On a sultry morning in August, nineteen hundred and two, an
ex-Confederate soldier, who had fought under Lee and Jackson, hobbled
across Independence Square, bearing heavily upon his cane, on his way to
the Mecklenburg county courthouse. From the opposite direction came a
young fellow, with ruddy complexion, beaming face and springy step, en
route to the railway station to take an early train for a neighboring
town. The two, unexpectedly, came together in front of the Central Hotel
and extended their right hands to each other.
“Why, father,” exclaimed the younger man, “what are you doing here this
time of day?
“Have you driven all the way from home this morning?”
“Yes, son, I left the farm about daylight, and just this moment arrived.
“Jim is in trouble again.”
“Another church row?”
“Yes; a camp meeting this time.”
“Well, father, I think if I were in your place I would let that negro go
to the roads. The ball and chain might improve him. He has given you no
end of trouble and cost you some money; let him take his medicine.”
“I don’t know about that, Harry; your mother and I have decided to stand
by him once more. He is a mighty good boy about the place and we have
implicit confidence in him.”
“Yes, but he is forever fighting and getting in court. Let him go!”
“Well, son, his daddy, Old John, was a good darkey, and your grandfather
would not like it if we were to let one of his old carriage driver’s boys
go to prison if we could help it.
“I know Jim is pretty bad about fighting negroes, but he is a good hand,
and we get on well with him.”
“How many negro meetings has he broken up since you hired him?”
“I don’t know exactly, but would say four or five. He has a sort of mania
for that. He is always polite to us and never complains when asked to
do extra work. We call on him to go errands at all hours of the day or
night, and he goes cheerfully. I do not see how we could get on without
him; he milks the cows if the cook is sick, cuts the stove-wood and
carries it in, churns if there is nobody else to do it, feeds and curries
the horses, helps your mother to make preserves, or pickles, or put up
the fruit, and drives the carriage to church on Sunday.
“Yet, Harry, if I had not known John and Mary, his parents, I might let
him go without putting up a fight for him, but his daddy or mammy would
have done anything for your mother, and your grandfather would turn over
in his grave if he could know that I had not done my duty toward Jim.
“I don’t know how serious this last affair is, but I will employ a lawyer
and fight it out.”
Harry Brown did not leave the city that day but remained at home to see
if he could be of service to his aged and decrepit father. He went to
the jail and had a talk with Jim, who had been his childhood playmate,
and learned his side of the case.
“Mr. Harry, you think de jedge will make it putty hard on me?” asked Jim,
as the young white man turned to leave.
“I can’t say, Jim, but he is a strict church man--a Scotch-Irish
Presbyterian--and it would be difficult to predict the result. If it is
possible to keep your fighting record out of court I think we can get
him to be merciful, but if some one lugs your past in, then, with this
Puritanical judge, you may take a tumble toward the chain-gang.”
“Orh, Mr. Harry, you don’t think no white jedge wud send a good nigger
lak me to de roads des fur breakin’ up a nigger camp meetin’, do you?”
“Things have changed, Jim. You can’t tell nowadays, since the people have
become so particular about drinking, gambling, and the like, what a judge
will do. I’m a little uneasy about you.”
“Well, Mr. Harry, tell Marse Henry to stan’ by me des one mo’ time, an’
den I’ll do better. Ef I gits out dis time I sho’ will ’have mysef.”
Jim Parks was the kind of negro that one finds about oldtime Southern
country homes: as black as the ace of spades, with a mouth full of pretty
white teeth, every one as sound as a silver dollar, and muscular and
active. There were but few things about the farm that he could not do
when he tried. Everybody, even the other negroes, liked him. With white
people he was mannerly, pleasant and obliging, always, and those who knew
him at the Brown home, as he went about his work, could not believe the
stories they heard of his midnight brawls and dark-house fights at negro
gatherings. Usually he was such a happy-go-lucky chap that his white
friends could not imagine him in the role of a bully.
But Jim Parks at home, among his white folks, and Jim Parks abroad, with
the people of his own race, were different persons--a Dr. Jekel and a Mr.
Hyde.
At noon, Saturday, the last day of the Mecklenburg court, Judge Shaler
presiding, Solicitor Bluelaw called the Zion Camp Meeting case, and put
Rev. Archie Degraffenreid LaFayette Small, colored, on the stand.
“Parson,” said the prosecuting attorney, “tell the court what took place
at the camp ground that Sunday.”
“Yes, sir; it wuz lak dis: I’d been in de pulpit about two minutes,
gettin’ ready to preach de eight o’clock sermon, when I seed a commotion
in de grounds, about two-hund’d yards away, an’ twuzn’t long ’fo’ I heard
a pistol crack, an’ dere wuz a scatteration of people.”
“Who used the weapon?”
“I heard ’em say it wuz dis here Jim Parks--dat boy over dere.”
“Don’t tell what you heard,” said Col. Calvin Tedder, attorney for the
defense, “but what you actually saw.”
“Yes, sir; well de moist dat I seed wuz folks runnin’--gittin’ away frum
dere.”
“Did you hear more than one pistol shot?” asked the solicitor.
“Yes, sir; some several shots. In fact, sir, dey come so fas’ dat I
couldn’t give out de hymn fur hearin’ ’em.”
“You were pretty badly frightened, were you not?”
“’Cose I wuz, sir, an’ I ain’t shame to say it. I felt my legs trimblin’,
an’ I couldn’t keep my eye on de book.
“Yes, sir, de public worship wuz already disturbed. Ef de shootin’ had
stopped dere de law wuz done broke.
“Yes, sir.”
“Is this defendant the man who created the disturbance in the yard?”
“Yes, sir; he’s de one, fur I knows him well. He’s de one dat tuck
Brother Jones’ watermillons.”
“How is that?” asked the court, interested.
“Yes, sir, please yo’ honor, it wuz lak dis: Brother Jones, uv de Sandy
Creek kermunity, focht a load uv watermillons an’ wuz sellin’ ’em, when
dis man Parks come out uv one uv de tents an’ pick out a big millon an’
’low: ‘I’ll des take dis one wid me.’
“‘Not till you give me thirty-five cents,’ says Brother Jones, dis lak
dat.
“‘Take dat,’ said dis boy, pitchin’ Brother Jones a nickel.
“Dat wuz de start uv it, an’ one word brought on another ’till Parks
jerked out his gun an’ fell to shootin’.”
“Who did he shoot at?”
“Brother Jones.”
“What did Jones do?”
“Run, sir. De last time I seed ’im wuz when he struck de woods ’bout half
mile away.”
“It’s generally time to run when this negro gets after you with a
revolver, ain’t it?” asked the solicitor.
“Yes, sir. He’s gut de reputation uv bein’ mighty handy wid his gun.”
“What followed? Tell the whole story.”
“Well, sir, befo’ Brother Jones wuz out uv sight good, dis Jim Parks come
to de arbor an’ saunter down de aisle.”
“Did you see him?”
“’Cose I did; I wuz makin’ out lak I wuz readin’ de hymn, but de truf wuz
I had my eye on dat nigger, ’cause I knowed ’im uv old.”
“Go ahead; tell what you saw.”
“Yes, sir. I know’d dat I couldn’t hold de ’tension uv de crowd arter he
’peared on de scene, but I wuz gwine to try to tame ’im. Brother Smith,
one uv my right-hand men, had done had some ’sperience wid de boy, an’ he
fainted over in de amen corner, fell off de bench an’ rolled under it.
When I seed dat, I wuz sorter confused, fur I wuz lookin’ fur Brother
Smith to he’p me out.
“Dis Jim, he come on down de aisle, grinnin’, until he gut ’bout half way
to de pulpit, an’ den he stop an’ take out his ’volver, a black lookin’
one, as fur as I kin reckerlec’, an’ look at me an’ say: ‘Big Nigger, we
ain’t gwine to have no eight o’clock service dis mornin’. Church is out.’”
“What did you say to that, Parson?”
“Not wantin’ to cross ’im, I ’low: ‘’Cose it is, ’cose it is--we ain’t
gwine to argify ’bout dat, Brother Parks.’”
“You called him Brother Parks?”
“Yes, sir, I wuz tryin’ to make up to ’im.”
“What did he do then?”
“He take aim at me an’ say: ‘Come on down, Big Nigger! Come on down! An’
don’t be so long ’bout it!’
“Seein’ dat he wuz meanin’ bizness I ’low: ‘Yes, Brother Parks, I’s
comin’,’ but ’fo’ I coul’ git it out he wuz pintin’ his gun at me.”
“Go on!” demanded the solicitor, in an excited tone of voice.
“I heard de pistol say ‘click, click.’ I don’t know what happened arter
dat fur I lef’ dere right den, goin’ th’ough de hole at de back uv de
pulpit. As I lef’ he wuz cockin’ de ’volver but when I heard de ’port I
wuz crossin’ Mr. Bob Bell’s paster fence several hund’d yards away.”
“Did he shoot directly at you?”
“I can’t say as to dat, but as I went over de fence I heard de ball
ajunin’ putty close to my year.”
“What became of the congregation?”
“Moist uv it went th’ough de woods des a little ahead uv me. Yes, sir. I
think some uv de younger ones staid an’ fout.”
“That will do, don’t tell what you think,” shouted Col. Tedder.
“Well, dat’s all I seed fur I never went back no mo’ ’till nex’ day, an’
de fightin’ crowd wuz gone.”
The essential features of Parson Small’s testimony were corroborated.
Several of the officers of the church gave their versions of the affair.
Everybody seemed to be against Jim.
Col. Tedder was afraid to put his client on the stand lest his court
record be produced. He rested his case after making a short rambling
speech. After remaining out three minutes the jury came in and rendered a
verdict of guilty.
Col. Tedder spoke eloquently for mercy for his negro, saying that he was
a good darkey, except now and then when he drank a little too much.
“Stand up here, Jim Parks,” said the judge, when Col. Tedder sat down.
“What do you mean by disturbing public worship?
“Why do you persist in breaking up camp meetings?
“Don’t you know that it is wrong?”
“Yes, sir, Jedge, an’ I ain’t gwine to do it no mo’. Ef you’ll des let me
off dis time, so dat I kin go home wid Marse Henry, I’ll be a good nigger
de res’ uv my life.
“No, sir, Marse Jedge, you needn’t worry ’bout dis nigger no mo’, ’cause
he ain’t gwine to come back here ef he live a hund’d years.”
“That is very fine talk but you don’t mean it,” declared the court.
“Nothing short of the chain-gang will cure you. I will sentence you--”
“Hold on, boss, ain’t you gwine to let Marse Henry say a word fur de ole
nigger?”
“He’s already said that you were all right except about fighting negroes.
The court must protect all classes of citizens. I will give you nine
months.”
“Amen!” whispered Parson Small.
’Squire Brown dropped his head to keep from meeting Jim’s tearful eyes,
as the boy marched out to the jail, handcuffed to two other culprits.
“That was about as I anticipated,” said Harry to his father, as they left
the courthouse. “Jim’s reputation hurt him with the judge. If you had
been in Judge Shaler’s place you would have done the same thing.”
“Yes, I think you are right, but I don’t like to see the boy go that
way. It would cost close to seventy dollars to get him out; he owes me
something now; I have not the money to spare, and cannot afford to pay
him more than ten dollars a month if I have him.
“He will have to go this time.”
This was the sorrowful admission of ’Squire Brown.
“I think you are right; let him try the road awhile,” added the less
sentimental son.
“Now, good-bye; if I run upon a respectable-looking negro that I think
would suit you and mother, I will send him to you.”
’Squire Brown collected his packages and set out for home, a long,
lonesome ride through the country, over seventeen miles of macadam road,
that hot, dusty night. He needed Jim, and did not like to see him go to
prison, but could not prevent it. The old place would not seem the same
without the little black negro, with his merry laugh and shining face.
“I don’t understand why the little rascal cannot behave,” said the
’Squire to himself, as his horse jogged along.
That evening, when he drove up to the lot gate, Mrs. Brown, who had been
looking for him for hours, called out in a strident voice: “Well, did you
bring Jim?”
“No, I am sorry to say, he went to jail in spite of all I could do; the
judge was prejudiced against him. He will have to serve nine months on
the chain-gang.”
“That is too bad,” said Mrs. Brown. “Jim is a good darkey.”
“Yes,” put in the ’Squire, “but he will break up camp meetings.
“I did all I could, employed a lawyer, spoke to the solicitor, and swore
a half-lie about Jim’s character.”
Bright and early Monday, ’Squire Brown and his son, Harry, met on the
Square in Charlotte, just as they had met two mornings before.
“I am surprised, Dad, to see you here again?” said the boy, frowning.
“Why, your mother and I, after thinking the matter over yesterday,
decided to take Jim out; it will cost $65, but I am going to do it. I
have borrowed the money, and will take the negro home with me.”
“You are a good one, father--you and mother--taking Jim out of jail, but
there is something about that sort of thing that I like,” said the son,
smiling. “Race problem? Negro haters? Why ask who is the negro’s friends
when incidents like this occur every day?”
Harry, who had been traveling in the East and West for four or five
years, did not feel about the negro as he once did. Being in constant
touch with the old cornfield darkey ’Squire Brown had a different
viewpoint. The kindly feeling that the younger man once had was passing
away.
Late that afternoon, in a cloud of summer dust, ’Squire Brown and Jim
Parks, his negro, drove out South Tryon street toward Pineville, and in
passing in front of _The Observer_ building Jim caught sight of Harry,
turned in the buggy and shouted back: “Good-bye, Mr. Harry, me an’ Marse
Henry’s gwine home to see your Maw. Be a good boy, an’ don’t let de jedge
git you. ‘Have yo’se’f, an’ stay out uv cote, but ef you do git in, by
accident, des lak I done, don’t have Col. Tedder to ’fend you, onless you
spects to go right on to jail.”
“No wonder the old folks like the black scamp,” said Harry, laughing to
himself. “He’s an interesting negro.”
There was great rejoicing on the Brown place that night when the ’Squire
and Jim arrived. Ella, Jim’s wife, was beside herself, and ’Squire
and Mrs. Brown were almost as happy. Everybody, white and black, was
delighted.
The following December, after the cotton, the corn, the potatoes, and
the fruit had been gathered, Harry visited his parents at the old place.
In driving down the lane he observed that the little log cabin, formerly
occupied by Jim and Ella, was empty, and when the black worthy failed to
show up to take the horse, as he had done many times before, he asked of
his father what had become of the negro.
“He’s gone to South Carolina,” said the ’Squire.
“Left?”
“Yes.”
“What did he leave for?”
“Why, he got in a little trouble out at Jones’ Chapel, where the colored
people were having some kind of a church festival, and the officers were
after him.”
“He jumped the game, and left you in the lurch?”
“No; I told him to run so that they could not serve a warrant on him.”
“And you a justice of the peace, too?”
“Yes; I wasn’t elected to try my own negroes.”
“How much does Jim owe you?”
“I don’t know, exactly.”
“A pretty good sum, I guess?”
“That sixty-five and a little more for rations.”
“Will you ever get it?”
“Oh, yes, if Jim is ever able he will pay it.”