_Sunday, May 4._ They had had a "Shout," which I had heard distinctly
at three o'clock in the morning when I happened to wake up. They come
from all the plantations about, when these meetings take place for the
examination of new members, "prodigals and raw souls," as 'Siah said,
he being an elder and one of the deacons. They do not begin till about
ten o'clock Saturday night, when the examinations commence and the
other services, after which they keep up the shout till near daylight,
when they can see to go home. They admitted two this time, and, as
Uncle Sam remarked, "they say there is joy in Heaven over one sinner
that repenteth, so we rejoice over these souls that have come in."
A good many of the girls came up. They lay round the floor or squatted
about as I read and sung hymns to them; they were very much surprised
that I was not afraid to sleep alone in such a big room--said Miss
Juliana and Miss Lynch, Mass' Sam and Mass' Willie and their Mamma
used to sleep there. These people do not use any feminine adjective,
and their "hims" are very confusing sometimes. Harriet walked down to
the house behind me from school the other day for some sugar for a
sick baby, and I asked her the name of a bird that flew across our
path. "Him de Red bird." I thought the Red bird was all red, I said.
"Him de 'oman bird, marm, de marn bird all red, him de 'oman bird,
marm." The girls hung round till the faithful Flora appeared to "wash
me down" with the tide. Everything here depends on the tide; Susan
will not make butter when the tide is going out--it would take it all
day to come; and Flora would bathe the swelling when the tide was
going out, that it might carry it with it.
No letters when they came from church--four weeks from home, and never
a word.
In the afternoon I walked out in the yard a few steps, and it was
pleasant and touching to see how eagerly they watched me and passed
the word, "Miss Hayiot's comin'," with bow and curtsey, asking, "How
you find yourself to-day, Missus?" "Glad to see you on you feet,
marm."
_May 5._ I had the school come up to me on the piazza, a plan I shall
adopt for the future; it is cool and pleasant, saves me a walk which
will be warm by and by, and also from the fleas of the praise-house.
Louisa came up to give me two eggs, carefully wrapped in her apron.
This makes over a dozen I have had brought to me by my grateful
pupils.
_May 6._ In the afternoon Flora brought me a letter to read to her,
which proved to be from her husband, who is cook to some officers at
Bay Point. I am quite curious to see him--she is so fine and the
children are among the brightest here. Some soldier had written it for
him, and she was too pleased for anything at her first letter. It was
signed "York polite," which she told me was his title. I can't make
out whether they give each other surnames, and this is his, or whether
it is really a title, as she says, like "Philip the Fair."[30] She
told me what to say, and I wrote an answer for her.
_May 8._ A Baptist minister, who came out with us and has been
appointed the pastor of the island, came to lunch, went to the other
plantations with Mr. Philbrick, and has come back to spend the night.
He had been up to the praise-meeting by Uncle Peter's invitation. He
is very much puzzled what to do about the religious feeling of these
people and their habits and customs. I hope he will let them alone.
_May 9._ Went up to the praise-house for school in the morning; it is
so hard to get the little things together and then, like as not, they
have _half_ of them to be sent back to wash their faces and hands.
Asked the little children questions, such as "What are your eyes for?"
"For see'long." "Teeth?" "For chaw'long," etc.
_Sunday, May 11._ In the morning a number of the women had come up to
the house to see us. It seems they have always been in the habit of
coming into the yard on Sundays. Tira, Sim's wife, brought me three
little fish fried. The women said that all the people here were born
on the place, and no new hands had ever been bought, only one sold,
and his master allowed him that privilege because his wife belonged in
Charleston and he wanted to belong to the same man.
Flora said at lunch, as she brushed off the flies, that her husband
York was at work on the "main" (land), she did not know where, on a
house, with five of their carpenters, when the war broke out, or
rather, before the Fort here was "taken away," as they say, and that
then the white people had not food enough to feed the blacks, and she
is quite sure all her brothers and sisters who were carried off were
dead before this--starved. York was five weeks getting back here, and
arrived about Christmas.
Limus came for a reading-lesson, a man about fifty, driver on one of
Mr. Soule's plantations next this, who comes over almost every day for
me to teach him. He has a wife here and grown children, and another on
the other plantation, the rascal. He is very smart and learns
well.[31]
Mr. Philbrick had business with Mr. Pierce, and did not come home to
dinner. But he got into more business than he expected before he came
back, and I never saw a poor man show suffering more than he did when
he came in after ten o'clock and told us what he had received orders
to do the next day. While he was at Mr. Pierce's, writing, young
Hazard Stevens came over with despatches from General Hunter[32]
ordering all the agents to send him in the morning all the able-bodied
black men between the ages of 18 and 45, capable of bearing arms, on
the plantations. There was no explanation whatsoever of the reasons
for the demand, no hint of what was to be done with them, and nothing
but our confidence in General Hunter's friendliness to the race gave
us a shadow of comfort. But that would avail little to the negroes,
who would lose the confidence they are beginning to feel in white men.
Yet there was but one thing for us to do, and it was with heavy,
aching hearts that at midnight we separated. Companies of soldiers
were to be sent from Beaufort in the night and distributed to the
different plantations to prevent the negroes from taking to the woods,
so that we were not surprised at being roused about two hours after by
thundering knocks at the front door, echoing through all these empty
rooms with a ghostly sound. This proved to be Captain Stevens again,
alone, who had stopped to enquire the way to some of the other
plantations he had to notify, and say that the soldiers would be here
in about an hour. We had scarcely got to sleep again before we all
were roused by their arrival, and eight men, a Captain and Sergeant of
the New York 79th Highlanders, tramped through the house. Mr.
Philbrick gave them a pail of water and some hardtack, for they had
had a long walk, and then they stretched themselves on the floor of
one of our empty parlors as quietly as could be, considering
themselves in luxury. We slept as best we could the rest of the night,
and were up early to get the soldiers their breakfast and get ready
for the heart-sickening work. You never saw a more wretched set of
people than sat down to our breakfast-table. I _could not_ eat, for
about the first time in my life. Nothing had been said to any one. Joe
saw the soldiers on the floor when he opened the house door in the
morning, and wore a sober face when we came down, but no one asked any
questions, and we moved about, seeing to the breakfast, trying to
look as usual (and failing), getting out tobacco and crackers to give
the men on all these plantations when they went off. It had been
arranged that Mr. G. should see to these two plantations after Mr.
Philbrick had taken part of the soldiers to Coffin's Point. When he
had gone, Mr. G. began on Joe before he went to the field for the
other hands--telling him that General Hunter had work at Hilton Head
for a great many black men, that he did not know what for, but had
received orders in the night, and they must be obeyed and he must
march; he had to go at once to his house for his cap, say good-bye to
his wife and come to us to leave his will, for he said he never
expected to come back. We made as light of the whole thing as we
could, but did not dare to say anything (as we knew nothing) which
might make them feel afterwards as if we had deceived them, for the
thing they dread is being made to fight, and we knew that there had
been men about trying to recruit for Hunter's pet idea, a regiment of
blacks. _One_ man had been obtained on this island! We told Joe that
Mr. Philbrick knew nothing about it and was going with them himself,
and gave him a letter Mr. Philbrick had written asking for him to be
returned as a personal favor, as he was a house-servant. He did the
same thing with each of the drivers, for the good of the plantation
crops. The men were easily collected, ten here, and went off after all
with much less emotion than we expected; the soldiers behaved
admirably, delighted with the treatment they had received, and
cheering the negroes with tales of money and clothes, treating them
most kindly. Mr. Philbrick called all the hands together at Coffin's
and told them the simple fact, all that he himself knew, and named
the men who were to go, and the whole thing was accomplished with much
less _apparent_ suffering than we had supposed possible. Many of the
men were not averse to trying their hands at life in the world, for
many of their number have been and still are at work for officers,
etc., at Hilton Head and Bay Point, etc., with most desirable
pecuniary results, but they are afraid of being made to fight. Flora,
our heroine, said the women and boys could take care of all the cotton
and corn if the men did have to go--that they did not trust many white
people, but they did trust Mr. Philbrick.
The day passed in perfect quiet: the women finished their work in the
field, I kept school, Mr. G. came back from the Point and after lunch
took the driver's place, sharing out the week's allowance of corn to
the people, while H. and I sat under the shade of the trees, watching
or talking to the women. Wil'by, Joe's wife, was the only one who
seemed really sad and heart-sick--all the rest were as usual. Dr.
Wakefield[33] came and recounted his miseries while I set the
tea-table, when, just as everything was cleared away, Mr. G. came in,
with his face all aglow, to tell us that the drivers, Joe, and one or
two others had been sent back, and in a moment Joe appeared, radiant
with happiness. Mr. G. found he had not seen his wife, so went to her
cabin and told her the ladies wanted her, and it was pretty enough to
see her simple delight as she caught sight of Joe in the doorway. They
both laughed nervously, then shook hands shyly, and she curtseyed,
then hid her face against the wall, saying, "I so thankful I can't say
a word," and pretty soon, "Oh Joe, I couldn't eat the hominy for
dinner;" and Joe, "I couldn't eat the biscuits, either, that Mr.
Philbrick gave me, had to gi' um away--and then I was so glad, I
didn't feel hungry till I got home." We sent them off to eat hominy
and be happy, and sat down to write with lighter hearts ourselves.
Mr. Philbrick soon appeared. He found Mr. Pierce had been down to
Hilton Head and found what he had in part suspected to be the fact.
General Hunter found that the negroes misapprehended his wishes and
ideas, and he could not raise as many as he wanted, so had resorted to
these measures, meaning to give the men an idea of the life and drill,
and after a few weeks not retain any who wished to return to their
homes. All the superintendents were indignant at the way the thing was
done, but it will not turn out so badly as we feared, I trust. The
people are used to being made to do things, and are not in the least
rebellious, as any white man would have been. If we can have blacks to
garrison the forts and save our soldiers through the hot weather,
every one will be thankful. But I don't believe you could make
soldiers of these men at all--they are afraid, and they know it.
The cotton-agent left Coffin's Point to-day, so that we can go there
now whenever we can get the house ready. Then we shall have horses and
vehicles more at our disposal; you may hear of our carriage and span
yet, but I shall hate to leave here. This moon is lovely, and to-night
the flats are covered with water by the full moon tide, and the sea
looks as if it came to our doors.
The opinion just expressed concerning the impossibility of
making soldiers from Sea Island negroes was, very
naturally, the view that prevailed at this time among the
superintendents and teachers; in the extract that follows it
is stated with even more decision. As the letters progress,
the reader will see the development of a complete change of
mind on this point.