_April 18._ At night came Mr. Soule from Beaufort with an account of
the investigations going on there concerning the tax-commissioners
before Judge Smith, an agent sent by the President for the purpose.
Mr. Soule found that he had also been commissioned to look into the
affairs of our "concern," as the Fripp Point men had sent a petition
to the President to be relieved from Mr. Philbrick's oppression! Mr.
Soule and Mr. Tomlinson both saw Judge Smith, and had some talk with
him at the meeting, which was a public one, and he was invited to come
down here, see Mr. Soule's books and investigate all the charges
thoroughly. Whoever drew up the petition (of course it had been done
by a white man, but who we could not tell, for his name as witness had
been omitted in the copy given Judge Smith) had so overshot the mark
that it was palpably absurd to all who knew the facts, and happily Mr.
Soule had found Judge Smith to be a fair-minded, able, clear-sighted
person, who could not have dust thrown in his eyes.
_April 21._ Sat waiting the arrival of Judge Smith, when about one
o'clock Robert called to me that a carriage was coming. To my
amazement, instead of the Judge alone or with only a friend, a great
vehicle with four white horses and "sofas inside,"[157] as Rose said,
dashed up to the front door with four gentlemen, Mr. Tomlinson and Mr.
G. being on horseback besides. Of course I had to fly round about my
dinner and get up tables large enough to seat thirteen people. By
three dinner was ready and my guests at table--a very pleasant
company: Judge Smith, a round, smooth-faced _gentleman_ between fifty
and sixty, active and wide-awake; Judge Cooley, the new
tax-commissioner, a Westerner and also very pleasant. Judge Smith took
Mr. Soule's statement before dinner, and afterwards Mr. G.'s, all
simply facts and with no waste of words. C. was not questioned at all.
Then Mr. G. went over to the Point for the men there, for, though the
Judge was satisfied that Mr. Philbrick was not a scoundrel and all of
us aiders and abetters of his iniquities, we knew the men there would
never be satisfied with the statement from any of us or Mr. Tomlinson,
who had been talking to them for two hours that morning. Poor things,
they are much more sinned against than sinning. They came flocking
over so closely upon Mr. G.'s heels as to get here nearly as soon as
he did, and the session of the Court began by the examination of John
Major before tea, the others crowding about the door and filling the
piazza, quiet and orderly, but eager listeners. Not a single one of
our people came up. John Major is a discontented, conceited fellow,
who has never worked for Mr. Philbrick, though his wife and children
have, and he headed the petition. It was splendid to see how quickly
the Judge saw through him, when he has been only a week in the
Department, and could hardly understand what he said; but he showed
the man pretty plainly what he thought of him, telling him, when he
said the Government could not find him out [know him] that it _had_
found him out, that it had his name in Washington, and that if he
thought Secesh times were so much better, the Government loved him so
well it would let him go back to his old master! After tea came 'Siah
and Pompey, two very different men,--intelligent, hard-working, and
honest, the former particularly truthful and reliable, men whom we all
respect,--and it was a fine sight to see these men, only two years out
of slavery, respectfully but decidedly standing up for what they
thought their rights in a room full of white people. 'Siah only said
that he thought he ought to have fifty cents for what he is now paid
forty for[158] (about four hours work), but that he had given his word
to Mr. Philbrick for this year and he would stand by it. He says he
never signed the paper, or saw it, but that he answered the question
the two officers asked him and told his name. Pompey afterwards
stated that the two officers asked who owned the adjoining plantations
and that one,--and that on being told that Mr. Philbrick had bought
them all, said: "Then we need not go any further"--which looks like
malice aforethought. The paper was, apparently, written at Hilton
Head and there signed with the men's marks--if so, it is a
forgery. Pompey's great difficulty seemed to have arisen from a
misunderstanding of statements made by Mr. Philbrick, in which he
considered that Mr. Philbrick took back his word, and so he had lost
confidence in him and was ready to appeal to any one who promised to
see him righted and relieved from his "confusion." He says, and all
the men say so too, that Mr. Philbrick promised when he bought the
land to sell it to them when the war was over for what he gave for it,
and that when he was here last he told them he should ask them ten
dollars an acre. This they all stand to, and cannot be convinced they
have made a mistake, but have lost their faith because he has broken
his word,--and outsiders have fanned the flame, telling them that if
they did not work for Mr. Philbrick for what he chose to pay
them,--and that he was paying them nothing,--he would turn them out of
their homes, and more to the same effect. It was a most interesting
occasion, and it was pleasant to feel that there was a man of so much
sense in the Department. He tried to pacify the men, and then
privately told Mr. Soule that he should advise Mr. Philbrick to pay
the fifty cents.
The next day the gentlemen departed, Mr. Tomlinson going to
the smaller Philbrick plantations to make the newly-ordered
written contracts with the people. By the terms of a
circular issued April 1 by General Saxton, each
superintendent was ordered, before April 15, to make to his
general superintendent and to sign a statement of the
agreement existing between himself and his laborers. The
general superintendent was then ordered to visit the
plantation, explain the contract to the negroes, and affix
to it the names of all who agreed to the terms of it; any
laborer who objected to the terms was warned to leave his
employer or stay with him at his own risk. H. W. records the
reception given to Mr. Tomlinson by the Pine Grove people.
_April 22._ They were silenced, but not convinced, but agreed for this
year. Mr. Tomlinson had trouble with the people at Mr. Folsom's and
Mr. Harrison's both. He had meant to do the job here, but could not,
as C. was away. C. did not expect any difficulty, and I suspect that
he was right, for just after all had gone, two of our men, "Useless"
Monday, the stuttering cow-minder, and Hacklis, the sulkiest-looking
man on the place, came up and, with the brightest smiles and cheeriest
manner, began to ask me so earnestly how I was, that I felt as if I
were not honest if I did not mention that I had a slight headache.
"Mebbe de confusion make you sick, sorry for dat. Not one our people
come up yere. We bery sorry for dat,"--and much more of regret, and
assertion that "so long as Mass' Charlie on de place dey satisfy." Old
Monday wished to know if the milk satisfied me, and was very much
delighted when I told him that if he had not sent some up the night
before I should have had none for the gentlemen's breakfast, and kept
exclaiming, "I glad for dat," as if he had wished to express his
sympathy by deeds as well as words. Then Hacklis said, "Come, let's
go," as if they had come up simply to assure me that our people would
give no trouble. I was touched.
The end of the story was a month later.