, if we were only unanimous and courageous, as the St.
Domingo people were. He then proceeded to explain his plan, by saying,
that they intended to make the attack by setting the governor’s mills on
fire, and also some houses near the water, and as soon as the bells
began to ring for fire, that they should kill every man, as he came out
of his door, and that the servants in the yards should do it, and that
it should be done with axes and clubs, and afterwards they should murder
the women and children, for he said, God had so commanded it in the
Scriptures. At another meeting at Denmark’s, Ned Bennett and Peter
Poyas, and several others were present in conversation, some said, they
thought it was cruel to kill the ministers, and the women and children,
but Denmark Vesey said, he thought it was for our safety, not to spare
one white skin alive, for this was the plan they pursued in St. Domingo.
He then said to me, Jesse, I want you to go into the country, to enlist
as many of the country negroes as possible, to be in readiness to come
down to assist us. I told him, I had no horse, and no money to hire one;
he then took out two dollars, and gave them to me to hire a horse, and
told me to enlist as many as possible. I got the horse the next Sabbath,
and started, but the guard was so strict, I could not pass them without
being taken up; so I returned, and told Denmark, at which he expressed
his sorrow, and said, the business was urgent, for they wanted the
country people to be armed, that they might attack the Forts at the same
time, and also to take every ship and vessel in the harbor, and to put
every man to death, except the captains. For, said he, it will not be
safe to stay in Charleston, for as soon as they had got all the money
out of the banks, and the goods out of the stores on board, they
intended to sail for St. Domingo; for he had a promise, that they would
receive and protect them. This Jesse asserted to me, was the truth,
whilst the tears were running down his cheeks, and he appeared truly
penitent; and I have reason to hope, that he obtained pardon from God,
through the merits of Christ, and was prepared to meet his fate with
confidence, and that he was accepted of God. At 4 o’clock on the morning
of the execution, I visited all the prisoners condemned, and found Jesse
at prayers. He told me, his mind was placid and calm; he then assured
me, that what he had told me was the truth, and _that he was prepared to
meet his God_.
(K.)
_Confession of MONDAY GELL._
I come out as a man who knows he is about to die—some time after
Christmas Vesey passed my door, he called in and said to me, that he was
trying to gather the blacks to try and see if any thing could be done to
overcome the whites; he asked me to join; I asked him his plan and his
numbers; he said he had Peter Poyas, Ned Bennett, and Jack Purcell; he
asked me to join; I said no; he left me and I saw him not for some time.
About four or five weeks ago as I went up Wentworth street, Frank
Ferguson met me, and said he had four plantation’s of people who he was
to go for on Saturday, 15th June. How, said I, will you bring them down;
he said through the woods; he asked me if I was going towards Vesey’s to
ask Vesey to be at home that evening, and he would be there to tell him
his success. I asked Jack Purcell to carry this message, he said he
would; that same evening at my house I met Vesey’s mulatto boy, he told
me Vesey wished to see me, I went with him; when I went into Vesey’s I
met Ned Bennett, Peter Poyas, and Frank Ferguson, and Adam, and Gullah
Jack; they were consulting about the plan; Frank told Vesey on Saturday,
15th, he would go and bring down the people and lodge them near town in
the woods; the plan was to arm themselves by breaking open the stores
with arms. I then told Vesey I would join them, after sometime I told
them I had some business of my own and asked them to excuse me, I went
away, and only then was I ever there. One evening, Perault Strohecker,
and Bacchus Hammett brought to my shop a keg, and asked me to let it
stay there till they sent for it; I said yes, but did not know the
contents; the next evening Gullah Jack came and took away the keg, this
was before the 16th June; since I have been in prison I learnt that the
keg contained powder.
Pharo Thompson is concerned, and he told me, a day or two after Ned and
Peter were taken up, if he could get a fifty dollar bill, he would run
away; about two Sundays before I was brought here, he asked me, in
Archdale-Street, when shall we be like those white people in the church;
I said when it pleased God; Sunday before I was taken up, he met me as I
came out of Archdale Church, and took me into a stable in said street,
and told me he told his master, who had asked him, that he had nothing
to do in this affair; which was a lie. William Colcock came to my shop
once and said a brother told him that five hundred men were making up
for the same purpose. Frank said he was to send to HellHole Swamp to get
men.
Perault Strohecker is engaged; he used to go of a Sunday on horse back
up the road to a man he knows on the same errand. One Sunday he asked me
to go with him; I went and Smart Anderson; we went to a small house a
little way from the road after you turn into the ship yard road, on its
left hand; they too went into the stable with an old man that lived
there, I remained in the yard; they remained in the stable about half an
hour; as soon as they came out, I and Perault started to town to go to
church, and left Smart there; I was told by Denbow Martin, who has a
wife in Mr. Smith’s house, that Stephen Smith belonged to some of the
gangs.
Saby Gaillard is concerned; he met me on the Bay, before the 16th of
June and gave me a piece of paper from his pocket; this paper was about
the battle that Boyer had in St. Domingo; in a day or two he called on
me and asked if I had read it, and said if he had as many men he would
do the same too, as he could whip ten white men himself; he frequently
came to me to speak about this matter, and at last I had to insult him
out of the shop; he and Paris Ball was often together. A week before I
was taken up, Paris told me that my name was called.
Billy Palmer and Vesey were constantly together; there was once in my
shop a long talk between them about this same matter; I begged them to
stop it; Vesey told him to try to get as many as he could; he said he
would.
John Vincent told me that Edward Johnson, a free man, had said, as he
was a free man he would have nothing to do with slaves, but the night
they began he would join them.
I told Charles Drayton what uproar there was about this business, and
since we have been here we have talked together.
Albert Inglis came to me and asked if I knew any thing about it; I said
yes. He asked me if I had joined; I said yes; he said he was one also;
he said Adam, a free man wanted to see me, I went with him one night;
Adam asked me how many men had joined; I told him what Frank Ferguson
had said; he asked me if I believed it; I said yes; he said if he could
only find men behind him he would go before. Previous to the 16th,
Albert said to me quit the business; I told him I was too far into it,
so I must stick to it.
I never wrote to St. Domingo[16] or any where else on this subject, nor
kept a list or books, nor saw any such things, but heard that Paul’s
William had a list, nor did I hear any thing about arms being in
possession of the blacks. I don’t know that Tom Russel made pikes, nor
that Gullah Jack had any of them.
Lewis Remoussin called at my shop and asked me to call at his house, he
had something to tell me, but I did not go; Jack Glen told me he was
engaged.
I met Scipio Sims one Sunday, coming from the country, who said he had
been near the Savannah’s to Mr. Middleton’s place; I heard afterwards
that his errand was on this business.