FORD'S EMBARRASSMENTS--THE SALE TO TIBEATS--THE CHATTEL
MORTGAGE--MISTRESS FORD'S PLANTATION ON BAYOU BOEUF--DESCRIPTION
OF THE LATTER--FORD'S BROTHER-IN-LAW, PETER TANNER--MEETING
WITH ELIZA--SHE STILL MOURNS FOR HER CHILDREN--FORD'S OVERSEER,
CHAPIN--TIBEAT'S ABUSE--THE KEG OF NAILS--THE FIRST FIGHT WITH
TIBEATS--HIS DISCOMFITURE AND CASTIGATION--THE ATTEMPT TO HANG
ME--CHAPIN'S INTERFERENCE AND SPEECH--UNHAPPY REFLECTIONS--ABRUPT
DEPARTURE OF TIBEATS, COOK AND RAMSAY--LAWSON AND THE BROWN
MULE--MESSAGE TO THE PINE WOODS.
William Ford unfortunately became embarrassed in his pecuniary
affairs. A heavy judgment was rendered against him in consequence of
his having become security for his brother, Franklin Ford, residing
on Red River, above Alexandria, and who had failed to meet his
liabilities. He was also indebted to John M. Tibeats to a considerable
amount in consideration of his services in building the mills on
Indian Creek, and also a weaving-house, corn-mill and other erections
on the plantation at Bayou Boeuf, not yet completed. It was therefore
necessary, in order to meet these demands, to dispose of eighteen
slaves, myself among the number. Seventeen of them, including Sam and
Harry, were purchased by Peter Compton, a planter also residing on Red
River.
I was sold to Tibeats, in consequence, undoubtedly, of my slight skill
as a carpenter. This was in the winter of 1842. The deed of myself
from Freeman to Ford, as I ascertained from the public records in
New-Orleans on my return, was dated June 23d, 1841. At the time of my
sale to Tibeats, the price agreed to be given for me being more than
the debt, Ford took a chattel mortgage of four hundred dollars. I am
indebted for my life, as will hereafter be seen, to that mortgage.
I bade farewell to my good friends at the opening, and departed with
my new master Tibeats. We went down to the plantation on Bayou Boeuf,
distant twenty-seven miles from the Pine Woods, to complete the
unfinished contract. Bayou Boeuf is a sluggish, winding stream--one
of those stagnant bodies of water common in that region, setting back
from Red River. It stretches from a point not far from Alexandria, in
a south-easterly direction, and following its tortuous course, is more
than fifty miles in length. Large cotton and sugar plantations line
each shore, extending back to the borders of interminable swamps. It
is alive with alligators, rendering it unsafe for swine, or unthinking
slave children to stroll along its banks. Upon a bend in this bayou, a
short distance from Cheneyville, was situated the plantation of Madam
Ford--her brother, Peter Tanner, a great landholder, living on the
opposite side.
On my arrival at Bayou Boeuf, I had the pleasure of meeting Eliza,
whom I had not seen for several months. She had not pleased Mrs.
Ford, being more occupied in brooding over her sorrows than in
attending to her business, and had, in consequence, been sent down
to work in the field on the plantation. She had grown feeble and
emaciated, and was still mourning for her children. She asked me if
I had forgotten them, and a great many times inquired if I still
remembered how handsome little Emily was--how much Randall loved
her--and wondered if they were living still, and where the darlings
could then be. She had sunk beneath the weight of an excessive grief.
Her drooping form and hollow cheeks too plainly indicated that she had
well nigh reached the end of her weary road.
Ford's overseer on this plantation, and who had the exclusive
charge of it, was a Mr. Chapin, a kindly-disposed man, and a native
of Pennsylvania. In common with others, he held Tibeats in light
estimation, which fact, in connection with the four hundred dollar
mortgage, was fortunate for me.
I was now compelled to labor very hard. From earliest dawn until late
at night, I was not allowed to be a moment idle. Notwithstanding
which, Tibeats was never satisfied. He was continually cursing and
complaining. He never spoke to me a kind word. I was his faithful
slave, and earned him large wages every day, and yet I went to my
cabin nightly, loaded with abuse and stinging epithets.
We had completed the corn mill, the kitchen, and so forth, and were
at work upon the weaving-house, when I was guilty of an act, in that
State punishable with death. It was my first fight with Tibeats. The
weaving-house we were erecting stood in the orchard a few rods from
the residence of Chapin, or the "great house," as it was called. One
night, having worked until it was too dark to see, I was ordered by
Tibeats to rise very early in the morning, procure a keg of nails
from Chapin, and commence putting on the clapboards. I retired to the
cabin extremely tired, and having cooked a supper of bacon and corn
cake, and conversed a while with Eliza, who occupied the same cabin,
as also did Lawson and his wife Mary, and a slave named Bristol, laid
down upon the ground floor, little dreaming of the sufferings that
awaited me on the morrow. Before daylight I was on the piazza of the
"great house," awaiting the appearance of overseer Chapin. To have
aroused him from his slumbers and stated my errand, would have been
an unpardonable boldness. At length he came out. Taking off my hat,
I informed him Master Tibeats had directed me to call upon him for
a keg of nails. Going into the store-room, he rolled it out, at the
same time saying, if Tibeats preferred a different size, he would
endeavor to furnish them, but that I might use those until further
directed. Then mounting his horse, which stood saddled and bridled
at the door, he rode away into the field, whither the slaves had
preceded him, while I took the keg on my shoulder, and proceeding to
the weaving-house, broke in the head, and commenced nailing on the
clapboards.
As the day began to open, Tibeats came out of the house to where I
was, hard at work. He seemed to be that morning even more morose and
disagreeable than usual. He was my master, entitled by law to my flesh
and blood, and to exercise over me such tyrannical control as his mean
nature prompted; but there was no law that could prevent my looking
upon him with intense contempt. I despised both his disposition and
his intellect. I had just come round to the keg for a further supply
of nails, as he reached the weaving-house.
"I thought I told you to commence putting on weather-boards this
morning," he remarked.
"Yes, master, and I am about it," I replied.
"Where?" he demanded.
"On the other side," was my answer.
He walked round to the other side, examined my work for a while,
muttering to himself in a fault-finding tone.
"Didn't I tell you last night to get a keg of nails of Chapin?" he
broke forth again.
"Yes, master, and so I did; and overseer said he would get another
size for you, if you wanted them, when he came back from the field."
Tibeats walked to the keg, looked a moment at the contents, then
kicked it violently. Coming towards me in a great passion, he
exclaimed,
"G--d d--n you! I thought you _knowed_ something."
I made answer: "I tried to do as you told me, master. I didn't mean
anything wrong. Overseer said--" But he interrupted me with such a
flood of curses that I was unable to finish the sentence. At length he
ran towards the house, and going to the piazza, took down one of the
overseer's whips. The whip had a short wooden stock, braided over with
leather, and was loaded at the butt. The lash was three feet long, or
thereabouts, and made of raw-hide strands.
At first I was somewhat frightened, and my impulse was to run. There
was no one about except Rachel, the cook, and Chapin's wife, and
neither of them were to be seen. The rest were in the field. I knew he
intended to whip me, and it was the first time any one had attempted
it since my arrival at Avoyelles. I felt, moreover, that I had been
faithful--that I was guilty of no wrong whatever, and deserved
commendation rather than punishment. My fear changed to anger, and
before he reached me I had made up my mind fully not to be whipped,
let the result be life or death.
Winding the lash around his hand, and taking hold of the small end of
the stock, he walked up to me, and with a malignant look, ordered me
to strip.
"Master Tibeats" said I, looking him boldly in the face, "I will
_not_." I was about to say something further in justification, but
with concentrated vengeance, he sprang upon me, seizing me by the
throat with one hand, raising the whip with the other, in the act of
striking. Before the blow descended, however, I had caught him by
the collar of the coat, and drawn him closely to me. Reaching down,
I seized him by the ankle, and pushing him back with the other hand,
he fell over on the ground. Putting one arm around his leg, and
holding it to my breast, so that his head and shoulders only touched
the ground, I placed my foot upon his neck. He was completely in my
power. My blood was up. It seemed to course through my veins like
fire. In the frenzy of my madness I snatched the whip from his hand.
He struggled with all his power; swore that I should not live to see
another day; and that he would tear out my heart. But his struggles
and his threats were alike in vain. I cannot tell how many times I
struck him. Blow after blow fell fast and heavy upon his wriggling
form. At length he screamed--cried murder--and at last the blasphemous
tyrant called on God for mercy. But he who had never shown mercy did
not receive it. The stiff stock of the whip warped round his cringing
body until my right arm ached.
Until this time I had been too busy to look about me. Desisting for a
moment, I saw Mrs. Chapin looking from the window, and Rachel standing
in the kitchen door. Their attitudes expressed the utmost excitement
and alarm. His screams had been heard in the field. Chapin was coming
as fast as he could ride. I struck him a blow or two more, then pushed
him from me with such a well-directed kick that he went rolling over
on the ground.
Rising to his feet, and brushing the dirt from his hair, he stood
looking at me, pale with rage. We gazed at each other in silence. Not
a word was uttered until Chapin galloped up to us.
"What is the matter?" he cried out.
"Master Tibeats wants to whip me for using the nails you gave me," I
replied.
"What is the matter with the nails?" he inquired, turning to Tibeats.
Tibeats answered to the effect that they were too large, paying little
heed, however, to Chapin's question, but still keeping his snakish
eyes fastened maliciously on me.
"I am overseer here," Chapin began. "I told Platt to take them and
use them, and if they were not of the proper size I would get others
on returning from the field. It is not his fault. Besides, I shall
furnish such nails as I please. I hope you will understand _that_, Mr.
Tibeats."
Tibeats made no reply, but, grinding his teeth and shaking his fist,
swore he would have satisfaction, and that it was not half over yet.
Thereupon he walked away, followed by the overseer, and entered the
house, the latter talking to him all the while in a suppressed tone,
and with earnest gestures.
I remained where I was, doubting whether it was better to fly or abide
the result, whatever it might be. Presently Tibeats came out of the
house, and, saddling his horse, the only property he possessed besides
myself, departed on the road to Cheneyville.
When he was gone, Chapin came out, visibly excited, telling me not to
stir, not to attempt to leave the plantation on any account whatever.
He then went to the kitchen, and calling Rachel out, conversed with
her some time. Coming back, he again charged me with great earnestness
not to run, saying my master was a rascal; that he had left on no
good errand, and that there might be trouble before night. But at all
events, he insisted upon it, I must not stir.
As I stood there, feelings of unutterable agony overwhelmed me. I was
conscious that I had subjected myself to unimaginable punishment. The
reaction that followed my extreme ebullition of anger produced the
most painful sensations of regret. An unfriended, helpless slave--what
could I _do_, what could I _say_, to justify, in the remotest manner,
the heinous act I had committed, of resenting a _white_ man's
contumely and abuse. I tried to pray--I tried to beseech my Heavenly
Father to sustain me in my sore extremity, but emotion choked my
utterance, and I could only bow my head upon my hands and weep. For
at least an hour I remained in this situation, finding relief only
in tears, when, looking up, I beheld Tibeats, accompanied by two
horsemen, coming down the bayou. They rode into the yard, jumped from
their horses, and approached me with large whips, one of them also
carrying a coil of rope.
"Cross your hands," commanded Tibeats, with the addition of such a
shuddering expression of blasphemy as is not decorous to repeat.
"You need not bind me, Master Tibeats, I am ready to go with you
anywhere," said I.
One of his companions then stepped forward, swearing if I made the
least resistance he would break my head--he would tear me limb from
limb--he would cut my black throat--and giving wide scope to other
similar expressions. Perceiving any importunity altogether vain, I
crossed my hands, submitting humbly to whatever disposition they might
please to make of me. Thereupon Tibeats tied my wrists, drawing the
rope around them with his utmost strength. Then he bound my ankles
in the same manner. In the meantime the other two had slipped a cord
within my elbows, running it across my back, and tying it firmly. It
was utterly impossible to move hand or foot. With a remaining piece of
rope Tibeats made an awkward noose, and placed it about my neck.
"Now, then," inquired one of Tibeats' companions, "where shall we hang
the nigger?"
One proposed such a limb, extending from the body of a peach tree,
near the spot where we were standing. His comrade objected to it,
alleging it would break, and proposed another. Finally they fixed upon
the latter.
During this conversation, and all the time they were binding me, I
uttered not a word. Overseer Chapin, during the progress of the scene,
was walking hastily back and forth on the piazza. Rachel was crying
by the kitchen door, and Mrs. Chapin was still looking from the
window. Hope died within my heart. Surely my time had come. I should
never behold the light of another day--never behold the faces of my
children--the sweet anticipation I had cherished with such fondness. I
should that hour struggle through the fearful agonies of death! None
would mourn for me--none revenge me. Soon my form would be mouldering
in that distant soil, or, perhaps, be cast to the slimy reptiles
that filled the stagnant waters of the bayou! Tears flowed down my
cheeks, but they only afforded a subject of insulting comment for my
executioners.
[Illustration: CHAPIN RESCUES SOLOMON FROM HANGING.]
At length, as they were dragging me towards the tree, Chapin, who had
momentarily disappeared from the piazza, came out of the house and
walked towards us. He had a pistol in each hand, and as near as I can
now recall to mind, spoke in a firm, determined manner, as follows:
"Gentlemen, I have a few words to say. You had better listen to them.
Whoever moves that slave another foot from where he stands is a dead
man. In the first place, he does not deserve this treatment. It is
a shame to murder him in this manner. I never knew a more faithful
boy than Platt. You, Tibeats, are in the fault yourself. You are
pretty much of a scoundrel, and I know it, and you richly deserve the
flogging you have received. In the next place, I have been overseer
on this plantation seven years, and, in the absence of William Ford,
am master here. My duty is to protect his interests, and that duty I
shall perform. You are not responsible--you are a worthless fellow.
Ford holds a mortgage on Platt of four hundred dollars. If you hang
him he loses his debt. Until that is canceled you have no right to
take his life. You have no right to take it any way. There is a law
for the slave as well as for the white man. You are no better than a
murderer.
"As for you," addressing Cook and Ramsay, a couple of overseers from
neighboring plantations, "as for you--begone! If you have any regard
for your own safety, I say, begone."
Cook and Ramsay, without a further word, mounted their horses and rode
away. Tibeats, in a few minutes, evidently in fear, and overawed by
the decided tone of Chapin, sneaked off like a coward, as he was, and
mounting his horse, followed his companions.
I remained standing where I was, still bound, with the rope around my
neck. As soon as they were gone, Chapin called Rachel, ordering her to
run to the field, and tell Lawson to hurry to the house without delay,
and bring the brown mule with him, an animal much prized for its
unusual fleetness. Presently the boy appeared.
"Lawson," said Chapin, "you must go to the Pine Woods. Tell your
master Ford to come here at once--that he must not delay a single
moment. Tell him they are trying to murder Platt. Now hurry, boy. Be
at the Pine Woods by noon if you kill the mule."
Chapin stepped into the house and wrote a pass. When he returned,
Lawson was at the door, mounted on his mule. Receiving the pass, he
plied the whip right smartly to the beast, dashed out of the yard, and
turning up the bayou on a hard gallop, in less time than it has taken
me to describe the scene, was out of sight.