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diff --git a/15036.txt b/15036.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f49f96e --- /dev/null +++ b/15036.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1661 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, Late +a Slave in the United States of America, by Moses Grandy + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, Late a Slave in the United States of America + +Author: Moses Grandy + +Release Date: February 13, 2005 [EBook #15036] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF MOSES GRANDY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. Shiffer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + +NARRATIVE + +OF THE + +LIFE OF MOSES GRANDY, + +LATE A SLAVE + +IN THE + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + + "Slavery is a mass, a system of enormities, which + incontrovertibly bids defiance to every regulation which + ingenuity can devise, or power effect, but a TOTAL + EXTINCTION. Why ought slavery to be abolished? Because + _it is incurable injustice_. Why is injustice to remain + for a single hour?" + WILLIAM PITT. + +SECOND AMERICAN FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION. + + +SOLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS RELATIONS STILL IN + SLAVERY. + + +BOSTON: + +OLIVER JOHNSON, 25 CORNHILL. + +1844. + + + + +*** It is not improbable that some of the proper names in the +following pages are incorrectly spelled. M.G., through the laws of the +slave states, is perfectly illiterate; his pronunciation being the +only guide. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +About a fortnight ago, the subject of the following brief Memoir came +to me, bearing with him a letter from a dear friend and distinguished +abolitionist in the United States, from which the following is an +extract:--'I seize my pen in haste to gratify a most worthy colored +friend of mine, by giving him a letter of introduction to you, as he +intends sailing this week (August 8th, 1842) for Liverpool and London, +_via_ New Orleans. His name is Moses Grandy. He knows what it is to +have been a slave, and what are the tender mercies of the southern +slave-drivers. His history is not only authentic, but most +extraordinary, and full of thrilling interest. Could it be published, +it would make a deep sensation in every quarter. He was compelled to +buy his freedom _three times over_! He paid for it $1,850. He has +since bought his wife, and one or two of his children; and before +going to England will first go to New Orleans, to purchase some of his +other children, if he can find them, who are still held in captivity. +His benevolence, affection, kindness of heart, and elasticity of +spirit, are truly remarkable. He has a good head, a fine countenance, +and a great spirit, notwithstanding his education has been obtained in +the horrible school of slavery. Just get him to tell you his +narrative, and if you happen to have an anti-slavery meeting, let him +tell his tale to a British audience.' In the letter of another highly +esteemed friend, he is spoken of as 'unsurpassed for faithfulness and +perseverance;' in the letter of a third, as a 'worthy and respectable +man.' On examining a book containing a list of the donations made him +by American friends, in aid of his noble design to rescue from the +miseries of slavery his relations, I found the names and certificates +of persons of the highest respectability. It will be amply sufficient +with those who are acquainted with the Abolitionists of the United +States, for me to name General Fessenden, and Nathan Winslow, Esq., of +Portland, Maine; the Rev. A.A. Phelps, Ellis Gray Loring, and Samuel +E. Sewall, Esqs., of Boston, Massachusetts. Being satisfied, by these +indubitable vouchers, of Moses Grandy's title to credit, I listened to +his artless tale with entire confidence, and with a feeling of +interest which all will participate who peruse the following pages. +Considering his Narrative calculated to promote a more extensive +knowledge of the workings of American slavery, and that its sale might +contribute to the object which engages so entirely the mind of Moses, +namely, the redemption of those who are in bonds, belonging to his +family, I resolved to commit it to the press, as nearly as possible in +the language of Moses himself. I have carefully abstained from casting +a single reflection or animadversion of my own. I leave the touching +story of the self-liberated captive to speak for itself, and the wish +of my heart will be gratified, and my humble effort on his behalf be +richly rewarded, if this little book is the means of obtaining for my +colored brother the assistance which he seeks, or of increasing the +zeal of those who are associated for the purpose of 'breaking every +yoke and setting the oppressed free.' + + GEORGE THOMPSON. + + _9, Blandford Place, Regent's Park_, + _October 18th, 1842._ + + + + +NARRATIVE. + + +My name is Moses Grandy. I was born in Camden county, North Carolina. +I believe I am fifty-six years old. Slaves seldom know exactly how old +they are; neither they nor their masters set down the time of a birth; +the slaves, because they are not allowed to write or read, and the +masters, because they only care to know what slaves belong to them. + +The master, Billy Grandy, whose slave I was born, was a hard-drinking +man; he sold away many slaves. I remember four sisters and four +brothers; my mother had more children, but they were dead or sold away +before I can remember. I was the youngest. I remember well my mother +often hid us all in the woods, to prevent master selling us. When we +wanted water, she sought for it in any hole or puddle formed by +falling trees or otherwise. It was often full of tadpoles and insects. +She strained it, and gave it round to each of us in the hollow of her +hand. For food, she gathered berries in the woods, got potatoes, raw +corn, &c. After a time, the master would send word to her to come in, +promising he would not sell us. But, at length, persons came who +agreed to give the prices he set on us. His wife, with much to be +done, prevailed on him not to sell me; but he sold my brother, who was +a little boy. My mother, frantic with grief, resisted their taking her +child away. She was beaten, and held down; she fainted; and, when she +came to herself, her boy was gone. She made much outcry, for which the +master tied her up to a peach-tree in the yard, and flogged her. + +Another of my brothers was sold to Mr. Tyler, Dewan's Neck, Pasquotank +county. This man very much ill treated many colored boys. One very +cold day, he sent my brother out, naked and hungry, to find a yoke of +steers; the boy returned without finding them, when his master flogged +him, and sent him out again. A white lady, who lived near, gave him +food, and advised him to try again; he did so, but, it seems, again +without success. He piled up a heap of leaves, and laid himself down +in them, and died there. He was found through a flock of turkey +buzzards hovering over him; these birds had pulled his eyes out. + +My young master and I used to play together; there was but two days' +difference in our ages. My old master always said he would give me to +him. When he died, all the colored people were divided amongst his +children, and I fell to young master; his name was James Grandy. I was +then about eight years old. When I became old enough to be taken away +from my mother and put to field work, I was hired out for the year, by +auction, at the court house, every January: this is the common +practice with respect to slaves belonging to persons who are under +age. This continued till my master and myself were twenty-one years +old. + +The first who hired me was Mr. Kemp, who used me pretty well; he gave +me plenty to eat, and sufficient clothing. + +The next was old Jemmy Coates, a severe man. Because I could not learn +his way of hilling corn, he flogged me naked with a severe whip, made +of a very tough sapling; this lapped round me at each stroke; the +point of it at last entered my belly and broke off, leaving an inch +and a half outside. I was not aware of it until, on going to work +again, it hurt my inside very much, when, on looking down, I saw it +sticking out of my body. I pulled it out, and the blood spouted after +it. The wound festered, and discharged very much at the time, and hurt +me for years after. + +In being hired out, sometimes the slave gets a good home, and +sometimes a bad one: when he gets a good one, he dreads to see January +come; when he has a bad one, the year seems five times as long as it +is. + +I was next with Mr. Enoch Sawyer, of Camden county. My business was to +keep ferry, and do other odd work. It was cruel living. We had not +near enough of either victuals or clothes. I was half starved for half +my time. I have often ground the husks of Indian corn over again in a +hand-mill, for the chance of getting something to eat out of it which +the former grinding had left. In severe frosts, I was compelled to go +into the fields and woods to work, with my naked feet cracked and +bleeding from extreme cold: to warm them, I used to rouse an ox or +hog, and stand on the place where it had lain. I was at that place +three years, and very long years they seemed to me. The trick by which +he kept me so long was this: the court house was but a mile off. At +hiring day, he prevented me from going till he went himself and bid +for me. On the last occasion, he was detained for a little while by +other business; so I ran as quickly as I could, and got hired before +he came up. + +Mr. George Furley was my next master; he employed me as a car-boy in +the Dismal Swamp; I had to drive lumber, &c. I had plenty to eat and +plenty of clothes. I was so overjoyed at the change, that I then +thought I would not have left the place to go to heaven. + +Next year I was hired by Mr. John Micheau, of the same county, who +married my young mistress, one of the daughters of Mr. Grandy, and +sister of my present owner. This master gave us very few clothes, and +but little to eat. I was almost naked. One day he came into the field, +and asked why no more work was done. The older people were afraid of +him; so I said that the reason was, we were so hungry we could not +work. He went home and told the mistress to give us plenty to eat, and +at dinner-time we had plenty. We came out shouting for joy, and went +to work with delight. From that time we had food enough, and he soon +found that he had a great deal more work done. The field was quite +alive with people striving who should do most. + +He hired me for another year. He was a great gambler. He kept me up +five nights together, without sleep night or day, to wait on the +gambling table. I was standing in the corner of the room, nodding for +want of sleep, when he took up the shovel and beat me with it; he +dislocated my shoulder, and sprained my wrist, and broke the shovel +over me. I ran away, and got another person to hire me. + +This person was Mr. Richard Furley, who, after that, hired me at the +court house every year till my master came of age. He gave me a pass +to work for myself; so I obtained work by the piece where I could, and +paid him out of my earnings what we had agreed on; I maintained myself +on the rest, and saved what I could. In this way I was not liable to +be flogged and ill used. He paid seventy, eighty, or ninety dollars a +year for me, and I paid him twenty or thirty dollars a year more than +that. + +When my master came of age, he took all his colored people to himself. +Seeing that I was industrious and persevering, and had obtained plenty +of work, he made me pay him almost twice as much as I had paid Mr. +Furley. At that time the English blockaded the Chesapeake, which made +it necessary to send merchandise from Norfolk to Elizabeth City by the +Grand Canal, so that it might get to sea by Pamlico Sound and Ocracock +Inlet. I took some canal boats on shares; Mr. Grice, who married my +other young mistress, was the owner of them. I gave him one half of +all I received for freight; out of the other half I had to victual and +man the boats, and all over that expense was my own profit. + +Some time before this, my brother Benjamin returned from the West +Indies, where he had been two years with his master's vessel. I was +very glad to hear of it, and got leave to go see him. While I was +sitting with his wife and him, his wife's master came and asked him to +fetch a can of water; he did so, and carried it into the store. While +I was waiting for him, and wondering at his being so long away, I +heard the heavy blows of a hammer: after a little while I was +alarmed, and went to see what was going on. I looked into the store, +and saw my brother lying on his back on the floor, and Mr. Williams, +who had bought him, driving staples over his wrists and ankles; an +iron bar was afterwards put across his breast, which was also held +down by staples. I asked what he had been doing, and was told that he +had done nothing amiss, but that his master had failed, and he was +sold towards paying the debts. He lay in that state all that night; +next day he was taken to jail, and I never saw him again. This is the +usual treatment under such circumstances. I had to go by my mother's +next morning, but I feared to tell her what had happened to my +brother. I got a boy to go and tell her. She was blind and very old, +and was living in a little hut, in the woods, after the usual manner +of old, worn-out slaves; she was unable to go to my brother before he +was taken away, and grieved after him greatly. + +It was some time after this that I married a slave belonging to Mr. +Enoch Sawyer, who had been so hard a master to me. I left her at home, +(that is, at his house,) one Thursday morning, when we had been +married about eight months. She was well, and seemed likely to be so. +We were nicely getting together our little necessaries. On the Friday, +as I was at work, as usual, with the boats, I heard a noise behind me, +on the road which ran by the side of the canal. I turned to look, and +saw a gang of slaves coming. When they came up to me, one of them +cried out, 'Moses, my dear!' I wondered who among them should know me, +and found it was my wife. She cried out to me, 'I am gone!' I was +struck with consternation. Mr. Rogerson was with them, on his horse, +armed with pistols. I said to him, 'For God's sake, have you bought my +wife?' He said he had; when I asked him what she had done, he said she +had done nothing, but that her master wanted money. He drew out a +pistol, and said that, if I went near the wagon on which she was, he +would shoot me. I asked for leave to shake hands with her, which he +refused, but said I might stand at a distance and talk with her. My +heart was so full that I could say very little. I asked leave to give +her a dram. He told Mr. Burgess, the man who was with him, to get down +and carry it to her. I gave her the little money I had in my pocket, +and bade her farewell. I have never seen or heard of her from that day +to this. I loved her as I loved my life. + +Mr. Grice found that I served him faithfully. He and my young +mistress, his wife, advised me, as I was getting money fast, to try to +buy myself. By their advice, I asked my master what he would take for +me. He wanted $800; and, when I said that was too much, he replied, he +could get $1000 for me any minute. Mr. Grice afterwards went with me +to him; he said to him that I had already been more profitable to him +than any five others of his negroes, and reminded him that we had been +playfellows. In this way he got him to consent to take $600 for me. I +then went heartily to work, and, whenever I paid him for my time, I +paid him something, also, towards my freedom, for which he gave me +receipts. When I made him the last payment of the $600 for my freedom, +he tore up all the receipts. I told him he ought not to have done so; +he replied it did not signify, for, as soon as court day came, he +should give me my free papers. On Monday, in court week, I went to +him; he was playing at billiards, and would not go with me, but told +me to come again the next day; the next day he did the same, and so on +daily. I went to his sister, Mrs. Grice, and told her I feared that he +did not mean to give them to me; she said she feared so too, and sent +for him. He was a very wicked young man; he came, and cursed her, and +went out of the house. Mr. Grice was from home; on his return, he went +to my master, and told him he ought to give me my free papers; that I +had paid for myself, and it was court week, so that there was no +excuse. He promised he would; instead of which, he rode away and kept +away till court was over. Before the next court came, he sold me to +Mr. Trewitt for $600. + +The way in which Mr. Trewitt came to buy me was this: I had left the +boats, and had gone with a schooner collecting lumber in Albemarle +Sound for the merchants. Coming to Elizabeth City, I found a new store +had been opened by Mr. Grice, which Mr. Sutton was keeping: the latter +gentleman was glad to see me, and was desirous that I should return to +my old employment with the canal boats, as lumber was in great demand +at Norfolk. I did so, and sold some cargoes to Mr. Moses Myers, of +Norfolk. As I was waiting at the door of his store for settlement, he +came up with Mr. Trewitt, whom I did not then know. Mr. Myers said to +Mr. Trewitt, 'Here is a captain doing business for you.' Mr. Trewitt +then asked me who had chartered the boats, and to whom I belonged. I +told him Mr. Sutton had chartered me, and that I had belonged to Mr. +James Grandy, but had bought myself. He said he would buy me; on which +Mr. Myers told him he could not, as I had already bought myself, and +further said I was one of their old war captains, and had never lost a +single thing of the property intrusted to me. Mr. Trewitt said he +would buy me, and would see about it as soon as he got to Elizabeth +City. I thought no more about it. On my return voyage, I delivered a +cargo at Elizabeth City, for Mr. Trewitt. I had been at Mr. Grice's, +the owner of the boats; and, on my going away from him to meet Mr. +Trewitt for settlement, he said he would go with me, as he wanted +money. Opposite the custom house we met Mr. Trewitt, who said, 'Well, +captain, I have bought you.' Mr. Grice said, 'Let us have no nonsense; +go and settle with him.' Angry words passed between them, one saying +he had bought me, and the other denying that he had or could, as I had +bought myself already. We all went to Mr. Grice's dwelling house; +there Mr. Trewitt settled with me about the freight, and then, jumping +up, said, 'Now I will show you, Mr. Grice, whether I am a liar or +not.' He fetched the bill of sale; on reading it, Mr. Grice's color +changed, and he sent for Mrs. Grice. When she read it, she began to +cry; seeing that, I began to cry too. She sent me to her brother, who +was at Mr. Wood's boarding house. He was playing at billiards. I said +to him, 'Master James, have you sold me?' He said, 'No.' I said he +had; when he turned round and went into another room, crying; I +followed him. All the gentlemen followed us, saying, 'Captain Grandy, +what is the matter?' I told them Master James had sold me again. They +asked him why he had done it; he said it was because people had jeered +him by saying I had more sense than he had. They would not suffer him +to remain in the boarding house, but turned him out, there and then, +with all his trunks and boxes. Mrs. Grice, his sister, sued him in my +name for my liberty, but he gained the cause. The court maintained +that I, and all I could do, belonged to him, and that he had a right +to do as he pleased with me and all my earnings, as his own property, +until he had taken me to the court house, and given me my free papers, +and until, besides that, I had been a year and a day in the Northern +States to gain my residence. + +So I was forced to go to Mr. Trewitt. He agreed that, if I would pay +him the same wages as I paid my late master, and the $600 he gave for +me, he would give me my free papers. He bought two canal boats, and, +taking me out of Mr. Grice's employment, set me to work them on the +same terms as I did for my former master. I was two years and a half +in earning $600 to pay for myself the second time. Just when I had +completed the payment, he failed. On Christmas eve he gave me a letter +to take to Mr. Mews, at Newbegun Creek. I was rather unwilling to take +it, wishing to go to my wife; I told him, too, I was going to his +office to settle with him. He offered to give me two dollars to take +the letter, and said he would settle when I came back: then Mr. Shaw +came from another room, and said his vessel was ready loaded, but he +had nobody he could trust with his goods; he offered me five dollars +to take the vessel down, and deliver the goods to Mr. Knox, who also +was at Newbegun Creek. The wind was fair, and the hands on board, so I +agreed; it being Christmas eve, I was glad of something to carry to my +wife. I ran the vessel down to the mouth of the creek, and anchored; +when the moon rose, I went up the river. I reached the wharf, and +commenced taking out the goods that night, and delivered them all +safely to Mr. Knox next morning. I then took the letter to Mr. Mews, +who read it, and, looking up at me, said, 'Well, you belong to me.' I +thought he was joking, and said, 'How? What way?' He said, 'Don't you +recollect when Trewitt chartered Wilson Sawyer's brig to the West +Indies?' I said, I did. He told me Trewitt then came to him to borrow +$600, which he would not lend, except he had a mortgage on me: Trewitt +was to take it up at a certain time, but never did. I asked him +whether he really took the mortgage on me. He replied that he +certainly thought Trewitt would have taken up the mortgage, but he had +failed, and was not worth a cent, and he, Mews, must have his money. I +asked him whether he had not helped me and my young mistress in the +court house, when master James fooled me before. He said he did help +me all he could, and that he should not have taken a mortgage on me, +but that he thought Trewitt would take it up. Trewitt must have +received some of the last payments from me, after he had given the +mortgage, and knew he should fail; for the mortgage was given two +months before this time. + +My head seemed to turn round and round; I was quite out of my senses; +I went away towards the woods; Mr. Mews sent his waiter after me to +persuade me to go back. At first I refused, but afterwards went. He +told me he would give me another chance to buy myself, and I certainly +should have my freedom that time. He said Mr. Enoch Sawyer wanted to +buy me, to be his overseer in the Swamp. I replied I would never try +again to buy myself, and that they had already got $1,200 from me. My +wife[1] (this was my second wife) belonged to Mr. Sawyer; he told me +that her master would not allow me to go to see her, if I would not +consent to what he now proposed; for any colored person going on the +grounds of a white man, after being warned off, is liable to be +flogged, or even shot. I thus found myself forced to go, although no +colored man wishes to live at the house where his wife lives, for he +has to endure the continual misery of seeing her flogged and abused, +without daring to say a word in her defence. + +In the service of Mr. Sawyer, I got into a fair way of buying myself +again; for I undertook the lightering of shingles or boards out of the +Dismal Swamp, and hired hands to assist me. But my master had become +security for his two sons-in-law at Norfolk, who failed; in +consequence of which he sold eighteen colored people, his share of the +Swamp, and two plantations. I was one of the slaves he kept, and after +that had to work in the corn-field the same as the rest. The overseer +was a bad one; his name was Brooks. The horn was blown at sunrise; the +colored people had then to march before the overseer to the field, he +on horseback. We had to work, even in long summer days, till twelve +o'clock, before we tasted a morsel, men, women, and children all being +served alike. At noon the cart appeared with our breakfast. It was in +large trays, and was set on the ground. There was bread, of which a +piece was cut off for each person; then there was small hominy boiled, +that is, Indian-corn, ground in the hand-mill, and besides this two +herrings for each of the men and women, and one for each of the +children. Our drink was the water in the ditches, whatever might be +its state; if the ditches were dry, water was brought to us by the +boys. The salt fish made us always thirsty, but no other drink than +water was ever allowed. However thirsty a slave may be, he is not +allowed to leave his employment for a moment to get water; he can only +have it when the hands in working have reached the ditch, at the end +of the rows. The overseer stood with his watch in his hand, to give us +just an hour; when he said, 'Rise,' we had to rise and go to work +again. The women who had children laid them down by the hedge-row, and +gave them straws and other trifles to play with; here they were in +danger from snakes; I have seen a large snake found coiled round the +neck and face of a child, when its mother went to suckle it at +dinner-time. The hands work in a line by the side of each other; the +overseer puts the swiftest hands in the fore row, and all must keep up +with them. One black man is kept on purpose to whip the others in the +field; if he does not flog with sufficient severity, he is flogged +himself; he whips severely, to keep the whip from his own back. If a +man have a wife in the same field with himself, he chooses a row by +the side of hers, that, with extreme labor, he may, if possible, help +her. But he will not be in the same field if he can help it; for, with +his hardest labor, he often cannot save her from being flogged, and he +is obliged to stand by and see it; he is always liable to see her +taken home at night, stripped naked, and whipped before all the men. +On the estate I am speaking of, those women who had sucking children +suffered much from their breasts becoming full of milk, the infants +being left at home; they therefore could not keep up with the other +hands. I have seen the overseer beat them with raw hide, so that blood +and milk flew mingled from their breasts. A woman who gives offence in +the field, and is large in the family way, is compelled to lie down +over a hole made to receive her corpulency, and is flogged with the +whip, or beat with a paddle, which has holes in it; at every hole +comes a blister. One of my sisters was so severely punished in this +way, that labor was brought on, and the child was born in the field. +This very overseer, Mr. Brooks, killed in this manner a girl named +Mary; her father and mother were in the field at the time. He killed, +also, a boy about twelve years old. He had no punishment, or even +trial, for either. + +There was no dinner till dark, when he gave the order to knock off and +go home. The meal then was the same as in the morning, except that we +had meat twice a week. + +On very few estates are the colored people provided with any bedding: +the best masters give only a blanket; this master gave none; a board, +which the slave might pick up any where on the estate, was all he had +to lie on. If he wished to procure bedding, he could only do so by +working at nights. For warmth, therefore, the negroes generally sleep +near a large fire, whether in the kitchen, or in their log huts; their +legs are often in this way blistered and greatly swelled, and +sometimes badly burnt: they suffer severely from this cause. + +When the water-mill did not supply meal enough, we had to grind with +the hand-mill. The night was employed in this work, without any thing +being taken from the labor of the day. We had to take turn at it, +women as well as men; enough was to be ground to serve for the +following day. + +I was eight months in the field. My master, Mr. Sawyer, agreed to +allow me eight dollars a month, while so employed, towards buying +myself; it will be seen he did not give me even that. When I first +went to work in the corn-field, I had paid him $230 towards this third +buying of my freedom. I told him, one night, I could not stand his +field work any longer; he asked, why; I said I was almost starved to +death, and had long been unaccustomed to this severe labor. He wanted +to know why I could not stand it as well as the rest. I told him he +knew well I had not been used to it for a long time; that his overseer +was the worst that had ever been on the plantation, and that I could +not stand it. He said he would direct Mr. Brooks to give each of us a +pint of meal or corn every evening, which we might bake, and which +would serve us next morning, till our breakfast came at noon. The +black people were much rejoiced that I got this additional allowance +for them. But I was not satisfied; I wanted liberty. + +On Sunday morning, as master was sitting in his porch, I went to him, +and offered to give him the $230 I had already paid him, if, beside +them, he would take for my freedom the $600 he had given for me. He +drove me away, saying I had no way to get the money. I sat down for a +time, and went to him again. I repeated my offer to procure the $690, +and he again said I could not. He called his wife out of the room to +the porch, and said to her, 'Don't you think Moses has taken to +getting drunk?' She asked me if it was so; I denied it, when she +inquired what was the matter. Master replied, 'Don't you think he +wants me to sell him?' She said, 'Moses, we would not take any money +for you. Captain Cormack put a thousand dollars for you on the supper +table last Friday night, and Mr. Sawyer would not touch it; he wants +you to be overseer in the Dismal Swamp.' I replied, 'Captain Cormack +never said any thing to me about buying me; I would cut my throat from +ear to ear rather than go to him. I know what made him say so; he is +courting Miss Patsey, and he did it to make himself look big.' +Mistress laughed and turned away, and slammed to the door; master +shook himself with laughing, and put the paper he was reading before +his face, knowing that I spoke the truth. Captain Cormack was an old +man who went on crutches. Miss Patsey was the finest of master's +daughters. Master drove me away from him again. + +On Monday morning, Mr. Brooks, the overseer, blew the horn as usual +for all to go to the field. I refused to go. I went to master, and +told him that if he would give me a paper, I would go and fetch the +$600; he then gave me a paper, stating that he was willing to take +that sum for my freedom: so I hired an old horse and started for +Norfolk, fifty miles off. + +When I reached Deep Creek, I went to the house of Captain Edward +Minner. He was very glad to see me, for in former days I had done much +business for him; he said how sorry he had been to hear that I was at +field work. He inquired where I was going. I said, to Norfolk, to get +some of the merchants to let me have money to buy myself. He replied, +'What did I always say to you? Was it not, that I would let you have +the money at any time, if you would only tell me when you could be +sold?' He called Mrs. Minner into the room, and told her I could be +sold for my freedom; she was rejoiced to hear it. He said, 'Put up +your horse at Mr. Western's tavern, for you need go no farther; I have +plenty of old rusty dollars, and no man shall put his hand on your +collar again to say you are a slave. Come and stay with me to-night, +and in the morning I will get Mr. Garret's horse, and go with you.' + +Next morning we set off, and found master at Major Farrence's, at the +cross canal, where I knew he was to be that day, to sell his share of +the canal. When I saw him, he told me to go forward home, for he would +not sell me. I felt sick and sadly disappointed. Captain Minner +stepped up to him, and showed him the paper he had given me, saying, +'Mr. Sawyer, is not this your hand-writing?' He replied, 'Mistress +said, the last word when I came away, I was not to sell him, but send +him home again.' Captain Minner said, 'Mind, gentlemen, I do not want +him for a slave; I want to buy him for freedom. He will repay me the +money, and I shall not charge him a cent of interest for it. I would +not have a colored person, to drag me down to hell, for all the money +in the world.' A gentleman who was by said it was a shame I should be +so treated; I had bought myself so often that Mr. Sawyer ought to let +me go. The very worst man as an overseer over the persons employed in +digging the canal, Mr. Wiley M'Pherson, was there; he was never known +to speak in favor of a colored person; even he said that Mr. Sawyer +ought to let me go, as I had been sold so often. At length, Mr. Sawyer +consented I should go for $650, and would take no less. I wished +Captain Minner to give the extra $50, and not stand about it. I +believe it was what M'Pherson said that induced my master to let me +go; for he was well known for his great severity to colored people; so +that after even he had said so, master could not stand out. The Lord +must have opened M'Pherson's heart to say it. + +I have said this M'Pherson was an overseer where slaves were employed +in cutting canals. The labor there is very severe. The ground is often +very boggy; the negroes are up to the middle, or much deeper, in mud +and water, cutting away roots and baling out mud; if they can keep +their heads above water, they work on. They lodge in huts, or, as they +are called, camps, made of shingles or boards. They lie down in the +mud which has adhered to them, making a great fire to dry themselves, +and keep off the cold. No bedding whatever is allowed them; it is only +by work done over his task that any of them can get a blanket. They +are paid nothing, except for this overwork. Their masters come once a +month to receive the money for their labor; then, perhaps, some few +very good masters will give them $2 each, some others $1, some a pound +of tobacco, and some nothing at all. The food is more abundant than +that of field slaves: indeed, it is the best allowance in America--it +consists of a peck of meal and six pounds of pork per week; the pork +is commonly not good; it is damaged, and is bought, as cheap as +possible, at auctions. + +M'Pherson gave the same task to each slave; of course, the weak ones +often failed to do it. I have often seen him tie up persons and flog +them in the morning, only because they were unable to get the previous +day's task done; after they were flogged, pork or beef brine was put +on their bleeding backs to increase the pain; he sitting by, resting +himself, and seeing it done. After being thus flogged and pickled, the +sufferers often remained tied up all day, the feet just touching the +ground, the legs tied, and pieces of wood put between the legs. All +the motion allowed was a slight turn of the neck. Thus exposed and +helpless, the yellow flies and musquitoes in great numbers would +settle on the bleeding and smarting back, and put the sufferer to +extreme torture. This continued all day, for they were not taken down +till night. In flogging, he would sometimes tie the slave's shirt over +his head, that he might not flinch when the blow was coming; sometimes +he would increase his misery, by blustering, and calling out that he +was coming to flog again, which he did or did not, as happened. I have +seen him flog them with his own hands till their entrails were +visible; and I have seen the sufferers dead when they were taken down. +He never was called to account in any way for it. + +It is not uncommon for flies to blow the sores made by flogging; in +that case, we get a strong weed growing in those parts, called the Oak +of Jerusalem; we boil it at night, and wash the sores with the +liquor, which is extremely bitter. On this the creepers or maggots +come out. To relieve them in some degree, after severe flogging, their +fellow-slaves rub their backs with part of their little allowance of +fat meat. + +For fear the slaves should run away, while unable to work from +flogging, he kept them chained till they could work again. This man +had from 500 to 700 men under his control. When out of other +employment, I sometimes worked under him, and saw his doings. I +believe it was the word of this man which gained my freedom. He is +dead, but there are yet others like him on public works. + +When the great kindness of Captain Minner had set me clear of Mr. +Sawyer, I went to my old occupation of working the canal boats. These +I took on shares, as before. After a time, I was disabled for a year +from following this employment by a severe attack of rheumatism, +caught by frequent exposure to severe weather. I was anxious, however, +to be earning something towards the repayment of Captain Minner, lest +any accident, unforeseen by him or me, should even yet deprive me of +the liberty for which I so longed, and for which I had suffered so +much. I therefore had myself carried in a lighter up a cross canal in +the Dismal Swamp, and to the other side of Drummond's Lake. I was left +on the shore, and there I built myself a little hut, and had +provisions brought to me as opportunity served. Here, among snakes, +bears, and panthers, whenever my strength was sufficient, I cut down a +juniper-tree, and converted it into cooper's timber. The camp, like +those commonly set up for negroes, was entirely open on one side; on +that side a fire is lighted at night, and a person sleeping puts his +feet towards it. One night I was awoke by some animal smelling my +face, and snuffing strongly; I felt its cold muzzle. I suddenly thrust +out my arms, and shouted with all my might; it was frightened, and +made off. I do not know whether it was a bear or a panther; but it +seemed as tall as a large calf. I slept, of course, no more that +night. I put my trust in the Lord, and continued on the spot; I was +never attacked again. + +I recovered, and went to the canal boats again; by the end of three +years from the time he laid down the money, I entirely repaid my very +kind and excellent friend. During this time he made no claim whatever +on my services; I was altogether on the footing of a free man, as far +as a colored man can there be free. + +When, at length, I had repaid Captain Minner, and had got my free +papers, so that my freedom was quite secure, my feelings were greatly +excited. I felt to myself so light, that I could almost think I could +fly; in my sleep I was always dreaming of flying over woods and +rivers. My gait was so altered by my gladness, that people often +stopped me, saying, 'Grandy, what is the matter?' I excused myself as +well as I could; but many perceived the reason, and said, 'O! he is so +pleased with having got his freedom.' Slavery will teach any man to be +glad when he gets freedom. + +My good master, Captain Minner, sent me to Providence, in Rhode +Island, to stay a year and a day, in order to gain my residence. But I +staid only two months. Mr. Howard's vessel came there laden with corn. +I longed much to see my master and mistress, for the kindness they had +done me, and so went home in the schooner. On my arrival, I did not +stop at my own house, except to ask my wife at the door how she and +the children were in health, but went up the town to see Captain and +Mrs. Minner. They were very glad to see me, and consulted with me +about my way of getting a living. I wished to go on board the New York +and Philadelphia packets, but feared I should be troubled for my +freedom. Captain Minner thought I might venture, and I therefore +engaged myself. I continued in that employment till his death, which +happened about a year alter my return from Providence. Then I returned +to Boston; for, while he lived, I knew I could rely on his protection; +but when I lost my friend, I thought it best to go wholly to the +Northern States. + +At Boston I went to work at sawing wood, sawing with the whip-saw, +laboring in the coal-yards, loading and unloading vessels, &c. After +laboring in this way for a few months, I went a voyage to St. John's, +in Porto Rico, with Captain Cobb, in the schooner _New Packet_. On the +return voyage, the vessel got ashore on Cape Cod; we left her, after +doing in vain what we could to right her: she was afterwards +recovered. I went several other voyages, and particularly two to the +Mediterranean: the last was to the East Indies, in the ship _James +Murray_, Captain Woodbury, owner Mr. Gray. My entire savings, up to +the period of my return from this voyage, amounted to $300; I sent it +to Virginia, and bought my wife. She came to me at Boston. I dared not +go myself to fetch her, lest I should be again deprived of my liberty, +as often happens to free colored people. + +At the time, called the time of the Insurrection, about eight years +ago, when the whites said the colored people were going to rise, and +shot, hanged, and otherwise destroyed many of them, Mrs. Minner +thought she saw me in the street, and fainted there. The soldiers were +seizing all the blacks they could find, and she knew, if I were there, +I should be sure to suffer with the rest. She was mistaken; I was not +there. + +My son's master, at Norfolk, sent a letter to me at Boston, to say, +that if I could raise $450, I might have his freedom; he was then +fifteen years old. I had again saved $300. I knew the master was a +drinking man, and was therefore very anxious to get my son out of his +hands. I went to Norfolk, running the risk of my liberty, and took my +$300 with me, to make the best bargain I could. Many gentlemen in +Boston, my friends, advised me not to go myself; but I was anxious to +get my boy's freedom, and I knew that nobody in Virginia had any cause +of complaint against me. So, notwithstanding their advice, I +determined to go. + +When the vessel arrived there, they said it was against the law for me +to go ashore. The mayor of the city said I had been among the cursed +Yankees too long; he asked me whether I did not know that it was +unlawful for me to land, to which I replied, that I did not know it, +for I could neither read nor write. The merchants for whom I had +formerly done business came on board, and said they cared for neither +the mare (mayor) nor the horse, and insisted that I should go ashore. +I told the mayor the business on which I came, and he gave me leave to +stay nine days, telling me that if I were not gone in that time, he +would sell me for the good of the state. + +I offered my boy's master the $300; he counted the money, but put it +back to me, refusing to take less than $450. I went on board to return +to Boston. We met with head winds, and put back three times to +Norfolk, anchoring each time just opposite the jail. The nine days had +expired, and I feared the mayor would find me on board and sell me. I +could see the jail, full of colored people, and even the +whipping-post, at which they were constantly enduring the lash. While +we were lying there by the jail, two vessels came from Eastern Shore, +Virginia, laden with cattle and colored people. The cattle were lowing +for their calves, and the men and women were crying for their +husbands, wives, or children. The cries and groans were terrible, +notwithstanding there was a whipper on board each vessel, trying to +compel the poor creatures to keep silence. These vessels lay close to +ours. I had been a long time away from such scenes; the sight affected +me very much, and added greatly to my fears. + +One day I saw a boat coming from the shore with white men in it. I +thought they were officers coming to take me; and such was my horror +of slavery, that I twice ran to the ship's waist to jump overboard +into the strong ebb tide then running, to drown myself; but a strong +impression on my mind restrained me each time. + +Once more we got under way for New York; but, meeting again with head +winds, we ran into Maurice's River, in Delaware Bay. New Jersey, in +which that place lies, is not a slave state. So I said to the captain, +'Let me have a boat, and set me on the free land once more; then I +will travel home over land; for I will not run the risk of going back +to Virginia any more. The captain said there was no danger, but I +exclaimed, 'No, no! captain, I will not try it; put my feet on free +land once again, and I shall be safe.' When I once more touched the +free land, the burden of my mind was removed; if two ton weight had +been taken off me, the relief would not have seemed so great. + +From Maurice's Creek I travelled to Philadelphia, and at that place +had a letter written to my wife, at Boston, thanking God that I was on +free land again. On arriving at Boston, I borrowed $150 of a friend, +and, going to New York, I obtained the help of Mr. John Williams to +send the $450 to Norfolk; thus, at length, I bought my son's freedom. +I met him at New York, and brought him on to Boston. + +Six other of my children, three boys and three girls, were sold to New +Orleans. Two of these daughters have bought their own freedom. The +eldest of them, Catherine, was sold three times after she was taken +away from Virginia; the first time was by auction. Her last master but +one was a Frenchman; she worked in his sugar-cane and cotton fields. +Another Frenchman inquired for a girl, on whom he could depend, to +wait on his wife, who was in a consumption. Her master offered him my +daughter; they went into the field to see her, and the bargain was +struck. Her new master gave her up to his sick wife, on whom she +waited till her death. As she had waited exceedingly well on his wife, +her master offered her a chance of buying her freedom. She objected to +his terms as too high; for he required her to pay him $4 a week out of +her earnings, and $1,200 for her freedom. He said he could get more +for her, and told her she might get plenty of washing, at a dollar a +dozen: at last she agreed. She lived near the river side, and +obtained plenty of work. So anxious was she to obtain her freedom, +that she worked nearly all her time, days and nights, and Sundays. She +found, however, she gained nothing by working on Sundays, and +therefore left it off. She paid her master punctually her weekly hire, +and also something towards her freedom, for which he gave her +receipts. A good stewardess was wanted for a steamboat on the +Mississippi; she was hired for the place at $30 a month, which is the +usual salary; she also had liberty to sell apples and oranges on +board; and, commonly, the passengers give from twenty-five cents to a +dollar to a stewardess who attends them well. Her entire incoming, +wages and all, amounted to about sixty dollars a month. She remained +at this employment till she had paid the entire sum of $ 1,200 for her +freedom. + +As soon as she obtained her free papers, she left the steamboat, +thinking she could find her sister Charlotte. Her first two trials +were unsuccessful; but on the third attempt she found her at work in +the cane-field. She showed her sister's master her own free papers, +and told him how she had bought herself; he said that, if her sister +would pay him as much as she paid her master, she might go too. They +agreed, and he gave her a pass. The two sisters went on board a +steamboat, and worked together for the wages of one, till they had +saved the entire $1,200 for the freedom of the second sister. The +husband of Charlotte was dead; her children were left behind in the +cotton and cane-fields; their master refuses to take less than $2,400 +for them; their names and ages are as follows: Zeno, about fifteen; +Antoinette, about thirteen; Joseph, about eleven; and Josephine, +about ten years old. Of my other children, I only know that one, a +girl, named Betsey, is a little way from Norfolk, in Virginia. Her +master, Mr. William Dixon, is willing to sell her for $500. + +I do not know where any of my other four children are, nor whether +they be dead or alive. It will be very difficult to find them out: for +the names of slaves are commonly changed with every change of master: +they usually bear the name of the master to whom they belong at the +time: they have no family name of their own by which they can be +traced. Through this circumstance, and their ignorance of reading and +writing, to which they are compelled by law, all trace between parents +and children, who are separated from them in childhood, is lost in a +few years. When, therefore, a child is sold away from its mother, she +feels that she is parting from it forever; there is little likelihood +of her ever knowing what of good or evil befalls it. The way of +finding out a friend or relative who has been sold away for any length +of time, or to any great distance, is to trace them, if possible, to +one master after another, or if that cannot be done, to inquire about +the neighborhood where they are supposed to be, until some one is +found who can tell that such or such a person belonged to such or such +a master; and the person supposed to be the one sought for, may, +perhaps, remember the names of the persons to whom his father and +mother belonged: there is little to be learned from his appearance, +for so many years may have passed away that he may have grown out of +the memory of his parents, or his nearest relations. There are thus no +lasting family ties to bind relations together, not even the nearest, +and this aggravates their distress when they are sold from each other. +I have little hope of finding my four children again. + +I have lived in Boston ever since I bought my freedom, except during +the last year, which I have spent at Portland, in the state of Maine. + +I have yet said nothing of my father. He was often sold through the +failure of his successive owners. When I was a little boy, he was sold +away from us to a distance: he was then so far off that he could not +come to see us oftener than once a year. After that, he was sold to go +still farther away, and then he could not come at all. I do not know +what has become of him. + +When my mother became old, she was sent to live in a little lonely +log-hut in the woods. Aged and worn-out slaves, whether men or women, +are commonly so treated. No care is taken of them, except, perhaps, +that a little ground is cleared about the hut, on which the old slave, +if able, may raise a little corn. As far as the owner is concerned, +they live or die, as it happens: it is just the same thing as turning +out an old horse. Their children, or other near relations, if living +in the neighborhood, take it by turns to go at night with a supply +saved out of their own scanty allowance of food, as well as to cut +wood and fetch water for them: this is done entirely through the good +feelings of the slaves, and not through the masters' taking care that +it is done. On these night-visits, the aged inmate of the hut is often +found crying on account of sufferings from disease or extreme +weakness, or from want of food or water in the course of the day: many +a time, when I have drawn near to my mother's hut, I have heard her +grieving and crying on these accounts: she was old and blind too, and +so unable to help herself. She was not treated worse than others: it +is the general practice. Some few good masters do not treat their old +slaves so: they employ them in doing light jobs about the house and +garden. + +My eldest sister is in Elizabeth City. She has five children, who, of +course, are slaves. Her master is willing to sell her for $100: she is +growing old. One of her children, a young man, cannot be bought under +$900. + +My sister Tamar, who belonged to the same master with myself, had +children very fast. Her husband had hard owners, and lived at a +distance. When a woman who has many children belongs to an owner who +is under age, as ours was, it is customary to put her and the children +out yearly to the person who will maintain them for the least money, +the person taking them having the benefit of whatever work the woman +can do. But my sister was put to herself in the woods. She had a bit +of ground cleared, and was left to hire herself out to labor. On the +ground she raised corn and flax; and obtained a peck of corn, some +herrings, or a piece of meat, for a day's work among the neighboring +owners. In this way she brought up her children. Her husband could +help her but little. As soon as each of the children became big +enough, it was sold away from her. + +After parting thus with five, she was sold along with the sixth, +(about a year and a half old,) to the speculators; these are persons +who buy slaves in Carolina and Virginia, to sell them in Georgia and +New Orleans. After travelling with them more than one hundred miles, +she made her escape, but could not obtain her child to take it with +her. On her journey homeward she travelled by night, and hid herself +in thick woods by day. She was in great danger on the road, but in +three weeks reached the woods near us: there she had to keep herself +concealed: I, my mother, and her husband, knew where she was: she +lived in a den she made for herself. She sometimes ventured down to my +mother's hut, where she was hid in a hollow under the floor. Her +husband lived ten miles off; he would sometimes set off after his +day's work was done, spend part of the night with her, and get back +before next sunrise: sometimes he would spend Sunday with her. We all +supplied her with such provisions as we could save. It was necessary +to be very careful in visiting her; we tied pieces of wood or bundles +of rags to our feet, that no track might be made. + +In the wood she had three children born; one of them died. She had not +recovered from the birth of the youngest when she was discovered and +taken to the house of her old master. + +She was afterwards sold to Culpepper, who used her very cruelly. He +was beating her dreadfully, and the blood was streaming from her head +and back one day when I happened to go to his house. I was greatly +grieved, and asked his leave to find a person to buy her: instead of +answering me, he struck at me with an axe, and I was obliged to get +away as fast as I could. Soon after this he failed, and she was +offered for sale in Norfolk; there Mr. Johnson bought her and her two +children, out of friendship for me: he treated her exceedingly well, +and she served him faithfully; but it was not long before she was +claimed by a person to whom Culpepper had mortgaged her before he sold +her to Johnson. This person sold her to Long, of Elizabeth City, where +again she was very badly treated. After a time, this person sold her +to go to Georgia: she was very ill at the time, and was taken away in +a cart. I hear from her sometimes, and am very anxious to purchase her +freedom, if ever I should be able. Two of her children are now in +North Carolina, and are longing to obtain their freedom. I know +nothing of the others, nor am I likely ever to hear of them again. + +The treatment of slaves is mildest near the borders, where the free +and slave states join: it becomes more severe, the farther we go from +the free states. It is more severe in the west and south than where I +lived. The sale of slaves most frequently takes place from the milder +to the severer parts: there is great traffic in slaves in that +direction, which is carried on by the speculators. On the frontier +between the slave and free States there is a guard; no colored person +can go over a ferry without a pass. By these regulations, and the +great numbers of patrols, escape is made next to impossible. + +Formerly slaves were allowed to have religious meetings of their own; +but after the insurrection which I spoke of before, they were +forbidden to meet even for worship. Often they are flogged if they are +found singing or praying at home. They may go to the places of worship +used by the whites; but they like their own meetings better. My wife's +brother Isaac was a colored preacher. A number of slaves went +privately into a wood to hold meetings; when they were found out, they +were flogged, and each was forced to tell who else was there. Three +were shot, two of whom were killed and the other was badly wounded. +For preaching to them, Isaac was flogged, and his back pickled; when +it was nearly well, he was flogged and pickled again, and so on for +some months; then his back was suffered to get well, and he was sold. +A little while before this, his wife was sold away with an infant at +her breast; and out of six children, four had been sold away by one at +a time. On the way with his buyers he dropped down dead; his heart was +broken. + +Having thus narrated what has happened to myself, my relatives and +near friends, I will add a few matters about slaves and colored people +in general. + +Slaves are under fear in every word they speak. If, in their master's +kitchen, they let slip an expression of discontent, or a wish for +freedom, it is often reported to the master or mistress by the +children of the family who may be playing about: severe flogging is +often the consequence. + +I have already said that it is forbidden by law to teach colored +persons to read or write. A few well-disposed white young persons, of +the families to which the slaves belonged, have ventured to teach +them, but they dare not let it be known they have done so. + +The proprietors get new land cleared in this way. They first 'dead' a +piece of ground in the woods adjoining the plantation: by 'deading' is +meant killing the trees, by cutting a nick all round each, quite +through the bark. Out of this ground each colored person has a piece +as large as he can tend after his other work is done; the women have +pieces in like manner. The slave works at night, cutting down the +timber and clearing the ground; after it is cleared, he has it for his +own use for two or three years, as may be agreed on. As these new +clearings lie between the woods and the old cultivated land, the +squirrels and raccoons first come at the crops on them, and thus those +on the planter's land are saved from much waste. When the negro has +had the land for the specified time, and it has become fit for the +plough, the master takes it, and he is removed to another new piece. +It is no uncommon thing for the land to be taken from him before the +time is out, if it has sooner become fit for the plough. When the crop +is gathered, the master comes to see how much there is of it; he then +gives the negro an order to sell that quantity; without that order, no +storekeeper dare buy it. The slave lays out the money in something +tidy to go to meeting in, and something to take to his wife. + +The evidence of a black man, or of ever so many black men, stands for +nothing against that of one white; in consequence of it the free +negroes are liable to great cruelties. They have had their dwellings +entered, their bedding and furniture destroyed, and themselves, their +wives and children, beaten; some have even been taken, with their +wives, into the woods, and tied up, flogged, and left there. There is +nothing which a white man may not do against a black one, if he only +takes care that no other white man can give evidence against him. + +A law has lately been passed in New Orleans prohibiting any free +colored person from going there. + +The coasting packets of the ports on the Atlantic commonly have +colored cooks. When a vessel goes from New York or Boston to a port in +the slaveholding states, the black cook is usually put in jail till +the vessel sails again. + +No colored person can travel without a pass. If he cannot show it, he +may be flogged by any body; in such a case he often is seized and +flogged by the patrols. All through the slave states there are +patrols; they are so numerous that they cannot be easily escaped. + +The only time when a man can visit his wife, when they are on +different estates, is Saturday evening and Sunday. If they be very +near to each other, he may sometimes see her on Wednesday evening. He +must always return to his work by sunrise; if he fail to do so, he is +flogged. When he has got together all the little things he can for his +wife and children, and has walked many miles to see them, he may find +that they have all been sold away, some in one direction, and some in +another. He gives up all hope of seeing them again, but he dare not +utter a word of complaint. + +It often happens that, when a slave wishes to visit his wife on +another plantation, his own master is busy or from home, and therefore +he cannot get a pass. He ventures without it. If there be any little +spite against his wife or himself, he may be asked for it when he +arrives, and, not having it, he may be beaten with thirty-nine +stripes, and sent away. On his return, he may be seized by the patrol, +and flogged again for the same reason; and he will not wonder if he is +again seized and beaten for the third time. + +If a negro has given offence to the patrol, even by so innocent a +matter as dressing tidily to go to a place of worship, he will be +seized by one of them, and another will tear up his pass; while one is +flogging him, the others will look another way; so when he or his +master makes complaint of his having been beaten without cause, and he +points out the person who did it, the others will swear they saw no +one beat him. His oath, being that of a black man, would stand for +nothing; but he may not even be sworn; and, in such a case, his +tormentors are safe, for they were the only whites present. + +In all the slave states there are men who make a trade of whipping +negroes; they ride about inquiring for jobs of persons who keep no +overseer; if there is a negro to be whipped, whether man or woman, +this man is employed when he calls, and does it immediately; his fee +is half a dollar. Widows and other females, having negroes, get them +whipped in this way. Many mistresses will insist on the slave who has +been flogged begging pardon for her fault on her knees, and thanking +her for the correction. + +A white man, who lived near me in Camden county, Thomas Evidge, +followed this business. He was also sworn whipper at the court house. +A law was passed that any white man detected in stealing should be +whipped. Mr. Dozier frequently missed hogs, and flogged many of his +negroes on suspicion of stealing them; when he could not, in his +suspicions, fix on any one in particular, he flogged them all round, +saying that he was sure of having punished the right one. Being one +day shooting in his woods, he heard the report of another gun, and +shortly after met David Evidge, the nephew of the whipper, with one of +his hogs on his back, which had just been shot. David was sent to +prison, convicted of the theft, and sentenced to be flogged. His +uncle, who vapored about greatly in flogging slaves, and taunted them +with unfeeling speeches while he did it, could not bear the thought of +flogging his nephew, and hired a man to do it. The person pitched on +chanced to be a sailor; he laid it well on the thief; pleased enough +were the colored people to see a white back for the first time +subjected to the lash. + +Another man of the same business, George Wilkins, did no greater +credit to the trade. Mr. Carnie, on Western Branch, Virginia, often +missed corn from his barn. Wilkins, the whipper, was very officious in +pointing out this slave and that, as very likely to be the thief; with +nothing against them but his insinuations, some were very severely +punished, being flogged by this very Wilkins, and others, at his +instigation, were sold away. One night, Mr. Carnie, unknown to his +colored people, set a steel trap in the barn; some of the negroes, +passing the barn before morning, saw Wilkins standing there, but were +not aware he was caught. They called the master, that he might seize +the thief before he could escape; he came and teased Wilkins during +the night; in the morning, he exposed him to the view of the +neighbors, and then set him at liberty without further punishment. + +The very severe punishments to which slaves are subjected, for +trifling offences, or none at all, their continued liability to all +kinds of ill usage, without a chance of redress, and the agonizing +feelings they endure at being separated from the dearest connections, +drive many of them to desperation, and they abscond. They hide +themselves in the woods, where they remain for months, and, in some +cases, for years. When caught, they are flogged with extreme +severity, their backs are pickled, and the flogging repeated as before +described: after months of this torture, the back is allowed to heal, +and the slave is sold away. Especially is this done when the slave has +attempted to reach a free state. + +In violent thunder-storms, when the whites have got between +feather-beds to be safe from the lightning, I have often seen negroes, +the aged as well as others, go out, and, lifting up their hands, thank +God that judgment was coming at last. So cruelly are many of them +used, that judgment, they think, would be a happy release from their +horrible slavery. + +The proprietors, though they live in luxury, generally die in debt: +their negroes are so hardly treated that no profit is made by their +labor. Many of them are great gamblers. At the death of a proprietor, +it commonly happens that his colored people are sold towards paying +his debts. So it must and will be with the masters while slavery +continues: when freedom is established, I believe they will begin to +prosper greatly. + +Before I close this Narrative, I ought to express my grateful thanks +to the many friends in the Northern States, who have encouraged and +assisted me: I shall never forget to speak of their kindness, and to +pray for their prosperity. I am delighted in saying, that not only to +myself, but to very many other colored persons, they have lent a +benevolent and helping hand. Last year, gentlemen whom I know bought +no less than ten families from slavery; and this year they are +pursuing the same good work. But for these numerous and heavy claims +on their means and their kindness, I should have had no need to appeal +to the generosity of the British public; they would gladly have +helped me to redeem all my children and relations. + +When I first went to the Northern States,--which is about ten years +ago,--although I was free, as to the law, I was made to feel severely +the difference between persons of different colors. No black man was +admitted to the same seats in churches with the whites, nor to the +inside of public conveyances, nor into street coaches or cabs: we had +to be content with the decks of steamboats in all weathers, night and +day, not even our wives or children being allowed to go below, however +it might rain, or snow, or freeze; in various other ways, we were +treated as though we were of a race of men below the whites. But the +abolitionists boldly stood up for us, and, through them, things are +much changed for the better. Now, we may sit in any part of many +places of worship, and are even asked into the pews of respectable +white families; many public conveyances now make no distinction +between white and black. We begin to feel that we are really on the +same footing as our fellow-citizens. They see we can and do conduct +ourselves with propriety, and they are now admitting us, in many +cases, to the same standing with themselves. + +During the struggles which have procured for us this justice from our +fellow-citizens, we have been in the habit of looking in public places +for some well-known abolitionists, and, if none that we knew were +there, we addressed any person dressed as a Quaker; these classes +always took our part against ill usage, and we have to thank them for +many a contest in our behalf. + +We were greatly delighted by the zealous efforts and powerful +eloquence in our cause of Mr. George Thompson, who came from our +English friends to aid our suffering brethren. He was hated and mobbed +by bad men amongst the whites; they put his life in great danger, and +threatened destruction to all who sheltered him. We prayed for him, +and did all we could to defend him. The Lord preserved him, and +thankful were we when he escaped from our country with his life. At +that time, and ever since, we have had a host of American friends, who +have labored for the cause night and day; they have nobly stood up for +the rights and honor of the colored man; but they did so at first in +the midst of scorn and danger. Now, thank God, the case is very +different. William Lloyd Garrison, who was hunted for his life by a +mob in the streets of New York, has lately been chairman of a large +meeting in favor of abolition, held in Faneuil Hall, the celebrated +public hall of Boston, called the 'Cradle of Liberty.' + +I am glad to say also that numbers of my colored brethren now escape +from slavery; some by purchasing their freedom, others by quitting, +through many dangers and hardships, the land of bondage. The latter +suffer many privations in their attempts to reach the free states. +They hide themselves, during the day, in the woods and swamps; at +night, they travel, crossing rivers by swimming or by boats they may +chance to meet with, and passing over hills and meadows which they do +not know: in these dangerous journeys they are guided by the +north-star, for they only know that the land of freedom is in the +north. They subsist only on such wild fruit as they can gather, and as +they are often very long on their way, they reach the free states +almost like skeletons. On their arrival they have no friends but such +as pity those who have been in bondage, the number of whom, I am happy +to say, is increasing; but if they can meet with a man in a +broad-brimmed hat and Quaker coat, they speak to him without +fear--relying on him as a friend. At each place the escaped slave +inquires for an abolitionist or a Quaker, and these friends of the +colored man help them on their journey northwards, until they are out +of the reach of danger. + +Our untiring friends, the abolitionists, once obtained a law that no +colored person should be seized as a slave within the free states; +this law would have been of great service to us, by ridding us of all +anxiety about our freedom while we remained there; but I am sorry to +say, that it has lately been repealed, and that now, as before, any +colored person who is said to be a slave, may be seized in the free +states and carried away, no matter how long he may have resided there, +as also may his children and their children, although they all may +have been born there. I hope this law will soon be altered again. At +present many escaped slaves are forwarded by their friends to Canada, +where, under British rule, they are quite safe. There is a body of ten +thousand of them in Upper Canada; they are known for their good order, +and loyalty to the British government; during the late troubles, they +could always be relied on for the defence of the British possessions +against the lawless Americans who attempted to invade them. + +As to the settlement of Liberia, on the coast of Africa, the free +colored people of America do not willingly go to it. America is their +home: if their forefathers lived in Africa, they themselves know +nothing of that country. None but free colored people are taken +there: if they would take slaves, they might have plenty of colonists. +Slaves will go any where for freedom. + +We look very much to England for help to the cause of the slaves. +Whenever we hear of the people of England doing good to black men, we +are delighted, and run to tell each other the news. Our kind friends, +the abolitionists, are very much encouraged when they hear of meetings +and speeches in England in our cause. The first of August, the day +when the slaves in the West Indies were made free, is always kept as a +day of rejoicing by the American colored free people. + +I do hope and believe that the cause of freedom to the blacks is +becoming stronger and stronger every day. I pray for the time to come +when freedom shall be established all over the world. Then will men +love as brethren; they will delight to do good to one another; and +they will thankfully worship the Father of All. + +And now I have only to repeat my hearty thanks to all who have done +any thing towards obtaining liberty for my colored brethren, and +especially to express my gratitude to those who have helped me to +procure for myself, my wife, and so far of my children, the blessing +of freedom--a blessing of which none can know the value, but he who +has been a slave. Whatever profit may be obtained by the sale of this +book, and all donations with which I may be favored, will be +faithfully employed in redeeming my remaining children and relatives +from the dreadful condition of slavery. + + + + +NOTE. + + +I have paid the following sums to redeem myself and relatives from +slavery, viz: + + For my own freedom, ... $1,850 + For my wife's " ... 300 + For my son's " ... 450 + Grandchild's " ... 400 + To redeem my kidnapped son, 60 + ------$3,060 + +I now wish to raise $100 to buy the freedom of my sister Mary, who is +a slave at Elizabeth City, N.C. Her master says he will take that sum +for her. + M.G. + +_Boston, Jan. 19, 1844._ + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: It will be observed that the narrator married a second +wife, without having heard of the decease of the first. To explain +this fact, it is necessary to state, that the frequent occurrence of +cases where husbands and wives, members of Christian societies, were +finally separated by sale, led the ministers, some years ago, to +deliberate on the subject: they decided that such separation might be +considered as the death of the parties to each other, and they +therefore agreed to consider subsequent marriages not immoral. The +practice is general. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that a more +unequivocal and impressive proof of the heinous nature of the system +could hardly exist. It breaks up the fondest connections, it tears up +the holiest attachments, and induces the ministers of religion, as +much as in them lies, to carve the divine law to a fitting with its +own infernal exigencies.] + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, +Late a Slave in the United States of America, by Moses Grandy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF MOSES GRANDY *** + +***** This file should be named 15036.txt or 15036.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/0/3/15036/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. 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