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diff --git a/17820.txt b/17820.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..240e9d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/17820.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1424 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or +Struggles for Freedom, by Lucy A. Delaney + +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: From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or Struggles for Freedom + +Author: Lucy A. Delaney + +Release Date: February 22, 2006 [EBook #17820] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM THE DARKNESS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Diane Monico, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +Struggles for Freedom. + + + + +[Illustration: (signed) Yours Truly, Lucy A. Delaney] + + + + +FROM THE + +DARKNESS COMETH THE LIGHT + +OR + +STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM. + +[Illustration] + +ST. LOUIS, MO. +PUBLISHING HOUSE OF J. T. SMITH, +No. 11, Bridge Entrance. + + + + +Dedication. + + +To those who by their valor have made their name immortal, from whom +we are daily learning the lessons of patriotism, in whom we respect +the virtues of charity, patience and friendship as displayed towards +the colored race and to those + + "Whose deeds crowd History's pages + And Time's great volume make," + +is this little volume reverently dedicated-- + +THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. + + + + +Preface. + + +So many of my friends have urged me to give a short sketch of my +varied life that I have consented, and herewith present it for the +consideration of my readers. Those who were with me in the days of +slavery will appreciate these pages, for though they cannot recur with +any happiness to the now "shadowy past, or renew the unrenewable," the +unaccountable longing for the aged to look backward and review the +events of their youth will find an answering chord in this little +book. + +Those of you who have never suffered as we have, perhaps may suppose +the case, and therefore accept with interest and sympathy the +passages of life and character here portrayed and the lessons which +should follow from them. + +If there is a want of unity or coherence in this work, be charitable +and attribute it to lack of knowledge and experience in literary +acquirements. As this is a world of varied interests and many events, +although we are each but atoms, it must be remembered, that we assist +in making the grand total of all history, and therefore are excusable +in making our affairs of importance to ourselves, and endeavoring to +impress them on others. With this reason of my seeking your favor, I +leave you to the perusal of my little tale. + + L. A. D. + + + + +STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM. + +CHAPTER I. + + "Soon is the echo and the shadow o'er, + Soon, soon we lie with lid-encumbered eyes + And the great fabrics that we reared before + Crumble to make a dust to hide who dies." + + +In the year 18--, Mr. and Mrs. John Woods and Mr. and Mrs. Andrew +Posey lived as one family in the State of Illinois. Living with Mrs. +Posey was a little negro girl, named Polly Crocket, who had made it +her home there, in peace and happiness, for five years. On a dismal +night in the month of September, Polly, with four other colored +persons, were kidnapped, and, after being securely bound and gagged, +were put into a skiff and carried across the Mississippi River to the +city of St. Louis. Shortly after, these unfortunate negroes were +taken up the Missouri River and sold into slavery. Polly was purchased +by a farmer, Thomas Botts, with whom she resided for a year, when, +overtaken by business reverses, he was obliged to sell all he +possessed, including his negroes. + +Among those present on the day set apart for the sale was Major Taylor +Berry, a wealthy gentleman who had travelled a long distance for the +purpose of purchasing a servant girl for his wife. As was the custom, +all the negroes were brought out and placed in a line, so that the +buyers could examine their good points at leisure. Major Berry was +immediately attracted by the bright and alert appearance of Polly, and +at once negotiated with the trader, paid the price agreed upon, and +started for home to present his wife with this flesh and blood +commodity, which money could so easily procure in our vaunted land of +freedom. + +Mrs. Fanny Berry was highly pleased with Polly's manner and +appearance, and concluded to make a seamstress of her. Major Berry had +a mulatto servant, who was as handsome as an Apollo, and when he and +Polly met each other, day after day, the natural result followed, and +in a short time, with the full consent of Major Berry and his wife, +were married. Two children were the fruit of this marriage, my sister +Nancy and myself, Lucy A. Delaney. + +While living in Franklin county, Major Berry became involved in a +quarrel with some gentleman, and a duel was resorted to, to settle the +difficulty and avenge some fancied insult. The major arranged his +affairs and made his will, leaving his negroes to his wife during her +life-time and at her death they were to be free; this was his +expressed wish. + +My father accompanied Major Berry to New Madrid, where the fatal duel +was fought, and stayed by him until the end came, received his last +sigh, his last words, and closed his dying eyes, and afterwards +conveyed the remains of his best friend to the bereaved family with a +sad heart. Though sympathizing deeply with them in their affliction, +my father was much disturbed as to what disposition would be made of +him, and after Major Berry was consigned with loving hands to his last +resting place, these haunting thoughts obtruded, even in his sleeping +hours. + +A few years after, Major Berry's widow married Robert Wash, an eminent +lawyer, who afterwards became Judge of the Supreme Court. One child +was born to them, who, when she grew to womanhood, became Mrs. Francis +W. Goode, whom I shall always hold in grateful remembrance as long as +life lasts, and God bless her in her old age, is my fervent prayer for +her kindness to me, a poor little slave girl! + +We lived in the old "Wash" mansion some time after the marriage of +the Judge, until their daughter Frances was born. How well I remember +those happy days! Slavery had no horror then for me, as I played about +the place, with the same joyful freedom as the little white children. +With mother, father and sister, a pleasant home and surroundings, what +happier child than I! + +As I carelessly played away the hours, mother's smiles would fade +away, and her brow contract into a heavy frown. I wondered much +thereat, but the time came--ah! only too soon, when I learned the +secret of her ever-changing face! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Mrs. Wash lost her health, and, on the advice of a physician, went to +Pensacola, Florida, accompanied by my mother. There she died, and her +body was brought back to St. Louis and there interred. After Mrs. +Wash's death, the troubles of my parents and their children may be +said to have really commenced. + +Though in direct opposition to the will of Major Berry, my father's +quondam master and friend, Judge Wash tore my father from his wife and +children and sold him "way down South!" + +Slavery! cursed slavery! what crimes has it invoked! and, oh! what +retribution has a righteous God visited upon these traders in human +flesh! The rivers of tears shed by us helpless ones, in captivity, +were turned to lakes of blood! How often have we cried in our anguish, +"Oh! Lord, how long, how long?" But the handwriting was on the wall, +and tardy justice came at last and avenged the woes of an oppressed +race! Chickamauga, Shiloh, Atlanta and Gettysburgh, spoke in thunder +tones! John Brown's body had indeed marched on, and we, the ransomed +ones, glorify God and dedicate ourselves to His service, and +acknowledge His greatness and goodness in rescuing us from such +bondage as parts husband from wife, the mother from her children, aye, +even the babe from her breast! + +Major Berry's daughter Mary, shortly after, married H. S. Cox, of +Philadelphia, and they went to that city to pass their honeymoon, +taking my sister Nancy with them as waiting-maid. When my father was +sold South, my mother registered a solemn vow that her children should +not continue in slavery all their lives, and she never spared an +opportunity to impress it upon us, that we must get our freedom +whenever the chance offered. So here was an unlooked-for avenue of +escape which presented much that was favorable in carrying out her +desire to see Nancy a free woman. + +Having been brought up in a free State, mother had learned much to her +advantage, which would have been impossible in a slave State, and +which she now proposed to turn to account for the benefit of her +daughter. So mother instructed my sister not to return with Mr. and +Mrs. Cox, but to run away, as soon as chance offered, to Canada, where +a friend of our mother's lived who was also a runaway slave, living in +freedom and happiness in Toronto. + +As the happy couple wandered from city to city, in search of pleasure, +my sister was constantly turning over in her mind various plans of +escape. Fortune finally favored Nancy, for on their homeward trip +they stopped at Niagara Falls for a few days. In her own words I will +describe her escape: + + "In the morning, Mr. and Mrs. Cox went for a drive, telling + me that I could have the day to do as I pleased. The shores + of Canada had been tantalizing my longing gaze for some + days, and I was bound to reach there long before my mistress + returned. So I locked up Mrs. Cox's trunk and put the key + under the pillow, where I was sure she would find it, and I + made a strike for freedom! A servant in the hotel gave me + all necessary information and even assisted me in getting + away. Some kind of a festival was going on, and a large + crowd was marching from the rink to the river, headed by a + band of music. In such a motley throng I was unnoticed, but + was trembling with fear of being detected. It seemed an age + before the ferry boat arrived, which at last appeared, + enveloped in a gigantic wreath of black smoke. Hastily I + embarked, and as the boat stole away into the misty twilight + and among crushing fields of ice, though the air was chill + and gloomy, I felt the warmth of freedom as I neared the + Canada shore. I landed, without question, and found my + mother's friend with but little difficulty, who assisted me + to get work and support myself. Not long afterwards, I + married a prosperous farmer, who provided me with a happy + home, where I brought my children into the world without the + sin of slavery to strive against." + +On the return of Mrs. Cox to St. Louis she sent for my mother and told +her that Nancy had run away. Mother was very thankful, and in her +heart arose a prayer of thanksgiving, but outwardly she pretended to +be vexed and angry. Oh! the impenetrable mask of these poor black +creatures! how much of joy, of sorrow, of misery and anguish have they +hidden from their tormentors! + +I was a small girl at that time, but remember how wildly mother +showed her joy at Nancy's escape when we were alone together. She +would dance, clap her hands, and, waving them above her head, would +indulge in one of those weird negro melodies, which so charm and +fascinate the listener. + +Mrs. Cox commenced housekeeping on a grand and extended scale, having +a large acquaintance, she entertained lavishly. My mother cared for +the laundry, and I, who was living with a Mrs. Underhill, from New +York, and was having rather good times, was compelled to go live with +Mrs. Cox to mind the baby. My pathway was thorny enough, and though +there may be no roses without thorns, I had thorns in plenty with no +roses. + +I was beginning to plan for freedom, and was forever on the alert for +a chance to escape and join my sister. I was then twelve years old, +and often talked the matter over with mother and canvassed the +probabilities of both of us getting away. No schemes were too wild +for us to consider! Mother was especially restless, because she was a +free woman up to the time of her being kidnapped, so the injustice and +weight of slavery bore more heavily upon her than upon me. She did not +dare to talk it over with anyone for fear that they would sell her +further down the river, so I was her only confidant. Mother was always +planning and getting ready to go, and while the fire was burning +brightly, it but needed a little more provocation to add to the +flames. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Mrs. Cox was always very severe and exacting with my mother, and one +occasion, when something did not suit her, she turned on mother like a +fury, and declared, "I am just tired out with the 'white airs' you put +on, and if you don't behave differently, I will make Mr. Cox sell you +down the river at once." + +Although mother turned grey with fear, she presented a bold front and +retorted that "she didn't care, she was tired of that place, and +didn't like to live there, nohow." This so infuriated Mr. Cox that he +cried, "How dare a negro say what she liked or what she did not like; +and he would show her what he should do." + +So, on the day following, he took my mother to an auction-room on Main +Street and sold her to the highest bidder, for five hundred and fifty +dollars. Oh! God! the pity of it! "In the home of the brave and the +land of the free," in the sight of the stars and stripes--that symbol +of freedom--sold away from her child, to satisfy the anger of a +peevish mistress! + +My mother returned to the house to get her few belongings, and +straining me to her breast, begged me to be a good girl, that she was +going to run away, and would buy me as soon as she could. With all the +inborn faith of a child, I believed it most fondly, and when I heard +that she had actually made her escape, three weeks after, my heart +gave an exultant throb and cried, "God is good!" + +A large reward was offered, the bloodhounds (curse them and curse +their masters) were set loose on her trail. In the day time she hid in +caves and the surrounding woods, and in the night time, guided by the +wondrous North Star, that blessed lodestone of a slave people, my +mother finally reached Chicago, where she was arrested by the +negro-catchers. At this time the Fugitive Slave Law was in full +operation, and it was against the law of the whole country to aid and +protect an escaped slave; not even a drink of water, for the love of +the Master, might be given, and those who dared to do it (and there +were many such brave hearts, thank God!) placed their lives in danger. + +The presence of bloodhounds and "nigger-catchers" in their midst, +created great excitement and scandalized the community. Feeling ran +high and hundreds of people gathered together and declared that mother +should not be returned to slavery; but fearing that Mr. Cox would +wreak his vengeance upon me, my mother finally gave herself up to her +captors, and returned to St. Louis. And so the mothers of Israel have +been ever slain through their deepest affections! + +After my mother's return, she decided to sue for her freedom, and for +that purpose employed a good lawyer. She had ample testimony to prove +that she was kidnapped, and it was so fully verified that the jury +decided that she was a free woman, and papers were made out +accordingly. + +In the meanwhile, Miss Martha Berry had married Mr. Mitchell and taken +me to live with her. I had never been taught to work, as playing with +the babies had been my sole occupation; therefore, when Mrs. Mitchell +commanded me to do the weekly washing and ironing, I had no more idea +how it was to be done than Mrs. Mitchell herself. But I made the +effort to do what she required, and my failure would have been amusing +had it not been so appalling. In those days filtering was unknown and +the many ways of clearing water were to me an unsolved riddle. I never +had to do it, so it never concerned me how the clothes were ever +washed clean. + +As the Mississippi water was even muddier than now, the results of my +washing can be better imagined than described. After soaking and +boiling the clothes in its earthy depths, for a couple of days, in +vain attempt to get them clean, and rinsing through several waters, I +found the clothes were getting darker and darker, until they nearly +approximated my own color. In my despair, I frantically rushed to my +mother and sobbed out my troubles on her kindly breast. So in the +morning, before the white people had arisen, a friend of my mother +came to the house and washed out the clothes. During all this time, +Mrs. Mitchell was scolding vigorously, saying over and over again, +"Lucy, you do not want to work, you are a lazy, good-for-nothing +nigger!" I was angry at being called a nigger, and replied, "You don't +know nothing, yourself, about it, and you expect a poor ignorant girl +to know more than you do yourself; if you had any feeling you would +get somebody to teach me, and then I'd do well enough." + +She then gave me a wrapper to do up, and told me if I ruined that as I +did the other clothes, she would whip me severely. I answered, "You +have no business to whip me. I don't belong to you." + +My mother had so often told me that she was a free woman and that I +should not die a slave, I always had a feeling of independence, which +would invariably crop out in these encounters with my mistress; and +when I thus spoke, saucily, I must confess, she opened her eyes in +angry amazement and cried: + +"You _do_ belong to me, for my papa left you to me in his will, when +you were a baby, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself to talk so to +one that you have been raised with; now, you take that wrapper, and if +you don't do it up properly, I will bring you up with a round turn." + +Without further comment, I took the wrapper, which was too handsome to +trust to an inexperienced hand, like Mrs. Mitchell very well knew I +was, and washed it, with the same direful results as chronicled +before. But I could not help it, as heaven is my witness. I was +entirely and hopelessly ignorant! But of course my mistress would not +believe it, and declared over and over again, that I did it on purpose +to provoke her and show my defiance of her wishes. In vain did I +disclaim any such intentions. She was bound to carry out her threat of +whipping me. + +I rebelled against such government, and would not permit her to strike +me; she used shovel, tongs and broomstick in vain, as I disarmed her +as fast as she picked up each weapon. Infuriated at her failure, my +opposition and determination not to be whipped, Mrs. Mitchell declared +she would report me to Mr. Mitchell and have him punish me. + +When her husband returned home, she immediately entered a list of +complaints against me as long as the moral law, including my failure +to wash her clothes properly, and her inability to break my head for +it; the last indictment seemed to be the heaviest she could bring +against me. I was in the shadow of the doorway as the woman raved, +while Mr. Mitchell listened patiently until the end of his wife's +grievances reached an appeal to him to whip me with the strength that +a man alone could possess. + +Then he declared, "Martha, this thing of cutting up and slashing +servants is something I know nothing about, and positively will not +do. I don't believe in slavery, anyhow; it is a curse on this land, +and I wish we were well rid of it." + +"Mr. Mitchell, I will not have that saucy baggage around this house, +for if she finds you won't whip her, there will be no living with her, +so you shall just sell her, and I insist upon it." + +"Well, Martha," he answered, "I found the girl with you when we were +married, and as you claim her as yours, I shall not interpose any +objections to the disposal of what you choose to call your property, +in any manner you see fit, and I will make arrangements for selling +her at once." + +I distinctly overheard all that was said, and was just as determined +not to be sold as I was not to be whipped. My mother's lawyer had told +her to caution me never to go out of the city, if, at any time, the +white people wanted me to go, so I was quite settled as to my course, +in case Mr. Mitchell undertook to sell me. + +Several days after this conversation took place, Mrs. Mitchell, with +her baby and nurse, Lucy Wash, made a visit to her grandmother's, +leaving orders that I should be sold before her return; so I was not +surprised to be ordered by Mr. Mitchell to pack up my clothes and get +ready to go down the river, for I was to be sold that morning, and +leave, on the steamboat Alex. Scott, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. + +"Can't I go see my mother, first?" I asked. + +"No," he replied, not very gently, "there is no time for that, you can +see her when you come back. So hurry up and get ready, and let us have +no more words about it!" + +How I did hate him! To hear him talk as if I were going to take a +pleasure trip, when he knew that if he sold me South, as he intended, +I would never see my dear mother again. + +However, I hastily ran up stairs and packed my trunk, but my mother's +injunction, "never to go out of the city," was ever present in my +mind. + +Mr. Mitchell was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, his office being in +the dwelling house, and I could hear him giving orders to his clerk, +as I ran lightly down the stairs, out of the front door to the street, +and with fleet foot, I skimmed the road which led to my mother's door, +and, reaching it, stood trembling in every limb with terror and +fatigue. + +I could not gain admittance, as my mother was away to work and the +door was locked. A white woman, living next door, and who was always +friendly to mother, told me that she would not return until night. I +clasped my hands in despair and cried, "Oh! the white people have sold +me, and I had to run away to keep from being sent down the river." + +This white lady, whose name I am sorry I cannot remember, sympathized +with me, as she knew my mother's story and had written many letters +for her, so she offered me the key of her house, which, fortunately, +fitted my mother's door, and I was soon inside, cowering with fear in +the darkness, magnifying every noise and every passing wind, until my +imagination had almost converted the little cottage into a boat, and I +was steaming down South, away from my mother, as fast as I could go. + +Late at night mother returned, and was told all that had happened, and +after getting supper, she took me to a friend's house for +concealment, until the next day. + +As soon as Mr. Mitchell had discovered my unlooked-for departure, he +was furious, for he did not think I had sense enough to run away; he +accused the coachman of helping me off, and, despite the poor man's +denials, hurried him away to the calaboose and put him under the lash, +in order to force a confession. Finding this course unavailing, he +offered a reward to the negro catchers, on the same evening, but their +efforts were equally fruitless. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +On the morning of the 8th of September, 1842, my mother sued Mr. D. D. +Mitchell for the possession of her child, Lucy Ann Berry. My mother, +accompanied by the sheriff, took me from my hiding-place and conveyed +me to the jail, which was located on Sixth Street, between Chestnut +and Market, where the Laclede Hotel now stands, and there met Mr. +Mitchell, with Mr. H. S. Cox, his brother-in-law. + +Judge Bryant Mullanphy read the law to Mr. Mitchell, which stated that +if Mr. Mitchell took me back to his house, he must give bond and +security to the amount of two thousand dollars, and furthermore, I +should not be taken out of the State of Missouri until I had a chance +to prove my freedom. Mr. H. S. Cox became his security and Mr. +Mitchell gave bond accordingly, and then demanded that I should be put +in jail. + +"Why do you want to put that poor young girl in jail?" demanded my +lawyer. "Because," he retorted, "her mother or some of her crew might +run her off, just to make me pay the two thousand dollars; and I would +like to see her lawyer, or any other man, in jail, that would take up +a d---- nigger case like that." + +"You need not think, Mr. Mitchell," calmly replied Mr. Murdock, +"because my client is colored that she has no rights, and can be +cheated out of her freedom. She is just as free as you are, and the +Court will so decide it, as you will see." + +However, I was put in a cell, under lock and key, and there remained +for seventeen long and dreary months, listening to the + + "----foreign echoes from the street, + Faint sounds of revel, traffic, conflict keen-- + And, thinking that man's reiterated feet + Have gone such ways since e'er the world has been, + I wondered how each oft-used tone and glance + Retains its might and old significance." + +My only crime was seeking for that freedom which was my birthright! I +heard Mr. Mitchell tell his wife that he did not believe in slavery, +yet, through his instrumentality, I was shut away from the sunlight, +because he was determined to prove me a slave, and thus keep me in +bondage. Consistency, thou art a jewel! + +At the time my mother entered suit for her freedom, she was not +instructed to mention her two children, Nancy and Lucy, so the white +people took advantage of this flaw, and showed a determination to use +every means in their power to prove that I was not her child. + +This gave my mother an immense amount of trouble, but she had girded +up her loins for the fight, and, knowing that she was right, was +resolved, by the help of God and a good lawyer, to win my case against +all opposition. + +After advice by competent persons, mother went to Judge Edward Bates +and begged him to plead the case, and, after fully considering the +proofs and learning that my mother was a poor woman, he consented to +undertake the case and make his charges only sufficient to cover his +expenses. It would be well here to give a brief sketch of Judge Bates, +as many people wondered that such a distinguished statesman would take +up the case of an obscure negro girl. + +Edward Bates was born in Belmont, Goochland county, Va., September, +1793. He was of Quaker descent, and inherited all the virtues of that +peace-loving people. In 1812, he received a midshipman's warrant, and +was only prevented from following the sea by the influence of his +mother, to whom he was greatly attached. Edward emigrated to Missouri +in 1814, and entered upon the practice of law, and, in 1816, was +appointed prosecuting lawyer for the St. Louis Circuit. Toward the +close of the same year, he was appointed Attorney General for the new +State of Missouri, and in 1826, while yet a young man, was elected +representative to congress as an anti-Democrat, and served one term. +For the following twenty-five years, he devoted himself to his +profession, in which he was a shining light. His probity and +uprightness attracted to him a class of people who were in the right +and only sought justice, while he repelled, by his virtues, those who +traffic in the miseries or mistakes of unfortunate people, for they +dared not come to him and seek counsel to aid them in their villainy. + +In 1847, Mr. Bates was delegate to the Convention for Internal +Improvement, held in Chicago, and by his action he came prominently +before the whole country. In 1850, President Fillmore offered him the +portfolio of Secretary of War, which he declined. Three years later, +he accepted the office of Judge of St. Louis Land Court. + +When the question of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was +agitated, he earnestly opposed it, and thus became identified with the +"free labor" party in Missouri, and united with it, in opposition to +the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. He +afterwards became a prominent anti-slavery man, and in 1859 was +mentioned as a candidate for the presidency. He was warmly supported +by his own State, and for a time it seemed that the opposition to +Governor Seward might concentrate on him. In the National Republican +Convention, 1860, he received forty-eight votes on the first ballot, +but when it became apparent that Abraham Lincoln was the favorite, Mr. +Bates withdrew his name. Mr. Lincoln appointed Judge Bates Attorney +General, and while in the Cabinet he acted a dignified, safe and +faithful part. In 1864, he resigned his office and returned to his +home in St. Louis, where he died in 1869, surrounded by his weeping +family. + + "----loved at home, revered abroad. + Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, + 'An honest man's the noblest work of God.'" + +On the 7th of February, 1844, the suit for my freedom began. A bright, +sunny day, a day which the happy and care-free would drink in with a +keen sense of enjoyment. But my heart was full of bitterness; I could +see only gloom which seemed to deepen and gather closer to me as I +neared the courtroom. The jailer's sister-in-law, Mrs. Lacy, spoke to +me of submission and patience; but I could not feel anything but +rebellion against my lot. I could not see one gleam of brightness in +my future, as I was hurried on to hear my fate decided. + +Among the most important witnesses were Judge Robert Wash and Mr. +Harry Douglas, who had been an overseer on Judge Wash's farm, and also +Mr. MacKeon, who bought my mother from H. S. Cox, just previous to her +running away. + +Judge Wash testified that "the defendant, Lucy A. Berry, was a mere +infant when he came in possession of Mrs. Fannie Berry's estate, and +that he often saw the child in the care of its reputed mother, Polly, +and to his best knowledge and belief, he thought Lucy A. Berry was +Polly's own child." + +Mr. Douglas and Mr. MacKeon corroborated Judge Wash's statement. After +the evidence from both sides was all in, Mr. Mitchell's lawyer, Thomas +Hutchinson, commenced to plead. For one hour, he talked so bitterly +against me and against my being in possession of my liberty that I was +trembling, as if with ague, for I certainly thought everybody must +believe him; indeed I almost believed the dreadful things he said, +myself, and as I listened I closed my eyes with sickening dread, for I +could just see myself floating down the river, and my heart-throbs +seemed to be the throbs of the mighty engine which propelled me from +my mother and freedom forever! + +Oh! what a relief it was to me when he finally finished his harangue +and resumed his seat! As I never heard anyone plead before, I was very +much alarmed, although I knew in my heart that every word he uttered +was a lie! Yet, how was I to make people believe? It seemed a puzzling +question! + +Judge Bates arose, and his soulful eloquence and earnest pleading made +such an impression on my sore heart, I listened with renewed hope. I +felt the black storm clouds of doubt and despair were fading away, and +that I was drifting into the safe harbor of the realms of truth. I +felt as if everybody _must_ believe _him_, for he clung to the truth, +and I wondered how Mr. Hutchinson could so lie about a poor +defenseless girl like me. + +Judge Bates chained his hearers with the graphic history of my +mother's life, from the time she played on Illinois banks, through her +trials in slavery, her separation from her husband, her efforts to +become free, her voluntary return to slavery for the sake of her +child, Lucy, and her subsequent efforts in securing her own freedom. +All these incidents he lingered over step by step, and concluding, he +said: + + "Gentlemen of the jury, I am a slave-holder myself, but, + thanks to the Almighty God, I am above the base principle of + holding anybody a slave that has as good right to her freedom + as this girl has been proven to have; she was free before she + was born; her mother was free, but kidnapped in her youth, + and sacrificed to the greed of negro traders, and no free + woman can give birth to a slave child, as it is in direct + violation of the laws of God and man!" + +At this juncture he read the affidavit of Mr. A. Posey, with whom my +mother lived at the time of her abduction; also affidavits of Mr. and +Mrs. Woods, in corroboration of the previous facts duly set forth. +Judge Bates then said: + + "Gentlemen of the jury, here I rest this case, as I would + not want any better evidence for one of my own children. The + testimony of Judge Wash is alone sufficient to substantiate + the claim of Polly Crockett Berry to the defendant as being + her own child." + +The case was then submitted to the jury, about 8 o'clock in the +evening, and I was returned to the jail and locked in the cell which I +had occupied for seventeen months, filled with the most intense +anguish. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + "There's a joy in every sorrow, + There's a relief from every pain; + Though to-day 'tis dark to-morrow + HE will turn all bright again." + + +Before the sheriff bade me good night he told me to be in readiness at +nine o'clock on the following morning to accompany him back to court +to hear the verdict. My mother was not at the trial. She had lingered +many days about the jail expecting my case would be called, and +finally when called to trial the dear, faithful heart was not present +to sustain me during that dreadful speech of Mr. Hutchinson. All night +long I suffered agonies of fright, the suspense was something awful, +and could only be comprehended by those who have gone through some +similar ordeal. + +I had missed the consolation of my mother's presence, and I felt so +hopeless and alone! Blessed mother! how she clung and fought for me. +No work was too hard for her to undertake. Others would have flinched +before the obstacles which confronted her, but undauntedly she pursued +her way, until my freedom was established by every right and without a +questioning doubt! + +On the morning of my return to Court, I was utterly unable to help +myself. I was so overcome with fright and emotion,--with the +alternating feelings of despair and hope--that I could not stand still +long enough to dress myself. I trembled like an aspen leaf; so I sent +a message to Mrs. Lacy to request permission for me to go to her room, +that she might assist me in dressing. I had done a great deal of +sewing for Mrs. Lacy, for she had showed me much kindness, and was a +good Christian. She gladly assisted me, and under her willing hands I +was soon made ready, and, promptly at nine o'clock, the sheriff called +and escorted me to the courthouse. + +On our way thither, Judge Bates overtook us. He lived out a short +distance in the country, and was riding on horseback. He tipped his +hat to me as politely as if I were the finest lady in the land, and +cried out, "Good morning Miss Lucy, I suppose you had pleasant dreams +last night!" He seemed so bright and smiling that I was imbued with +renewed hope; and when he addressed the sheriff with "Good morning +Sir. I don't suppose the jury was out twenty minutes were they?" and +the sheriff replied "oh! no, sir," my heart gave a leap, for I was +sure that my fate was decided for weal or woe. + +I watched the judge until he turned the corner and desiring to be +relieved of suspense from my pent-up anxiety, I eagerly asked the +sheriff if I were free, but he gruffly answered that "he didn't know." +I was sure he did know, but was too mean to tell me. How could he have +been so flinty, when he must have seen how worried I was. + +At last the courthouse was reached and I had taken my seat in such a +condition of helpless terror that I could not tell one person from +another. Friends and foes were as one, and vainly did I try to +distinguish them. My long confinement, burdened with harrowing +anxiety, the sleepless night I had just spent, the unaccountable +absence of my mother, had brought me to an indescribable condition. I +felt dazed, as if I were no longer myself. I seemed to be another +person--an on-looker--and in my heart dwelt a pity for the poor, +lonely girl, with down-cast face, sitting on the bench apart from +anyone else in that noisy room. I found myself wondering where Lucy's +mother was, and how she would feel if the trial went against her; I +seemed to have lost all feeling about it, but was speculating what +Lucy would do, and what her mother would do, if the hand of Fate was +raised against poor Lucy! Oh! how sorry I did feel for myself! + +At the sound of a gentle voice, I gathered courage to look upward, and +caught the kindly gleam of Judge Bates' eyes, as he bent his gaze upon +me and smilingly said, "I will have you discharged in a few minutes, +Miss Lucy!" + +Some other business occupied the attention of the Court, and when I +had begun to think they had forgotten all about me, Judge Bates arose +and said calmly, "Your Honor, I desire to have this girl, Lucy A. +Berry, discharged before going into any other business." + +Judge Mullanphy answered "Certainly!" Then the verdict was called for +and rendered, and the jurymen resumed their places. Mr. Mitchell's +lawyer jumped up and exclaimed: + + "Your Honor, my client demands that this girl be remanded to + jail. He does not consider that the case has had a fair + trial, I am not informed as to what course he intends to + pursue, but I am now expressing his present wishes?" + +Judge Bates was on his feet in a second and cried: "For shame! is it +not enough that this girl has been deprived of her liberty for a year +and a half, that you must still pursue her after a fair and impartial +trial before a jury, in which it was clearly proven and decided that +she had every right to freedom? I demand that she be set at liberty at +once!" + +"I agree with Judge Bates," responded Judge Mullanphy, "and the girl +may go!" + +Oh! the overflowing thankfulness of my grateful heart at that moment, +who could picture it? None but the good God above us! I could have +kissed the feet of my deliverers, but I was too full to express my +thanks, but with a voice trembling with tears I tried to thank Judge +Bates for all his kindness. + +As soon as possible, I returned to the jail to bid them all good-bye +and thank them for their good treatment of me while under their care. +They rejoiced with me in my good fortune and wished me much success +and happiness in years to come. + +I was much concerned at my mother's prolonged absence, and was deeply +anxious to meet her and sob out my joy on her faithful bosom. Surely +it was the hands of God which prevented mother's presence at the +trial, for broken down with anxiety and loss of sleep on my account, +the revulsion of feeling would have been greater than her over-wrought +heart could have sustained. + +As soon as she heard of the result, she hurried to meet me, and hand +in hand we gazed into each other's eyes and saw the light of freedom +there, and we felt in our hearts that we could with one accord cry +out: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace and good will towards +men." + +Dear, dear mother! how solemnly I invoke your spirit as I review these +trying scenes of my girlhood, so long agone! Your patient face and +neatly-dressed figure stands ever in the foreground of that checkered +time; a figure showing naught to an on-looker but the common place +virtues of an honest woman! Never would an ordinary observer connect +those virtues with aught of heroism or greatness, but to me they are +as bright rays as ever emanated from the lives of the great ones of +earth, which are portrayed on historic pages--to me, the qualities of +her true, steadfast heart and noble soul become "a constellation, and +is tracked in Heaven straightway." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +After the trial was over and my mother had at last been awarded the +right to own her own child, her next thought reverted to sister Nancy, +who had been gone so long, and from whom we had never heard, and the +greatest ambition mother now had was to see her child Nancy. So, we +earnestly set ourselves to work to reach the desired end, which was to +visit Canada and seek the long-lost girl. My mother being a +first-class laundress, and myself an expert seamstress, it was easy to +procure all the work we could do, and command our own prices. We +found, as well as the whites, a great difference between slave and +free labor, for while the first was compulsory, and, therefore, at the +best, perfunctory, the latter must be superior in order to create a +demand, and realizing this fully, mother and I expended the utmost +care in our respective callings, and were well rewarded for our +efforts. + +By exercising rigid economy and much self-denial, we, at last, +accumulated sufficient to enable mother to start for Canada, and oh! +how rejoiced I was when that dear, overworked mother approached the +time, when her hard-earned and long-deferred holiday was about to +begin. The uses of adversity is a worn theme, and in it there is much +of weak cant, but when it is considered how much of sacrifice the +poverty-stricken must bear in order to procure the slightest +gratification, should it not impress the thinking mind with amazement, +how much of fortitude and patience the honest poor display in the +exercise of self-denial! Oh! ye prosperous! prate of the uses of +adversity as poetically as you please, we who are obliged to learn of +them by bitter experience would greatly prefer a change of +surroundings. + +Mother arrived in Toronto two weeks after she left St. Louis, and +surprised my sister Nancy, in a pleasant home. She had married a +prosperous farmer, who owned the farm on which they lived, as well as +some property in the city near-by. Mother was indescribably happy in +finding her child so pleasantly situated, and took much pleasure with +her bright little grandchildren; and after a long visit, returned +home, although strongly urged to remain the rest of her life with +Nancy; but old people are like old trees, uproot them, and transplant +to other scenes, they droop and die, no matter how bright the +sunshine, or how balmy the breezes. + +On her return, mother found me with Mrs. Elsie Thomas, where I had +lived during her absence, still sewing for a livelihood. Those were +the days in which sewing machines were unknown, and no stitching or +sewing of any description was allowed to pass muster, unless each +stitch looked as if it were a part of the cloth. The art of fine +sewing was lost when sewing machines were invented, and though +doubtless they have given women more leisure, they have destroyed that +extreme neatness in the craft, which obtained in the days of long ago. + +Time passed happily on with us, with no event to ruffle life's +peaceful stream, until 1845, when I met Frederick Turner, and in a few +short months we were made man and wife. After our marriage, we removed +to Quincy, Ill., but our happiness was of short duration, as my +husband was killed in the explosion of the steamboat Edward Bates, on +which he was employed. To my mind it seemed a singular coincidence +that the boat which bore the name of the great and good man, who had +given me the first joy of my meagre life--the precious boon of +freedom--and that his namesake should be the means of weighting me +with my first great sorrow; this thought seemed to reconcile me to my +grief, for that name was ever sacred, and I could not speak it +without reverence. + +The number of killed and wounded were many, and they were distributed +among friends and hospitals; my husband was carried to a friend's, +where he breathed his last. Telegraphs were wanting in those times, so +days passed before this wretched piece of news reached me, and there +being no railroads, and many delays, I reached the home of my friend +only to be told that my husband was dead and buried. Intense grief was +mine, and my repining worried mother greatly; she never believed in +fretting about anything that could not be helped. My only consolation +from her was, "'Cast your burden on the Lord.' _My_ husband is down +South, and I don't know where he is; he may be dead; he may be alive; +he may be happy and comfortable; he may be kicked, abused and +half-starved. _Your_ husband, honey, is in heaven; and mine--God only +knows where he is!" + +In those few words, I knew her burden was heavier than mine, for I had +been taught that there was hope beyond the grave, but hope was left +behind when sold "down souf"; and so I resolved to conceal my grief, +and devote myself to my mother, who had done so much and suffered so +much for me. + +We then returned to St. Louis, and took up the old life, minus the +contentment which had always buoyed us up in our daily trials, and +with an added sorrow which cast a sadness over us. But Time, the great +healer, taught us patience and resignation, and once more we were + + "Waiting when fortune sheds brightly her smile, + There always is something to wait for the while." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Four years afterward, I became the wife of Zachariah Delaney, of +Cincinnati, with whom I have had a happy married life, continuing +forty-two years. Four children were born to us, and many were the +plans we mapped out for their future, but two of our little girls were +called from us while still in their childhood. My remaining daughter +attained the age of twenty-two years, and left life behind, while the +brightest of prospects was hers, and my son, in the fullness of a +promising youth, at the age of twenty-four, "turned his face to the +wall." So my cup of bitterness was full to the brim and overflowing; +yet one consolation was always mine! Our children were born free and +died free! Their childhood and my maternity were never shadowed with a +thought of separation. The grim reaper did not spare them, but they +were as "treasures laid up in heaven." Such a separation one could +accept from the hand of God, with humble submission, "for He calleth +His own!" + +Mother always made her home with me until the day of her death; she +had lived to see the joyful time when her race was made free, their +chains struck off, and their right to their own flesh and blood +lawfully acknowledged. Her life, so full of sorrow, was ended, full of +years and surrounded by many friends, both black and white, who +recognized and appreciated her sufferings and sacrifices and rejoiced +that her old age was spent in freedom and plenty. The azure vault of +heaven bends over us all, and the gleaming moonlight brightens the +marble tablet which marks her last resting place, "to fame and fortune +unknown," but in the eyes of Him who judgeth us, hers was a heroism +which outvied the most famous. + + * * * * * + +I frequently thought of father, and wondered if he were alive or dead; +and at the time of the great exodus of negroes from the South, a few +years ago, a large number arrived in St. Louis, and were cared for by +the colored people of that city. They were sheltered in churches, +halls and private houses, until such time as they could pursue their +journey. Methought, I will find him in this motley crowd, of all ages, +from the crowing babe in its mother's arms, to the aged and decrepit, +on whom the marks of slavery were still visible. I piled inquiry upon +inquiry, until after long and persistent search, I learned that my +father had always lived on the same plantation, fifteen miles from +Vicksburg. I wrote to my father and begged him to come and see me and +make his home with me; sent him the money, so he would be to no +expense, and when he finally reached St. Louis, it was with great joy +that I received him. Old, grizzled and gray, time had dealt hardly +with him, and he looked very little like the dapper master's valet, +whose dark beauty won my mother's heart. + +Forty-five years of separation, hard work, rough times and heart +longings, had perseveringly performed its work, and instead of a man +bearing his years with upright vigor, he was made prematurely old by +the accumulation of troubles. My sister Nancy came from Canada, and we +had a most joyful reunion, and only the absence of our mother left a +vacuum, which we deeply and sorrowfully felt. Father could not be +persuaded to stay with us, when he found his wife dead; he longed to +get back to his old associations of forty-five years standing, he felt +like a stranger in a strange land, and taking pity on him, I urged him +no more, but let him go, though with great reluctance. + + * * * * * + +There are abounding in public and private libraries of all sorts, +lives of people which fill our minds with amazement, admiration, +sympathy, and indeed with as many feelings as there are people, so I +can scarcely expect that the reader of these episodes of my life will +meet with more than a passing interest, but as such I will commend it +to your thought for a brief hour. To be sure, I am deeply sensible +that this story, as written, is not a very striking performance, but I +have brought you with me face to face with but only a few of the +painful facts engendered by slavery, and the rest can be drawn from +history. Just have patience a little longer, and I have done. + +I became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1855; was +elected President of the first colored society, called the "Female +Union," which was the first ever organized exclusively for women; was +elected President of a society known as the "Daughters of Zion"; was +matron of "Siloam Court," No. 2, three years in succession; was Most +Ancient Matron of the "Grand Court of Missouri," of which only the +wives of Masons are allowed to become members. I am at present, Past +Grand Chief Preceptress of the "Daughters of the Tabernacle and +Knights of Tabor," and also was Secretary, and am still a member, of +Col. Shaw Woman's Relief Corps, No. 34, auxiliary to the Col. Shaw +Post, 343, Grand Army of the Republic. + +Considering the limited advantages offered me, I have made the best +use of my time, and what few talents the Lord has bestowed on me I +have not "hidden in a napkin," but used them for His glory and to +benefit those for whom I live. And what better can we do than to live +for others? + +Except the deceitfulness of riches, nothing is so illusory as the +supposition of interest we assume that our readers may feel in our +affairs; but if this sketch is taken up for just a moment of your +life, it may settle the problem in your mind, if not in others, "Can +the negro race succeed, proportionately, as well as the whites, if +given the same chance and an equal start?" + + "The hours are growing shorter for the millions who are toiling; + And the homes are growing better for the millions yet to be; + And we all shall learn the lesson, how that waste and sin are spoiling + The fairest and the finest of a grand humanity. + + It is coming! it is coming! and men's thoughts are growing deeper; + They are giving of their millions as they never gave before; + They are learning the new Gospel; man must be his brother's keeper, + And right, not might, shall triumph, and the selfish rule no more." + + +Finis. + + + * * * * * + + =Transcriber's Notes= + +Spelling variations have been retained for: + +Chapter I, Page 10: Polly Crocket +(Living with Mrs. Posey was a little negro girl, named Polly Crocket, +who had made it her home there, in peace and happiness, for five +years.) + +Chapter IV, Page 43: Polly Crockett Berry +(The testimony of Judge Wash is alone sufficient to substantiate the +claim of Polly Crockett Berry to the defendant as being her own +child.) + +Other minor typographical and punctuation errors have been +corrected from the original to reflect the author's intent. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or +Struggles for Freedom, by Lucy A. 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