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NARRATIVE 
 
 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 IIEIEY r>IBIi, 
 
 AN AMERICAN SLAVE, 
 
 XVTtlTTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY LUCIUS C. WATIwVCK, 
 THIRD STEREOTYPE EDITION'. 
 
 NEY/ YOEK : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR ; 5 SPRUCE STREET. 
 1850. 
 
Eutered Jiocording to the Act of Congi-ess m the year iS49, 
 
 By henry lilBB, 
 
 In llic Clerk's Office of tbc District Court of the Southern Di 
 
 tr.'.r.t of ISl'w Yoi-k 
 
 i.CDO?*AI,D & LKE, PR1?!TE6S, 
 9 Si'Kl-C£. STREET, N ^ 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PaoM the most obnoxious substances we often see spring 
 forth, beautiful anS fragrant, flowers of every hue, to regale the 
 eye, and perfume the air. Thus, frequently, are results origi- 
 nated which are wholly unlike the cause that gave them birth. 
 An illustration of this truth is a^ofdediby the history of Ameri- 
 can Slavery. ;' \ 
 
 Naturally and necessarify, the enemy of literature, it has be- 
 come the prolific theme of mMch that is profound in argument, 
 sublime in poetry, and thrilling in narrative. From the soil of 
 slavery itself have sprung forth some of f^Q most brilliant pro- 
 ductions, whose logical levers will ultimately «pheave and over- 
 throw the system. Gushing fountu<ns of poetic thought, have 
 started from beneath the rod of violence, that will long continue 
 to slake the feverish thirst of humanity outraged, until swelling 
 to a flood it shall rush with wasting violence over the ill-gotten 
 heritage of the oppressor. Startling incidents authenticated, 
 far excelling fiction in their touching pathos, from the pen of 
 self-emancipated slaves, do now exhibit slavery in such revolt- 
 ing aspects, as to secure the execrations of all good men, and 
 become a monument more enduring than marble, in testimony 
 strong as sacred writ against it. 
 
 Of the class last named, is the narrative of the life of Henry 
 Bibb, which is equally distinguished as a revolting portrait of 
 the hideous slave system, a thrilling narrative of individual suf- 
 fering, and a triumphant vindication of the slave's manhood and 
 mental dignity. And all this is associated with unmistaka- 
 ble traces of originality and truthfulness. 
 
 To many, the elevated style, purity of diction, and easy flow 
 of language, frequently exhibited, will appear unaccountable 
 and contradictory, in view of his want of early mental culture 
 
11, INTRODUCTION. 
 
 But to the thousands who have listened w ith delight to his 
 speeches on anniversary and other occasions, these same traits 
 will be noted as uneqfiivocal evidence of orii^inality. Very few 
 men present in their written composition, so perfect a transcript 
 of their style as is exhibited by Mr. Bibb. 
 
 Moreover, the writer of this introduction is well acquainted 
 with his handwriting and style. The entire manuscript I have 
 examined and prepared for the press. Many of the closing 
 pages of it were written by Mr. Bibb in my office. And the 
 whole is preserved for inspection now. An examination of it 
 will show that no alteration of sentiment, language or style, 
 was necessary to make it what it now is, in the hands of the 
 reader. The work of pyeportbtipn for the press was that of 
 orthography and punctudtion .iaotely, an arrangement of the 
 chapters, and a table' of contcnts^-iltk; n^ore than falls to the lot 
 of publishers generally. 
 
 The fidelity of the narrative is sustained by the most satisfac- 
 tory and ample testimony. Time has proved its claims to truth. 
 Thorough investi^tion ha^ gijftf d and analysed every essential 
 fact alleged, and demonstrated clearly ^hat this thrilling and 
 eloquent narrative, though sU anger than fiction, is undoubtedly 
 true. 
 
 It is only necessary to present tlis following documents to 
 the reader, to sustain this declaration. For convenience of 
 reference, and that they may be more easily understood, the 
 letters will be inserted consecutively, with explanations follow- 
 ing the last. 
 
 The best preface to these letters, is, the report of a committee 
 appointed to investigate the truth of Mr. Bibb's narrative av 
 he has delivered it in public for yea'ra past. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 Of the TTNDRRSIUNED, COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE DETROIT 
 
 Liberty Association to investigate the truth of the 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HeNRY BiBB, A FUGITIVE FROM SlaVERY, AND 
 REPORT thereon: 
 
 Mr. Bibb has addressed several assemblies in Michigan, and 
 his narrative is generally known. Some of his hearers, among 
 whom were Liberty men, felt doubt as to the truth of his state- 
 ments. Respect for their scruples and the obligo.tion of duty 
 
INTRODUCTION. 111. 
 
 \b th»5 public induced the formation of the present Committee. 
 
 The* Committee entered on the duty confided to them, re- 
 solved on 3. fe«>archin2; scrutiny, and an unreserved publication 
 j)f Its result Mr. Bibb acquiesced in ih^ inquiry with a praise- 
 worthy spirit He attended before the Committee and gave 
 willing aid to its object. He was subjected to a rigorous ex- 
 amination. Facts— dates — persons — and localities were de- 
 manded and cheerfully furnished. Proper inquiry — either by 
 letter, or personally, or ^'brough the medium of triends was then 
 made from every person and in every quarter likely to elucidate 
 the truth. In fact no test for its ascertainment, known to the 
 sense or experience of the. Committee, was omitted. The re- 
 sult was the collection of * large body of testimony from very 
 diversified quarters. Slave owners, slave dealers, fugitives 
 from slavery, political friends and political foes contributed to 
 a mass of testimony, every part of which pointed to a common 
 conclusion — the undoubted truth of JNJr. Bibb's statements. 
 
 In the Committee's opinion no individvial can substantiate 
 the events of his life by testimony more conclusive and harmo- 
 nious than is now before tbem in confirmation of Mr. Bibb. 
 The main facts of his narrative, and many of the minor ones 
 are corroborated beyond all question. No inconsistency has 
 been disclosed nor anything j evcalcd to create siispicion. The 
 Committee have no hesitation in dcclarin<r their conviction that 
 Mr. Bibb is amply sustained^ and is entitled to public confi- 
 dence and high esteem. 
 
 The bulk of testimony prTicludes its publication, but it is in 
 the Committee's hands for \.\t£ inspection of any applicant. 
 
 A. L. PORTER, 
 C. H. STEWART, 
 SILAS M. HOLMES. 
 Detrqit, ^pril 22, 1845. Committee. 
 
 From the bulk of testimony obtained, a part only is here 
 introduced. The remainder fully corroborates and strengthens 
 that. 
 
 [No. 1. An Extract] Dawn Mills, Feb. 19th, 1845. 
 
 Charles H. Stewap.t, Esq. 
 My Dear. Brother : 
 
 Your kindcoimnunication of the 13th came to hand yesterday. 
 I have made inquiries respecting Henry Bibb vvhich'may be of 
 service to you. Mr. Wm. Harrison, to whom you allude in 
 your letter, is here. He is a respectable and worthy man — a 
 man of piety. I have just had an interview with him this eve- 
 ning. He testifies, that he was well acquainted with Henry 
 Bibb in Trimble County, Ky., and that he sent a letter to him 
 by Thomas Henson, and ^ot one in return from him. He says 
 that Bibb carne out to Canada some three years ago, and went 
 back to get his wife up, but was betrayed at Cincinnyti by a 
 colored man—that he was taken to Louisville but got away— 
 
IV. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was taken again and lodGed in jail, and sold off to New Or- 
 leans, or ho, (Harrison,) understood that he was taken to New 
 Orleans. He testifies tluit Bibb is a Mclhodist man, and says 
 that two persons who citme on with him last Summer, knew Bibb. 
 One of these, Simpson Young, is now at Maiden. * * * 
 Very respectfully ,^thy friend, 
 
 HIRAM WILSON. 
 
 [No. 2.] Bedford, Tri.mble Co., Kentucky. 
 
 March 4, 1845. 
 
 SiE: — Your letter under date of the 13th ult., is now be- 
 fore me, making some inquiry about a person supposed to be a 
 fugitive from the South, " who is lecturing to your religious 
 community on Slavery and the South." 
 
 I am pleased to inform you that 1 have it in my power to give 
 you the information you desire. The person spoken of byyou 
 1 have no doubt is Walton, a yellow man, who once belonged to 
 my father, William Galewood. He was purchased by him from 
 John Sibly, a»d by John Sibly of his brother Albert G. Sibly, 
 and Albert G. Siblv became poiisessed of him by his marriage 
 with Judge David White's daughter, he being born Judge 
 White's slave. 
 
 The boy Walton at the time he belonged to John Sibly, mar- 
 ried a slave of my father's, a mulatto girl, and sometime after- 
 wards solicited him to buy him ; the old man after much impor- 
 tuning from Walton, consented to do so, and accordinirly paid 
 Sibly eight hundred and fifty dollars. He did not buy him be- 
 cause he needed him, but from the fact that he had a wife there, 
 and Walton on his part promising every thing that my father 
 could desire. 
 
 It was not long, however, before Walton became indolent and 
 neglectful of his duty; and in addition to this, he was guilty, 
 as the old man thought, of worse ofTences. He watched his con- 
 duct more strictly, and found he was guilty of disposing of ar- 
 ticles irom the farm for his own use, and pocketing the money. 
 
 lie actually caught him one day stealing wheat — he had 
 conveyed one^sack full to a neiohbor and whilst he was deliver- 
 ing the other my father caught him in the very act. 
 
 "fie confessed his ^uilt and promised to do better for the fu- 
 ture — and on his making promises of this kind my father was 
 disposed to keep him still, not wishing to part him from his wife, 
 for whom he professed to entertain the strongest afTection. 
 When theChristmas Holidays came on, the old man, as is usual 
 in this country, gave his negroes a week tloliday. Walton, in- 
 stead of regaling himself by going about visitinir his colored 
 friends, took up his line of march for her Britanic Majesty's do 
 minions. 
 
 He was gone about two years I think, when 1 heard of him 
 
INTRODUCTION. T. 
 
 in Cincinnati ; I repaired thither, with some few friends to aid 
 nie, and succeeded in securing him. 
 
 He was taken to Louisville, and on the next morning after our 
 arrival there, he escaped, almost from before our face, while we 
 were on the street before the Tavern. He succeeded in elud- 
 ing our pursuit, and again reached Canada in safety. 
 
 Nothing daunted he returned, after a lapse of some twelve 
 or eighteen months, with the intention, as I have since learned, 
 of conducting off his wife and eight or ten more slaves to 
 Canada. 
 
 I got news of his whereabouts, and succeeded in recapturing 
 him. I took him to Louisville and together with his wife and 
 child, (she going alon<i with him at her owner's request,) sold 
 hem. He was taken from thence to New Orleans — and from 
 hence to Red River, Arkansas — and the next news I had of 
 him he was again wending his way to Canada, aud I suppose 
 now is at or near Detroit. 
 
 In relation to his character, it was the general opinion here 
 that he was a notorious liar, and a rosrue. These things I can 
 procure any number of respectable witnesses to prove. 
 
 In proof of it, he says his mother belonged to James Bibb, 
 which is a lie, there not having been such a man about here, 
 much less brother of Secretary Bibb. He says that Bibb's 
 danghter married A. G. Sibly, when the fact is Sibly married 
 Judi*e David White's daughter, aud his mother belonged to 
 White also and is now here, free. 
 
 So you will perceive he is guilty of lying for no effect, and 
 what might it not be supposed he would do where he could effect 
 anything by it. 
 
 I have been more tedious than I should have been, but being 
 anxious to give you his rascally, conduct in full, must be my 
 apology. You arc at liberty to publish this letter, or make any 
 use you see proper of it. If you do publish it, let me have a 
 paper containing the publication — at any rate let me hear from 
 you again. 
 
 Respectfully yours, &c., 
 
 SILAS GATEWOOD. 
 
 To C. H. StewaPvT, Esq. 
 
 [No. 3. An Extract.] Cincinnati, J»f wrc/j 10, 1845. 
 
 My Dear Sir: — i\irs. Path, Nickens and Woodson did not 
 see Bibb on his first visit, in 1837, when he staid with .Tob 
 Dundy^ but were subsequently told of it by Bibb. They first 
 saw him i%,May, I83S. Mrs. Path remembers this date because it 
 was thn month in which she removed from Broadway to Har- 
 rison street, and Bibb assisted her to remove. Mrs. Path's 
 garden adjoined Dundy's back yard. While engaged in dig- 
 ging up flowers, she was addressed by Bibb, wlio was staying 
 with Dundy pr-d who offered to dig them up for her. She hirecl 
 
VI. INTRODUCTION 
 
 him to do it. Mrs. Dundy shortly after called ever and told 
 Mrs. Path that he was a slave. At'ler that Mrs. Path took him 
 into her house and concealed him. AVhile concealed, he as- 
 tonished his good protectress by his ingenuity in bottoming 
 chairs with cane. When the furniture was removed, Bibb in- 
 sisted on helping, and was, after some remonstrances, permitted. 
 At the house on Harrison street, he was employed for several 
 days in digging a cellar, and was so employed when seized on 
 Saturday afternoon by the constables. He held frequent con- 
 versations with Mrs. Path and others, in which he gave them 
 the same account which he has given you. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon, two noted slave- catching constables, 
 E. V. Brooks and O'Neil, f^urprised Bibb as he- was digging in 
 the cellar. Bibb sprang for the fence and gained the top of it, 
 where he was seized and dragged back. They took him im- 
 mediately before AVilliam Doty, a Justice of infamous notoriety 
 tts an accomplice of kidnappers, proved property, paid charges 
 and took him away. 
 
 His distressed friends were surprised by his re-appearance 
 in a few days after, the Wednesday foUowinsf, as they think. 
 Ho reached the house of Dr. Woods, (a colored man since de- 
 ceased,) before day-brenk, and staid until dusk. Mrs. Path, 
 John Woodson and others made up about twelve dollars for him, 
 W^oodson accompanied him out of town a mile and bid him 
 "Godspeed." He has never been here since. W^oodson and 
 Clark sa\y him at Detroit iwo years ago. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 WILLIAM BIRNEY. 
 
 [No. 4.] Louisville, March 14, 1845. 
 
 Mr. Stewart. — Yours of the 1st came to hand on the 13th inst 
 You wished me to inlbrm you what became of a boy that was 
 in the work-house in the lull of '39. The boy you allude to 
 went by the name of Walton ; he had ran away t>om Kentucky 
 Home time before, and returned for his wife — was cauijht and sold 
 to Garrison ; he was taken to Louisiana, I think — he was sold 
 on Red River to a planter. As Garrison is absent in the City 
 of New Orleans at this time, I cannot inform you who he was 
 sold to. Garrison will be in Louisville some time this Spring ; 
 if you wish me, I will inquire of Garrison and inform you to 
 whom he was sold, and where his master lives at this time. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 W. PORTER. 
 
 [No. 5.] Bedford, Trimble Cornxv, Ky 
 
 C. H. Stewart, Esq., 
 
 Sir. — I received your note on the IGth inst., and in accordance 
 with it I write you these lines. You stated that you would 
 
INTRODUCTION. VU 
 
 wish to know something about Walton H. Bibb, and whether 
 he had a wife and child, and whether they were sold to New 
 Orleans. Sir, before I answer these inquiries, 1 should like to 
 know who Charles H. Stewart is, and why you should make 
 these inquiries of me, and how you knew who I was, as you are 
 a stranger to me and I must he to you. In your next if you 
 will tell me the intention of your inquiries, 1 will give you a 
 full history of the whole case. 
 
 I have a boy in your county by the name of King, a large 
 man and very black ; if you are acquainted with him, give him 
 my compliments, and tell him I am well, and all of his friends. 
 VV. H. Bibb is acquainted with him. 
 
 I wait your answer. 
 
 Your most obedient, 
 Jylarch 17, 1845. W. H. GATEWOOD 
 
 [No. 6.] Bedford, Kentucky, ,^pril 6th, 1845, 
 
 Mr. Charles H.Stewart. 
 Sir: — Yours of the 1st March is before me, inquiring if one 
 Walton Bibb, a colored man, escaped from me at Louisville, Ky., 
 in the Spring of 1839. To that inquiry I answer, he did. The 
 particulars are these : He ran off from William Gatewood some 
 time in 1838 I think, and was heard of in Cincinnati. Myself and 
 some others went there and took him, and took him to Louis- 
 ville for sale, by the directions of his master. While there he 
 made his escape and was gone some time, I think about one 
 year or longer. He came back it was said, to get his wife and 
 child, so report says. He was again taken by his owner; he 
 together with his wife and child was taken to Louisville and 
 sold to a man who traded in negroes, and was taken by him to 
 New Orleans and sold with his wife and child to some man up 
 Red River, so I was informed by the man who sold him. He 
 then ran off and left his wife and child and got back, it seems, 
 to your country. I can say for Gatewood he was a good mas- 
 ter, and treated him well. Gatewood bought him from a Mr, 
 Sibly, who was going to send him down the river. Walton, to 
 my knowledge, influenced Gatewood to buy him, and promised 
 if he would, never to disobey him or run off. Who he beloniis 
 to now, I do not know. I know Gatewood sold his wife and 
 child at a great sacrifice, to satisfy him. If any other informa- 
 tion is necessary I will give it, if required . Vou will please 
 write me again what he is trying to do in your country, or what 
 he wishes the inquiry from me ibr. 
 
 Yours, trulv, 
 
 ' DANIEL S. LANE. 
 
 These letters need little comment. Their testimony com- 
 bined is most harmonioup and conclusive. Look at the pointa 
 
 'established. 
 
VIU. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1. Hiram Wilson gives the testimony of reputable men now 
 in Canada, who knew Henry Bibb as a slave in Kentucky. 
 
 2. Silas Gatewood, with a peculiar relish, fills three pages of 
 foolscap, " being anxious to give his rascally conduct in full," 
 as he says. But he vaults over the saddle and lands on the 
 other side. His testimony is invaluable as an endorsement of 
 Mr. Bibb's truthfulness. He illustrates all the essential facts 
 of this narrative. He also labors to prove him deceitful and a 
 liar. 
 
 Deceit in a slave, is only a slight reflex of the stupendous 
 fraud practised by his master. And its indulgence has far more 
 logicin its favor, than the ablest plea ever written for slave hold- 
 ing, under ever such peculiar circumstances. The attempt to 
 prove Mr Bibb in the lie, is a signal failure, as he never affirm- 
 ed what Gatewood denies. With this offset, the letter under 
 notice is a triumphant vindication of one, whom he thought there 
 by to injure sadly. As Mr. Bibb has most happily acknowledg- 
 ed the wheat, (sec page 194,) I pass the charge of stealing by 
 referring to the logic there used, which will be deemed con- 
 vincing. 
 
 3. William Birney, Esq., attests the facts of Mr. Bibb's arrest 
 in Cincinnati, and the subsequent escape, as narrated by him, 
 from the declaration of eye witnesses. 
 
 4. W. Porter, Jailor, states that Bibb was in the work-house 
 at Louisville, held and sold afterwards to the persons and at the 
 places named in this volume. 
 
 5. W. H. Gatewood, with much Southern dignity, will an- 
 swer no questions, but shows his relation to these matters by 
 naming " King" — saying, " W. H. Bibb is acquainted with 
 him," and promising " a full history of the case." 
 
 6. Daniel S.Lane, with remarkable straight-forwardness an* 
 stupidity, tells all he knows, and then wants to know what thej 
 ask him for. The writer will answer that question. He Avant 
 ed to prove by two or more witneses, the truth of his own state- 
 ments ; which has most surely been accomplished. 
 
 Having thus presented an array of testimony sustaining the 
 facts alleged in this narrative, the introduction will be con- 
 cluded by introducing a letter signed by respectable men of 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX. 
 
 Detioit, and endorsed by Judge Wilkins, showing the high es- 
 teem in which Mr. Bibb is held by those who know him well 
 where he makes his home. Their testimony expresses their 
 present regard as well as an opinion of his past character. It 
 is introduced here with the greatest satisfaction, as the writer 
 is assured, from an intimate acquaintance with Henry Bibb, 
 that all who know him hereafter will entertain the same senti- 
 ments toward him : 
 
 Detroit, March 10, 1845. 
 The undersigned have pleasure in recommending Henry 
 Bibb to the kinBness and confidence of Anti-slavery friends in 
 every State. He has resided among us for some years. His 
 deportment, his conduct, and his christian course have won our 
 esteem and affection. The narrative of his sufferings and more 
 early life has been thoroughly investigated by a Committee ap- 
 pointed for the purpose. They sought evidence respecting it in 
 every proper quarter, and their report attested its undoubted 
 truth. In this conclusion we all'cordially unite. 
 
 H. Bibb has for some years publicly made this narrative to as- 
 semblies, whose number cannot be told ; it has commanded pub- 
 lic attention in this State, and provoked inquiry. Occasionally 
 too we see persons from the South, who knew him in early 
 years, yet not a word or fact worthy of impairing its truth has 
 reached us ; but on the contrary, every thing tended to its cor- 
 roboration. 
 
 Mr. Bibb's Anti-slavery efforts in this State have produced in- 
 calculable benefit. The Lord has blessed him into an instru- 
 ment of great power. He has labored much, and for very inade- 
 quate compensation. Lucrative offers for other quarters did not 
 tempt him to a more profitable field. His sincerity and disin- 
 terestedness are therefore beyond suspicion. 
 
 We bid him " God-speed," on hia route. We bespeak for 
 him every kind consideration. *##■>? 
 
 J}. Hallock, 
 President of the Detroit Lib. Association. 
 
 CuLLEN Brown, Vice-President. 
 
 S. M. Holmes, Secretary. 
 
 J. D. Baldwin, 
 
 Charles H. Stewart, 
 
 Martin Wilson, 
 
 William Barnum. 
 
 Detroit, Nov. 11, 1845. 
 
 The undersigned, cheerfully concurs with Mr. Hallock and 
 others in their friendly recommendation of Mr, Henry Bibb 
 
X. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The undersigned has known him for many months ih the Sab- 
 bath Scliool in this City, partly under his charge, and can cer- 
 tify to his correct deportment, and commend him to the sympa- 
 thies of Christian benevolence. 
 
 ROSS WILKINS. 
 
 The task now performed, in preparing for the press and in» 
 troducing to the public the narrative of Henry Bibb, lias been 
 one of the most pleasant ever required at my hands. And I 
 conclude it with an expression of the hope that it may afTora 
 interest to the reader, support to the author in his efforts against 
 slavery, and be instrumental in advancing the great work of 
 emancipation in this country. 
 
 LUCIUS C. MATLACK. 
 
 New York City, July Ist, 1849. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 This work has been -written during irregular intervals, while 
 I have been travelling and laboring for the emancipation of my 
 enslaved countrymen. The reader will remember that I malce 
 no pretension to literature ; for I can truly say, that I have 
 been educated in the school of adversity, whips, and chains. 
 Experience and observation have been my principal teachers, 
 with the exception of three weeks schooling which I have had 
 the good fortune to receive since my escape from the " grave 
 yard of the mind,*' or the dark prison of human bondage. And 
 nothing but untiring perseverance has enabled me to prepare 
 this volume for the public eye ; and T trust by the aid of Divine 
 Providence to be able to make it intelligible and instructive. I 
 thank God for the blessings of Liberty — the contrast is truly 
 great between freedom and slavery. To be changtd from a chat- 
 tel to a human being, is no light matter, though the process with 
 myself practically was very simple. And if I could reach the 
 ears of every slave to-day, throughout the who^^ continent of 
 America, T would teach the same lesson, I would sound it in the 
 ears of every hereditary bondman, " break your chains and fly 
 for freedom !" 
 
 It may be asked why I have written this work, when there 
 has been so much already written and published of the same 
 character from other fugitives? And, why publish it after 
 having told it publicly all through New England and the Wes- 
 tern States to multiplied thousands ? 
 
 My answer is, that in no place have I given orally the de- 
 tail of my narrative ; and some of the most interesting events 
 of my life have never reached the public ear ^Moreover, it was 
 
Xll. -AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 at the request of many friends of dovrn-trodden humanity, that I 
 have undertaken to write the following sketch, that light and 
 truth might be spread on the sin and evils of slavery as far as 
 possible. I also wanted to leave my humble testimony on record 
 against this man-destroying system, to be read by succeeding 
 generations when my body shall lie mouldering in the dust. 
 
 But I would not attempt by any sophistry to misrep- 
 resent slavery in order to prove its dreadful wickedness. For, 
 I presume there are none who may read this narrative through, 
 whether Christians or slaveholders, males or females, but what 
 will admit it to be a system of the most high-handed oppression 
 and tyranny that ever was tolerated by an enlightened nation 
 
 HENRY BIBB 
 
INDEX 
 
 Introduction. . - - . . j 
 
 Author's Preface. - - - - - 11 
 
 Chap. I. — Sketch of my Parentage, 13. Early separation from 
 my Mother^ 14. Hard Fare, 15. First Experiments 
 at running away, 16. Earnest longing for Free- 
 dom, 17. Abhorrent nature of Slavery, IS. 
 
 Chap. II. — A fruitless effort for education, 20. The Sabbath 
 among Slaves, 21. Degrading amusements, ib 
 Why religion is rejected, 24. Condition of poor 
 white people, ib. Superstition among slaves, 25 
 
 Chap. III. — My Courtship and Marriage, 33. Change of owner, 
 42. My first born, ib. Its sufferings, 43. My wife 
 abused, ib. My own anguish, 44. 
 
 Chap. IV. — My first adventure for liberty, 46. Parting Scene, 
 
 47. Journey up the river, 48. Safe arrival in Cin- 
 cinnati, 50. Journey to Canada, 51. Suffering 
 from cold and hunger, 52. Denied food and shelter 
 by some, ib. One noble exception, 54. Subsequent 
 success, ib. Arrival at Perrysburgh, 55. Obtain 
 employment through the winter, ib. My return to 
 Kentucky to get my family, 56. 
 
 CiiAP. V. — My safe arrival at Kentucky, 57. Surprise and de- 
 light to find my family, ib. Plan for their escape, 
 projected, 58. Return to Cincinnati, 60. My be- 
 trayal by traitors, 61. Imprisonment in Covington, 
 Kentucky, 65. Return to slavery, 66. Infamous 
 proposal of the, slave catchers, 67. My reply, 68. 
 
X. INDEX. 
 
 Chap. VI. — Arrival at Louisville, Kentucky, 72. Efforts to sell 
 me, 73. Fortunate escape from the man- stealers in 
 the public street, 74. I return to Bedford, Ky., 77. 
 The rescue of my family again attempted, 79. I 
 started alone expecting them to folloAv, 80. After 
 waiting some months I resolve to go back again to 
 Kentucky, 83. 
 
 CuAP Vn. — My safe return to Kentucky, 84. The perils I en- 
 countered there, 85. Again betrayed, and taken by 
 a mob , ironed and imprisoned, 86. Narrow escape 
 from death^ 90. Life in a slave pi'ison, 91. 
 
 Chap. VIIL — Character of my prison companions, 94. Jail 
 breaking contemplated, 95. Defeat of our plan, 97. 
 My wife and child removed, ib. Disgraceful pro- 
 posal to her, and cruel punishment, 98. Our de- 
 parture in a coflae for New Orleans, 99. Events of 
 our journey, ib. 
 
 Chap. IX. — Our arrival and examination at Vicksburg, 101. 
 An account of slave sales, 103. Cruel punishment 
 with the paddle, ib. Attempts to sell myself by 
 Garrisou''s direction, 100. Amusing interview with 
 a slave buyer, 107. Deacon Whitfield's examination, 
 109. He purchases the family, 110. Character of 
 • the Deacon, ib. 
 
 Chap. X, — Cruel treatment on Whitfield's farm, 112. Exposure 
 of the children, 1 16. Mode of extorting extra 
 labor, 1 17. Neglect of the sick, ib. Strange medi- 
 cine used, 118. Death of our second child, ib. 
 
 Chap. XI. — I attend a prayer meeting, 119. Punishment there- 
 ,rfjpr threatened, 120. I attempt to escape alone, 121. 
 ^y return to take my ftimily, 122. Our sufferings, 
 123. Dreadful attack of wolves, 124. Oar re 
 capture, 128. 
 
 Chap XII.— My sad condition before Whitfield, 131. My terri- 
 ble punishment, 132. Incidents of a former attemxjt 
 to escape, 134. Jack at a farm house, 136. Six 
 pigs and a turkey. 138. Our surprise and arrest, 139, 
 
 Chap. XIII. — 1 .\m sold to gamblers, 143. They try to purchase 
 my family, 145. Our parting scene, 147. My good 
 tisage, 149. I am sold to an Indian, 150. His con- 
 
 Chap. XIY. — Character of my Indian Master, 152. Slavery 
 among the Indians less cruel, 153. Indian carou 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Bal, ib. Enfeebled health of my Indian Master, 
 154. His death, ib. My escape, 155. Adventui-e 
 in a wigwam, 156. Successful progress toward 
 liberty, 157. 
 
 Uhap. XV. — ^Adventure on the Prairie, 159. I borrow a horse 
 without leave, 162. Rapid traveling one whole 
 night, ib. Apology for using other men's horse«, 
 163. My manner of living on the road, 164. 
 
 Chap. XVI. — Stratagem to get on board the steamer, 167. My 
 Irish friends, 168. My success in reaching the 
 Ohio, 169. Reflections on again seeing Kentucky, 
 ib. I get employment in a hotel, 170. ]\Iy fright 
 at seeing the gambler who sold me, 171. I leave 
 Ohio with Mr. Smith, 172. His letter, 173, My 
 education, 174. 
 
 Chap. XVII— Letter from W. H. Gatewood, 175. My reply, 
 176. My efforts as a public lecturer, 178. Singu- 
 lar incident in Steubenville, 179. Meeting with a 
 friend of Whitfield in Michigan, 181. Outrage on 
 a canal packet, 183. Fruitless efforts to find my 
 wife, 186. 
 
 Chap. XVIII. — My last effort to recover my family, 188. Sad 
 tidings of my wife, 189. Her degradation, 190. I 
 am compelled to regard our relation as dissolved 
 for ever, ib. 
 
 Chap. XIX — Comments on S. Gatewood's letter about slaves 
 stealing, 193. Their conduct vindicated, 194, Com- 
 ments on W. Gatewood's letter, 196. 
 
 Chap. XX. — Review of my narrative, 198. Licentiousness a 
 prop of Slavery, 199. A case of mild slavery given, 
 ib. Its revolting features, 200. Times of my pur- 
 chase and sale by professed Christians, 203. Con- 
 
 Opinions of laiE Press. ^50 
 
NARRATIVE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SkMcIi of my Parentage. — Early separation from my Mother.— 
 Hard Fare. — First Experiments at running away. — ^Earnest 
 longing for Freedom. — Abhorrent nature of Slavery. 
 
 I was born May 1815, of a slave mother, in 
 Shelby County, Kentucky, and was claimed as 
 the property of David White Esq. He came in- 
 to possession of my mother long before I was 
 born. I was brought up in the Counties of Shel- 
 by, Henry, Oldham, and Trimble. Or, more cor- 
 rectly speaking, in the above counties. I may safely 
 say, I was Jlogged up ; for where I should have 
 received moral, mental, and religious instruction, 
 I received stripes without number, the object of 
 which was to degrade and keep me in subordina- 
 tion. I can truly say, that I drank deeply of ^he 
 bitter cup of suffering and woe. I have been drag- 
 
14 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 ged down to the lowest depths of human degrada- 
 tion and wretchedness, by Slaveholders. 
 
 My mother was known by the name of Milldred 
 Jackson. She is the mother of seven slaves only, 
 all being sons, of whom I am the eldest. She 
 was also so fortunate or unfortunate, as to have 
 some of what is called the" slaveholding blood flow- 
 ing in her veins. I know not how much ; but not 
 enough to prevent her children though fathered by 
 slaveholders, from being bought and sold in the slave 
 markets of the South. It is almost impossible for 
 slaves to give a correct account of their male parent- 
 age. All that I know about it is, that my mothei 
 informed me that my fathers name was James Bibb. 
 He was doubtless one of the present Bibb family oj 
 Kentucky; but I have no personal knowledge a' 
 him at all, for he died before my recollection. 
 
 The first time I was separated from my mother, f 
 was young and small. I knew nothing of my condi 
 -^ tion then as a slave. I was living with Mr. White 
 whose wue died and left him a widower with on« 
 little girl, who was said to be the legitimate ownei 
 of my mother, and all her children. This girl waf 
 also my playmate wlien we were children. 
 
 I was taken away from my mother, and hired ou'' 
 to labor for various persons, eight or ten years it 
 succession ; and all my wages were expended for 
 the education of Harriet White, my playmate. It 
 was then my sorrows and sufferings commenced. 
 It was then I first commenced seeing and feeling 
 that I was a wretched slave, compelled to work un- 
 der the lash without wages, and often without 
 
 « 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 15 
 
 clothes enough to hide my nakedness. I have often 
 worked without half enough to eat, both late and 
 early, by day and by night. I have often laid my 
 wearied limbs down at night to rest upon a dirt 
 floor, or a bench, without any covering at all, be- 
 cause I had no where else to rest my wearied body, 
 after having worked hard all the day. I have also 
 been compelled in early life, to go at the bidding of 
 a tyrant, through all kinds of weather, hot or cold, 
 wet or dry, and without shoes frequently, until the 
 month of December, with my bare feet on the cold 
 frosty ground, cracked open and bleeding as I walk- 
 ed. Reader, believe me when I say, that no tongue, 
 nor pen ever has or can express the horrors of 
 American Slavery. Consequently I despair in find- 
 ing language to express adequately the deep feel- 
 ing of my souUas I contemplate the past history of 
 my life. But although I have suffered much from 
 the lash, and for want of food and raiment ; I con- 
 fess that it was no disadvantage to be passed through 
 the hands of so many families, as the only source 
 of information that I had to enlighten my mind, 
 consisted in what I could see and hear from others. 
 Slaves were not allowed books, pen, ink, nor paper, 
 to improve their minds. But it seems to me now, 
 that I was particularly observing, and apt to retain 
 what came under my observation. But more espec- 
 ially, all that I heard about liberty and freedom to 
 the slaves, I never forgot. Among other good 
 trades I learned the art of running away to perfec- 
 tion. I made a regular business of it, and never 
 gave it up, until I had broken the bands of slavery, 
 
16 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 and landed myself safely in Canada, where I was re- 
 garded as a man, and not as a thing. 
 
 The first time in my life that I ran away, was for 
 ill treatment, in 1825. I was living with a Mr. 
 Vires, in the village of Newcastle. His wife was a 
 very cross woman. She was every day flogging me, 
 boxing, pulling my ears, and scolding, so that I 
 dreaded to enter the room where she was. This 
 first started me to running away from them. I was 
 often gone several days before I was caught. They 
 would abuse me for going off, but it did no good. 
 The next time they flogged me, I was off again ; but 
 after awhile they got sick of their bargain, and re- 
 turned me back into the hands of my owners. By 
 this time Mr. White had married his second wife. 
 She was what I call a tyrant. I lived with her 
 several months, but she kept me alnwst half of my 
 time in the woods, running from under the bloody 
 lash. While I was at home she kept me all the 
 time rubbing furniture, washing, scrubbing the 
 floors ; and when I was not doing this, she would 
 often seat herself in a large rocking chair, with 
 two pillows about her, and would make me rock 
 her, and keep off the flies. She was too lazy to 
 scratch her own head, and would often make me 
 scratch and comb it for her. She would at other 
 times lie on her be(J, in warm wca^Jier, and make 
 me fan her while she slept, scratch and rub her feet ; 
 but after awhile she got sick of me, and preferred a 
 maiden servant to do such business. I was then 
 hired out again ; but by this time I had become 
 much better skilled in running away, and would 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 17 
 
 make calciilatMn to avoid detection, bv taking with 
 me a bridle. If any body should see me in the 
 woods, as they have, and asked " what are you 
 doing here sir. ? you are a runaway ?" — I said, "no, 
 sir, I am looking for our old mare;" at other times, 
 "looking for our cows." For such excuses I was 
 let pass. In fact, the only weapon of self defence 
 that I could use successfully, was that of deception. 
 It is useless for a poor helpless slave, to resist a 
 white man in a slaveholding State. Public opinion 
 and the law is against him ; and resistance in many 
 cases is death to the slave, while the law declares, 
 that he shall submit or die. ^ 
 
 The circumstances in which I was then placed, 
 gave me a longing desire to be free. It kindled a 
 fire of liberty within my breast which has never 
 yet been quenched. This seemed to be a part of my 
 nature ; it was first revealed to me by the inevitable 
 laws of nature's God. I could see that the All- wise 
 Creator, had made man a free, moral, intelligent and 
 accountable being ; capable of knowing good and 
 evil. And I believed then, as I believe now, that 
 every man has a right to wages for his labor ; a 
 right to his own wife and children ; a right to liberty 
 and the pursuit of happiness ; and a right to wor- 
 ship God according to the dictates of his own con- 
 science. But here, in the light of these truths, I 
 was a slave, a prisoner for life; I could possess 
 nothing, nor acquire anything but what must be- 
 long to my keeper. No one can imagine my feelings 
 in my reflecting moments, but he who has himself 
 been a slave. Oh ! I have often Wept over my con- 
 
18 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 dition, while sauntering through th? forest, to es- 
 cape cruel punishment. 
 
 " No arm to protect me from tyrants aggression ; 
 
 No parents to cheer me ■when laden with grief. 
 
 Man may picture the bounds of the rocks and the rivers, 
 
 The hills and the valleys, the lakes and the ocean, 
 
 But the horrors of slavery, he never can trace." 
 
 The term slave to this day sounds with terror to 
 my soul, — a word too obnoxious to speak— ^a system 
 too intolerable to be endured. I know this from 
 long and sad experience. I now feel as if I had 
 just been aroused fj-om sleep, and looking back with 
 quickened perception at the state of torment from 
 whence I fled. I was there held and claimed as a 
 slave ; as such I was subjected to the will and pow- 
 er of my keeper, in all respects whatsoever. That 
 the slave is a human being, no one can deny. It is 
 his lot to be exposed in common with other men, 
 to the calamities of sickness, death, and the misfor- 
 tunes incident to life. But unlike other men, he is 
 denied the consolation of struggling against exter- 
 nal diffculties, such as destroy the life, liberty, and 
 happiness of himself and family. A slave may be 
 bought and sold in the market like an ox. He is 
 liable to be sold off to a distant land from his family. 
 He is bound in chains hand and foot ; and his suf- 
 ferings are aggravated a hundredfold, by the terrible 
 thought, that he is not allowed to struggle against 
 misfortune, corporeal punishment, insults and out- 
 rages committed upon himself and family ; and he 
 is not allowed to help himself, to resist or escape 
 the blow, which he sees impending over him. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 19 
 
 This idea of utter helplessness, in perpetual bond- 
 age, is the more distressing, as there is no period 
 even with the remotest generation when it shall 
 terminate. 
 
 # 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 A fruitless eftort. for education. — The Sabbath among Slaves. — 
 Degrading amusements. — Why religion is rejectei. — Condi- 
 tion of poor white people. — Superstition among slaves. — Edu- 
 cation forbidden. 
 
 In 1833, I had some very serious religious impres- 
 sions, and there was quite a number of slaves in 
 that neighborhood, who felt very desirous to be 
 taught to read the Bible. There was a Miss Davis, 
 a poor white girl, who oifered to teach a Sabbath 
 School for the slaves, notwithstanding public opin- 
 ion and the law was opposed to it. Books were 
 furnished and she commenced the school ; but the 
 news soon got to our o^valers that she was teaching 
 us to read. This caused quite an excitement in the 
 neighborhood. Patrols* were appointed to go and 
 break it up the next Sabbath. They were deter- 
 mined that we should not have a ISabbath School in 
 operation. For slaves this was called an incendiary 
 movement. 
 
 The Sabbath is not regarded by a large number 
 of the slaves as a day of rest. They have no schools 
 to go to ; no moral nor religious instruction at all 
 in many localities where there are hundieds of 
 
 * Police peculiar to the South. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 23 
 
 slaves. Hence they resort to some kind of amuse- 
 ment. Those who make no profession of religion, 
 resort to the woods in large numbers on that day 
 to gamble, fight, get drunk, and break the Sabbath. 
 This is often encouraged by slaveholders. When 
 they wish to have a little sport of that kind, they 
 go among the slaves and give them whiskey, to see 
 them dance, " pat juber," sing and play on the ban- 
 jo. Then get them to wrestling, fighting, jumping, 
 running foot races, and butting each other like 
 sheep. This is urged on by giving them whiskey ; 
 making bets on them ; laying chips on one slave's 
 head, and daring another to tip it off with his hand ; 
 and if he tipped it off, it would be called an insult, 
 and cause a fight. Before fighting, the parties choose 
 their seconds to stand by them while fighting ; a 
 ring or a circle is formed to fight in, and no one is 
 allowed to enter the ring while they are fighting, but 
 their seconds, and the white gentlemen. They are 
 not allowed to fight a duel, nor to use weapons of 
 any kind. The blows are made by kicking, knock- 
 ing, and butting with their heads ; they grab each 
 other by their ears, and jam their heads together 
 like sheep. If they are likely to hurt each other 
 very bad, their masters would rap them with their 
 walking canes, and make them stop. After fighting, 
 they make friends, shake hands, and take a dram 
 together, and there is no more of it. 
 
 But this is all principally for want of moral in- 
 struction. This is where they have no Sabbath 
 Schools; no one to read the Bible to them; no one 
 to preach the gospel who is competent to expoimd 
 
24 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 the Scriptures, except slaveholders. And the slaves, 
 with but few exceptions, have no confidence at all 
 in their preaching, because they preach a pro-slavery 
 doctrine. They say, " Servants be obedient to your 
 masters ; — and he that knoweth his master's will and 
 doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes ; — 
 means that God will send them to hell, if they disobey 
 their masters. This kind of preaching has driven 
 thousands into infidelity. They view themselves 
 as suffering unjustly under the lash, without friends, 
 without protection of law or gospel, and the green 
 eyed monster tyranny staring them in the face. 
 They know that they are destined to die in that 
 wretched condition, unless they are delivered by 
 the arm of Omnipotence. And they cannot believe 
 or trust in such a religion, as above named. 
 
 The poor and loafering class of whites, are about 
 on a par in point of morals with the slaves at the 
 South. They are generally ignorant, intemperate, 
 licentious, and profane. They associate much with 
 the slaves ; are often found gambling together on 
 the Sabbath ; encouraging slaves to steal from their 
 owners, and sell to them, corn, wheat, sheep, chick- 
 ens, or any thing of the kind which they can well 
 conceal. For such offences there is no law to reach 
 a slave but lynch law. But if both parties are 
 caught in the act by a white person, the slave is 
 punished with the lash, while the white man is 
 often punished with both lynch and commjn law. 
 But there is another class of poor white people in 
 the South, who, I think would be glad to see slavery 
 abolished in self defence ; they despise the institu- 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 25 
 
 tion because it is impoverishing and degrading to 
 them and their children. 
 
 The slave holders are generally rich, aristocratic, 
 overbearing ; and they look with utter contempt 
 upon a poor laboring man, who earns his bread by 
 the " sweat of his brow," whether he be moral or 
 immoral, honest or dishonest. No matter whether 
 he is white or black ; if he performs manual labor 
 for a livelihood, he is looked upon as being inferior 
 to a slaveholder, and but little better off than the 
 slave, who toils without wages under the lash. It 
 is true, that the slaveholder, and non-slaveholder, 
 are living under the same laws in the same State. 
 But the one is rich, the other is poor ; one is edu- 
 cated, the other is uneducated ; one has houses, 
 land and influence, the other has none. This being 
 the case, that class of the non- slaveholders would 
 be glad to see slavery abolished, but they dare not 
 speak it aloud. 
 
 There is much superstition among the slaves 
 Many of them believe in what they call " conjura- 
 tion," tricking, and witchcraft ; and some of them 
 pretend to understand the art, and say that by it 
 they can prevent their masters from exercising their 
 will over their slaves. Such are often applied to 
 by others, to give them power to prevent their mas- 
 ters from flogging them. The remedy is most gen- 
 erally some kind of bitter root ; they are directed 
 to chew it and spit towards their masters when they 
 are angry with their slaves. At other times they 
 prepare certain kinds of powders, to sprinkle about 
 their masters dwellings. This is all done for the 
 
 
26 NARExVTIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 purpose of defending themselves in some peaceable 
 manner, although I am satisfied that there is no 
 virtue at all in it. I have tried it to perfection 
 when I was a slave at the South. I was then a 
 young man, full of life and vigor, and was very 
 fond of visiting our neighbors slaves, but had no 
 time to visit only Sundays, when I could get a per- 
 mit to go, or after night, when I could slip off with- 
 out being seen. If it was found out, the next morn- 
 ing I was called up to give a,n account of myself for 
 going off without permission ; and would very often 
 get a flogging for it. 
 
 I got myself into a scrape at a certain time, by 
 going off in this way, and I expected to be severely 
 punished for it. I had a strong notion of running 
 off, to escape being flogged, but was advised by a 
 friend to go to one of those conjurers, who could 
 prevent me from being flogged. I went and inform- 
 ed him of the difficulty. He said if I would pay 
 him a small sum, he would prevent my being flogged. 
 After I had paid him, he mixed up some alum, salt 
 and other stuff into a powder, and said I must 
 sprinkle it about my master, if he should offer to 
 strike me ; this would prevent him. He also gave 
 me some kind of bitter root to chew, and spit 
 towards him, which would certainly prevent my 
 being flogged. According to order I used his rem- 
 edy, and for some cause I was let pass without 
 being flogged that time. 
 
 I had then great faith in conjuration and witch- 
 craft I was led to believe that I could do almost 
 as I pleased, without being flogged. So on the 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 27 
 
 next Sabbatli my conjuration was fully tested by 
 my going off, and staying away until Monday morn- 
 ing, without permission. When I returned home, 
 my master declared that he would punish me foy 
 going off; but I did not believe that he could do it 
 while I had this root and dust ; and as he approach- 
 ed me, I commenced talking saucy to him. But he 
 soon convinced me that there was no virtue in them. 
 He became so enraged at me for saucing him, that 
 he grasped a handful of switches and punished me 
 severely, in spite of all my roots and powders. 
 
 But there was another old slave in that neighboi-- 
 hood, who professed to understand all about conju- 
 ration, and I thought I would try his skill. He 
 told me that the first one was only a quack, and if 
 I would only pay him a certain amount in cash, 
 that he would tell me how to prevent any person 
 from striking me. After I had paid him his charge, 
 he told me to go to the cow-pen after night, and get 
 some fresh cow manure, and mix it with red pepper 
 and white people's hair, all to be put into a pot 
 over the fire, and scorched until it could be ground 
 into snuff. I was then to sprinkle it about my mas- 
 ter's bedroom, in his hat and boots, and it would pre- 
 vent him from ever abusing me in any way. After I 
 got it all ready prepared, the smallest ^inch of it scat- 
 tered over a room, was enough to make a horse 
 sneeze from the strength of it ; but it did no good, 
 I tried it to my satisfaction. It was my business to 
 make fires in my master's chamber, night and morn- 
 ing. Whenever I could get a chance, I sprinkled a 
 little of this dust about the linen of the bed, where 
 
28 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 they would breathe it on retiring. This was to 
 act upon them as what is called a kind of love 
 powder, to change their sentiments of anger, to 
 those of love, towards me, but this all proved to be 
 vain imagination. The old man had my money, 
 and I was treated no better for it. 
 
 One night wdien I went in to make a fire, I avail- 
 ed myself of the opportunity of sprinkling a very 
 heavy charge of this powder about my master's bed.* 
 Soon after their going to bed, they began to cough 
 and sneeze. Being close around the house, watch- 
 ing and listening, to know what the effect would 
 be, I heard them ask each other what in the world 
 it could be, that made them cough and sneeze so. 
 All the while, I was trembling with fear, expecting 
 every moment I should be called and asked if I 
 knew any thing about it. After this, for fear they 
 might find me out in my dangerous experiments 
 upon them, I had to give them up, for the time 
 being. I was then convinced that running away 
 was the most effectual way by which a slave could 
 escape cruel punishment. 
 
 As all the instrumentalities wnich I as a slave, 
 could bring to bear upon the system, iiad utterly 
 failed to palliate my sufferings, all hope and conso- 
 lation fled, t must be a slave for life, and suffer 
 under the lash or die. The influence which this 
 had only tended to make me more unhappy. I re- 
 solved that I would be free if running away could 
 make me so. 1 had heard that Canada was a land 
 of liberty, somewhere in the North ; and every wave 
 of trouble that rolled across mv breast, caused me 
 
NAREATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 29 
 
 to think more and more about Canada, and liberty. 
 But more especially after having been flogged, I 
 have fled to the highest hills of the forest, pressing 
 my way to the North for refuge ; but the river Ohio 
 was my limit. To me it was an impassable gulf. 
 I had no rod wherewith to smite the stream, and 
 thereby divide the waters. I had no Moses to go 
 before me and lead the way from bondage to a pro- 
 mised land. Yet I was in a far worse state than 
 Egyptian bondage ; for they had houses and land ; 
 I had none ; they had oxen and sheep ; I had none ; 
 they had a wise counsel, to tell them what to 
 do, and where to go, and even to go with them ; 
 I had none. I was surrounded by opposition on 
 every hand. My friends were few and far be- 
 tween. I have often felt when running away as if 
 I had scarcely a friend on earth. 
 
 Sometimes standing on the Ohio River blufi^, 
 looking over on a free State, and as far north as 
 my eyes could see, I have eagerly gazed upon 
 the blue sky of the free North, which at times 
 constrained me to cry out from the depths of 
 ray soul, Oh ! Canada, sweet land of rest — Oh ! 
 when shall I get there ? Oh, that I had the wings 
 of a dove, that I might soar away to where there 
 is no slavery; no clanking of chains, no cap- 
 tives, no lacerating of backs, no parting of hus- 
 bands and wives ; and where man ceases to be the 
 property of his fellov/ man. These thoughts have 
 revolved in my mind a thousand times. I have 
 stood upon the lofty banks of the river Ohio, gazing 
 upon the splendid steamboats, wafted with all their 
 
30 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 magnificence up and down the river, and I fcLought 
 of tlie fishes of the water, the fowls of the air, the 
 wild beasts of the forest, all appeared to be free, to 
 go just where they pleased, and I was an unhappy 
 slave ! 
 
 But my attention was gradually turned in a 
 measure from this subject, by being introduced into 
 the society of young women. This for the time 
 being took my attention from running away, as 
 waiting on the girls appeared to be perfectly con- 
 genial to my nature. I wanted to be well thought 
 of by them, and would go to great lengths to gain 
 their affection. I had been taught by the old super- 
 stitious slaves, to believe in conjuration, and it was 
 hard for me to give up the notion, for all I had been 
 deceived by them. One of these conjurers, for a 
 small sum agreed to teach me to make any girl love 
 me that I wished. After I had paid him, he told me 
 to get a bull frog, and take a certain bone out of the 
 frog, dry it, and when I got a chance I must step 
 up to any girl whom I wished to make love me, and 
 scratch her somewhere on her naked skin with this 
 bone, and she would be certain to love me, and 
 would follow me in spite of herself ; no matter who 
 she might be engaged to, nor who she might be walk- 
 ing with. 
 
 So I got me a bone for a certain girl, whom I 
 knew to be under the influence of another young 
 man. I happened to meet her in the company of her 
 lover, one Sunday evening, walking out ; so when I 
 get a chance, I fetched her a tremendous rasp across 
 her neck with this bone, which made her jump. Bu^ 
 
Narrative op henry bibb. '6i 
 
 U place of making her love me, it only mad» her 
 angry with me. She felt more Jike running nftei 
 me to retaliate on me for thus abusing her, than she 
 felt like loving me. After. I found there was no vir- 
 tue in the bone of a frog, I thought I would try uome 
 other way to carry out my object. I then sought 
 another counsellor among the old superstitious in- 
 fluential sia.ves ; one who professed to be a great 
 friend of mine, told me to get a lock of hair from the 
 head of any girl, and wear it in my shoes : this 
 w^ould cause her to love me above all other persons. 
 As there was another girl whose affections I was 
 anxious to gain^ but could not succeed, I thought, ' 
 without trying the experiment of this hair. I slip- 
 ped off one night to see the girl, and asked her for a 
 lock of her hair ; but she refused to give it. Be- 
 lieving that my success depended greatly upon this 
 bunch of hair, I was bent on having a lock before I 
 left that night let it cost what it might. As it was 
 time for me to start home in order to get any sleep 
 that night, I grasped hold of a lock of her hair, 
 which caused her to screech, but I never let go until 
 I had pulled it out. This of course made the girl 
 mad with me, and I accomplished nothing but gained 
 her displeasure. 
 
 Such are the superstitious notions of the great 
 masses of southern slaves. It is given to them by 
 tradition, and can never be erased, while the doors of 
 education are bolted and barred against them. But 
 there is a prohibition by law, of mental and religious 
 instruction. The state of Georgia, by an act of 
 1770, declared " that it shall not be lawful for anv 
 
32 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 number of free negroes, mo] attoes ormestinos, or even 
 slaves in company v/ith white persons, to meet to- 
 gether for the purpose of mental instruction, either 
 before the rising of the sun or after the going down 
 of the same." 2d Brevard's Digest, 254-5. Similar 
 laws exist in most of the slave States, and patrols 
 are sent out after night and on the Sabbath day to 
 enforce them. They go through their respective 
 towns to prevent slaves from meeting for religious 
 worship or mental instruction. 
 
 This is the regulation and law of American 
 Slavery, as sanctioned by the Government of the 
 United States, and without which it could not exist. 
 And almost the whole moral, political, and religious 
 power of the nation are in favor of slavery and ag- 
 gression, and against liberty and justice. I only 
 judge by their actions, which speak louder than 
 words. Slaveholders are put into the highest offices 
 in the gift of the people in both Church and State, 
 thereby making slaveholding popular and reputable. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 My Courtpliip and Marriage.— Change of owner. — My first bora, 
 — Its sufferings. — My wife abused. — My own anguish.. 
 
 The circumstances of my courtship and marriage, 
 I consider to be among the most renmrkable events 
 of my life while a slave. To think that after I had 
 determined to carry out the great idea which is so 
 universally and joractically acknowledged among 
 all the civilized nations of the earth, that I would 
 be free or die, I suffered myself to be turned aside 
 by the fascinating charms of a female, who gradually 
 won my attention from an object so high as that of 
 liberty ; and an object which I held paramount to 
 all others. 
 
 But when I had arrived at the age of eighteen, which 
 was in the year of 1833, it was my lot to be intro- 
 duced to the favor of a mulatto slave girl na7ned 
 Malinda, who lived in Oldham County, Kentucky, 
 about four miles from the residence of my owner. 
 Malinda Was a medium sized girl, graceful in her 
 walk, of an extraordinary make, and active in busi- 
 ness. Her skin was of a smooth texture, red 
 cheeks, with dark and penetrating eyes. She mov- 
 ed in the highest circle* of slaves, and free people of 
 
 * The distinction among slaves is as marked, as the classes of 
 society are in any aristocratic community. Some refusing to 
 associate with others whom they deem beneath them in point of 
 character, color, condition, or the superior importance of their 
 respective masters. 
 
34 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 color. She was also one of the best singers I ever 
 heard, and was much esteemed by all who knew her, 
 for her benevolence, talent and industry. In "fact, 
 T considered Malinda to be equalled by few, and sur- 
 passed by none, for the above qualities, all things 
 considered. 
 
 It is truly marvellous to see how sudden a man's 
 mind can be changed by the charms and influence of 
 a female. The first two or three visits that I paid 
 this dear girl, I had no intention of courting or marry- 
 ing her, for I was aware that such a step would 
 greatly obstruct my way to the land of liberty. I 
 only visited Malinda because I liked her company, 
 as a highly interesting girl. But in spite of myself, 
 before I was aware of it, I was deeply in love ; and 
 what made this passion so effectual and almost irre- 
 sistable, I became satisfied that it was reciprocal. 
 There was a union of feeling, and every visit made 
 the impression stronger and stronger. One or two 
 other young men were paying attention to' Malinda, 
 at the same time ; one of whom her mother was 
 anxious to have her marry. This of course gave 
 me a fair opportunity of testing Malinda's sincerity. 
 I had just about opposition enough to make the 
 subject interesting. That Malinda loved me above 
 all others on earth, no one could deny. I could read it 
 b}^ the warm reception with which the dear girl always 
 met me, and treated me in her mother's house. I 
 could read it by the warm and affectionate shake of 
 the hand, and gentle smile upon her lovely cheek. I 
 could read it by her always giving me the preference 
 of her company ; by her pressing invitations to visit 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 35 
 
 even in opposition to lier mother's will. J could 
 read it in the language of her bright and sparkling eye, 
 penciled by the unchangable finger of nature, that 
 spake but could not lie. These strong temptations 
 gradually diverted my attention from my actual 
 condition and from liberty, though not entirely. 
 
 But oh ! that I had only then been enabled to have 
 seen as I do now, or to have read the following slave 
 code, which is but a stereotyped law of American 
 slavery. It would have saved me I think from hav- 
 ing to lament that I was a husband and am the 
 father of slaves who are still left to linger out their 
 days in hopeless bondage. The laws of Kentucky, 
 my native State, with Maryland and Virginia, which 
 are said to be the mildest slave States in the Union, 
 noted for their humanity, Christianity and democ- 
 rac3^ declare that "Any slave, for rambling in the 
 night, or riding horseback without leave, or running 
 away, may be punished by whipping, cropping and 
 brajiding in the cheek, or otherwise, not rendering 
 him unfit for labor." " Any slave convicted of 
 petty larceny, murder, or wilfully burning of dwelling 
 houp^5, may be sentenced to have his right hand cut 
 "off: to be hanged in the usual manner, or the head 
 severed from the body, the body divided into four 
 quarters, and head and quarters stuck up in the 
 most public place in the county, where such act 
 was committed." 
 
 At the time I joined my wife in holy wedlock, I 
 was ignorant of these ungodly laws ; I knew not 
 that I was propogating victims for this kind of tor 
 ture and crueHv. Malinda's mother was free, and 
 
36 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 lived in Bedford, about a quarter of a mile from her 
 daughter ; and we often met and passed off the time 
 pleasantly. Agreeable to promise, on one Saturday- 
 evening, I called to see IMalinda, at her mother's 
 residence, with an intention of letting her know my 
 mind upon the subject of marriage. It was a very 
 bright moonlight night ; the dear girl was standing 
 in the door, anxiously w^aiting my arrival. As I 
 approached the door she caught my hand with an 
 affectionate smile, and bid me w^elcome to her 
 mother's fireside. After having broached the sub- 
 ject of marriage, I informed her of the ditliculties 
 which I conceived to be in the way of our marriage; 
 and that I could never engage myself to marry any 
 girl only on certain conditions ; near as I can recol- 
 lect the substance of our conversation upon the 
 subject, it was, that I was religiously inclined; that 
 I intended to try to comply with the requisitions of 
 the gospel, both theoretically and practically through 
 life. Also that I was decided on becoming a free 
 man before I died ; and that I expected to get free 
 by running away, and going to Canada, under the 
 British Government. Agreement on those two car- 
 dinal questions I made my test for marriage. 
 
 I said, " I never will give my heart nor hand to 
 any girl in marriage, until I first know her senti- 
 ments upon the all-important subjects of Religion 
 and Liberty. No matter how well I might love her, 
 nor how great the sacrifice in carrying out these 
 God-given principles. And I here pledge myself 
 from this course never to be shaken while a single 
 pulsation of m.y heart shall continue to throb for 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 37 
 
 Liberty." With this idea Malinda appeared to be 
 well pleased, and with a smile she looked me in the 
 face and said, " I have long entertained the same 
 views, and this has been one of the greatest reasons 
 why I have not felt inclined to enter the married 
 state while a slave ; I have always felt a desire t. 
 be free ; I have long cherished a hope that I should 
 yet be free, either by purchase or running away. 
 In regard to the subject of Eeligion, I have always 
 felt th^t it was a good thing, and something that I 
 would sejek for at some future period." After I 
 found that Malinda was right upon these all impor- 
 tant questions, and that she truly loved me well 
 enough to make me an affectionate wife, I made pro- 
 posals for marriage. She very modestly declined 
 answering the question then, considering it to be 
 one of a grave character, and upon which our future 
 destiny greatly depended. And notwithstanding she 
 confessed that I had her entire affections, she must 
 have some time to consider the matter. To this I 
 of course consented, and was to meet her on the 
 next Saturday night to decide the question. But 
 for some cause I failed to come, and the next week 
 she sent for me, and on the Sunday evening follow- 
 ing I called on her again ; she welcomed me with all 
 the kindness of an affectionate lover, and seated me 
 by her side. We soon broached the old subject of 
 marriage, and entered upon a conditional contract 
 of matrimony, viz : that we would marry if our 
 minds should not change within one year ; that after 
 marriage we would change our former course and 
 live a pious life ; and that we would embrace the 
 
38 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 earliest opportunity of running away to Canada for 
 our liberty. Clasping each other by the hand, pledg- 
 ing our sacred honor that we would be true, we 
 called on high heaven to witness the rectitude of our 
 purpose. There was nothing that could be more 
 binding upon us as slaves than this ; for marriage 
 among American slaves, is disregarded by the laws 
 of this country. It is counted a mere temporary 
 matter ; it is a union which may be continued or 
 broken off, with or without the consent of a i^ave- 
 holder, whether he is a priest or a libertine. 
 
 There is no legal marriage among the slaves of 
 the South ; I never saw nor heard of such a thing 
 in my life, and I have been through seven of the 
 slave states. A slave marrying according to law, is 
 a thing unknown in the history of American Slavery. 
 And be it known to the disgrace of our country that 
 every slaveholder, who is the keeper of a number of 
 slaves of both sexes, is also the keeper of a house 
 or houses of ill-fame. Licentious white men, can 
 and do, enter at night or day the lodging places of 
 slaves ; break up the bonds of affection in families ; 
 destroy all their domestic and social union for life ; 
 and the laws of the country afford them no protec- 
 tion. "Will any man count, if they can be counted, 
 the churches of Maryland, Kentucky, and Virginia, 
 which have slaves connected with them, living in an 
 open state of adultery, never having been married 
 according to the laws of the State, and yet regular 
 members of these various denominations, but more 
 especially the Baptist and Methodist churches ? And 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 39 
 
 I hazard nothing in saying, that this state of things 
 exists to a very wide extent in the above states. 
 
 I am happy to state that many fugitive slaves, 
 who have been enabled by the aid of an over-ruling 
 providence to escape to the free North with those 
 whom they claim as their wives, notwithstanding all 
 their ignorance and superstition, are not at all dis- 
 posed to live together like brutes, as they have been 
 compelled to do in slaveholding Churches. But as 
 soon as they get free from slavery they go before 
 some anti- slavery clergyman, and have the solemn 
 ceremony of marriage performed according to the 
 laws of the country. And if they profess religion, 
 and have been baptized by a slaveholding minister, 
 they repudiate it after becoming free, and are re- 
 baptized by a man who is worthy of doing it accord- 
 ing to the gospel rule. 
 
 The nme and place of my marriage, I consider 
 one of the most trying of my life. I was opposed 
 by friends and foes ; my mother opposed me because 
 she thought I was too young, and marrying she 
 thought would involve me in trouble and difficulty. 
 My mother-in-law opposed me, because she wanted 
 her daughter to marry a slave who belonged to a 
 very rich man living near by, and who was well 
 known to be the son of his master. She thought 
 no doubt that his master or father might chance to 
 set him free before he died, which would enable him 
 to do a better part by her daughter than I could ! 
 And there was no prospect then of my ever being 
 free. But his master has neither died nor yet set 
 his son free, who is now about forty years of age, 
 
40 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 toiling under the lash, waiting and hoping that hia 
 master may die and will him to be free. 
 
 The young men were opposed to our marriage for 
 the same reason that Paddy opposed a match when 
 the clergyman was about to pronounce the marriage 
 ceremony of a young couple. He said " if tliere be 
 any present who have any objections to this 
 couple being joined together in holy wedlock, let 
 them speak now, or hold their peace henceforth." 
 At this time Paddy sprang to his feet and said, "Sir, 
 I object to this." Every eye was fixed upon him. 
 "What is your objection?" said the clergyman. 
 "Faith," replied Paddy, "Sir I want her myself." 
 
 The man to whom I belonged was opposed, be- 
 cause he feared my taking off from his farm some of 
 the fruits of my own labor for Malinda to eat, in 
 the shape of pigs, chickens, or turkeys, and would 
 count it not robbery. So we formed a resolution, 
 that if we were prevented from joining in wedlock, 
 that we would run away, and strike for Canada, 
 let the consequences be what they might. But we 
 had one consolation ; Malinda's master was very 
 much in favor of the match, but entirely upon sel- 
 fish principles. When I went to ask his permission 
 to marry Malinda, his answer was in the affirma- 
 tive with but one condition, which I consider to be 
 too vulgar to be written in this book. Our mar- 
 riage took place one night during the Christmas 
 holydays; at which time we had quite a festival 
 given us. All appeared to be wide awake, and we 
 had quite a jolly time at my wedding party. And 
 notwithstanding our marriage was without license 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 41 
 
 or sanction of law, we believed it to be honorable 
 before God, and the bed undefiled. Our Christmas 
 holydays were spent in matrimonial visiting among 
 our friends, while it should have been spent in run- 
 ning away to Canada, for our liberty. But freedom 
 was little thought of by us, for several months after 
 marriage. I often look, back to that period even 
 now as one of the most happy seasons of my life ; 
 notwithstanding all the contaminating and heart- 
 rending features with which the horrid system of 
 slavery is marked, and must carry with it to its 
 final grave, yet I still look back to that season with 
 sweet remembrance and pleasure, that yet hath 
 power to charm and drive back dull cares which 
 have been accumulated by a thousand painful recol- 
 lections of slavery. Malinda was to me an affec- 
 tionate wife. She vv^as with me in the darkest hours 
 of adversity. She was with me in sorrow, and joy, 
 in fasting and feasting, in trial and persecution, in 
 sickness and health, in sunshine and in shade. 
 
 Some months after our marriage, the unfeeling 
 master to whom I belonged, sold his farm with the 
 view of moving his slaves to the State of Missouri, 
 regardless of the separation of husbands and wives 
 forever ; but for fear of my resuming my old prac- 
 tice of running away, if he should have forced me 
 to leave my wife, by my repeated requests, he was 
 constrained to sell me to his brother, who lived 
 within seven miles of Wm. Gate wood, who then 
 hold JMalinda as his property. I was permitted to 
 visit her only on Saturday nights, after my work 
 was done, and I had to be at home before sunrise on 
 
42 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Monday mornings or take a flogging. He proved to 
 be so oppressive, and so unreasonable in punishing 
 his victims, that I soon found that I should have to 
 run away in self-defence. But he soon began to 
 take the hint, and sold me to Win. Gatewood the 
 owner of Malinda. With my new residence I con- 
 fess that I was much dissatisfied. Not that Gate- 
 wood was a more cruel master than my former 
 owner — not that I was opposed to living with 
 Malinda, who was then the centre and object of my 
 affections — but to live where I must be eye witness 
 to her insults, scourgings and abuses, such as are 
 common to be inflicted upon slaves, was more than 
 I could bear. If my wife must be exposed to the 
 insults and licentious passions of wicked slave- 
 drivers and overseers ; if she must bear the stripes 
 of the lash laid on by an unmerciful tyrant ; if this 
 is to be done with impunity, which is frequently 
 done by slaveholders and their abettors, Heaven 
 forbid that I should be compelled to witness the 
 sight. 
 
 Not many months after I took up my residence on 
 Wm. Gate wood's plantation, Malinda made me a 
 father. The dear little daughter was called Mar)'- 
 Frances. She was nurtured and caressed by her 
 mother and father, until she was large enough to 
 creep over the floor after her parents, and clunb up 
 by a chair before I felt it to be my duty to leave my 
 family and go into a foreign country for a season. 
 Malinda's business was to labor out in the field the 
 greater part of her time, and there was no one to 
 take care of poor little Frances, while her mother 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 43 
 
 was toiling in the field. She was left at the house 
 to creep under the feet of an unmerciful old mistress, 
 whom I have known to slap with her hand the face 
 of little Frances, for crying after her mother, until 
 her little face was left black and blue. I recollect 
 that Malinda and myself came from the field one 
 summer's day at noon, and poor little Frances came 
 creeping to her mother smiling, but with large tear 
 drops sta,nding in her dear little eyes, sobbing and 
 trying to tell her mother that she had been abused, 
 but was not able to utter a word. Her little face 
 was bruised black with the whole print of Mrs. 
 Gatewood's hand. This print was plainly to be 
 seen for eight days after it was done. But oh ! this 
 darling child was a slave ; born of a slave mother. 
 Who can imagine what could be the feelings of a 
 father and mother, ^vhen looking upon their infant 
 child whipped and tortured with impunity, and 
 they placed in a situation where they could aff'ord it 
 no protection. But we were all claimed and held 
 as property ; the father and mother were slaves ! 
 On this same plantation I was compelled to stand 
 and see my wife shamefully scourged and abused by 
 her master ; and the manner in which this was done, 
 was so violently and inhumanly committed upon the 
 person of a female, that I despair in finding decent 
 language to describe the bloody act of cruelty. My 
 happiness or pleasure was then all blasted ; for it 
 was sometimes a pleasure to be with my little 
 family even in slavery. I loved them as my wife 
 and child. Little Frances was a pretty child ; she 
 was quiet, playful, bright, and interesting. She 
 
44 NARRATIVE OF HENl^Y BIBB. 
 
 had a keen black eye, and tlie very image of her 
 mother was stamped upon her cheek ; but I could 
 never look upon the dear child without being filled 
 with sorrow and fearful apprehensions, of being 
 separated by slaveholders, because she was a slave, 
 regarded as property. And unfortunately for me, I 
 am the father of a slave, a word too obnoxious to 
 be spoken by a fugitive slave. It calls fresh to my 
 mind the separation of husband and wife ; of strip- 
 ping, tying up and flogging; of tearing children 
 from their parents, and selling them on the auction 
 block. It calls to mind female virtue trampled un- 
 der foot with impunity. But oh ! when I remem- 
 ber that my daughter, my only child, is still there, 
 destined to share the fate of all these calamities, it 
 is too much to bear. If ever there was any one act 
 of my life while a slave, that I have to lament over 
 it is that of being a father and a husband of slaves. 
 I have the satisfaction of knowing that I am only 
 the father of one slave. She is bone of my bone, 
 and flesh of my flesh ; poor unfortunate child. She 
 was the first and shall be the last slave that ever I 
 will father, for chains and slavery on this earth. 
 
 n^ 
 
Can a mother forget her suckling child f 
 
 The tender mercies of the wicked arc cruel. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 My first adventure for liberty. — Parting Scene. — Journey up the 
 river. — Safe arrival in Cincinnati. — Journey to Canada. — Suf- 
 fering from cold and hunger. — Denied food and shelter by 
 some. — One noble exception. — Subsequent success. — Arrival 
 at Perrysburgh. — I obtained employment through the winter. 
 — My return to Kentucky to get my family. 
 
 In the fall or winter of 1837 I formed a resolution 
 that I would escape, if possible, to Canada, for my 
 Liberty. I commenced from that hour making pre- 
 parations for the dangerous experiment of breaking 
 the chains that bound me as a slave. My prepara- 
 tion for this voyage consisted in the accumulation 
 of a little money, perhaps not exceeding two dollars 
 and fifty cents, and a suit which I had never been 
 seen or known to wear before ; this last was to 
 avoid detection. 
 
 On the twenty- fifth of December, 1837, my long 
 anticipated time had arrived when I was to put into 
 operation my former resolution, which was to bolt 
 for Liberty or consent to die a Slave. I acted upon 
 the former, although I confess it to be one of the 
 most self-denying acts of my whole life, to take 
 leave of an affectionate wife, who stood before me 
 on my departure, with dear little Frances in he) 
 arms, and with tear« of sorrow in her eyes as she 
 bid me a long farewell. It required all the moral 
 courage that I was master of to suppress my feel- 
 ings while taking leave of my little family. 
 
NARKATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 47 
 
 Plad Malinda known my intention at that time, 
 it would not have been possible for me to have got 
 away, and I might have this day been a slave. Not- 
 withstanding every inducement was held out to me 
 to run away if I would be free, and the voice of 
 liberty was thundering in my very soul, " Be free 
 oh, man ! be free," I was struggling against a thou- 
 sand obstacles which had clustered around my mind 
 to bind my wounded spirit still in the dark prison 
 of mental degradation. My strong attachments to 
 friends and relatives, with all the love of home and 
 birth-place which is so natural among the human 
 family, twined about my heart and were hard to 
 break away from. And withal, the fear of being 
 pursued with guns and blood-hounds, and of being 
 killed, or captured and taken to the extreme South, 
 to linger out my days in hopeless bondage on some 
 cotton or sugar plantation, all combined to deter me. 
 But I had counted the cost, and was fully prepared 
 to make the sacrifice. The time for fulfilling my 
 pledge was then at hand. I must foi'sake friends 
 and neighbors, wife and child, or consent to live and 
 die a slave. 
 
 By the permission of my keeper, I started out to 
 work for myself on Christmas. I went to the Ohio 
 River, which was but a short distance from Bedford. 
 My excuse for wanting to go there was to get work. 
 High wages were offered for hands to work in a 
 slaughter-house. But in place of my going to work 
 there, according to promise, when I arrived at the 
 river I managed to find a conveyance to cross over 
 into a free state. I was la^nded in the village of 
 
48 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Madison, Indiana, where steamboats were landing 
 every day and night, passing up and down the river, 
 which afforded me a good opportunity of getting a 
 boat passage to Cincinnati. My anticipation being 
 worked up to the highest pitch, no sooner was the 
 curtain of night dropped over the village, than 
 I secreted myself where no one could see me, and 
 changed my suit ready for the passage. Soon I 
 heard the welcome sound of a Steamboat coming up 
 the river Oliio, which was sooji to waft me beyond 
 the limits of the human slave markets of Kentucky. 
 When the boat had landed at Madison, notwithstand- 
 ing my strong desire to get off, my heart trembled 
 within me in view of the great danger to which I 
 was exposed in taking passage on board of a Soutli- 
 ern Steamboat ; hence before I took passage, I 
 kneeled down before the Great I Am, and prayed 
 for his aid and protection, which He bountifully be- 
 stowed even beyond my expectation ; for I felt my- 
 self to be unworthy. I then stept boldly on the 
 deck of this splendid swift-running Steamer, bound 
 for the city of Cincinnati. This being the first 
 voyage that I had ever taken on board of a Steam- 
 boat, I was filled with fear and excitement, know- 
 ing that I was surrounded by the vilest enemies of 
 God and man, liable to be seized and bound hand 
 and foot, by any white man, and taken back into 
 captivity. But I crowded myself back from the 
 light among the deck passengers, where it would be 
 difficult to distinguish me from a white man. Every 
 time durirg the night that the mate came round 
 with a light after the hands, I was afraid he would 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 49 
 
 see I was a colored man, and take me up ; hence I 
 kept from the light as much as possible. Some 
 men love darkness rather than light, because their 
 deeds are evil ; but this was not the case with my- 
 self; it was to avoid detection in doing right. 
 This was one of the instances of my adventures that 
 my affinity with the Anglo-Saxon race, and even 
 slaveholders, worked well for my escape. But no 
 thanks to them for it. "While in their midst they 
 have not only robbed me of my labor and liberty, 
 but they have almost entirely robbed me of my dark 
 complexion. Being so near the color of a slave- 
 holder, they could not, or did not find me out that 
 night among the white passengers. There was one 
 of the deck hands on board called out on his watch, 
 whose hammock was swinging up near by me. I 
 asked him if he would let me lie in it. He said if 
 I would pay him twenty- five cents that I might lie 
 Ih it until day. I readily paid him the price and 
 got into the hammock. No one could see my face 
 to know whether I v/as white or colored, while I 
 was in the hammock ; but I never closed my eyes 
 for sleep that night. I had often heard of explo- 
 sions on board of Steamboats ; and every time the 
 boat landed, and blowed off steam, I v/as afraid the 
 boilers had bursted and we should all be killed ; but 
 I lived through the night amid the many dangers to 
 which I was exposed. I still maintained my posi- 
 tion in the hammock, until the next morning about 
 8 o'clock, when I heard the passengers saying the 
 boat was near Cincinnati ; and by this time I sup- 
 posed that the attention of the people would be 
 B 
 
50 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 turned to the city, and I might pass off unnoticed^ 
 
 There were no questions asked me while on board 
 the boat. The boat landed about 9 o'clock in the 
 morning in Cincinnati, and I waited until after 
 most of the passengers had gone off of the boat ; I 
 then walked as gracefully up street as if I was not 
 running away, until I had got pretty well up Broad- 
 way. My object was to go to Canada, but having 
 no knowledge of the road, it was necessary for me 
 to make some inquiry before I left the city. I was 
 afraid to ask a white person, and I could see no 
 colored person to ask. But fortunately for me I 
 found a company of little boys at play in the street, 
 and through these little boys, hy asking them indi- 
 rect questions, I found the residence of a colored man. 
 
 " Boys, can you tell me where that old colored 
 man lives who saws wood, and works at jobs around 
 the streets ?" 
 
 " What is his name ?" said one of the boys, 
 
 "I forget." 
 
 " Is it old Job Dundy ?" 
 
 " Is Dundy a colored man ?'* 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " That is the very man I am looking for ; will 
 you show me where he lives ?" 
 
 " Yes," said the little boy, and pointed me out 
 the house. 
 
 Mr. D. invited me in, and I found him to be a true 
 friend. He asked me if I was a slave from Kentucky', 
 and if I ever intended to go back into slavery ? Not 
 knowing yet whether he was truly in faror of slaves 
 running away, I told him that I had just come over to 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 51 
 
 'Spend my Christmas holydays, and that I was going 
 back. His reply was, " my son, I would never go 
 back if I was in your place ; you have a right to 
 your liberty." I then asked him how I should get 
 my freedom ? He referred me to Cairada, over 
 which waved freedom's flag, defended by the British 
 Government, upon whose soil there cannot be the 
 foot print of a slave. 
 
 He then commenced telling me of the facilities 
 for my escape to Canada ; of the Abolitionists ; of 
 the Abolition Societies, and of their fidelity to the 
 cause of suffering humanity. This was the first 
 time in my life that ever I had heard of such people 
 being in existence as the Abolitionists. I supposed 
 that they were a different race of people. He con- 
 ducted me to the house of one of these warm-hearted 
 friends of God and the slave. I found him willing 
 to aid a poor fugitive on his way to Canada, even 
 to the dividing of the last cent, or morsel of bread 
 if necessary. 
 
 These kind friends gave me something to eat, and 
 started me on my way to Canada, with a recom- 
 mendation to a friend on my way. This was the 
 commencement of what was called the under ground 
 rail road to Canada. I walked with bold courage, 
 trusting in the arm of Omnipotence ; guided by the 
 unchangable North Star by night, and inspired by 
 an elevated thought that I was fleeing from a land 
 of slavery and oppression, bidding farewell to hand- 
 cuffs, whips, thumb-screws and chains. 
 
 I travelled on until I had arrived at the place 
 
52 NARRATIVE OF KENRY BIBB. 
 
 where I was directed to call on an Abolitionist, but 
 I made no stop : so great were my fears of being 
 pursued by the pro- slavery hunting dogs of the 
 South. I prosecuted my journey vigorously for 
 nearly forty-eight hours without food or rest, strug- 
 gling against external difficulties such as no one can 
 imagine who has never experienced the same : not 
 knowing what moment I might be captured while 
 travelling among strangers, through cold and fear, 
 breasting the north winds, being thinly clad, pelted 
 by the snow storms through "the dark hours of the 
 night, and not a house in which I could enter to 
 shelter me from the storm. 
 
 The second night from Cincinnati, about midnight, 
 I thought that I should freeze ; my shoes were worn 
 through, and my feet were exposed to the bare 
 ground. I approached a house on the road-side, 
 knocked at the door, and asked admission to their 
 fire, but was refused. I went to the next house, 
 and was refused the privilege of their fire- side, to 
 prevent my freezing. This I thought was hard 
 treatment among the human family. But — 
 
 " Behind a frowning Providence tliere was a smiling face," 
 which soon shed beams of light upon unworthy me. 
 
 The next morning I was still found struggling on 
 my way, faint, hungry, lame, and rest-broken. I 
 could see people taking breakfast from the road- 
 side, but I did not dare to enter their houses to get 
 my breakfast, for neither love nor money. In pass- 
 ing a low cottage, I saw the breakfast table spread 
 with all its bounties, and I could see no male person 
 
■\v-'~ 5::?;^^<.>'- 
 
54 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 about the house ; the temptation for food was great- 
 er than I could resist. 
 
 I saw a lady about the table, and I thought that 
 if she was ever so much disposed to take me up, 
 that she would have to catch and h5ld me, and that 
 would have been impossible. I stepped up to the 
 door with my hat off, and asked her if she would 
 be good enough to sell me a sixpence worth of bread 
 and meat. She cut off a piece and brought it to 
 me ; I thanked her for it, and handed he? the pay, 
 but instead of receiving it, she burst into tears, 
 and said "never mind the money," but gently turn- 
 ed away bidding me go on my journey. This was 
 altogether unexpected to me : I had found a friend 
 in the time of need among strangers, and nothing 
 could be more cheering in the day of trouble than 
 this. When I left that place I started with boldei 
 courage. The next night I put up at a tavern, and 
 continued stopping at public houses until my means 
 were about gone. When I got to the Black Swamp 
 in the county of Wood, Ohio, I stopped one night 
 at a hotel, after travelling all day through mud and 
 snow ; but I soon found that I should not be able to 
 pay my bill. This was about the time that the 
 *' wild- cat banks" w^ere in a nourishing state, and 
 *' shin plasters"* in abundance ; they would charge 
 a dollar for one night's lodging. 
 
 After I had found out this, I slipped out of the 
 bar room into the kitchen where the landlady was 
 getting supper ; as she had quite a number of trav- 
 
 * Nickuamc for temporary paper money. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBE. 55 
 
 ellers to cook for that night, I told her if she would 
 accept my services, I would assist her in getting 
 supper ; that I was a cook. She very readily ac- 
 cepted the oflFer, and I went to work. 
 
 She was very much pleased with my work, and 
 the next morning I helped her to get breakfast. She 
 then wanted to hire me for all winter, but I refused 
 for fear I might be pursued. My excuse to her was 
 that I had a brother living in Detroit, whom I was 
 going to see on some important business, and after 
 I got that business attended to, I would come back 
 and work for them all winter. 
 
 Wheji I started the second morning they paid me 
 fifty cents beside my board, with the understanding 
 that I was to return ; but I have not gone back yet. 
 
 I arrived the next morning in the village of Per- 
 rysburgh, where I found quite a settlement of color- 
 ed people, many of whom were fugitive slaves. I 
 made my case known to them and they sympathized 
 with me. I was a stranger, and they took me in 
 and persuaded me to spend the winter in Perrys- 
 bufgh, where I could get employment and go to Can- 
 ada the next spring, in a steamboat which run from 
 Perry sburgh, if I thought it proper so to do. 
 
 I got a job of chopping wood during that winter 
 which enabled me to purchase myself a suit, and af- 
 ter paying my board the next spring, I had saved 
 fifteen dollars in cash. My intention was to go back 
 to Kentucky after my wife. 
 
 When I got ready to start, which was about 
 the first of May, my friends all persuaded me not 
 to go, but to get some other person to go, 
 
56 NARRATIVE OP HENRY BIBB. 
 
 for fear I might b*e caught and sold off from my 
 family into slavery forever. But I could not re- 
 frain from going back myself, believing that I could 
 accomplish it better than a stranger. 
 
 The money that I had would not pass in the 
 South, and for the purpose of getting it off to a good 
 advantage, I took a steamboat passage to Detroit, 
 Michigan, and there I spent all my money for dry 
 goods, to peddle out on my way back through the 
 State of Ohio. I also purchased myself a pair of 
 false whiskers to put on when I got back to Ken- 
 tucky, to prevent any one from knowing me after 
 night, should they see me. I then started back after 
 my little family. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 My safe arrival at Kentucky. — Surprise and deliglit to find my 
 family. — Plan for their escape projected. — Return to Cincin- 
 nati. — My betrayal by traitors. — Imprisonment in Covington, 
 Kentucky. — Pteturn to slavery. — Infamous proposal of the 
 slave catchers. — My reply. 
 
 I succeeded very well in selling out my goods, 
 and when I arrived in Cincinnati, I called on some 
 of my friends who had aided me on my first escape. 
 They also opposed me in going back only for my 
 own good. But it has ever been characteristic of 
 me to persevere in what I undertake. 
 
 I took a Steamboat passage which would bring 
 me to where I should v/ant to land about dark, so 
 as to give me a chance to find my family during the 
 night if possible. The boat landed me at the proper 
 place, and at the proper time accordingly. This 
 landing was about six miles from Bedford, where my 
 mother and wife lived, but with different families. 
 My mother was the cook at a tavern, in Bedford. 
 When I approached the house where mother was 
 living, I remembered where she slept in the kitchen , 
 her bed was near the windov/. 
 
 It was a bright moonlight night, and in looking 
 through the kitchen window, I saw a person lying 
 in bed about where my mother had formerly slept. 
 I rapped on the glass which awakened the person, 
 
58 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 ill whom I recognised my dear mother, but she 
 knew me not, as I was dressed in disguise with my 
 false whiskers on ; but she came to the window and 
 asked who I was and what I wanted. But when I 
 took off my false whiskers, and spoke to her, she 
 knew my voice, and quickly sprang to the door, 
 clasping my hand, exclaiming, " Oh ! is this my 
 son," drawing me into the room, where I was so 
 fortunate as to find Malinda, and little Frances, my 
 wife and child, whom I had left to find the fair 
 climes of liberty, and whom I was then seeking to 
 rescue from perpetual slavery. 
 
 They never expected to see me again in this life. 
 I am entirely unable to describe what my feelings 
 were at that time. It was almost like the return 
 of the prodigal son. There was weeping and re- 
 joicing. They were filled with surprise and fear; 
 with sadness and joy. The sensation of joy at 
 that moment flashed like lightning over my afflicted 
 mind, mingl(!5d with a thousand dreadful apprehen- 
 sions, that none but a heart wounded slave father 
 and husband like myself can possibly imagine. 
 After talking the matter over, we decided it was 
 not best to start with my family that night, as it 
 was very uncertain whether we should get a boat 
 passage immediately. And in case of failure, if 
 Malinda should get back even before daylight the 
 next morning, it would have excited suspicion 
 against her, as it was not customary for slaves to 
 leave home at that stage of the week without per- 
 mission. Hence we thought it would be the most 
 effectual w^ay for her to escape, to start on Saturday 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 59 
 
 night; this being a night on which the slaves of 
 Kentucky are permitted to visit around among their 
 friends, and are often allowed to stay until the after- 
 noon on Sabbath day. 
 
 I gave Malinda money to pay her passage on 
 board of a Steamboat to Cincinnati, as it was not 
 safe for me to wait for her until Saturday night ; 
 but she was to meet me in Cincinnati, if possible, 
 the next Sunday. Her father was to go with her to 
 the Ohio River on l$£itjni\^la^ nught^ and if a boat 
 passed up during the lii^lit she was to get on board 
 at Madison, and come to Cincinnati. If she should 
 fail in getting oif that night, she was to try it the 
 next Saturday ni^hc. Thit 'wae the ^understanding 
 when we separatcfV, This we tho,?ight was the best 
 plan for her escape, as there\ hA,d been so much ex- 
 citement caused by my running avray. 
 
 The owners of my v/fTe were very much afraid that 
 she would follow me ; and to preveiit her they had 
 told her and other slaves that I had been persuaded 
 off by the Abolitionists, who had promised to set 
 me free, but had sold me off to New Orleans. They 
 told the slaves to beware of the abolitionists, that 
 their object was to decoy off slaves and then sell 
 them off in New Orleans. Some of them believed 
 this, and others believed it not ; and the owners of 
 my wife were more watchful over her than they 
 had ever been before as she v/as unbelieving. 
 
 This was in the month of June, 1838. I ^eft 
 Malinda on a bright but lonesome Wednesday night. 
 \Vhen I arrived at the river Ohio, I found a small 
 
60 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 craft chained to a tree, in which I ferried myself 
 across the stream. 
 
 I succeeded in getting a Steamboat passage hack 
 to Cincinnati, where I put up with one of my 
 abolition friends who knew that I had gone after 
 my family, and who appeared to be much surprised 
 to see me again. I was soon visited by several 
 friends who knew of my having gone back after my 
 family. They wished to know why I had not 
 brought my j^amilj" ^it|i^ m^ ; but after they under- 
 stood the plan, and that my ifajnily was expected to 
 be in Cincinnati within a few days, they thought it 
 the best and, safest plan for uSto take a stage pas- 
 sage out to'Lcvke/Er^G. , But being short of money, 
 I was not able to pay liiy pfissage in the stage, even 
 if it would have prevented me from being caught 
 by the slave hunters of Cincinnati, or save me from 
 being taken back into bonda^'e for life. 
 
 These friends proposed helping me by subscrip- 
 tion ; I acceded their kind offer, but in going amonj, 
 friends to solicit aid for me, they happened to get 
 among traitors, and kidnappers, both white and 
 colored men, who made their living by that kind of 
 business. Several persons called on me and made 
 me small donations, and among them two white men 
 came in professing to be my friends. They told me 
 not to be afraid of them, they were abolitionists. 
 They asked me a great many questions. They 
 wanted to know if I needed any help ? and they 
 wanted to know if it could be possible that a man 
 so near white as myself could be a slave ? Could 
 it be possible that men would make slaves of their 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 61 
 
 own cliildren ? They expressed great sympathy for 
 me, and gave me fifty cents each ; by this they 
 gained my confidence. They asked my master's 
 name ; where he lived, &;c. After which they left 
 the room, bidding me God speed. These traitors, 
 or land pirates, took passage on board of the first 
 Steamboat down the river, in search of my owners. 
 When they found them, they got a reward of three 
 hundred dollars offered for the re-capture of this 
 " stray" which they had so long and faithfully been 
 hunting, by day and by night, by land and by water 
 with dogs and with guns, but all without success. 
 This being the last and only chance for dragging me 
 back into hopeless bondage, time and money was 
 no object when they saw a prospect of my being re- 
 taken. 
 
 Mr. Gatewood got two of his slaveholding neigh- 
 bors to go with him to Cincinnati, for the purpose 
 of swearing to anything which might be necessary 
 to change me back into property. They came on 
 to Cincinnati, and with but little effort they soon 
 rallied a mob of ruffians who Avere willing to become 
 the watch-dogs of slaveholders, for a dram, in con- 
 nection with a few slavehunting petty constables. 
 
 While I was waiting the arrival of my family, I 
 got a job of diggfDg a cellar for the good lady where 
 I was stopping, and while I was digging under the 
 house, all at once I heard a man enter the house ; 
 another stept up to the cellar door to where I was 
 at work ; he looked in and saw me with my coat off 
 at work. He then rapped over the cellar door on 
 the house side, to notify the one who had entered 
 
62 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 the liouso to look for me that I was in the cellar. 
 This strange conduct soon excited suspicion so 
 strong in me, that I could not stay in the cellar and 
 started to come out, but the man who stood by the 
 door, rapped again on the house side, for the other 
 to come to his aid, p„ndtoldme to stop. I attempted 
 to pass out by him, and he caught hold of me, and 
 drew a pistol, swearing if I did not stop he would 
 shoot me down. By this time I knew that I was 
 betrayed. 
 
 I asked him what crime I had committed that I 
 should be murdered. 
 
 " I will let you know, very soon," said he. 
 
 By this time there were others coming to his aid, 
 and I could see no way by which I could possibly 
 escape the jaws of that hell upon earth. 
 
 All my flattering prospects of enjoying my own 
 fire-side, with my little family, w6re then blasted 
 and gone ; and I must bid farewell to friends and 
 freedom forever. 
 
 In vain did I look to the infamous laws of the 
 Commonwealth of Ohio, for that protection against 
 violence and outrage, that even the vilest criminal 
 with a white skin migM enjoy. But oh ! the dread- 
 ful thought, that after all my sacrifice and strug- 
 gling to rescue my family from the*hands of the op- 
 pressor ; that I should be dragged back into cruel 
 bondage to suffer the penalty of a tyrant's law, to 
 endure stripes and imprisonment, and to be shut out 
 from all moral as well as intellectual improvement, 
 and linger out almost a living death. 
 
Squire's ojjice. 
 
 C* 
 
64 NARRATIVE OP HENRY BIBB. 
 
 When I saw a crowd of blood-thirsty, unprincipled 
 slave hunters rushing upon me armed with weapons 
 of death, it was no use for me to undertake to fight 
 my way through against such fearful odds. 
 
 But I broke away from the man who stood by 
 with his pistol drawn to shoot me if I should resist, 
 and reached the fence and attempted to jump over it 
 before I was overtaken ; but the fence being very 
 high I was caught by my legs before I got over. 
 
 I kicked and struggled with all my might to get 
 away, but without success. I kicked a new cloth 
 coat off of his back, while he was holding on to my 
 leg. I kicked another in his eye ; but they never 
 let me go until they got more help. By this time, 
 there was a crowd on the out side of the fence with 
 clubs to beat me back. Finally, they succeeded 
 in dragging me from the fence and overpowered me 
 by numbers and choked me almost to death. '*' 
 
 These ruffians dragged me through the streets of 
 Cincinnati, to what was called a justice office. But 
 it was more like an office of injustice. 
 
 When I entered the room I was introduced to 
 three slaveholders, one of whom was a son of Wm. 
 Gatewood, who claimed me as his property. They 
 pretended to be very glad to see me. 
 
 They asked me if I did not want to see my wife 
 and child; but I made no reply to any thing that 
 was said until I was delivered up as a slave. After 
 they were asked a few questions by the court, the 
 old pro- slavery squire very gravely pronounced me 
 to be the property of Mr. Gatewood. 
 
 The office being crowded with spectators, many 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 65 
 
 of whom were colored persons, Mr. G. was afraid to 
 keep me in Cincinnati, two or three hours even, un- 
 til a steamboat got ready to leave for the South. 
 So they took me across the rivei*, and locked me up 
 in Covington jail, for safe keeping. This was the 
 first time in my life that I had been put into a jail. 
 It was truly distressing to my feelings to be locked 
 up in a cold dungeon for no crime. The jailor not 
 being at home, his wife had to act in his place. 
 After my owners had gone back to Cincinnati, the 
 jailor's wife, in company with another female, came 
 into the jail and talked with me very friendly. 
 
 I told them all about my situation, and these 
 ladies said they hoped that I might get away ag^in, 
 and went so far as to tell me if I should be kept in 
 the jail that night, there was a hole under the wall 
 of the jail where a prisoner had got out. It was 
 only filled up with loose dirt, they said, and I might 
 scratch it out and clear myself. 
 
 This I thought was a kind word from an unex- 
 pected friend : I had power to have taken the key 
 from those ladies, in spite of them, and have cleared 
 myself; but knowing that they would have to suffer 
 perhaps for letting me get away, I thought I would 
 wait until after dark, at which time I should try to 
 make my escape, if they should not take me out be- 
 fore that time. But within two or three hours, they 
 came after me, and conducted me on board of a boat, 
 on which we all took passage down to Louisville. 
 I was not confined in any way, but was well guard- 
 ed by five men, three of whom were slaveholders, 
 
66 NARRATIVE OP HENRY BIBB. 
 
 and the two young men from Cincinnati, who had 
 betrayed me. 
 
 After the boat had got fairly under way, with these 
 vile men standing around me on the upper deck of 
 the boat, and she under full speed carrying me back 
 into a land of torment, I could see no possible 
 way of escape. Yet, while I was permitted to gaze 
 on the beauties of nature, on free soil, as I passed 
 down the river, things looked to me uncommonly 
 pleasant : The green trees and wild flowers of the 
 forest ; the ripening harvest fields waving with the 
 gentle breezes of Heaven ; and the honest farmers 
 tilling their soil and living by their own toil. These 
 things seem to light upon my vision with a peculiar 
 charm. I was conscious of what must be my late ; 
 a wretched victim for Slavery without limit ; to be 
 sold like an ox, into hopeless bondage, and to be 
 worked under the liesh devouring lash during life, 
 vrithout wages. 
 
 This was to me an awful thought ; every time the 
 boat run near the shore, I was tempted to leap from 
 the deck down into the water, with a hope of mak- 
 ing my escape. Such was then my feeling. 
 
 But on a moment's reflection, reason with her 
 warning voice overcame this passion by pointing 
 out the dreadful consequences of one's committing 
 suicide. And this I thought would have a very 
 striking resemblance to the act, and I declined putting 
 into practice this dangerous experiment, though the 
 temptation was great. 
 
 These kidnapping gentlemen, seeing that I was 
 much dissatisfied, commenced talking to me, by say- 
 
NARRATIVE OP HENRY BIBB. 67 
 
 ing that I must not be cast down ; they were going 
 to take me back home to live with my family, if I 
 would promise not to run away again. 
 
 To this I agreed, and told them that this was all 
 that I could ask, and more than I had expected. 
 
 But they were not satisfied with having recap- 
 tured me, because they had lost other slaves and 
 supposed that I knew their whereabouts ; and truly I 
 did. They wanted me to tell them ; but before 
 telling I wanted them to tell who it was that had 
 betrayed me into their hands. They said that I was 
 betrayed by two colored men in Cincinnati, whose 
 names they were backward in telling, because their 
 business in connection with themselves was to be- 
 tray and catch fugitive slaves for the reward oifer- 
 ed. They undertook to justify the act by saying if 
 they had not betrayed me, that somebody else would, 
 and if I would tell them where they could catch a 
 number of other runaway slaves, they would pay 
 for me and set me free, and would then take me in 
 as one of the Club. They said I would soon make 
 money enough to bpuy my wife and child out of 
 slavery. 
 
 But I replied, " No, gentlemen, I cannot commit 
 or do an act of that kind, even if it were in m}'- pow- 
 er so to do. I know that I am now in the power of 
 a master who can sell me from my family for life, or 
 punish me for the crime of running away, just as lis 
 pleases : I know that I am a prisoner for life, and 
 have no way of extricating myself ; and I also know 
 that I have been deceived and betrayed by men who 
 
68 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 professed to be my best friends ; but can all this 
 justify me in becoming a traitor to others ? Can I do 
 that which I complain of others for doing unto me ? 
 Never, I trust, while a single pulsation of my heart 
 continues to beat, can I consent to betray a fellow 
 man like myself back into bondage, who has escap- 
 ed. Dear as I love my wife and little child, and as 
 much as I should like to enjoy freedom and happi- 
 ness with them, I am unwilling to bring this about 
 by betraying and destroying the liberty and happi- 
 ness of others who have never offended me !" 
 
 I then asked them again if they would do me the 
 kindness to tell me who it was betrayed me into 
 their hands at Cincinnati ? They agreed to tell 
 me with the understanding that I was to tell where 
 there was living, a family of slaves at the North, 
 who had run av,^ay from Mr. King of Kentucky. I 
 should not have agreed to this, but I knew the slaves 
 were in Canada, where it was not possible for them 
 to be captured. After they had told me the names 
 of the persons who betrayed me, and how it was 
 done, then I told them their slaves were in Canada, 
 doing well. The two white men were Constables, 
 who claimed the right of taking up any strange 
 colored person as a slave ; while the two colored 
 kidnappers, under the pretext of being abolitionists, 
 would find out all the fugitives they could, and 
 inform these Constables for which they got a part 
 of the reward, after they had found out where the 
 slaves were from, the name of his master, &c. By 
 the agency of these colored men, they were seized by a 
 
 '^^^^ 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 69 
 
 band of white ruffians, locked up in jail, and their 
 master sent for. These colored kidnappers^ with the 
 Constables, were getting rich by betraying fugitive 
 slaves. This v/as told to me by one of the Consta- 
 bles, while they were all standing around trying to 
 induce me to engage in the same business for the 
 sake of regaining my own liberty, and that of my 
 wife and child. But my answer even there, under 
 the most trying circumstances, surrounded by the 
 strongest enemies of God and man, was most em- 
 phatically in the negative. " Let my punishment be 
 what it may, either with the lash or by selling me 
 away from my friends and home ; let my destiny be 
 what you please, I can never engage in this business 
 for the sake of getting free." 
 
 They said I should not be sold nor punished with 
 the lash for what I had done, but I should be carried 
 back to Bedford, to live with my wife. Yet when 
 the boat got to where we should have landed, she 
 wafted by without making any stop. I felt awful 
 in view of never seeing my family again; they asked 
 what was the matter ? what made me look so cast 
 down ? I informed them that I knew I was to be 
 sold in the Louisville slave market, or in New 
 Orleans, and I iiever expected to see my family 
 again. But they tried to pacify me by promising 
 not to sell me to a slave trader who would take me 
 off to New Orleans ; cautioning me at the same 
 time not to let it be knov/n that I had been a runa- 
 way. This would very much lessen the value of me 
 in market They would not punish me by putting 
 
 
70 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 irons on my limbs, but would give me a good name, 
 and sell me to some gentleman in Louisville for a 
 house servant. They thought I would soon make 
 money enough to buy myself, and would not part 
 with me if they could get along without. But I 
 had cost them so much in advertising and looking 
 for me, that they were involved by it. In the first 
 place they paid eight hundred and fifty dollars for 
 me ; and when I first run away, they paid one hundred 
 for advertising and looking after me; and now they 
 had to pay about forty dollars, expenses travelling 
 to and from Cincinnati, in addition to the three 
 hundred dollars reward ; and they were not able to 
 pay the reward without selling me. 
 
 I knew then the only alternative left for me to 
 extricate myself was to use deception, which is the 
 most effectual defence a slave can use. I pretended 
 to be satisfied for the purpose of getting an oppor- 
 tunity of giving them the slip. 
 
 But oh, the distress of mind, the lamentable 
 thought that I should never again see the face nor 
 hear the gentle voice of my nearest and dearest 
 friends in this life. I could imagine what must be 
 my fate from my peculiar situation. To be sold 
 to the highest bidder, and then wear the chains 
 of slavery down to the grave. The day star of 
 liberty which had once cheered and gladdened my 
 heart in freedom's land, had then bidden itself from 
 my vision, and the dark and dismal frown of slavery 
 had obscured the sunshine of freedom from me, as 
 they supposed for all time to come. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB, 
 
 71 
 
 But the understanding between us was, I was not 
 to be tied, chained, nor flogged ; for if they should 
 take me into the city handcuffed and guarded by 
 five men the question might be asked what crime I 
 had committed ? And if it should be known that I 
 had been a runaway to Canada, it would lessen tho 
 value of me at least one hundred dollars. 
 
 ilai;^^ iiiiiiii 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Arrival at Louisville, Ky. — Eflbrts to sell me. — Fortunate escape 
 from the man-stealers in the public street. — I return to Bed 
 t'onl. Ky. — Tlie rescue of my family again attempted. — I star* 
 ed alone expecting them to follow. — After waiting some months 
 I resolve to go back again to Kentucky. 
 
 Wpien the boat arrived at Louisville, the day be- 
 ing too far spent for them to dispose of me, they had 
 to put up at a Hotel. When we left the boat, they 
 were afraid of my bolting from them in the street, 
 and to prevent this they took hold of my arms, one 
 on each side of me, gallanting me up to the hotel 
 with as much propriety 2,? if I had been a white lady. 
 This was to deceive the people, and prevent my 
 getting away from them. 
 
 They called for a bed-room to which I was con 
 ducted and locked within. That night three of 
 them lodged in the same room to guard me. They , 
 locked the door and put the key laider the head of 
 their bed. I could see no possible wa}^ for my 
 escape without jumping out of a high three story 
 house window. 
 
 It was almost impossible for me to sleep that 
 night in my peculiar situation. I passed the night 
 in prayer to our Heavenly Father, asking that He 
 would open to me even the smallest chance for es- 
 cape. 
 
 4 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 73 
 
 The ^te-jfcC morning after they had taken breakfast, 
 ft»<ir of them left me in the care of Dan Lane. He 
 WAS wi;at 3KiIght be called one of the watch dogs of 
 Kenlicky. There t\ as nothing too mean for him to 
 do. He never blushed to rob a slave mother of her 
 children, no matter how young or small. He was 
 also celebrated for slave selling, kidnapping, and 
 negro hunting. He was well known in that region 
 by the slaves as well a&- the slaveholders, to have 
 all the quaJifications necessary for his business. He 
 was a drunkard, a gambler, a profligate, and a slave- 
 holder. 
 
 While the other four wore looking around through 
 the city for a purchaser, Dan was guarding me with 
 his t)owie knife and pistols. After a while the others 
 came in with two persons to buy me, but on seeing 
 ine they remarked that they thought I would run 
 away, and asked me if I had ever run away. Dan 
 sprang to his feet and answered the question forme, 
 by telling one of the most palpable falsehoods that 
 ever came from the lips of a slaveholder. He de-'' 
 Glared that I had never run away in my life ! 
 
 Fortunately for me, Dan, while the others were 
 away, became unwell; and from taking salts, or 
 from some other cause, was compelled to leave his 
 room. Off he started, to the horse stable which was 
 located on one of the most public streets of Louis* 
 ville, and of course I had to accompany him. He 
 fjallanted me into the stable by the arm, and placed 
 himself back in one of the horses stalls and ordered 
 me to stand by until he was ready to come out. 
 
 At this time a thousand thoughts were flashing 
 
74 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 through my mind with regard to the propriety of 
 trying the springs of my heels, which nature had so 
 well adapted for taking the body out of danger, 
 even in the most extraordinary emergencies. I 
 thought in the attempt to get away by running, if I 
 should not succeed, it could make my condition no 
 worse, for they could but sell me and this they were 
 then trying to do. These thoughts impelled me to 
 keep edging towards the door, though very cautious- 
 ly. Dan kept looking around after me as if he was 
 not satisfied at my getting so near to the door. But 
 the last I saw of him in the stable was just as he 
 turned his eyes from me ; I nerved myself with all 
 the moral courage I could command and bolted for 
 the door, perhaps with the fleetness of a much fright- 
 ened deer, who never looks behind in time of peril. 
 Dan was left in the stable to make ready for the 
 race, or jump out into the street half dressed, and 
 thereby disgrace himself before the public eye. 
 
 It would be impossible for me to set forth the 
 speed with which I run to avoid my adversary ; I 
 succeeded in turning a corner before Dan got sight 
 of me, and by fast running, turning corners, and 
 jumping high fences, I was enabled to effect my es- 
 cape. 
 
 In running so swiftly through the public streets, I 
 thought it would be a safer course to leave the pub- 
 lic way, and as quick as thought I spied a high 
 board fence by the way and attempted to leap over 
 it. The top board broke and down I came into a 
 hen-coop which stood by the fence. The dogs bark- 
 ed, and the hens flew and cackled so, that I feared it 
 
 
NARRATIVE OP HENRY EIBB. 75 
 
 would lead to my detection before I could get out of 
 the yard. 
 
 The reader can only imagine how great must have 
 been the excited state of my mind while exposed to 
 such extraordinary peril and danger on every side. 
 In danger of being seized by a savage dog, which 
 sprang at me when I fell into the hen-coop ; in dan- 
 ger of being apprehended by the tenants of the lot ; 
 in danger of being shot or wounded by any one who 
 miglit have attempted to stop me, a runaway slave ; 
 and in danger on the other hand of being overtaken 
 and getting in conflict with my adversary. With 
 these fearful apprehensions, ca,ution dictated me not 
 to proceed far by day-light in this slaveholding city. 
 
 At this moment every nerve and muscle of my 
 whole system was in full stretch ; and every facility 
 of the mind brought into action striving to save my- 
 self from being re-captured. I dared not go to the 
 forest, knowing that I might be tracked by blood- 
 hounds, and overtaken. I was so fortunate as to 
 find a hiding place in the city which seemed to be 
 pointed out by the finger of Providence. After 
 running across lots, turniiig corners, and shunning 
 my fellow men, as if they were wild ferocious beasts, 
 I found abiding place in a pile of boards or scantling, 
 where I kept concealed during that day. 
 
 No tongue nor pen can describe the dreadful ap- 
 prehensions under which I labored for the space of 
 ten or twelve hours. My hiding place happened to 
 be between two workshops, where there Ave re men at 
 work within six or eight feet of me. I coiiM imag- 
 ine that I heard them talkin^^ about me, and at 
 
76 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Other times thought I heard the footsteps of Daniel 
 Lane in close pursuit. But I retained my position 
 there until 9 or 10 o'clock at night, without being 
 discovered ; after which I attempted to find my way 
 out, which was exceedingly difficult. The night 
 being \ery dark, in a strange city, among slavehold- 
 ers and slave hunters, to me it was like a person 
 entering a wilderness among wolves and vipers, 
 blindfolded. I was compelled from necessity to 
 enter this place for refuge under the most extraor- 
 dinary state of excitement, without regard to its 
 geographical position. I found myself surrounded 
 with a large block of buildings, which comprised a 
 whole square, built up mostly on three sides, so 
 that I could see no way to pass out without expos- 
 ing myself perhaps to the gaze of patrols, or slave 
 catchers. 
 
 In wandering around through the.dark, I happen- 
 ed to find a calf in a back yard, which was baw- 
 ling after the cow; the cow was also lowing in 
 another direction, as if they were trying to find 
 each other. A thought struck me that there must 
 be an outlet somewhere about, where the cow and 
 calf were trying to meet. I started in the dii-ection 
 where I heard the lowing of the cow, and I found 
 an arch or tunnel extending between two large brick 
 buildings, where I could see nothing of the cow 
 but her eyes, shining like balls of fire through the 
 dark tunnel, between the walls, through which I 
 passed to where she stood. When I entered the 
 streets I found them well lighted up. My heart was 
 gladdened to know there was another char>r-o ^^r 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 77 
 
 my escape. No bird ever let out of a ca.ge felt more 
 like flying, than I felt like running. 
 
 Before I left the city, I chanced to find by the 
 way, an old man of color. Supposing him to be a 
 friend, I ventured to make known my situation, and 
 asked him if he would get me a bite to eat. The 
 old man most cheerfully complied with my request. 
 I was then about forty miles from the residence of 
 Wm. Gatewood, where my wife, whom I sought to 
 rescue from slavery, was living. This was also 
 in the direction it was necessary for me to travel 
 in order to get back to the free North. Knowing 
 that the slave catchers would most likely be 
 watching the public highway for me, to avoid them 
 I made my way over the rocky hills, woods and 
 plantations, back to Bedford. 
 
 I travelled all that night, guided on my way by 
 the shining stars of heaven alone. The next morn- 
 ing just before the break of day, I came right to a 
 large plantation, about which I secreted myself, 
 until the darkness of the next night began to dis- 
 appear. The morning larks commenced to chirp 
 and sing merrily — pretty soon I heard the whip 
 crack, and the voice of the ploughman driving in the 
 corn field. About brealdast time, I heard the sound 
 of a horn; saw a number of slaves in the field with 
 a white man, who I supposed to be their overseer. 
 He started to the house before the slaves, which 
 gave me an opportunity to get the attention of one 
 of the slaves, whom I met at the fence, before he 
 started to his breakfast, and made known to him my 
 wants and distresses. I also requested him to bring 
 
78 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 me a piece of bread if he could when he came back 
 to the field. 
 
 The hospitable slave complied with my request. 
 He came back to the field before his fellow laborers, 
 and brought me something to eat, and as an equivo- 
 lent for his kindness, I instructed him with regard 
 to liberty, Canada, the way of escape, and the facili- 
 ties by the way. He pledgedhis word that himself and 
 others would be in Canada, in less than six months 
 from that day. This closed our interview, and we 
 separated. I concealed myself in the forest until 
 about sunset, before I pursued my journey ; and the 
 second night from Louisville, I arrived again in the 
 neighborhood of Bedford, where my little family 
 were held in bondage, whom I so earnestly strove 
 to rescue. 
 
 I concealed myself by the aid of a friend in that 
 neighborhood, intending again to make my escape 
 with my family. This confidential friend then car- 
 ried a message to Malinda, requesting her to meet 
 me on one side of the village. 
 
 We met under the most fearful apprehensions, for 
 my pursuers had returned from Louisville, with the 
 lamentable story that I was gone, and yet they were 
 compelled to pay three hundred dollars to the Cin- 
 cinnati slave catchers for re-capturing me there. 
 
 Daniel Lane's account of my escape from him, 
 looked so unreasonable to slaveholders, that many 
 of them charged him with selling me and keeping 
 the money ; while others believed that I had got 
 away from him, and was then in the neighborhood, 
 trying to take off" my wife and child, which was true. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY EIBB. 79 
 
 Lane decla.red that in" less than five minutes after I 
 run out of the stable in Louisville, he had over 
 twenty men running and looking in every direction 
 after me ; but all without success. They could 
 hear nothing of me. They had turned over seve- 
 ral tons of hay in a large loft, in search, and I was 
 not to be found there. Dan imputed my escape to 
 my godliness ! He said that I must have gone up 
 in a chariot of fire, for I went off by flying ; and that 
 he should never again have any thing to do with a 
 praying negro. 
 
 Great excitement prevailed in Bedford, and many 
 were out watching for me at the time Malinda was 
 relating to me these facts. The excitement was 
 then so great among the slaveholders — who were 
 anxious to have me re-captured as a means of dis- 
 couraging other slaves' from running away — that 
 time and money were no object while there was the 
 least prospect of their success, I therefore declined 
 making an effort just at that time to escape with my 
 little family. Malinda managed to get me into the 
 house of a friend that night, in the village, where I 
 kept concealed several days seeking an opportunity 
 to escape with Malinda and Frances to Canada. 
 
 But for some time Malinda was watched so very 
 closely by white and by colored persons, both day 
 and night, that it Vv^as not possible for us to escape 
 together. They well knew that my little family 
 was the only object of a,ttraction that ever had- or 
 ever would induce me to come back and risk my lib- 
 erty over the threshold of slavery — therefore this 
 point was w^ell guarded by the watch dogs of slavery, 
 
80 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 and I was compelled again to forsake my wife for a 
 season, or surrender, which was suicidal to the cause 
 of freedom, in my judgment. 
 
 The next day after my arrival in Bedford, Daniel 
 Lane came to the very house wherein I was conceal- 
 ed and talked in my hearing to the family about my 
 escape from him out of the stable in Louisville. 
 He was near enough for me to have laid my hands 
 on his head while in that house — and the intimida- 
 tion which this produced on me was more than I 
 could bear. I was also aware of the great temptation 
 of the reward offered to white or colored persons 
 for my apprehension ; I was exposed to other calam- 
 ities which rendered it altogether unsafe for me to 
 stay longer under that roof. 
 
 One morning about 2 o'clock, I took leave of my 
 little family and started for "Canada. This was al- 
 most like tearing off the limbs from my body. When 
 we were about to separate, Malinda clasped my hand 
 exclaiming, " oh my soul ! my. heart is almost brok- 
 en at the thought of this dangerous separation. 
 This may be the last time we shall ever see each 
 other's faces in this life, which will destroy all my 
 future prospects of life and happiness forever." At 
 this tune the poor unhappy woman burst into tears 
 and wept loudly ; and my eyes were not dry. We 
 separated with the understanding that she was to 
 wait until the excitement was all over ; after which 
 she was to meet me at a certain place in the State 
 of Ohio ; which would not be longer than two months 
 from that time. 
 
 I succeeded that night in getting a steamboat con- 
 
" My heart is almost broken. 
 
82 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 veyance back to Cincinnati, or within ten miles of 
 the city. I was apprehensive that there were slave- 
 hunters in Cincinnati, watching the arrival of every 
 boat up the river, expecting to catch me ; and the 
 boat landing to take in wood ten miles below the 
 city, I got off and walked into Cincinnati, to avoid 
 detection. 
 
 No my arrival at the house of a friend, I heard 
 that the two young men who betrayed me for the 
 three hundreddollars had returned and were watching 
 forme. One of my friends in whom they had great 
 confidence, called on the traitors, after he had talked 
 withme, and asked them what they had done with me. 
 Their reply was that I had given them the slip,and that 
 they were glad of it, because they believed that I 
 was a good man, and if they could see me on my 
 way to Canada, they would give me money to aid 
 me on my escape. My friend assured them that if 
 they would give any thing to aid me on my way, 
 much or little, if they would put the same into his 
 hands, he would give it to me that night, or return 
 it to them the next morning. 
 
 They then wanted to know where I was and 
 whether I was in the city; but he would not tell 
 them, but one of them gave him one dollar for me, 
 promising that if I was in the city, and ho would 
 let him know the next morning, he would give me 
 ten dollars. 
 
 But I never waited for the ten dollars. I receiv- 
 ed one dollar of the amount which they got for be- 
 traying me, and started that night for the north. 
 Their excuse for betraying me, was, that catching 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 83 
 
 runaways was their business, and if they had not 
 done it somebody else would, but since they had got 
 the reward they were glad that I had made my 
 escape. 
 
 Having travelled the road several times from Cin- 
 cinnati to Lake Erie, I travelled through without 
 much fear or difficulty. My friends in Perrysburgh, 
 who knew that I had gone back into the very jaws 
 of slavery after my family, were much surprised at 
 my return, for they had heard that I was re-cap- 
 tured. 
 
 After I had waited three months for the arrival of 
 Malinda, and she came not, it caused me to be one 
 of the most unhappy fugitives that ever left the 
 South. I had waited eight or nine months without 
 hearing from my family. I felt it to be my duty, as 
 a husband and father, to make one more effort. I 
 felt as if I could not give them up to be sacrificed on 
 the " bloody altar of slavery." Ifelt as if love, duty, 
 humanity and justice, required that I should go back, 
 putting my trust in the God of Liberty for success. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 My safe return to Kentucky. — The perils I encountered there.— 
 Again betrayed, and taken by a mob ; ironed and imprisoned. 
 — Narrow escape from death. — Life in a skive prison. 
 
 I prepared myself for the journey before named, 
 and started back in the month of July, 1839. 
 
 My intention was, to let no person know my busi- 
 ness until I returned back to the North. I went to 
 Cincinnati, and got a passage down on bo^'d of a, 
 boat just as I did the first time, without any mis- 
 fortune or delay. I called on my mother, and the 
 raising of a dead body from the grave could not have 
 been more surprising to any one than my arrival was 
 to her, on that sad summer's night. She was not 
 able to suppress her feelings. When I entered the 
 room, there was but one other person in the house 
 with my mother, and this was a little slave girl who 
 was asleep when I entered. The impulsive feeling 
 which is ever ready to act itself out at the return of 
 a long absent friend, was more than my bereaved 
 mother could suppress. And unfortunately for me, 
 the loud shouts of joy at that late hour of the night, 
 awakened the little slave girl, who afterwards be- 
 trayed me. She kept perfectly still, and never let 
 either of us know that she was awake, in order that 
 she might hear our conversation and report it« 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 85 
 
 Mother informed me where my family was living, 
 and that she would see them the next day, and 
 would make arrangements for us to meet the next 
 night at that house after the people in the village 
 had gone to bed. I then went off and concealed my- 
 self during the next day, and according to promise 
 came back the next night about eleven o'clock. 
 
 When I got near the house, moving very cau- 
 tiously, filled with fearful apprehensions, I saw 
 several men walking around the house as if they 
 were looking for some person. I went back and 
 waited about one hour, before I returned, and the 
 number of men had increased. They were still 
 to be seen lurking about this house, with dogs 
 following them. This strange movement frightened 
 me off again, and I never returned until after mid- 
 night, at which time I slipped up to the window, 
 and rapped for my mother, who sprang to it 
 and informed me that I was betrayed by the girl 
 who overheard our conversation the night before. 
 She thought that if I could keep out of the way for 
 a few days, the white people would think that 
 this girl was mistaken, or had lied. She had told 
 her old mistress that I was there that night, and 
 had made a plot with my mother to get my wife and 
 child there the next night, and that I was going to 
 take them off to Canada. 
 
 I went off to a friend of mine, who rendered me all 
 the aid that one slave could render another, under 
 the circumstances. Thank God he is now free from 
 slavery, and is doing well. He was a messenger for 
 me to my wife and mother, until at the suggestion 
 
86 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 of my mother, I changed an old friend for a new one, 
 who betrayed me for the sum of five dollars. 
 
 We had set the thne when we were to start for 
 Canada, which was to be on the next Saturday night. 
 My mother had an old friend whom she thought was 
 true, and she got him to conceal me in a barn, not 
 oyer two miles from the village. This man brought 
 provisions to me, sent by my mother, and would tell 
 me the news which was in circulation about me, 
 among the citizens. But the poor fellow was not 
 able to withstand the temptation of money. 
 
 My owners had about given me up, and thought the 
 report of the slave girl was false ^ but they had of- 
 fered a little reward among the slaves for my ap- 
 prehension. The night before I was betrayed, I 
 met with my mother and wife, and we had set up 
 nearly all night plotting to start on the next Satur- 
 day night. I hid myself away in the flax in the 
 barn, and being much rest broken I slept until the 
 next morning about 9 o'clock. Then I was awak- 
 ened by a mob of blood thirsty slaveholders, who 
 had come armed with all the implements of death, 
 with a determination to reduce me again to a life of 
 slavery, or murder mc on the spot. 
 
 When I looked up and saw that I was surrounded, 
 they were exclaiming at the top of their voices, 
 " shoot him down ! shoot him down !" " If he of- 
 fers to run, or to resist, kill him !" 
 
 I saw it v»^as no use then for me to make any re- 
 sistance, as I should be murdered. I felt confident 
 that I had been betrayed by a slave, and all my 
 flattering prospects of rescuing my family were gone 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 87 
 
 for ever, and the grim monster slavery with all its 
 horrors was staring me in the face. 
 
 I surrendered myself to this hostile mob at once. 
 The first thing done, after they had laid violent 
 hands on me, was to bind my hands behind me with 
 a cord, and rob me of all I possessed. 
 
 In searching my pockets, they found my certifi- 
 cate from the Methodist E. Church, which had been 
 given me by my classleader, testifying to my worthi- 
 ness as a member of that church. And what made 
 the matter look more disgraceful to me, many of this 
 mob were members of the M. E. Church, and they 
 were the persons who took away my church ticket, 
 and then robbed me also of fourteen dollars in cash, 
 a silver watch for which I paid ten dollars, a pocket 
 knife for which I paid seventy-five cents, and a 
 Bible for which I paid sixty- two and one half cents. 
 All this they tyrannically robbed me of, and yet my 
 owner, Wm. Gatewood, was a regular member of 
 the same church to which I belonged. 
 
 He then had me taken to a blacksmith's shop, and 
 most wickedly had my limbs bound with heavy irons, 
 and then had my body locked within the cold dun- 
 geon walls of the Be^ord jail, to be sold to a South- 
 ern slave trader. 
 
 My heart was filled with griefs — my eyes were 
 filled with tears. I could see no way of escape. I 
 could hear no voice of consolation. Slaveholders 
 were coming to the dungeon window in great num- 
 bers to ask me questions. Some were rejoicing — 
 some swearing, and others saying that I ought to be 
 hung ; while others were in favor of sending both 
 
88 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 me and my wife to New Orleans. They supposed 
 that I had informed her all about the facililies for 
 slaves to escape to Canada, and that she would tell 
 other slaves after I was gone ; hence we must all 
 be sent off to where we could neither escape our- 
 selves, nor instruct others the way. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day Malinda was 
 permitted to visit the prison wherein I was locked, 
 but was not permitted to enter the door. When 
 she looked through the dungeon grates and saw my 
 sad situation, which was caused by my repeated ad- 
 ventures to rescue her and my little daughter from 
 the grasp of slavery, it was more than she cpuld 
 bear without bursting in tears. She plead for ad- 
 mission into the cold dungeon where I was confined, 
 but without success. With manacled limbs;, with 
 wounded spirit ; with sympathising tears and with 
 bleeding heart, I intreated Malinda to weep not for 
 me, for it only added to my grief, which was greater 
 than I could bear. 
 
 I have often suffered from the sting of the cruel 
 slave driver's lash on my quivering flesh — I have 
 suffered from corporeal punishment in its various 
 forms — I have mingled my sorrows with those that 
 were bereaved by the ungodly soul drivers — and I 
 also know what it is to shed the sympathetic tear 
 at the grave of a departed friend ; but all this is but 
 a mere trifle compared with my sufferings from then 
 to the end of six months subsequent. 
 
 The second night while I was in jail, two slaves 
 came to the dungeon grates about the dead hour oi 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 89 
 
 Bight, and called me to the grates to have some con- 
 rersation about Canada, and the facilities for get- 
 ting there. They knew that I had travelled over 
 the road, and they were determined to run away 
 and go where they could be free. I of course took 
 great pleasure in giving them directions how and 
 where to go, and they started in less than a week 
 from that time and got clear to Canada. I hafe 
 seen them both since I came back to the north 
 myself. They were known by the names of King and 
 Jack. 
 
 The third day I was brought ou|^of the prison to 
 be carried off with my little family to the Louisville 
 slave market. My hands were fastened together 
 with heavy irons, and two men to guard me with 
 loaded rifles, one of whom led the horse upon which 
 I rode. My wife and child were set upon another 
 nag. After we were all ready to start my old master 
 thought I was not quite safe enough, and ordered 
 one of the boys to bring him a bed cord from the 
 store. He then tied my feet together under the 
 horse, declaring that if I flew ofi" this time, I should 
 fly off with the horse. 
 
 Many tears were shed on that occasion by oui 
 friends and relatives, who saw us dragged off ii 
 irons to be sold in the human flesh market, 'Nc- 
 tongue could express the deep anguish of my souA 
 when I saw the silent tear drops streaming down 
 the sable cheeks of an aged slave mother, at my de- 
 parture ; and that too, caused by a black hearted 
 traitor who was himself a slave : 
 
90 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 "I love the man with a feeling soul. 
 
 Whose passions arc deep and strong? ; 
 
 Whose cords, when touched with a kindred power, 
 
 Will vibrate loud and long : 
 
 " The man whose word is bond and law — 
 Who ne'er for 2;old or power, 
 Would kiss the hand that would stab the heart 
 In adversity's trying hour." 
 
 "I love the man who delights to help 
 The panting, struggling poor : 
 The man that will open his heart, 
 Nor close against the fugitive at his door. 
 
 '' Oh give me a heart that will firmly stand, 
 When the storm of affliction shall lower — 
 A hand that will never shrink, if grasped, 
 In misfortune's darkest hour." 
 
 s - . 
 
 As we approached the city of Louisville, we at- 
 tracted much attention, my being tied and hand- 
 cuffed, and a persQji leading the horse upon which I 
 rode. The horse appeared to be much frightened at 
 the appearance of things in the city, being young 
 and skittish. A carriage passing by jammed against 
 the nag, which caused him to break from the man 
 who was leading him, and in his fright throw me off 
 backwards. My hands being confined with irons, 
 and my feet tied under the horse with a rope, I had 
 no power to help myself. I fell back off of the horse 
 and could not extricate myself from this dreadful 
 condition ; the horse kicked with all his might while 
 I was tied so close to his rump that he could only M 
 strike me with his legs by kicking. 
 
 The breath was kicked out of my body, but my 
 bones were not broken. No one who saw my situa- 
 tion would have given five dollars for me. It was 
 thought by all that I w^as dead and would never 
 come to life again. When the horse was caught the 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 91 
 
 cords were cut from my limbs, and I was rubbed 
 with whiskey, camphor. Sec, which brought me to 
 life again. 
 
 Many bystanders expressed sympathy for me in 
 my deplorable condition, and contempt for the tyrant 
 Who tied mt to the young horse, 
 
 I was then driven through the streets of the city 
 with my little family on foot, to jail, wherein I was 
 locked with handcuffs yet on. A physician was 
 then sent for, who doctored me several days before 
 I was well enough to be sold in market. 
 
 The jail was one of the most disagreeable places 
 I ever was confined in. It was not only disagree- 
 able on account of the filth and dirt of the most dis- 
 agreeable kind ; but there wer^ bed-bugs, lleas, lice 
 and musquitoes in abundance, to contend with. At 
 night we had to lie down on the floor in this filth. 
 Our food was very scanty, and of the most inferior 
 quality. No gentleman's dog would eat what wo 
 were compelled to eat or starve, 
 
 I had not been in this prison many days before 
 Madison Garrison, the soul driver, bought me and 
 my family to sell again in the New Orleans slave 
 market. He was buying up slaves to take to New 
 Orleans. So he took me and my little family to tho 
 work-house, to be kept under lock and key at work 
 until he had bought up as many as he wished to take 
 off to the South. 
 
 The work-house of Louisville was a ver}'' large 
 brick building, built on the plan of a jail or State's 
 prison, with many apartments to it, divided off into 
 cella wherein pi'isoners were locked up after night. 
 
02 NARRtVTIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Tlie upper apartments were occupied by females, 
 principally. This prison was enclosed by a high 
 stone wall, upon which stood watchmen with loaded 
 guns to guard the prisoners from brea.king out, and 
 on either side there were large iron gates. 
 
 When Garrison conducted me with my family to 
 the prison in which we were to be confined until he 
 was ready to take us to New Orleans, I was shock- 
 ed at the horrid sight of the prisoners on entering 
 the yard. When the large iron gate or door was 
 thrown open to receive us, it was astonishing to 
 see so many wl;^^s as ^jell as colored men loaded 
 down with irons, at hard labor, under the supervi- 
 sion of overseers. 
 
 Some were sawij^jl stone, some cutting stone, and 
 others breaking stone. The fiirst impression which 
 was made on my mind when I entered this place of 
 punishment, made me think of hell, with all its ter- 
 rors of tonnent ; such as " weeping, wailing, and 
 gnashing of teeth," which was then the idea that I 
 had of the infernal regions from oral instruction. 
 And I doubt whether there can be a better picture 
 of it drawn, than maybe sketched from an American 
 slave prison. 
 
 In this prison almost every prisoner had a heavy 
 log chain riveted about his leg. It would indeed 
 be astonishing to a christian man to stand in that 
 prison one half hour and hear and see the contami- 
 nating influence of Southern slavery on the body 
 and mind of man — you may there find almost every 
 variety of character to look on. Some singing, some 
 crying, some praying, and others swearing. The 
 
NA.RRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 9^ 
 
 people of color who were in there were slayes 
 there without crime, but for safe keeping, while the 
 whites were some of the most abandoned characters 
 living. The keeper took me up to the anvil block 
 and fastened a chain about my leg, which I had to 
 drag afier me both day and night during three months. 
 My labor was sawing stone ; my food was coarse 
 corn bread and beef shanks and cows heads with 
 pot liquor, and a very scanty allowance* of that. 
 
 I have often seen the meat spoiled whenbroughtto 
 us, covered with flies and flyblows, and even worms 
 crawling over it, when we'^^re conipelled to eat it, 
 or go without any at all. It was all spread out on 
 a long table in separate plates ;^jid at the sound of 
 a bell, every one would take T!fs plate, asking no 
 questions. After hastily eating, we were hurried 
 back to our work, each man dragging a heavy log 
 chain after him to his work. 
 
 About a half hour before night they were com- 
 ftianded to stop work, take a bite to eat, and then 
 be locked up in a small cell until the next morning 
 after sunrise. The prisoners were locked in, two 
 together: My bed was a cold stone floor with but 
 little bedding ! My visitors were bed-bugs andmus- 
 quitoes. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Chiiracter of my prison companions. — Jail breaking contemplat- 
 ed. — Defeat of our plan. — My wife and child removed.— Dis* 
 graceful proposal to her, and cruel punishment. — Our depart- 
 ure in a cotlle for New Orleans. — Events of our journey. 
 
 Most of the inmates Q^this prison I have describ- 
 ed, were white men wh6*had been sentenced there by 
 the law, for depredations committed by them. There 
 was in that priscMk gamblers, drunkards, thieves, 
 robbers, adulterers, and even murderers. There 
 were also in the female department, harlots, pick- 
 pockety and adulteresses. In such companj', and 
 under such influences, where there was constant 
 swearing, lying, cheating, and stealing, it was almost 
 impossible for a virtuous person to avoid pollution, 
 or to maintain their virtue. No place or places in 
 this country can be better calculated to inculcate 
 vice of every kind than a Southern work house or 
 house of correction. 
 
 After a profligate, thief, or a robber, has learned 
 all that they can out of the prison, they might go 
 in one of those prisons and learn somethhig more — 
 they might properly be called robber colleges ; and 
 if slaveholders understood this they would never 
 let their slaves enter them. No man would give 
 much for a slave who had been kept long in one of 
 these prisons. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 95 
 
 I have often heard them telling each other how 
 they robbed houses, and persons on the high way, 
 by knocking them down, and would rob them, pick 
 .their pockets, and leave them half dead. Others 
 would tell of stealing horses, cattle, sheep, and 
 slaves ; and when they would be sometimes appre- 
 hended, by the aid of their friends, they would 
 break jail. But they could most generally find 
 enough to swear them clear of any kind of villany. 
 They seemed to take great delight in telling of their 
 exploits in robbery. There was a regular combina- 
 tion of them who had determined to resist law. 
 wherever they went, to carry out their purposes. 
 
 In conversing with myself, they learned that I 
 was notorious for running away, and professed sym- 
 pathy for me. They thought that I might yet get 
 to Canada, and be free, and suggested a plan by 
 which I might accomplish it ; and one way was, to 
 learn to read and write, so that I might write myself 
 a pass ticket, to go just where I pleased, when I was 
 taken out of the prison ; and they taught me secretly 
 all they could while in the prison. 
 
 But there was another plan which they suggested 
 to me to get away from slavery ; that was to break 
 out of the prison and leave my family. I consented 
 to engage in this plot, but not to leave my family. 
 
 By my conduct in the prison, after having been 
 there several weeks, I had gained the confidence of 
 the keeper, and the turnkey. So much so, that when 
 I wanted water or anything of the kind, they would 
 open my door and hand it in to me. One of the 
 turnkeys was an old colored man, who swept and 
 
96 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 cleaned up tlie cells, supplied the prisoners with 
 water, &c. 
 
 On Sundays in the afternoon, the watchmen of 
 the prison were most generally off, and this old 
 slave, whose name was Stephen, had the prisoners 
 to attend to. The white prisoners formed a plot to 
 break out on Sunday in the afternoon, by making 
 me the a<^-ent to get the prison keys from old Steplien. 
 
 I was to prepare a stone that would weigh about 
 one pound, tie it up in a rag, and keep it in my 
 pocket to strike poor old Stephen with, when he 
 should open my cell door. But this I would not 
 consent to do, without he should undertake to betray 
 me. 
 
 I gave old Stephen one shilling to buy me a water 
 melon, which he was to bring to me in the after- 
 noon. All the prisoners were to be ready to strike, 
 just as soon as I opened their doors. When Ste- 
 phen opened my door to hand me the melon, I was 
 to grasp him by the collar, raise the stone over 
 his head, and say to him, that if he made any 
 alarm that I should knock him down with the stone. 
 But if he would be quiet he should not be hurt. I 
 was then to take all the keys from him, and lock 
 him up in the cell — take a chisel and cut the chain 
 from my own leg, then unlock all the cells below, 
 and let out the other prisoners, who were all to cut 
 off their chains. We were then to go and let out 
 old Stephen, and make him go off with us. We 
 were to form a line and mai'ch to the front gate of 
 the prison with a sledge hammer, and break it open, 
 and if we should be discovered, and there should be 
 
 :^, 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 97 
 
 any out-cry, we were all to run and raise the alarm 
 of fire, so as to avoid detection. But while we were 
 all listening for Stephen to open the door with tho 
 melon, he came and reported that he could not get 
 one, and handed me back the money through the 
 window. All were disappointed, and nothing done. 
 I looked upon it as being a fortunate thing for me, 
 for it was certainly a very dangerous experiment 
 for a slave, and they could never get me to consent 
 to be the leader in that matter again. 
 
 A few days after, another plot was concocted to 
 to break prison, but it was betrayed by one of the 
 party, which resulted in the most cruel punishment 
 to the prisoners' concerned in it ; and I felt thankful 
 that my name was not connected with it. They 
 were not only flogged, but they were kept on bread 
 and water alone, for many days. A few days after 
 we were put in this prison, Garrison came and took 
 my wife and child out, I knew not for what purpose, 
 nor to what place, but after the absence of several 
 days I supposed that he had sold them. But ono 
 morning, the outside door was thrown open, and 
 Malinda thrust in by the ruthless hand of Garrison, 
 whose voice was pouring forth tlie most bitter oaths 
 and abusive language that could be dealt out to a 
 female ; while her heart-rending shrieks and sobbing, 
 was truly melting to the soul of a father and hus- 
 band. 
 
 The language of Malinda was, " Oh ! my dear 
 little child is gone ? What shall I do ? my child is 
 gone." This most distressing sound struck a sym- 
 pathetic chord through all the prison among tho 
 
98 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 prisoners. I was not permitted to go to my wife and 
 inquire what had become of little Frances. I never 
 expected to see her again, for I supposed that she 
 was sold. 
 
 That night, however, I had a short interview with 
 my much abused wife, who told me the secret. She 
 said that Garrison had taken her to a private house 
 where he kept female slaves for the baset purposes. 
 It was a resort for slave trading profligates and soul 
 drivers, who were interested in the same business. 
 
 Soon after she ajrived at this place, Garrison 
 gave her to understand what he brought her there 
 for, and made a most disgraceful .assault on her 
 virtue, which she promptly repeled ; and for which 
 Garrison punished her with the lash, threatening 
 her that if she did not submit that he would sell her 
 child. The next day he made the same attempt, 
 which she resisted, declaring that she would not 
 submit to it ; and again he tied her up and flogged 
 her until her garments were stained with blood. 
 
 He then sent our child ofl* to another part of the 
 city, and said he meant to sell it, and that she should 
 never see it again. He then drove Malinda before 
 him to the work-liouse, swearing by his Maker that 
 she should submit to him or die. I have already 
 described her entrance in the prison. 
 
 Two days after this he came again and took Ma- 
 linda out of the prison. It was several weeks before 
 I saw her again, and learned that he had not sold 
 her or the child. At the same time he was buying 
 up other slaves to take to New Orleans. At the 
 expiration of three months he was ready to start 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 99 
 
 with US for the New Orleans slave market, but we 
 never knew when we were to go, until the hour had 
 arrived for our departure. 
 
 One Sabbath morning Garrison entered the prison 
 and commanded that our limbs should be made ready 
 for the coffles. They called us up to an anvill block, 
 and the heavy log chains which we had been wear- 
 ing on our legs during three months, were cut off, 
 I had been in the prison over three months ; but he 
 had other slaves who had not been there so long. 
 The hand-cuffs wei-e then put on to our wrists. We 
 were coupled together two and two — the right hand 
 of one to the left hand of another, and a long chain 
 to connect us together. 
 
 The other prisoners appeared to be sorry to see 
 us start off in this way. We marched off to the 
 river Ohio, to take passage on board of the steam- 
 boat Water Witch. But this was at a very low 
 time of water, in the fall of 1839. The boat got 
 aground, and did not get off that night ; and Gar- 
 rison had to watch us all night to keep any from 
 getting away. He also had a very large savage dog, 
 which was trained up to catch runaway slaves. 
 
 We were more than six weeks getting to the city 
 of New Orleans, in consequence of low water. We 
 were shifted on to several boats before we arrived at 
 the mouth of the river Ohio. But we got but very 
 little rest at night. As all were chained together 
 night and day, it was impossible to sleep, being 
 annoyed by the bustle and crowd of the passengers 
 on board ; by the terrible thought that we were des- 
 tined to be sold in market as sheep or oxen ; and 
 
100 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 annoyed by the galling chains that cramped our 
 wearied limbs, on the tedious voyage. But I had 
 several opportunities to have run away from Gar- 
 rison before we got to the mouth of the Ohio river. 
 While they were shifting us from one boat to another 
 my hands were some times loosed, until they got ua 
 all on board — and I know that I should have broke 
 away had it not been for the sake of my wife and 
 child who was with me. I could see no chance to 
 get them off, and I could not leave them in that con- 
 dition — and Garrison v/as not so much ^aid of my 
 running ai way from hinv while he heldojt'^o my family, 
 for he knew from the great sacrilices which I had 
 made to rescue them from slavery, that my attach- 
 ment was too strong to rim off and leave them in his 
 hands, while there was the least hope of ever getting 
 them away with me. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Our arrival and examination at Vicksburg. — An account of slave 
 sales. — Cruel punishment with the paddle. — Attempts to sell 
 myself by Garrison's direction. — Amusing interview with a 
 slave buyer. — Deacon Whitfield's examination. — He purchases 
 the famUy. — Character of the Deacon. 
 
 When we arrived at the city of Vicksburg, he in- 
 tended to sell a portion of his slaves there, and 
 stopped for three weeks trying to sell. But he met 
 with very poor success. 
 
 We had there to pass through an examination or 
 inspection by a city officer, whose business it was 
 to inspect slave property that was brought to that 
 market for sale. He examined our backs to see if 
 we had been much scarred by the lash. He exam- 
 ined our limbs, to see whether we were inferior.- 
 
 As it is hard to tell the ages of slaves, they look 
 In their mouths at their teeth, and prick up the skin 
 on the back of their hands, and if the person is very 
 far advanced in life, when ths skin is pricked up, the 
 pucker will stand so many seconds on the back of 
 the hand. 
 
 But the most rigorous examinations of slaves by 
 those slave inspectors, is on the mental capacity. 
 If they are found to be very intelligent, this is pro- 
 nounced the most objectionable of aH^ other quali- 
 ties connected with the life of a slave In "act, it 
 
102 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 undermines the whole fabric of his chattelhood ; it 
 prepares for what slaveholders are pleased to pro- 
 nounce the unpardonable sin when committed by a 
 slave. It lays the foundation for running away, 
 and going to Canada. They also see in it a love 
 for freedom, patriotism, insurrection, bloodshed, and 
 exterminating war against American slavery. 
 
 Hence they are very careful to inquire whether a 
 slave who is for sale can read or write. This ques- 
 tion has been asked me often by slave traders, and 
 cotton planters, while I was there for market. Af- 
 ter conversing with me, they have sworn by their 
 Maker, that they would not have me among their 
 negroes ; and that they saw the devil in my eye ; I 
 •would run away, &c. 
 
 I have frequently been asked also, if I had ever 
 run away ; but Garrison would generally answer 
 this question for me in the negative. He could 
 have sold my little family without any trouble, for 
 the sum of one thousand dollars. But for fear he 
 might not get me off at so great an advantage, as 
 the people did not like my appearance, he could do 
 better by selling us all together. They all wanted 
 my wife, while but very few wanted me. He asked 
 for me and my family twenty-five hundred dollars, 
 but was not able to get us off at that price. 
 
 He tried to speculate on my Christian character. 
 He tried to make it appear that I was so pious and 
 honest that I would not runaway for ill treatment ; 
 which was a gross mistake, for I never had religion 
 enough to keep me from running away from slavery 
 in my life. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 103 
 
 But we were ta.ken from Vicksburgh, to the city 
 of New Orleans, were we w^ere to be sold at any 
 rate. We were taken to a trader's 3-ard or a slave 
 prison on the corner of St. Joseph street. This 
 was a common resort for slave traders, and plant 
 ers who wanted to buy slaves ; and all classes 
 of slaves were kept there for sale, to be sold in pri 
 vate or public — young or old, males or females, chil- 
 dren or parents, husbands or wives. 
 
 Every day at 10 o'clock they were exposed for 
 sale. They had to be in trim for showing them- 
 selves to the public for sale. Every one's head 
 had to be combed, and their faces washed, and those 
 who were inclined to look dark and rough, were com- 
 pelled to wash in greasy dish water, in order to 
 make them look slick and lively. 
 
 When spectators would come in the yard, the 
 slaves were ordered out to form a line. They were 
 made to stand up straight, and look as sprightly as 
 they could ; and when they were asked a question, 
 they had to answer it as promptly as they could, 
 and try to induce the spectators to buy them. If 
 they failed to do this, they were severely paddled 
 after the spectators were gone. The object for 
 using the paddle in the place of a lash was, to con- 
 ceal the marks which would be made by the flogging. 
 And the object for flogging under such circumstances, 
 is to make the slaves anxious to be sold. 
 
 The paddle is made of a piece of hickory timber, 
 about one inch thick, three inches in width, and 
 about eighteen inches in length. The part which 
 is applied to the flesh is bored full of quarter inch 
 

 
 ,,.-j^^ ^ii..; -^^ 
 
 m: 
 
 mm 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
NARRATIVE OFHENRY BTBB. 105 
 
 auger holes, and every time this is applied to the 
 flesh of the victim, the blood gushes through the 
 holes of the pa,ddle, or a blister makes its appear- 
 ance. The persons who are thus flogged, are always 
 stripped naked, and their hands tied together. They 
 are then bent over double, their knees are forced be- 
 tween their elbows, and a stick is put through be- 
 tween the elbows and the bend of the legs, in order 
 to hold the victim in that position, while the paddle 
 is applied to those parts of the body which would 
 not be so likely to be seen by those who wanted to 
 buy slaves. (See on page 133.) 
 
 ' I was kept in this prison for several months, and 
 no one would buy me for fear I would run away. 
 One day while I v/as in this prison, Garrison got 
 mad with my wife, and took her ofl^ in one of the 
 rooms, with his paddle in hand, swearing that he 
 would paddle her ; and I could afford her no protec- 
 tion at all, while the strong arm of the law, public 
 opinion and custom, were all against me. I have 
 often heard Garrison say, that he had rather paddle 
 a female, than eat when he was hungry — that it was 
 music for him to hear them scream, and too see their 
 blood run. 
 
 After the lapse of several months, he found that 
 he could not dispose of my person to a good advan- 
 tage, while he kept me in that prison confined among 
 the other slaves. I do not speak with vanity when 
 I say the contrast was so great between myself and 
 ordinary slaves, from the fact that I had enjoyed 
 superior advantages, to which I have already re- 
 
106 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 ferred. They have their slaves classed off and 
 numbered. 
 
 Garrison came to me one day and informed me 
 that I might go out through the city and find 
 myself a master. I was to go to the Hotels, 
 boarding houses, &c. — tell them that my wife was 
 a good cook, wash-woman, &c., — and that I was 
 a good dining room servant, carriage driver, or por- 
 ter — and in this way I might find some gentleman 
 who would buy us both ; and that this was the only 
 hope of our being sold together. 
 
 But before starting me out, he dressed me up in a 
 suit of his old clothes, so as to make me look re- 
 spectable, and I was so much better dressed than 
 usual that I felt quite gay. He would not allow my 
 wife to go out with me however, for fear we might 
 get away. I was out every day for several weeks, 
 three or four hours in each day, trying to find a new 
 master, but without success. • 
 
 Many of the old French inhabitants have taken 
 slaves for their wives, in this city, and tlieir own 
 children for their servants. Such commonly are 
 called Creoles. They are better treated than other 
 slaves, and I resembled this class in appearance so 
 much that the French did not v/ant me. JMany of 
 them set their mulatto ohildren free, and make slave- 
 holders of them. 
 
 At length one day I heard that there was a gen- 
 tleman in t^^' city from the State of Tennessee, to 
 buy slaves. He hid brought down two rafts of lum- 
 ber for market, and I thought if I could get him to 
 buy me with my family. ai;d take us to Tennessee, 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 107 
 
 from there, I would stand a better opportunity to 
 run SLW3.J again and get to Canada, than I would 
 from the extreme South. 
 
 So I brushed up myself and walked down to the 
 river's bank, where the man was pointed out to me 
 standing on board of his raft, I approached him, and 
 after passing the usual compliments I said : 
 
 " Sir, I understand that you wish to purchase a 
 Wjt of servants and I have called to know if it is 
 o." 
 
 He smiled and appeared to be much pleased at my 
 visit on such laudable business, supposing me to be 
 «, slave trader. He commenced rubbing his hands 
 together^ and replied by sajdng : " Yes sir, I am 
 glad to see you. It is a part of my business here to 
 buy slaves, and if I could get you to take my lumber 
 m part pay I should like to buy four or five of your 
 slaves at any rate. What kind of slaves have you, 
 sir ?" 
 
 After I found that he took me to be a slave trader 
 I knew that it would be of no use for me to tell him 
 that I was myself a slave looking for a master, for 
 he would have doubtless brought up the same ob- 
 jection that others had brought up, — that I was too 
 white ; and that they were afraid that I could read 
 and write ; and would never serve as a slave, but 
 run away. My reply to the question respecting the 
 quality of my slaves was, that I did not think his 
 lumber would suit me-— that I must have the cash 
 for my negroes, and turned on my heel and left 
 him ! 
 
 I returned to the prison and informed my wife of 
 
08 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 the fact that I had been taken to be a slaveholder. 
 She thought that in addition to my light complexion 
 my being dressed up in Garrison's old slave trading 
 clothes might have caused the man to think that I 
 was a slave trader, and she was afraid that we should 
 yet be separated if I should not succeed in finding 
 some body to buy us. 
 
 Every day to us was a day of trouble, and every 
 night brought new and fearful apprehensions that 
 the golden link which binds together husband and 
 wife might be broken by the heartless tyrant before 
 the light of another day. 
 
 Deep has been the anguish of my soul when look- 
 ing over my little family during the silent hours of 
 the night, knowing the great danger of our being 
 sold off at auction the next day and parted forever. 
 That this might not come to pass, many have been 
 the tears and prayers which I have offered up to the 
 God oT Israel that we might be preserved. 
 
 While waiting here to be disposed of, I heard of 
 one Francis Whitfield, a cotton planter, who want- 
 ed to buy slaves. He was represented to be a 
 very pious soul, being a deacon of a Baptist church. 
 As the regulations, as v/ell as public opinion gener- 
 ally, were against slaves meeting for religious wor 
 ship, I thought it would give me a better opportuni 
 ty to attend to my religious duties should I fall into 
 the hands of this deacon. 
 
 So I called on him and tried to show to the best 
 advantage, for the purpose of inducing him to buy 
 me and my family. When I approached him, I felt 
 much pleased at his external appearance — I address- 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 109 
 
 ed him in the following words as well as I can re- 
 member : 
 
 " Sir, I understand you are desirous of purchas- 
 ing slaves ?" 
 
 With a very pleasant smile, he replied, " Yes, I 
 do want to buy some, are you for sale ?" 
 
 " Yes sir, with my wife and one child." 
 
 Garrison had given me a note to show wherever 
 I went, that I was for sale, speaking of my wife 
 and child, giving us a very good character of course 
 — and I handed him the note. 
 
 After reading it over he remarked, " I have a few 
 questions to ask you, and if you will tell me the 
 truth like a good boy, perhaps I may buy you with 
 your family. In the first place, my boy, you are a 
 little too near white. I want you to tell me now 
 whether you can read or write ?" 
 
 My reply was in the negative. 
 
 *' Now I want you to tell me whether you have 
 run away ? Don't tell me no stories now, like a 
 good fellow, and perhaps I may buy you." 
 
 But as I was not under oath to tell him the whole 
 truth, I only gave him a part of it, by telling him 
 that I had run away once. 
 
 He appeared to be pleased at that, but cautioned 
 me to tell him the truth, and asked me how long I 
 stayed away, when I run off ? 
 
 I told him that I was gone a month. 
 
 He assented to this by a bow of his head, and 
 making a long grunt saying, " That's right, tell me 
 the truth like a good boy." 
 
 The whole truth was that I had been off in the 
 
110 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 state of Ohio, and other free states, and even to 
 Canada ; besides this I was notorious for running 
 away, from my boyhood. 
 
 I never told him that I had been a runaway longer 
 than one month — neither did I tell him that I had 
 not run away more than once in my life ; for these 
 questions he never asked me. 
 
 I afterwards found him to be one of the basest 
 hypocrites that I ever saw. He looked like a saint 
 — talked like the best of slave holding Christians, 
 and acted at home like the devil. 
 
 When he saw my wife and child, he concluded to 
 buy us. He paid for me twelve hundred dollars, 
 and one thousand for my wife and child. He also 
 bought several other slaves at the same time, and 
 took home with him. His residence was in the par- 
 ish of Claiborn, fifty miles up from the mouth of 
 Eed River. 
 
 When we arrived there, we found his slaves poor, 
 ragged, stupid, and half-starved. The food he allow- 
 ed them per week, was one peck of corn for each 
 grown person, one pound of pork, and sometimes a 
 quart of molasses. This was all that they were al- 
 lowed, and if they got more they stole it. 
 
 He had one of the most cruel overseers to be 
 found in that section of country. He weighed and 
 measured out to them, their week's allowance of 
 food every Sabbath morning. The overseer's horn 
 was sounded two hours before daylight for them in 
 the morning, in order that they should be ready for 
 work before daylight. They were worked from day- 
 light until after dark, without stopping but one half 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Ill 
 
 hour to eat or rest, which was at noon. And at the " 
 busy season of the year, they were compelled to 
 work just as hard on the Sabbath, as on any other 
 day. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Cruel treatment on Whitfield's farm — Exposure of the children 
 — Mode' of extorting extra labor — Neglect of the sick — 
 Strange medicine used — Death of our second child. 
 
 My first impressions when I arrived on the Dea- 
 con's farm, were that he was far more like what the 
 people call the devil, than he was like a deacon. 
 Not many days after my arrival there, I heard the 
 Deacon tell one-ofthe slave girls, that he had bought 
 her for a wife .br his boy Stephen, which office he 
 compelled her fully to perform against her will. 
 This he enforced by a threat. At lirst the poor 
 girl neglected to do this, having no sort of affection 
 for the man — but she was finally forced to it by an 
 application of the driver's lash, as threatened by the 
 Deacon. 
 
 The next thing I observed was that he made the 
 slave driver strip his own wife, and flog her for not 
 doing just as her master had ordered. He had a 
 white overseer, and a colored man for a driver, 
 whose business it was to watch and drive the slaves 
 in the field, and do the flogging according to the or- 
 ders of the overseer. 
 
 Next a mulatto girl who waited about the house, 
 on her mistress, displeased her, for which the Dea- 
 con stripped and tied her up. He then handed me 
 the lash and ordered me to put it on — but 1 told 
 
■.^ JL -LAW, ^ .-.^ aone the like, and hoped he Wuu-.. 
 ^t compel me to do it. He then informed me that 
 was to be Jiis overseer, and that he had bought me 
 or that purpose. He was paying a man eight hun- 
 dred dollars a year to oversee, an'd he believed I was 
 competent to do the same business, and if I would 
 do it up right he would put nothing harder on me 
 to do ; and if J knew not how to flog a slave, he 
 would set me an example by which I might be gov- 
 erned. He then commenced on this poor girl, and 
 gave her two hundred lashes before he had her 
 untied. 
 
 After giving her fifty lashes, he stopped and lec- 
 tured her a while, asking her if she thought that 
 she*could obey her mistress, &c. She promised to 
 do all in her power to please him and hor mistress, 
 if he would have mercy on her. But this plea was 
 all vain. He commenced on her again ; and this 
 flogging was carried on in t'b'^> most inhuman manner 
 until she had received twf^ .hundred stripes on her 
 naked quivering flesh, tieo up and exposed to the 
 
114 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 public gaze of all. And this was the example that 
 I was to copy after. 
 
 He then compelled me to wash her back off with 
 strong salt brine, before she was untied, which was 
 so revolting to my feelings, that I could not refrain 
 from shedding tears. 
 
 For some cause he never called on me again to 
 flog a slave. I presume he saw that I was not 
 savage enough. The above were about the flrs^. items 
 of the Deacon's conduct which struck me with pecu- 
 liar disgust. 
 
 After having enjoyed the blessings of civil and 
 religious liberty for a season, to be dragged into 
 that horrible place with my family, to linger out 
 my existence without the aid of religious societies, 
 or the light of revelation, was more than I could 
 endure. I really felt as if I had got into one of the 
 darkest corners of the earth. I thought I was 
 almost out of humanity's reach, and should never 
 again have the pleasure of hearing the gospel sound, 
 as I could see no way by which I could extricate 
 myself; yet I never omitted to pray for deliver 
 ance. I had faith to believe that the Lord could 
 see our wrongs and hear our cries. 
 
 I was not used quite as bad as the regular field 
 hands, as the greater part of my time was spent 
 working about the house ; and my wife was the 
 cook. 
 
 This country was full of pine timber, and every 
 slave had to prepare a light wood torch, over night, 
 made of pine knots, to meet the overseer with, be- 
 fore daylight in the morning. Each person had to 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 115 
 
 h\x^e. his tcrch lit, and come with it in his hanrl 
 to iYe gin house, before the overseer and driver, so 
 as t(j le ready to ^o to the cotton tidd by the time 
 they ^ould see to pick oiit cotton. These lights 
 looketJ ieautiful at a distance. 
 
 The object of blowing the horn for them two 
 hours before day, was, that they should get theirbite 
 to eat, belore they went to the field, that they need 
 not stop to eat but once during the day. Another 
 object was, to do up their flogging which had been 
 omitted over night. I have often heard the sound 
 of the slave driver's lash on the backs, of the slaves, 
 and their heart-rending shrieks, v/hich were enough 
 to melt the heart of humanity, even among the most 
 barbarous nations of the earth. 
 
 But the Deacon would keep no overseer on his 
 plantation, who neglected to perform this every 
 morning. I have heard him say that he was no 
 better pleased than when he could hear the over- 
 seer's loud complaining voice, long before daylight 
 in the morning, and the sound of the driver's lash 
 among the toiling slaves. 
 
1.16 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 This was a very warm climate, abounding with 
 musquitoes, galinippers and other insects which were 
 exceedingly annoying to the poor slaves by night and 
 day, at their quarters and in the field. But more 
 especially to their helpless little children, which 
 they had to carry with them to the cotton fields, 
 where they had to set on the damp ground alone 
 from morning till night, exposed to the scorching 
 rays of the sun, liable to be bitten by poisonous 
 rBittle snakes which are plenty in that section of the 
 count I'y, or to be devoured by large alligators, 
 which are often seen creeping through the cotton 
 fields going from swamp to swamp seeking their 
 prey. 
 
 The cotton planters generally, never allow a 
 slave mother time to go to the house, or quarter 
 during the day to nurse her child ; hence they have 
 to carry them to the cotton fields and tie them in 
 the shade of a tree, or in clusters of high weeds 
 about in the fields, where they can go to them at 
 noon, when they are allowed to stop work for one 
 half hour. This is the reason why so very few 
 slave children are raised on these cotton plantations, 
 the mothers have no time to take care of them — and 
 they are often found dead in the field and in the 
 quarter for want of the care of their mothers. But 
 I never was eye witness to a case of this kind, but 
 have heard many narrated by my slave brothers and 
 sisters, some of which occurred on the deacon's 
 plantation. 
 
 Their plan of getting large quantities of cotton 
 picked is not only to extort it from them by th« 
 
NARRATIVE OP HENR¥- BIBB. Ij7 
 
 lasli, but hold out an inducement and deceive them 
 by giving small prizes. For example ; the overseer 
 will offer something worth one or two dollars to 
 any slave who will pick out the most cotton in one 
 day ; dividing the hands off in three classes a,nd offer- 
 ing a prize to the one who will pick out the most 
 cotton in each of the classes. By this means they 
 are all interested in trying to get the prize. 
 
 After making them try it over several times and 
 weighing what cotton they pick every night, the 
 overseer can tell just how much every hand can 
 pick. He then gives the present to those that pick 
 the most cotton, and then if they do not pick just 
 as much afterward they are flogged. 
 
 I have known the slaves to be so much fatigued 
 from labor that they could scarcely get to their 
 lodging places from the field at night. And then 
 they would have to prepare something to eat before 
 they could lie down to rest. Their corn they had 
 to grind on a hand mill for bread stuff, or pound it 
 in a mortar ; and by the time they would get their 
 suppers it would be midnight; then they would 
 herd down all together and take but two or three 
 hours rest, before the overseer's horn called them 
 up again to prepare for the field. 
 
 At the time of sickness among slaves they had 
 but very little attention. The master was to be the 
 judge of their sickness, but never had studied the 
 medical profession. He always pronounced a 
 slave who said he was sick, a liar and a hypocrite ; 
 said there was nothing the matter, and he only 
 wanted to keep from work. 
 
118 NARRA"^IVE OP HENRY BIBB. 
 
 His remedy was most generally strong red pepper 
 tea, boiled till it was red. He would make thora 
 drink a pint cup full of it at one dose. If he should 
 not get better very soon after it, the dose was re- 
 peated. If that should not accomplish the object 
 for which it was given, or have the desired effect, 
 a pot or kettle was then put over the fire with a 
 large quantity of chimney soot, which was boiled 
 down until it was as strong as the juice of tobacco, 
 and the poor sick slave was compelled to drink a 
 quart of it. 
 
 This would operate on the system like salts, or 
 castor oil. But if the slave should not be very ill, 
 he would rather work as long as he could stand up, 
 than to take this dreadful medicine. 
 
 If it should be a very valuable slave, sometimes a 
 physician was sent for and something done to save 
 him. But no special aid is afforded the suffering 
 slave even in the last trying hour, when he is called 
 to grapple with the grim monster death. He has 
 no Bible, no family altar, no minister to addresa to 
 him the consolations of the gospel, before he launch- 
 es into the spirit world. As to the burial of slaves, 
 but very littlemore care is taken of their dead bodies 
 than if they were dumb beasts. 
 
 My wife was very sick while v/e were both living 
 with the Deacon. We expected everyday would be 
 her last. While she was sick, we lost our second 
 child, and I was compelled to dig my own child's 
 grave and bury it myself without even a box to put 
 it in. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 1 attend a prayer meeting. — Funisliment therefor threatened. 
 — I attempt to escape alone. — My return to take my family. 
 — Our sufferings. — Dreadful attack of wolves. — Our recap- 
 ture. 
 
 Some months after Malinda had recovered from 
 her sickness, I got permission from the Deacon, on 
 one Sabbath day, to attend a prayer meeting, on a 
 neighboring plantation, with a few old superanuated 
 slaves, although this was contrary to the custom of 
 the country — for slaves were not allowed to assem- 
 ble for religious worship. Being more numerous 
 than the whites there was fear of rebellion, and the 
 overpowering of their oppressors in order to obtain 
 freedom. 
 
 But this gentleman on whose plantation I attend- 
 ed the meeting was not a Deacon nor a professor of 
 religion. He was not afraid of a few old Chris- 
 tian slaves rising up to kill their master because he 
 allowed them to worship God on the Sabbath da}'. 
 
 We had a very good meeting, although our exer- 
 cises were not conducted in accordance with an en- 
 lightened Christianity ; for we had no Bible — no in" 
 telligent leader — but a conscience, prompted by our 
 own reason, constrained us to worship God the 
 
 Creatoi- of all tlungs. 
 
 When I roturned home from meeting I told the 
 
120 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 other slaves what a good time we had at our meef • 
 ing, and requested them to go with me to meeting 
 there on the next Sabbath. As no slave was allowed 
 to go from the plantation on a visit without a writ- 
 ten pass from his master, on the next ' Sabbath 
 several of us went to the Deacon, to get permission 
 to attend that prayer meeting ; but he refused to let 
 any go. I thought I would slip oif and attend the 
 meeting and get back before he would miss me, and 
 would not know that I had been to the meeting. 
 
 When I returned home from the meeting as I ap- 
 proached the house I saw Malinda, standing out at 
 the fence looking in the direction in which I was ex- 
 pected to return. She hailed my approa,ch, not with 
 joy, but with grief. She was weeping under great 
 distress of mind, btit it was hard forme to extort 
 from her the reason why she v/ept. She finally in- 
 formed me that her master had found out that I had 
 violated his law, and I should suffer the penalty, 
 which was five hundred lashes, on my naked back. 
 
 I asked her how he knew that I had gone ? 
 
 She said I had not long been gone before he called 
 for me and I was not to be found. He then sent the 
 overseer on horseback to the place where we were 
 to meet to see if I was there. But when the over- 
 seer got to the place, the meeting was over and I 
 had gone back home, but had gone a nearer route 
 through the woods and the overseer happened not 
 to meet me. He heard that I had been there and 
 hurried back home before me and told the Deacon, 
 who ordered him to take me on the next morning, 
 strip off my clothes, drive down four stakes in th© 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 121 
 
 ground and fasten my limbs to them ; then strik® 
 me five hundred lashes for going to the i^rayer meet- 
 ing. This was what distressed my poor companion. 
 She thought it was more than I could bear, and that 
 it would be the death of me. I concluded then to 
 run away — but she thought they would catch me 
 with the blood hounds by their taking my track. 
 But to avoid them I thought I would ride off on one 
 of the Deacon's mules. She thought if I did, they 
 would sell me. 
 
 " No matter, I will try it," said I, " let the con- 
 sequences be what they may. The matter can be 
 no worse than it now is.-' So I tackled up the 
 Deacon's best mule with his saddle, &c., and start- 
 ed that night and went off eight or ten miles from 
 hom&. But I found the mule to be rather trouble- 
 some, and was like to betray me by braying, especially 
 when he would see cattle-, horses, or any thing of the 
 kind in the woods. 
 
 The second night from home I camped in a cane 
 break down in the Red river swamp not a great 
 way off from the road, perhaps not twenty rods, ex- 
 posed to wild ferocious beasts which v/ere numer- 
 ous in that section of country. On that night about 
 the middle of the night .the mule heard the sound 
 of horses feet on the road, and he commenced stamp- 
 ing and trying to break away. As the horses 
 seeaated to come nearer, the mule commenced, trying 
 to bray, and it was all that I could do to prevent 
 him from making a loud bray there in the woods, 
 which would have betrayed me. ^ 
 
 I supposed that it was the overseer out with the 
 
122 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 dogs looking for me, and I found afterwards that I 
 was not mistaken. As soon as the people had passed 
 by, 1 mounted the mule and took him home to pre- 
 vent his betraying me. When I got near by homo 
 I stripped off the tackling and turned the mule loose. 
 I then slipt up to the cabin wherein my wife laid 
 and found her awake, much distressed about me. 
 She informed me that they were then out looking 
 for me, and that the Deacon was bent on flogging 
 me nearly to death, and then selling me off from my 
 family. This was truly heart-rending to my poor 
 wife ; the thought of our being torn apart in a 
 strange land after having been sold away from all 
 her friends and relations, was more than she could 
 bear. 
 
 The Deacon had declared that I should not only 
 suffer for the crime of attending a prayer meeting 
 without his permission, and for running away, but 
 for the awful crime of stealing a jackass, which was 
 death by the law when committed by a negro. 
 
 But I well knew that I was regarded as property, 
 and so was the ass ; and I thought if one piece of 
 property took off another, there could be no law 
 violated in the act ; no more sin committed in this 
 than if one jackass had rode off another. 
 
 But after consultation with my wife I concluded' 
 to take her and my little daughter with me and they 
 would be guilty of the same crime that I vv^as, so far 
 as running away was concerned ; and if the Deacon 
 ,sold one he might sell us all, and perhaps to the same 
 person. 
 
 So we started off with our child that night, and 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 123 
 
 made our way down to the Red river swamps among 
 the buzzing insects and wild beasts of the forest. 
 We wandered about in the wilderness for eight or 
 ten days before we were apprehended, striving to 
 make our way from slavery ; but it was all in vain. 
 Our food was parched corn, with wild fruit such as 
 pawpaws, percimmons, grapes, &c. We did at one 
 time chance to find a sweet potato patch where .we 
 got a few potatoes ; but most of the time, while we 
 were out, we were lost. We wanted to cross the 
 Red river but could find no conveyance to cross 
 in. 
 
 I recollect one day of finding a crooked trco 
 which bent over the river or over one fork of the 
 river, where it was divided by an island. I should 
 think that the tree v/as at least twenty feet from the 
 surface of the water. I picked up my little child, 
 and my wife followed me, saying, " if we perish let 
 us all perish together in the stream." We succeeded 
 in crossing over. I often look back to that danger- 
 ous event even now with astonishment, and wonder 
 how I could have run such a risk. What would in- 
 duce me to run the same risk now ? What could 
 induce me now to leave home and friends and go to 
 the wild forest and lay out on the cold ground night 
 after night without covering, and live on parched 
 corn ? 
 
 What would induce me to take my family and go 
 into the Red river swamps of Louisiana among the 
 snakes and alligators, with all the liabilities of being 
 destroyed by them, hunted down with blood hoimds, 
 or lay myself liable to be shot down like the wild 
 
.124 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 beasts of the forest ? Nothing I say, nothing but 
 the strongest love of liberty, humanity, and justice 
 to myself and family, would induce me to run such 
 a risk again. 
 
 When we crossed over on the tree we supposed 
 that we had crossed over the main body of the river, 
 but we had not proceeded far on our journey before 
 we, found that we were on an Island surrounded by 
 water on either side. We made our bed that night 
 in a pile of dry leaves which had fallen from off the 
 trees. We were much rest-broken, wearied from 
 hunger and travelling through briers, swamps and 
 cane-brakes — consequently we soon fell asleep after 
 lying down. About the dead hour of the night I 
 was aroused by the awful howling of a gang of blood- 
 thirsty wolves, which had found us out and sur- 
 rounded us as their prey, there in tlie dark wilder- 
 ness many miles from any house or settlement. 
 
 My dear little child was so dreadfully alarmed 
 that she screamed loudly with fear — my wife trem- 
 bling like a leaf on a tree, at the thought of being 
 devoured there in the wilderness by ferocious 
 wolves. 
 
 The wolves kept howling, and were near enough 
 for us to see their glaring eyes, and hear their 
 chattering teeth. I then thought that the hour of 
 death for us was at hand; that we should not live 
 to see the light of another day ; for there was no 
 way for our escape. My little family were looking 
 up to me for protection, but I could afford them 
 none. A.nd while I was offering up my prayers to 
 that Goa who never forsakes those in the hour of 
 
126 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 danger who trust in him, I thought of Deacon 
 Whitfield ; I thought of his profession, and doubted 
 his piety. I thought of his hand-cuifs, of his whips, 
 of his chains, of his stocks, of his thumb- screws, of 
 his slave driver and overseer, and of his religion ; 
 I also thought of his opposition to prayer meetings, 
 and of his five hundred lashes promised me for at- 
 tending a prayer meeting. I thought of God, I 
 thought of the devil, I thought of hell ; and I thought 
 of heaven, and wondered wiiether I should ever see 
 the Deacon there. And I calculated that if heaven 
 was made up of such Deacons, or such persons, it 
 could not be filled with love to all mankind, and 
 with glory and eternal happiness, as we know it is 
 from the truth of the Bible. 
 
 The reader may perhaps think me tedious on this 
 topic, but indeed it is one of so much interest to mei 
 that I find myself entirely unable to describe what 
 my own feelings were at that time. I was so much 
 excited by the fierce howling of the savage wolves, 
 and the frightful screams of my little famil}^ that I 
 thought of the future ; I thought of the past ; I 
 thought the time of my departure had come at last. 
 
 My impression is, that all these thouglits and 
 thousands of others, flashed through my mind, while 
 I was surrounded by those wolves. But it seemed 
 to be the will of a merciful providence, that our 
 lives should be sparred, and that we should not be 
 destroyed by them. 
 
 I had no weapon of defence bui a long bowie knife 
 which I had slipped from the Deacon. It was a 
 very splendid blade, about two feet in length, and 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY EIBB. 127 
 
 about two inches in width. This used to be a part 
 of his armor of defence while walking about the 
 plantation among his slaves. 
 
 The plan which I took to expel the wolves Vv^as 
 a very dangerous one, but it proved effectual. 
 While they were advancing to me, prancing and 
 accumulating in number, apparently of all sizes and 
 grades, who had come to the feast, I thought just at 
 this time, that there was no alternative left but for 
 me to make a charge with my bowie knife. I well 
 knew from the action of the wolves, that if I made 
 no farther resistance, they would soon destroy us, 
 and if I made a break at them, the matter could be 
 no worse. I thought if I must die, I would die 
 striving to protect my little family from destruction, 
 die striving to escape from slavery. My wife took 
 a club in one hand, and her child in the other, while 
 I rushed forth with my bowie knife in hand, to fight 
 oif the savage wolves. I made one desperate charge 
 at them, and at the same time making a loud yell 
 at the top of my voice, that caused them to retreat 
 and scatter, which was equivalent to a victory on 
 our part. Our prayers were answered, and our 
 lives spared through the night. We slept no more 
 that night, and the next morning there were no 
 wolves to be seen or heard, and we resolved not to 
 stay on that island another night. 
 
 We travelled up and down the river side trying 
 to find a place where we could cross. Finally we 
 found a lot of drift wood clogged together, extend- 
 ing across the stream at a narrow place in the 
 river, upon which we crossed over. But we had 
 
128 NARllATIVE OF IJENRY BIBB. 
 
 not 3^et sunnoimtcd our greatest difficulty. We 
 had to meet one which was far more formidable 
 than the first. Not m.any days afrer I had to face 
 the Deacon. 
 
 We had been wandering about through the cane 
 brakes, bushes, and briers, for several . days, when 
 we heard the yelping of blood hounds, a great way 
 off, but they seemed to come nearer and nearer to 
 us. "We thought after awhile that they muist be on 
 our track ; we listened attentively at the approach. 
 We knew it was no use for us to undertake to 
 escape from them, and as they drew nigh, we heard 
 the voice of a man hissing on the dogs. 
 
 After awhile we saw the hounds "Coming in full 
 speed on our track, and the soul drivers close after 
 tliem on horse back, j'elling like tigers, as they came 
 in sis'ht. The slirill yelling of the savage blood 
 hounas as they drew nigh made the woods echo. 
 
 The first impulse was to'run to escape the ap- 
 proaching danger of ferocious dogs, and blood thirsty 
 shive hunters, who were so rapidly approaching 
 me with loaded muskets and bowie knives, with a 
 determination to kill or capture me and my fam- 
 ily. I started to run with my little daughter iu 
 my arms., but stumbled and fell down and scratched 
 tiie arm of little Frances with a brier, so that it 
 bled very much ; but the dear child never cried, for 
 she seemed to know the danger to wliich we wore 
 eYposed. 
 
 But v/e soon found that it was no use for us to 
 run. The dogs were soon at our heels, and we were 
 
 .■r;;n-!iclli d !-.> stnr-!. rir h.- t r-.\ t:, r Icf,'^ bv flu^m. 
 

 WlMf, 
 
 
 
 
 p/ 
 
 mm'^'^H'T' ' 
 
130 NARRATIVE (F FIKKRY EISS. 
 
 By this time, the soul drivers came charging up on 
 their horses, commanding us to stand still or they 
 would shoot us down. 
 
 Of course I surrendered up for the sake of my 
 family. The most abusive terms to be found in the 
 English language, were poured forth on us with 
 bitter oaths. They tied my hands behind me, and 
 drove us home before them, to suffer the penalty of 
 a slaveholder's broken law. 
 
 As we drew nigh the plantation my heart grew 
 faint. I was aware that we should have to suffer 
 almost death for running off. I was filled with 
 dreadful apprehensions at the thought of meeting a 
 professed follower of Christ, whom I knew to be a 
 hypocrite ! No tongue, no pen can evei describe 
 whftt my feelings were at that time. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 My sad condition before "Whitfield. — My terrible punisliment.— 
 Incidents of a former attempt to escape. — Jack at a farm house. 
 — Six pigs and a turkey. — Our surprise and arrest. 
 
 The reader may perhaps imagine wiiat must have 
 been my feelings when I found myself surrounded on 
 the island with my little family, at midnight, by a 
 gang of savage wolves. This was one of those try- 
 ing emergencies in my life when there was apparently 
 but one step between us and the grave. But I had 
 no cords wra,pped about my limbs to prevent my 
 struggling against the impending danger to which I 
 was then exposed. I was not denied the consola- 
 tion of resisting in self defence, as was now the 
 case. There was no Deacon standing before me,- 
 with a loaded rifle, swearing that I should submit 
 to the torturing lash, or be shot down like a dumb 
 beast. 
 
 I felt that my chance was by far better among the 
 howling wolves in the Red river swamp, than before 
 Deacon Whitfield, on the cotton plantation. I was 
 brought before him as a criminal before a bar, with- 
 out counsel, to be tried and condemned by a tyrant's 
 law. My arms were bound with a cord, my spirit 
 broken, and my little family standing by weeping. 
 
132 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 I was not allowed to plead my own cause, and there 
 was no one to utter a word in my behalf. 
 
 He ordered that the field hands should be called 
 together to witness my punishment, that it might 
 serve as a caution to them never to attend a prayer 
 meeting, or runaway as I had, lest they should re- 
 ceive the same punishment. 
 
 At the sound of the overseer's horn, all the slaves 
 came forward and witnessed my punishment. My 
 clothing was stripped off and I was compelled U 
 lie down on the ground with my face to the earth 
 Four stakes were driven in the ground, to which 
 my hands and feet were tied. Then the overseei 
 stood over me with the lash and laid it on accord 
 ing to the Deacon's order. Fifty lashes were laid on 
 before stopping. I wiis then lectured with reference 
 to my going to prayer meeting without his orders, 
 ai]d running away to escape flogging. 
 
 While I suffered under this dreadful torture, I 
 prayed, and wept, and implored mercy at the hand 
 of slavery, but found none. After I was marked 
 ft'om my neck to my heels, the Deacon took the 
 gory lash, and said he thought there was a spot on 
 my back yet where he could put in afewmore. He 
 wanted to give me something to remember him by, 
 he said. 
 
 After I was flogged almost to death in this way, 
 a paddle was brought forward and eight or ten blows 
 given me with it, which was by far worse tban the 
 lash. My wounds were then washed with salt brine, 
 after which I was let up. A description of such 
 paddles I have already given in another page. I 
 
134 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB, 
 
 was SO badly punished that I was not able to work 
 for several days. After being flogged as described, 
 they took me off several miles to a shop and had a 
 heavy iron collar riveted on my neck with prongs ex- 
 tending above my head, on the end of which there 
 was a small bell. I was not able to reach the bell 
 with my hand. This heavy load of iron I was com* 
 pelled to wear for six weeks. I never was allowed 
 to lie in the same house with my family again while 
 I was the slave of Whitfield. I either had to sleep 
 with my feet in the stocks, or be chained with a 
 large log chain to a log over night, with no bed or 
 bedding to rest my wearied limbs on, after toiling 
 all day in the cotton field. I suffered almost death 
 Avliile kept in this confinement ; and he had ordered 
 the overseer never to let me loose again ; saying that I 
 thought of getting free by running off, but no negro 
 should ever get away from him alive. 
 
 I have omitted to state that this was the second 
 time I had run away from him ; while I was gone 
 the first time, he extorted from my wife the fact that- 
 I had been in the habit of running away, before we 
 left Kentucky ; that I had been to Canada, and that 
 I was trying to learn the art of reading and writing. 
 All this was against me. 
 
 It is true that I was striving to learn myself to 
 write. I was a kind of a house servant and was 
 frequently sent off on errands, but never without a 
 written pass ; and on Sundays I have sometimes got 
 permission to visit our neighbor's slaves, and I have 
 often tried to write myself a pass. 
 
 Whenever I got hold of an old letter that had 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 135 
 
 been thrown away, or a piece of white paper, I would 
 save it to write on. I have often gone off in the 
 woods and spent the greater part of the day alone, 
 trying to learn to write myself a pass, by writing on 
 the backs of old letters ; copying after the pass that 
 had been written by Whitfield ; by so doing I got 
 the use of the pen and could form letters as well as 
 I can now, but knew not what they were. 
 
 The Deacon had an old slave by the name of Jack 
 whom he bought about the time that he bought me. 
 Jack was born in the State of Virginia. He' had 
 some idea of freedom ; had often run away, but was 
 very ignorant ; knew not where to go for refuge ; 
 but understood all about providing something to 
 eat when unjustly deprived of it. 
 
 So for ill" treatment, we concluded to take a tramp 
 together. I was to be the pilot, while Jack was to 
 carry the baggage and keep us in provisions. Be- 
 fore we started, I managed to get hold of a suit of 
 clothes the Deacon possessed, with his gun, ammu- 
 nition and bowie knife. We also procured a blank- 
 et, a joint of meat, and some bread. 
 
 We started in a northern direction, being bound 
 for the city of Little Rock, State of Arkansas. We 
 travelled by night and laid by in the day, being guid- 
 ed by the unchangeable North Star ; but at length, 
 our provisions gave out, and it was Jack's place to 
 get more. We came in sight of a large plantation 
 6ne morning, where we saw people of color, and 
 Jack said he could get something there, among the 
 slaves, that night, for us to eat. So we concealed 
 
136 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 ourselves, in sight of this plantation until about 
 bed time, when we saw the lights extinguished. 
 
 During the day we saw a female slave passing 
 from the dwelling house to the kitchen as if she was 
 the cook ; the house being about three rods from 
 the landlord's dwelling. After we supposed the 
 whites were all asleep, Jack slipped up softly to the 
 kitchen to try his luck with the cook, to see if he 
 could get any thing from her to eat. 
 
 I would remark that the domestic slaves are 
 often found to be traitors to their own people, for 
 the purpose of gaining favor with their masters ; 
 and they are encouraged and trained up by them to 
 report every plot they know of being formed about 
 stealing any thing, or running away, or any thing 
 of the kind ; and for which they are paid. This is 
 one of the principal causes of the slaves being di- 
 vided among themselves, and without which they 
 could not be held in bondage one year, and perhaps 
 not half that time. 
 
 I now proceed to describe the unsuccessful at- 
 tempt of poor Jack to obtain something from the 
 female slave to satisfy hunger. The planter's house 
 was situated on an elevated spot on the side of a 
 hill. The fencing about the house and garden 
 was very crookedly laid up with rails. The night 
 was rather dark and rainy, and Jack left me with 
 the understanding that I was to stay at a certain 
 place until he returned. I cautioned him before he 
 left me to be very careful — and after he started, I 
 left the place where he was to find me when he re- 
 turned, for fear something might happen which might 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 137 
 
 lead to my detection, should I remain at that spot. 
 So I left it and went off where I could see the house, 
 and that place too. 
 
 Jack had not long been gone, before I heard a 
 great noise ; a man, crying out with a loud voice, 
 " Catch him ! Catch him !" and hissing the dogs on, 
 and they were close after Jack. The next thing I 
 saw, was Jack runiiing for life, and an old white man 
 after him, with a gun, and his dogs. The fence be- 
 ing on sidling ground, and wet with the rain, when 
 Jack run against it he knocked down several pannels 
 of it and fell, tumbling over and over to the foot of 
 the hill ; but soon recovered and ran to where he 
 had left me ; but I was gone. The dogs were still 
 after him. 
 
 There happened to be quite a thicket of small 
 oak shrubs and bushes in the direction he ran. I 
 think he might have been heard running and strad- 
 dling bushes a quarter of a mile ! The poor fellow 
 hurt himself considerably in. straddling over bushes 
 in that way, in making his escape. 
 
 Finally the dogs relaxed their chase and poor 
 Jack and myself again met in the thick forest. He 
 'said when he rapped on the cook-house door, the 
 colored woman came to the door. He asked her if 
 she would let him have a bite of bread if she had it, 
 that he was a poor hungry absconding slave. But 
 she made no reply to what he said but immediately 
 sounded the alarm by calling loudly after her mas- 
 ter, saying, " here is a runaway negro !" Jack said 
 that he was going to knock her down but her mas- 
 
138 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 ter was out within one moment, and he had to run 
 for his life. 
 
 As soon as we got our eyes fixed on the North 
 Star again, we started on our way. We travelled 
 on a few miles and came to another large plantation, 
 where Jack was determined to get something to eat. 
 He left me at a certain place while he went up to 
 the house to find something if possible. 
 
 He was gone some time before he returned, but 
 when I saw him coming, he appeared to be very 
 heavy loaded with a bag of something. We walked 
 oil* pretty fast until we got some distance in the 
 woods. Jack then stopped and opened his bag in 
 which he had six small pigs. I asked him how he 
 got them without making any noise ; and he said 
 that he found a bed of hogs, in which there were 
 the pigs with their mother. While the pigs were 
 sucking he crawled up to them without being dis- 
 covered by the sow, and took them by their necks 
 one after another, and choked them to death, and 
 slipped them into his bag ! 
 
 We intended to travel on all that night and lay 
 by the next day in the forest and cook up our pigs. 
 We fell into a large road leading on the diree- 
 tion which we v/ere travelling, and had not proceed- 
 ed over three miles before I found a white hat lying 
 in the road before me. Jack being a little behind 
 me I stopped until he came up, and showed it to him. 
 He picked it up. We looked a few steps farther 
 and sav/ a man lying by the way, either asleep or 
 intoxicated, as we supposed. 
 
 I told Jack not to take the hat, but he would not 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 139 
 
 obey me. He had only a piece of a hat himself, 
 which he left in exchange for the other. We travelled 
 on about five miles farther, and in passing a house 
 discovered a large turkey sitting on the fence, which 
 temptation was greater than Jack could resist. 
 Notwithstanding he had six very nice fat little pigs 
 on his back, he stepped up and took the turkey off 
 the fence. 
 
 By this time it was getting near day-light and we 
 left the road and went off a mile or so among the 
 hills of the forest, where we struck camp for the 
 day. We then picked our turkey, dressed our pigs, 
 and cooked two of them. We got the hair off by 
 singeing them over the fire, and after we had eaten 
 all we wanted, one of us slept while the other watch- 
 ed. We had flint, punk, and powder to strike fire 
 with. A little after dark the next night, we started 
 on our way. 
 
 But about ten o'clock that night just as we were , 
 passing through a thick skirt of woods, five men 
 sprang out before us with fire-arms, swearing if we 
 moved another step, they would shoot us down ; 
 and each man having his gun drawn up for shooting 
 we had no chance to make any defence, and surren 
 dered sooner than run the risk of being killed. 
 
 They had been lying in wait for us there, for 
 several hours. They had seen a reward out, for 
 notices were put up in the most public places, that 
 fifty dollars would be paid for me, dead or alive, 
 if I should not return home within so many days. 
 And the reader will remember that neither Jack nor 
 myself was able to read the advertisement. It was 
 
140 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 of very little consequence with the slave catchers, 
 whether they killed us or took us alive, for the re- 
 ward was the same to them. 
 
 After we were taken and tied, one of the men de- 
 clared to me that he would have shot me dead just 
 as sure as he lived, if I had moved one step after 
 they commanded us to stop. He had his gun level- 
 led at my breast, already cocked, and his finger on 
 the trigger. The way they came to find us out was 
 from the circumstance of Jack's taking tlie man's 
 hat in connection with tlie advertisement. The man 
 whose hat was taken was drunk ; and the next 
 mortiing when he came to look for his hat it was 
 gone and Jack's old hat lying in the place of ii:; 
 and in looking round he saw the tracks of two per- 
 sons in the dust, who had passed during the night, 
 and one of them having but three toes on one foot. 
 He followed these tracks until they came to a large 
 mud pond, in a lane on one side of which a person 
 might pass dry shod ; but the man with three toes 
 on one foot had plunged through the mud. This led 
 the man to think there must be runaway slaves, 
 
X.. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 141 
 
 and from out of that neighborhood ; for all persons 
 in that settlement knew which side of that mud hole 
 to go. He then got others to go with him, and they 
 followed us until our track left the road. They 
 supposed that we had gone off in the woods to lay 
 by until night, after which we should pursue our 
 course. 
 
 After we were captured they took us off several 
 miles to where one of them lived, and kept us over 
 night. One of our pigs was cooked for us to eat 
 that night ; and the turkey the next morning. But 
 we were both tied that night with our hands behind 
 us, and our feet were also tied. The doors were lock- 
 ed, and a bedstead was set against the front door, 
 and two men slept in it to prevent our getting out 
 in the night. They said that they knew how to 
 catch runaway negroes, and how to keep them after 
 they were caught. 
 
 They remarked that after they found we had 
 stopped to lay by until night, and they saw from 
 our tracks what direction we were travelling, they 
 went about ten miles on that direction, and hid by 
 the road side until we came up that night. That 
 night after all had got fast to sleep, I thought I 
 would try to get out, and I should have succeeded, 
 if I could have moved the bed from the door. I 
 managed to untie myself and crawled under the bed 
 which was placed at the door, and strove to remove 
 it, but in so doing I awakened the men and they got 
 up and confined me again, and watched me until day 
 light, each with a gun in hand. 
 
 The next morning they started with us back to 
 
142 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Deacon Whitfield's plantation ; but when they got 
 within ten miles of where he lived they stopped at 
 a public house to stay over night ; and who should 
 we meet there but the Deacon, who was then out 
 looking for me. 
 
 The reader may well imagine how I felt to meet 
 "him. I had almost as soon come in contact with 
 Satan himself. He had two long poles or sticks of 
 wood brought in to confine us to. I was compelled 
 to lie on my back across one of those sticks with 
 my arms out, and have them lashed fast to the log 
 with a cord. My feet were also tied to the other, 
 and there I had to lie all that night with my back 
 across this stick of wood, and my feet and hands 
 tied. I suffered that night under the most excru- 
 ciating pain. From the tight binding of the cord 
 the circulation of the blood in my arms and feet 
 was almost entirely stopped. If the night had been 
 much longer I must have died in that confinement. 
 
 The next morning we were taken back to the 
 Deacon's farm, and both flogged for going off, and 
 set to work. But there was some allowance made 
 for me on account of my being young. They said 
 that they knew old Jack had pursuaded me off, or I 
 never would have gone. And the Deacon's wife 
 begged that I might be favored some, for that time, 
 as Jack had influenced me, so as to bring up my old 
 habits of running away that I had entirely given up. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 I am sold to gamblers. They try to purchase my family.— 
 
 Our parting scene. — My good usage. — I am sold to an Indian. 
 — His confidence in my integrity manifested. 
 
 The reader will remember that this brings me 
 back to the time the Deacon had ordered me to 
 be kept in confinement until he got a chance to sell 
 me, and that no negro should ever get away from 
 him and live. Some days after this we were all out 
 at the gin house ginning cotton, which was situated 
 on the road side, and there came along a company 
 of men, fifteen or twenty in number, who were 
 Southern sportsmen. Their attention was attract- 
 ed by the load of iron which was fastened about my 
 neck with a bell attached. They stopped and asked 
 the Deacon what that bell was put on my neck for ? 
 and he said it was to keep me from running away, &c. 
 
 They remarked that I looked as if I might be 
 a smart negro, and asked if he wanted to sell me. 
 The reply was, yes. They then got off their horses 
 and struck a bargain with him for me. They bought 
 me at a reduced price for speculation. 
 
 After they had purchased me, I asked the privi- 
 lege of going to the house to take leave of my family 
 before I left, which was granted by the sportsmen. 
 But the Deacon said I should never again step my 
 
144 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 foot inside of his yard ; and advised the sportsmen 
 not to take the irons from my neck until they had 
 sold me ; that if they gave me tlie least chance 1 
 would run away from them, as I did from him. So 
 I was compelled to mount a horse and go off with 
 them as I supposed, never again to meet my family 
 in this life. 
 
 We had not proceeded far before they informed me 
 that they had bought me to sell again, and if they 
 kept the irons on me it would be detrimental to the 
 sale, and that they would therefore take off the 
 irons and dress me up like a man, and throw away 
 the old rubbish which I then had on ; and they 
 would sell me to some one who would treat me better 
 than Deacon Whitfield. After they had cut off the 
 irons and dressed me up, they crossed over Red 
 River into Texas, where they spent some time horse 
 racing and gambling ; and although they were wick- 
 ed black legs of the basest character, it is but due 
 to them to say, that they used me far better than 
 ever the Deacon did. They gave me plenty to eat 
 and put nothing hard on me to do. They expressed 
 muph sympathy for me in my bereavement ; and 
 almost every day they gave me money more or less, 
 and by my activity in waiting on them, and upright 
 conduct, I got into the good graces of them all, but 
 they could not get any person to buy me on account 
 of the amount of intelligence which they supposed 
 me ^ ) have ; for many of them thought that I could 
 read and write. When they left Texas, they intend- 
 ed to go to the Indian Territory west of the Missis- 
 sippi, to attend a great horse race which was t^ 
 
NARRATIVE OP HENRY BlBB. 145 
 
 take place. Not being much out of their way to go 
 past Deacon Whitfield's again, I prevailed on them 
 to call on him for the purpose of trying to purchase 
 my wife and child ; and I promised them that if they 
 would buy my wife and child, I would get some per* 
 son to purchase us from them. So they tried to 
 grant my request by calling on the Deacon, and 
 trying to make the purchase. As we approached 
 the Deacon's plantation, my heart was filled with a 
 thousand painful and fearful apprehensions. I had 
 the fullest confidence in the blacklegs with whom I 
 travelled, believing that they would do according 
 to promise, and go to the fullest extent of their 
 ability to restore peace and consolation to a bereav- 
 ed family — to re- unite husband and wife, parent and 
 child, who had long been severed by slavery through 
 the agency of Deacon Whitfield. But I knew his 
 determination in relation to myself, and I feared his 
 wicked opposition to a i^estoration of myself and 
 little family, which he had divided, and soon found 
 that my fears were not without foundation. 
 
 When we rode up and walked into his yard, the 
 Deacon came out and spoke to all but myself; and 
 not finding me in tattered rags as a substitute for 
 clothes, nor having an iron collar or bell about my 
 neck, as was the case when he sold me, he appeared to 
 be much displeased. 
 
 "What did you bring that negro back here for ?" 
 said he. 
 
 " We have, come to try to buy his wife and child ; 
 for we can find no one who is willing to buy him 
 6 
 
146 NARRATIVE or HENRY BIBB. 
 
 alone ; and we will either buy or sell so that the 
 family may be together," said they. 
 
 While this conversation was going on, my poor 
 bereaved wife, who never expected to see me again 
 in this life, spied me and came rushing to me through 
 the crowd, throwing her arms about my neck ex- 
 claiming in the most sympathetic tones, " Oh ! my 
 dear husband ! I never expected to see you again !'* 
 The poor woman was bathed with tears of sorrow 
 and grief. But no sooner had she reached me, than 
 the Deacon peremptorily commanded her to go to 
 her work. This she did not ^bey, but prayed that 
 her master would not separate us again, as she was 
 there alone, far from- friends and relations whom 
 she should never meet again. And now to take 
 away her husband, her last af^xl only true friend, 
 would be like taking her life ! 
 
 But such appeals made no iirpression on the un- 
 feeling Deacon's heart. While he was storming 
 with abusive language, and even using the gory lash 
 with hellish vengeance to separate husband and wife, 
 I could see the sympatl etic tear-drop, stealing its 
 way down the cheek of the profligate and black-leg, 
 whose object it now was to bind up the broken heart 
 of a wife, and restore to the arms of a ber-*^ved huS' 
 band, his companion. 
 
 They were disgusted at the conduct of Whitfield 
 and cried out shame, even in his presence. They 
 told him that they would give a thousand dollars 
 for my wife and child, or any thing in reason. But 
 no ! he would sooner see me to the devil than in- 
 dulge or gratify me after my having run away from 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRV EIRE. 147 
 
 him ; and if they did not remove me from his presence 
 very soon, he said he should make them suffer for it. 
 
 But all this, and even the gory lash had yet failed to 
 break the grasp of poor Malinda, whose prospect 
 of connubial, social, and future happiness was all at 
 stake. When the dear woman saw there was no 
 help for us, and that we should soon be separated 
 forever, in the name of Deacon Whitfield, and Amer- 
 ican slavery to meet no more as husband and wife, 
 parent andchild--the last andloudest appeal was made 
 on our knees. We appealed to the God of justice and 
 to the sacred ties of humanity ; but this was all in 
 vain. The louder we prayed the harder he whipped, 
 amid the most heart-rending shrieks from the poor 
 slave mother and child, as little Frances stood by, 
 sobbing at the abuse inliicted on her mother. 
 
 " Oh ! how shall I give my husband the parting 
 hand never to meet again ? This will surely break 
 my heart," were her parting words. 
 
 I can never describe to the reader the awful re- 
 ality of that separation — for it was enough to chill 
 the blood and stir up the deepest feeling of revenge 
 in the hearts of slaveholding black-legs, who as they 
 stood by, were threatening, some weeping, some 
 swearing and others declaring vengeance against 
 such treatment being inflicted on a human being. 
 As we left the plantation, as far as we could see and 
 hear, the Deacon was still laying on the gory lash, 
 trying to prevent poor Malinda from weeping over 
 the loss of her departed husband, who was then, by 
 the hellish laws of slavery, to her, theoretically and 
 
^^ 
 
 
 
 ..^ 
 
 '^ Oh ! how shall J give my husband the parting 
 hand never to meet again. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 149 
 
 practically dead. One of the black-legs exclaimed 
 that hell was full of just such Deacon's as Whitfield. 
 This occurred in December, 1840. I have never 
 seen Malinda, since that period. I never expect 
 to see her again. 
 
 The sportsmen to whom I was sold, showed their 
 sympathy for me not only by word but by deeds. 
 They said that they had made the most liberal offer 
 to Whitfield, to buy or sell for the sole purpose of 
 reuniting husband and wife. But he stood out 
 against it — they felt sorry for me. They said they 
 had bought me to speculate on, and were not able to 
 lose what they had paid for me. But they would 
 make a bargain with me, if I was willing, and would 
 lay a plan, by which 1 might yet get free. If I 
 would use my influence so as to get some person to 
 buy me while traveling about with them, they would 
 give me a portion of the money for which they sold me, 
 and they would also give me directions by which I 
 might yet run away and go to Canada. 
 
 This offer I accepted, and the plot was made. 
 They advised me to act very stupid in language and 
 thought, but in business I must be spry ; and that I 
 must persuade men to buy me, and promise them 
 that I would be smart. 
 
 We passed through the State of Arkansas and 
 stopped at many places, horse-racing and gambling. 
 My business was to drive a wagon in which they 
 carried their gambling apparatus, clothing, &c. I 
 had also to black boots and attend to horses. Wq 
 stopped at Fayettville, where they almost lost me, 
 betting on a horse race. 
 
:;^ 
 
 150 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 They went from thence to the Indian Territory, 
 among the Cherokee Indians, to attend the great 
 races which were to take place there. During the 
 races there was a very wealthy half Indian of that 
 tribe, who became much attached to me, and had 
 some notion of buying me, after hearing that I was 
 for sale, being a slaveholder. The idea struck me 
 rather favorable, for several reasons. First, I 
 thought I should stand a better chance to get away 
 from an Indian than from a white man. Second, he 
 wanted me only for a kind of a body servant to wait 
 on him — and in this case I knew that I should fare 
 better than I should in the field. And my owners 
 also told me that it would be an easy place to get 
 away from. I took their advice for fear I might not 
 get another chance so good as that, and prevailed on 
 the man to buy me. He paid them nine hundred 
 dollars, in gold and silver, for me. I saw the money 
 counted out. 
 
 After the purchase was made, the sportsmen got 
 me off to one side, and according to promise they 
 gave me a part of the money, and directions how to 
 get from there to Canada. They also advised me 
 how to act until I got a good chance to run away. 
 I was to embrace the earliest opportunity of getting 
 away, before they should become acquainted with 
 me. I was never to let it be known where I was 
 from, nor where I was born. I was to act quite 
 stupid and ignorant. And when I started I was to 
 go up the boundary line, between the Indian Terri- 
 tory and the States of Arkansas and Missouri, and 
 this would fetch me out on t]ie Missouri river, near 
 
NARRATIVK OF HENRY BIBB. 151 
 
 Jefferson city, the capital of Missouri. I was to 
 travel at first by night, aud to lay by in daylight, 
 until I got out of danger. 
 
 The same afternoon that the Indian bought me, 
 he started with me to his residence, which was fifty 
 or sixty miles distant. And so great was his con- 
 fidence in me, that he intrusted me to carry his 
 money. The amount must have been at least five 
 hundred dollars, which was all in gold and silver; 
 and when we stopped over night the money and 
 horses w^ere all left in my charge. 
 
 It would have been a very easy matter for me to 
 have taken one of the best horses, with the money, 
 and run off. And the temptation was truly great 
 to a man like myself, who was watching for the 
 earliest opportunity to escape ; and I felt confident 
 that I should never have a better opportunity to 
 escape full handed than then. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Character of my Indian Master. — Slavery among the Indians 
 less cruel. — Indian carousal. — Enfeebled health of my Indian 
 Master. — His death. — My escape. — Adventure in a wigwam. — 
 Successful progress toward liberty. 
 
 The next morning I went home with my new 
 master ; and by the way it is only doing justice to 
 the dead to say, that he was the most reasonable, 
 and humane slaveholder that I have ever belonged to. 
 He was the last man that pretended to claim proper- 
 ty in my person ; and although I have freely given 
 the names and residences of all others who have 
 held me as a slave, for prudential reasons I shall 
 omit giving the name of this individual. 
 
 He was the owner of a large plantation and quite 
 a number of slaves. He raised corn and wheat for 
 his own consumption only. There was no cotton, 
 tobacco, or anything of the kind produced among 
 them for market. And I found this difference be- 
 tween negro slavery among the Indians, and the same 
 thing among the white slaveholders of the South. 
 The Indians allow their slaves enough to eat and 
 wear. They have no overseers to whip nor drive 
 them. If a slave offends his master, he sometimes, 
 in a heat of passion, undertakes to chastise him ; but 
 it is as often the case as otherwise, that the slave 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 15$ 
 
 gets the better of the fight, and even flogs his master;* 
 for which there is no law to punish him ; but when 
 the fight is over that is the last of it. So far as re- 
 ligious instruction is concerned, they have it on 
 terms of equality, the bond and the free ; they have 
 no respect of persons, they have neither slave laws 
 nor negro pews. Neither do they separate husbands 
 and wives, nor parents and children. All things 
 considered, if I must be a slave, I had by far, rather 
 be a slave to an Indian, than to a white man, from 
 the experience I have had with both. 
 
 Amajority of the Indians were uneducated, and still 
 followed up their old heathen traditional notions. 
 They made it a rule to have an Indian dance or frolic, 
 about once a fortnight ; and they would come together 
 fiir and near to attend these dances. They would 
 most generally commence about the middle of the af- 
 ternoon ; and would give notice by the blowing of 
 horns. One would commence blowing and another 
 would answer, and so it would go all round the neigh- 
 borhood. When a number had got together, they 
 would strike a circle about twenty rods in circumfer- 
 ence, and kindle up fires about twenty feet apart, all 
 around, in this circle. In the centre they would 
 have a large fire to dance around, and at each one 
 of the small fires there would be a squaw to keep 
 up the fire, which looked delightful off at a dis- 
 tance. 
 
 But the most degrading practice of all, was the 
 
 * This singular fact is corroborated in a letter read by the 
 publisher, from an acquaintance while passing through this 
 country in 1849. 
 
154 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBE. 
 
 use of intoxicating drinks, which were used to a 
 great excess by all that attended these stump dances. 
 At ahnost all of these fires there was some one with 
 rum to' sell. There would be some dancing, some 
 singing, some gambling, some fighting, and some 
 yelling ; and this was kept up often for two days 
 and nights together. 
 
 Their dress for the dance was most generally a 
 great bunch of bird feathers, coon tails, or some- 
 thing of the kind stuck in their heads, and a great 
 many shells tied about their legs to rattle while 
 dancing. Their manner of dancing is taking hold 
 of each others hands and forming a ring around the 
 large fire in the centre, and go stomping around it 
 until they would get drunk or their heads would 
 get to swimming, and then they would go off and 
 drink, and another set come on. Such were some 
 of the practises indulged in by these Indian slave- 
 holders. 
 
 My last owner was in a declining state of health 
 when he bought me; and not long after h^ bought 
 me he went off forty or fifty miles from home to be 
 doctored by an Indian doctor, accompanied by his 
 wife. I was taken along also to drive the carriage 
 and to wait upon him during his sickness. But he 
 was then so feeble, that his life was of but short 
 duration after the doctor commenced on him. 
 
 While he lived, I waited on him according to the 
 best of my ability. I watched over him night and 
 day until he died, and even prepared his body for 
 the tomb, before I left him. He died about mid- 
 night and I understood from his friends that he was 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 155 
 
 not to be buried until the second day after his death. 
 f pretended to be taking on at a great rate about his 
 death, but I was more excited about running away, 
 than I was about that, and before daylight the next 
 morning I proved it, for I was on my way to Can- 
 ada. 
 
 I never expected a better opportunity would pre- 
 sent itself for my escape. I slipped out of the room 
 as if I had gone off to weep for the deceased, know- 
 ing that they would not feel alarmed about me until 
 after my master was buried and they had returned 
 back to his residence. And even then, they would 
 think that I was somewhere on my way home ; and 
 it would be at least four or five days before they 
 would make any stir in looking after me. By that 
 time, if I had no bad luck, I should be out of much 
 danger. 
 
 After the first day, I laid by in the day and 
 traveled by night for several days and nights, pas- 
 sing in this way through several tribes of Indians. 
 I kept pretty near the boundary line. I recollect 
 getting lost one dark rainy night. Not being able 
 to find the road I came into an Indian settlement 
 at the dead hour of the night, I was wet, wearied, 
 cold and hungry ; and yet I felt afraid to enter any 
 of their houses or wigwams, not knowing whether 
 they would be friendly or not. But I knew the 
 Indians were generally drunkards, and that occa- 
 sionally a drunken white man was found straggling 
 among them, and that such an one would be more 
 likely to find friends from sympathy than an upright 
 man. 
 
156 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB 
 
 So I passed mj^self off that night as a drunkard 
 among them. I walked up to the door of one of 
 their houses, and fell up against it, making a great 
 noise like a drunken man ; but no one came to the 
 door. I opened it and staggered in, falling about, 
 and making a great noise. But finally an old woman 
 got up and gave me a blanket to lie down on. 
 
 There was quite a number of them lying about 
 on the dirt floor, but not one could talk or under- 
 stand a word of the English language. I made signs 
 so as to let them know that I wanted something to 
 eat, but they had nothing, so I had to go without 
 that night. I laid down and pretended to be asleep, 
 but I slept none that night, foi* I was afraid that 
 they would kill me if I went to sleep. About one 
 hour before day, the next morning, three of the 
 females got up and put into a tin kettle a lot of 
 ashes v/ith water, to boil, and then poured into it 
 about one quart of corn. After letting it stand a 
 few moments, they poured it into a trough, and 
 pounded it into thin hominy. They washed it out, 
 and boiled it down, and called me up to eat my 
 breakfast of it. 
 
 After eating, I offered them six cents, but they re- 
 fused to accept it. I then found my way to the 
 main road, and traveled all that day on my journey, 
 and just at night arrived at a public house kept 
 by an Indian, who also kept a store. I walked in 
 and asked if I could get lodging, w^hich vras granted ; 
 but I had not been there long before three men came 
 riding up about dusk, or between sunset and dark. 
 They were white men, and I supposed slaveholders. 
 
NAREATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 157 
 
 At any rate when they asked if they could have 
 lodging, I trembled for fear they might be in pursuit 
 of me. But the landlord told them that he could 
 not lodge them, but they could get lodging about 
 two miles off, with a white man, and they turned 
 their horses and started. 
 
 The landlord asked me where I was traveling to, 
 and where I was from. I told him that I had been 
 out looking at the country ; that I had thought of 
 buying land, and that I lived in the State of Ohio, 
 in the village of Perrysburgh. He then said that he 
 had lived there himself, and that he had acted as an 
 interpreter there among the Maumee tribe of Indians 
 for several years. He then asked who I was ac- 
 quainted with there ? I informed him that I knew 
 Judge HolUster, Francis HoUister, J. W. Smith, and 
 others. At this he was so much pleased that he 
 came up and took me by the hand, and received me 
 joyfully, after seeing that I was acquainted with 
 those of his old friends. 
 
 I could converse with him understandingly from 
 personal acquaintance, for I had lived there when I 
 first ran away from Kentucky. But I felt it to be 
 my duty to start off the next morning before break- 
 fast, or sunrise. I bought a dozen of eggs, and 
 had them boiled to carry with me to eat on the way. 
 I did not like the looks of those tliree men, and 
 thought I would get on as fast as possible for fear 
 I might be pursued by them. 
 
 I was then about to enter the territory of another 
 slave State, Missouri. I had passed through the 
 fiery ordeal of Sibley, Gatewood, and Garrison, and 
 
158 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 had even slipped through the fingers of Deacon 
 Whitfield. I had doubtless gone through great 
 peril in crossing the Indian territory, in passing 
 through the various half civilized tribes, who seem- 
 ed to look upon me with astonishment as I passed 
 along. Their hands were almost invariably filled 
 with bows and arrows, tomahawks, guns, butcher 
 knives, and all the various implements of death 
 which are used by them. And what made them 
 look still more frightful, their faces were often 
 painted red, and their heads muffled with birds 
 feathers, bushes, coons tails and owls heads. But 
 all this I had passed through, and my long enslaved 
 limbs and spirit were then in full stretch for eman- 
 cipation. I felt as if one more short struggle would 
 set me free. 
 
 S 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 Adventure on the Prairie. — I borrow a horse without leave.— 
 Rapid traveling one whole night. — Apology for using other 
 men^s horses. — My manner of living on the road. 
 
 Early in the morning I left the Indian territory 
 as I have already said, for fear I might be pursued 
 by the three white nien whom I had seen there over 
 night ; but I had not proceeded far before my fears 
 were magnified a hundred fold. 
 
 I always dreaded to pass through a prairie, and 
 on coming to one which was about six miles in 
 width, I was careful to look in every direction to 
 see whether there was any person in sight before I 
 entered it ; but I could see no one. So I started 
 across with a hope of crossing without coming in 
 contact with any one on the prairie. I walked as 
 fast as I could, but when I got about midway of the 
 prairie, I came to a high spot where the road fork- 
 ed, and three men came up from a low spot as if 
 they had been there concealed. They were all on 
 horse back, and I supposed them to be the same men 
 that had tried to get lodging where I stopped over 
 night. Had this been in timbered land, I might 
 have stood some chance to have dodged them, but 
 there I was, out in the open prairie, where I could 
 see no possible way by which I could escape. 
 
160 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIEB. 
 
 They came along slowly up behind me, and finally 
 passed, and spoke or bowed their heads on passing, 
 but they traveled in a slow walk and kept but a 
 very few steps before me, until we got nearly across 
 the prairie. When we were coming near a planta- 
 tion a piece off from the road on the skirt of the 
 timbered land, they' whipped up their horses and 
 left the road as if they were going across to this 
 plantation. They soon got out of my sight by 
 going down into a valley which lay between us and 
 the plantation. Not seeing them rise the hill to go 
 up to the farm, excited greater suspicion in my 
 mind, so I stepped over on the brow of the hill, 
 where I could see what they were doing, and to my 
 surprise I saw them going right back in the direc- 
 tion they had just came, and they were going very 
 fast. I was then satisfied that they were after me 
 and that they were only going back to get more 
 help to assist them in taking me, for fear that I 
 might kill some of them if they undertook it. The 
 first impression was that I had better leave the 
 road immediately ; so I bolted from the road and 
 ran as fast as I could for some distance in the thick 
 forest, and concealed myself for about fifteen or 
 twenty minutes, which were spent in prayer to God 
 for his protecting care and guidance. 
 
 My impression was that when they should start 
 in pursuit of me again, they would follow on in the 
 direction which I was going when they left me ; 
 and not finding or hearing of me on the road, they 
 would come back ooad hunt through the woods 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 161 
 
 fc.' V and, and if they could find no track they might 
 go and get dogs to trace me out. 
 
 I thought my cha^nce of escape would be better, 
 if I went back to the same side of the road that 
 they first went, for the purpose of deceiving them ; 
 as I supposed that they would not suspect my going 
 in the same direction that tl^y went, for the pur- 
 pose of escaping from them. 
 
 So I traveled all that day square off from the 
 road through the wild forest without any know- 
 ledge of the country whatever; for I had notliing 
 to travel by but the sun by day, and the moon and 
 stars by night. Just before night I came in sight of 
 a large plantation, where I saw quite a number of 
 horses running at large in a field, and knowing that 
 my success in escaping depended upon my getting 
 out of that settlement within twenty-four hours, 
 to save myself from everlasting slavery, I thought 
 I should be justified in riding one of those horses, 
 that night, if I could catch one. I cut a grape 
 vine w^ith my knife, and made it into a bridle ; and 
 shortly after dark I went into the field and tried 
 to catch one of the horses. I got a bunch of dry 
 blades of fodder and walked up softly towards the 
 horses, calling to them "cope," "cope,'' "cope;" 
 but there was only one out of the number that I 
 was able to get my hand on, and that was an old 
 mare, which I supposed to be the mother of all the 
 rest ; and I knew that I could walk faster than she 
 could travel. She had a bell on and was very thin 
 in fiesh ; she looked gentle and walked on three 
 legs only. The young horses pranced and galloped 
 
162 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 off. I was not able to get near them, and the old 
 mare being of no use to me, I left them all. After 
 fixing my eyes on the north star I pursued my 
 journey, holding on to my bridle with a hope of 
 finding a horse upon which I might ride that night. 
 I found a road leading pretty nearly in the direc- 
 tion which I wantedjjlto travel, and I kept it. After 
 traveling several miles I found another large planta- 
 tion where there was a prospect of finding a horse. 
 I stepped up to the barn-yard, wherein I found 
 several horses. There was a little barn standing 
 with the door open, and I found it quite an easy task 
 to get the horses into the barn, and select out 
 the best looking one of them. I pulled down the 
 fence, led the noble beast out and mounted hira, 
 taking a northern direction, being able to find a road 
 which led that way. But I had not gone over three 
 or four miles before I came to a large stream of 
 water which was past fording ; yet I could see that 
 it had been forded by the road track, but from high 
 water it was then impassible. As the horse seemed 
 willing to go in I put him through; but before he 
 got in far, he was in water up to his sides and finally 
 the water came over his back and he swam over. I 
 got as wet as could be, but the horse carried me 
 safely across at the proper place. After I got out 
 a mile or so from the river, I came into a large 
 prairie, which I think must have been twenty or 
 thirty miles in width, and the road run across it 
 about in the direction that I wanted to go. I laid 
 whip to the horse, and I think he must have carried 
 me not less than forty miles that night, or before 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 163 
 
 sun rise the next morning. I then stopped him in 
 a spot of high grass in an old field, and took ofif the 
 bridle. I thanked God, and thanked the horse for 
 what he had done for me, and wished him a safe 
 journey back home. 
 
 I know the poor horse must have felt stiff, and 
 tired from his speedy jaunt, and I felt very bad my- 
 self, riding at that rate all night without a saddle ; 
 but I felt as if I had too much at stake to favor 
 either horse flesh or man flesh. I could indeed af- 
 ford to crucify my own flesh for the sake of redeem- 
 ing myself from perpetual slavery. 
 
 Some may be disposed to find fault with my tak- 
 ing the horse as I did ; but I did nothing more than 
 nine out of ten would do if they were placed in the 
 same circumstances. I had no disposition to steal 
 a horje from any man. But I ask, if a white man 
 Ylau heen captured by the Cherokee Indians and car- 
 ried away from his family, for life into slavery, and 
 -could see a chance to escape and get back to his fam- 
 ily ; should the Indians pursue him with a determina- 
 tion to take him back or take his life, would it be a 
 crime for the poor fugitive, whose life, liberty and 
 future happiness were all at stake, to mount any 
 man's horse by the way side, and ride him without 
 asking any questions, to effect his escape ? Or who 
 would not do the same thing to rescue a wife, child, 
 father, or mother ? Such an act committed by a 
 white man under the same circumstances would not 
 only be pronounced proper, but praiseworthy ; and 
 if he neglected to avail himself of such a means of 
 escape he would be pronounced a fool. Therefore 
 
.164 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 from this act I have nothing to regret, for I have 
 done nothing more than any other reasonable per- 
 son would have done under the same circumstances. 
 But I had good luck from the morning I left the 
 horse until I got back into the State of Ohio. 
 About two miles from where I left the horse, I found 
 a public house on .the road, where I stopped and 
 took breakfast. Being asked where I was travel- 
 ing, I replied that I was going home to Perrysburgh, 
 Ohio, and that I had been out to look at the land 
 in Missouri, with a view of buying. They supposed 
 me to be a native of Ohio, from the fact of my 
 being so well acquainted with its location, its prin- 
 cipal cities, inhabitants, &c. 
 
 The next night I put up at one of the best hotels 
 in the village where I stopped, and acted with as much 
 independence as if I was worth a million of dollars ; 
 talked about buying land, stock and village property, 
 and contrasting it with the same kind of property in 
 the State of Ohio. In this kind of talk they were 
 most generally interested, and I was treated just like 
 other travelers. I made it a point to travel about 
 thirty miles each day on my way to Jefferson city. 
 On several occasions I have asked the landlords 
 where I have stopped over night, if they could tell 
 me who kept the best house where I would stop the 
 next night, which was most generally in a small 
 village. But for fear I might forget, I would get 
 them to give me the name on a piece of paper as a 
 kind of recommend. This would serve as an intro- 
 duction through which I have always been well re- 
 ceived from one landlord to another, and I have 
 
 %A 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 165 
 
 always stopped at the best houses, eaten at the first 
 tables, and slept in the best beds. No man ever 
 asked me whether I was bond or free, black or white, 
 rich or poor ; but I always presented a bold front 
 and showed the best side out, which was all the pass 
 I had. But when I got within about one hundred 
 miles of Jefferson city, whej^jkexpected to take a 
 Steamboat passage to St. Eiouis, I stopped over 
 night at a hotel, where I met with a young white 
 man who was traveling on to Jefferson City on horse 
 back, and was also leading a horse with a saddle 
 and bridle on. 
 
 I asked him if he would let me ride the horse 
 which he was leading, as I was going to the same 
 city ? He said that it was a hired horse, that he 
 was paying at the rate of fifty cents per day for 'it, 
 but if I would pay the same I could ride him. 
 I accepted the offer and we rode together to the 
 city. We were on the road together two or three 
 day? stopped and ate and slept together at thetl 
 samr Uotels. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Stratagem to get on board the steamer. — My Irish friends. — ^My 
 success in reaching Cincinnati. — Reflections on again seeing 
 Keutucky. — I get employment in a hotel. — My tright at 
 seeing the gambler who sold me. — I leave Ohio "with Mr. 
 Smith. — His letter. — My education. 
 
 The greatest of my adventures came off when I 
 arrived at Jefferson City. There I expected to meet 
 an advertisement for my person ; it was there I 
 must cross the river or take a steamboat down ; it 
 was there I expected to be interrogated and requi- 
 red to prove whether I was actually a free man or 
 a slave. If I was free, I should have to show my 
 free papers ; and if I was a slave I should be requir- 
 ed to tell who my master was. 
 
 I stopped at a hotel, however, and ascertained 
 that there was a steamboat expected down the river 
 that day for St. Louis. I also found out that there 
 were several passengers at that house who were go- 
 ing down on board of the first boat. I knew that 
 the captain of a steamboat could not take a color 
 ed passenger on board of his boat from a slave state 
 without first ascertaining whether such person 
 was bond or free ; I knew that this was more than 
 he would dare to do by the laws of the slave states 
 — and now to surmount this difficulty it brought into 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 167 
 
 exercise all the powers of my mind. I would have 
 got myself boxed up as freight, and have been for- 
 warded to St. Louis, but I had no friend that I 
 could trust to do it for me. This plan has since been 
 adopted by some with success. But finally I thought 
 I might possibly pass myself off as a body servant 
 to the passengers going fron^he hotel down. 
 
 So I went to a store and bought myself a large 
 trunk, and took it to the hotel. Soon, a boat came 
 in which was bound to St. Louis, and the passen- 
 gers starte'd down to get on board. I took up my 
 large trunk, and started along after them as if I was 
 their servant. My heart trembled in view of the 
 dangerous experiment which I was then about to 
 try. It required all the moral courage that I was 
 master of to bear me up in view of my critical con- 
 dition. The white people that I was following 
 walked on board and I after them. I acted as if 
 the trunk was full of clothes, but I had not a stitch 
 of clothes in it. The passengers went up into the 
 cabin and I followed them with the trunk. I sup- 
 pose this made the captain think that I was their 
 slave. 
 
 I not only took the trunk in the cabin but stood 
 by it until after the boat had started as if it belong- 
 ed to my owners, and I was taking care of it for 
 them ; but as soon as the boat got fairly under 
 way, I knew that some account would have to be 
 given of me ; so I then took my trunk down on the 
 deck among the deck passengers to prepare myself 
 to meet the clerk of the boat, when he should come 
 to collect fare from the deck passengers. 
 
168 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Fortunately for me there was quite a number of 
 deck passengers on board, among whom there were 
 many Irish. I insinuated myself among them so 
 as to get into their good graces, believing that if 1 
 should get into a difficulty they would stand by me, 
 I saw several of these persons going up to the sa- 
 loon buying whiskej^ltand I thought this might be 
 the most effectual way by which I could gain speed- 
 ily their respect and sympathy. So I participated 
 with them pretty freely for awhile, or at least until 
 after I got my fare settled. I placed myself in a 
 little crowd of them, and invited them all up to the 
 bar with me, stating that it was my treat. This 
 was responded to, and they walked up and drank 
 and I footed the bill. This, of course, brought us 
 into a kind of a union. We sat together and laugU^ 
 ed and talked freely. Within ten or fifteen minutes 
 I remarked that I was getting dry again, and invi- 
 ted them up and treated again. By this time I was 
 thought to be one of the most liberal and gentle- 
 manly men on board, by these deck passengers ; they 
 were ready to do any thing for me — they got to sing- 
 ing songs, and telling long yarns in which I took 
 quite an active part ; but it was all for effect. 
 
 By this time the porter came around ringing his 
 bell for all passengers who had not paid their fare, 
 to walk up to the captain's office and settle it. 
 Some of my Irish friends had not yet settled, and I 
 asked one of them if he would be good enough to 
 take my money and get me a ticket when he was 
 getting one for himself' and he quickly replied " yes 
 sir, I will get you a tacket," So he relieved me of 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 169 
 
 my greatest trouble. When they came round to 
 
 gather the tickets before we got to St. Louis, my 
 
 ticket was taken with the rest, and no questions were 
 
 asked me. 
 
 The next day the boat arrived at St. Louis ; my 
 
 object was to take passage on board of the first 
 boat which was destined for Cincinnati, Ohio ; and 
 as there was a boat going out that day for Pittsburgh, 
 I went on board to make some inquiry about the 
 fare &c., and found the steward to be a colored 
 man with whom I was acquainted. He lived in 
 Cincinnati, and had rendered me some assistance in 
 making my escape to Cana.da, in the summer of 1838, 
 and he also very kindly rided me then in getting 
 back into a land of freedom. The swift running 
 steamer started that afternoon on her voyage, which 
 soon wafted my body beyond the tyrannical limits of 
 chattel slavery. When the boat struck the mouth 
 of the river Ohio, and I had once more the pleasure 
 of looking on that lovely stream, my heart leaped 
 up for joy at the glorious prospect that I should 
 again be free. Every revolution of the mighty 
 steam-engine seemed to bring me nearer and nearer 
 the " promised land." Only a few days had elap- 
 sed, before I was permitted by the smiles of a good 
 providence, once more to gaze on the green hill-tops 
 and valleys of old Kentucky, the State of my nativ- 
 ity. And notwithstanding I was deeply interested 
 while standing on the deck of the steamer looking 
 at the beauties of nature on either side of the river, 
 as she pressed her way up the stream, my very soul 
 was pained to look upon the slaves in the fields of 
 
170 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 Kentucky, still toiling under their task-masters 
 without pay. It was on tliis soil I first breathed 
 the free air of Heaven, and felt the bitter pangs of sla- 
 very — it was here that I first learned to abhor it. 
 It was here I received the first impulse of human 
 rights — it was here that I first entered my protest 
 against the bloody institution of slavery, by running 
 away from it, and declared that I would no longer 
 work for any man as I had done, without wages. 
 
 When the steamboat arrived at Portsmouth, Ohio, 
 I took off my trunk with the intention of going to 
 Canada. But my funds were almost exhausted, so 
 I had to stop and go to work to get money to travel 
 on. I hired myself at the American Hotel to a Mr. 
 McCoy to do the work of a porter, to black boots, &c., 
 for which he was to pay me $12 per month. I soon 
 found the landlord to be bad pay, and not only that, 
 but lie would not allow me to charge for blacking 
 boots, although I had to black them after everbody 
 had gone to bed at night, and set them in the bar- 
 room, where the gentlemen could come and get them 
 in the morning while I was at othej* work. I had 
 nothing extra for this, neither would he pay me my 
 regular wages ; so I thought this was a little too 
 much like slavery, and devised a plan by which I got 
 some pay for my work. 
 
 I made it a point never to blacken all the boots 
 and shoes over night, neither would I put any of 
 them in the bar-room, but lock them up in a room 
 where no one could get them without calling for me. 
 I got a piece of broken vessel, placed it in the room 
 just before the boots, and put into it several pieces 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. l7l 
 
 of small change, as if it had been given me for boot 
 blacking ; and almost every one that came in after 
 their boots, would throw some small trifle into 
 my contribution box, while I was there blacking 
 away. In this way, I made more than my landlord 
 paid me, and I soon got a good stock of cash again. 
 One morning I blacked a gentleman's boots who 
 came in during the night by a steamboat. After 
 he had put on his boots, I was called into the bar- 
 room to button his straps ; and while I was per- 
 forming this service, not thinking to see anybody 
 that knew me, I happened to look up at the man's 
 face and who should it be but one of the very gam- 
 blers who had recently sold me. I dropped his foot 
 and bolted from the room as if I had been struck by 
 an electric shock. The man happened not to recog- 
 nize me, but this strange conduct on my part excited 
 the landlord, who followed me out to see what was 
 the matter. He found me with my hand to my 
 breast, groaning at a great rate. He asked me what 
 was the matter ; but I was not able to inform him 
 correctly, but said that I felt very bad indeed. He 
 of course thought I was sick with the colic and ran 
 in the house and got some hot stuif for me, with 
 spice, ginger, &c. But I never got able to go into 
 the bar-room until long after breakfast time, when I 
 knew this man was gone ; then I got well. 
 
 And yet I have no idea that the man would have 
 hurt a hair of my head ; but my first thought was 
 that he was after me. I then made up my mind to 
 leave Portsmouth ; its location being right on the 
 border of a slave State. 
 
172 VARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 A short time after this a gentleman put up there 
 over night named Smith, from Perrysburgh, with 
 whom I was acquainted in the North. He was on 
 his way to Kentucky to buy up a drove of line 
 horses, and he wanted me to go and help him to 
 drive his horses out to Perrysburgh, and said he 
 would pay all my expenses if I would go. So I 
 made a contract to go and agreed to meet him the 
 next week, on a set day, in Washington, Ky„ to 
 start with his drove to the north. Accordingly at 
 the time I took a steamboat passage down to Mays- 
 ville, near where I was to meet Mr. Smith with my 
 trunk. When I arrived at Maysville, I found that 
 Washington was still six miles back from the river. 
 I stopped at a hotel and took my breakfast, and who 
 should I see there but a captain of a boat, who saw 
 me but two years previous going down the river 
 Ohio with handcuffs on, in a chain gang ; but he 
 happened not to know me. I left my trunk at the 
 hotel and went out to Washington, where I found 
 Mr. Smith, and learned that he was not going to 
 start off with his drove until the next day. 
 
 The followig letter which was addressed to the 
 committee to investigate the truth of my narrative, 
 will explain this part of it to the reader and corrob- 
 orate my statements : ^ 
 
 Maumee City, April 5, 1845. 
 Chas. H. Stewart, Esq. 
 Dear Sir: — Your favor of 13th February, ad- 
 dressed to me at Perrysburgh, was not received until 
 yesterday ; having removed to this place the 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 173 
 
 letter was not forwarded as it should have been, In 
 reply to your inquiry respecting Henry Bibb, I can 
 only say that about the year 1838 I became acquaint- 
 ed with him at Perrysbugh — employed him to do 
 some work by the job which he performed well, and 
 from his apparent honesty and candor, I became 
 much interested in him. About that time he went 
 South for the purpose, as was said, of getting his 
 wife, who was there in slavery. In the spring of 
 1841, I found him at Portsmouth on the Ohio river, 
 and after much persuasion, employed him to assist 
 my man to drive home some horses and cattle which 
 I was about purchasing near Maysville, Ky. My 
 confidence in him was such that when about half 
 v/ay home I separated the horses from the cattle, 
 and left him with the latter, with money and instruc- 
 tions to hire what help he wanted to get to Perrys- 
 burgh. This he accomplished to my entire satisfac- 
 tion. He worked for me during the summer, and I 
 was unwilling to part with him, but his desire to go 
 to school and mature plans for the liberation of his 
 Avife, were so strong that he left for Detroit, where 
 he could enjoy the society of his colored brethren. 
 I have heard his story and must say that I have 
 not the least reason to suspect it being otherwise 
 than true, and furthermore, I firmly believe, and 
 have for a long time, that he has the foundation to 
 make himself useful. I shall always afford him all 
 the facilities in my power to assist him, until I hear 
 of something in relation to him to alter my mind. 
 Yours in the cause of truth, 
 
 J. W. SMITH. 
 
174 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 When I arrived at Perrysburgh, I went to work 
 for Mr. Smith for several months. This family I 
 found to be one of the most kind-hearted, and un- 
 prejudiced that I ever lived with. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Smith lived up to their profession. 
 
 1 resolved to go to Detroit, that winter, and go 
 to school, in January 1842. But when I arrived at 
 Detroit I soon found that I was not able to give 
 myself a very thorough education. I was among 
 strangers, who were not disposed to show me any 
 great favors. I had every thing to pay for, and 
 clothing to buy, so I graduated within three weeks ! 
 And this was all the schooling that I have ever had 
 in my life. 
 
 W. C. Monroe was my teacher ; to him I went 
 about two weeks only. My occupation varied ac- 
 cording to circumstances, as I was not settled in 
 mind about the condition of my bereaved family for 
 several years, and could noi settle myself down at 
 any permanent business. I saw occasionally, fugi- 
 tives from Kentucky, some of whom I knew, but 
 none of them were my relatives ; none could give 
 me the information which I desired most. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Letter from W. H. Gatewood. — My reply. — My efforts as a 
 public lecturer. — Singular incident in Steubenville — Meeting 
 "wilh a friend of Wbitlield in Michigan. — Outrage on a canal 
 packet. — Fruitless etforts to find my wife. 
 
 The first direct information that I received con- 
 cerning any of my relations, after my last escape 
 from slavery, was communicated in a letter from 
 Wm. H. Gatewood, my former owner, which I here in- 
 sert word for word, without any correction : 
 
 Bedford, Trimble County, Ky. 
 
 Mr. H. Bibb. 
 
 Dear Sir : — After my respects to you and yours 
 &c., I received a small book which you sent to me 
 that I peroseed and found it was sent by H. Bibb I 
 am a stranger in Detroit and know no man there 
 without it is AValton H. Bibb if this be the man 
 please to write to me and tell me all about tliat place 
 and the people I will tell you the news here as 
 well as I can your mother is still living here and 
 she is well the people are generally well in this 
 cuntry times are dull and produce low give 
 my compliments to King, Jack, and all my friends 
 in that cuntry I read that book you sent me and 
 think it will do very well — George is sold, I do not 
 
176 NARRATIV'E OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 know any thing about liim I have nothing more at 
 present, but remain yours &c 
 
 W. H GATEWOOD. 
 
 February 9th, 1844. 
 
 P. S. You will please to answer this letter. 
 
 Never Avas I more surprised than at the reception 
 of this letter, it came so unexpected to me. There 
 had just been a State Convention held in Detroit, 
 by the free people of color, the proceedings of which 
 were published in pamphlet form. I forwarded 
 several of them to distinguished slaveholders in 
 Kentucky — one among others was Mr. Gatewood, 
 and gave him to understand who sent it. After 
 showing this letter to sevei-al of my anti-slavery 
 friends, and asking thvf Iv opinions about the proprie- 
 ty of my answering i(, I was advised to do it, as 
 Mr. Gatewpod had no ^ij-ii:! on me as a slave, for 
 he had sold and got the mo-iey for me and my family. 
 So I wrote him an answer, ?.s near as I can recollect, 
 in the following language : 
 
 " Dear Sir : — I am happy to inform you that you 
 are not mistaken in the man whom you sold as pro 
 perty, and received pay for as such. But I t}]anli 
 God that I am not property now, but am regardec' 
 as a man like yoursell, and although I live far north, 
 I am enjoying a comfortable living by my own in- 
 dustry. If you should ever charce to 03 traveling 
 this w^ay, and will call on me, 1 will use you better 
 than you did me while you held me as a slave. Ti.ink 
 not that I have any malice against you, for tii?oruc5 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 177 
 
 treatment which yo i inflicted on me while I was in 
 your power. As it was the custom of your country, 
 to treat your fellow men as you did me and my little 
 family, I can freely forgive you. 
 
 I wish to be remembered in love to my aged moth- 
 er, and friends ; please tell her that if we should 
 never meet again in this life, my prayer shall be to 
 God that we may meet in Heaven, where parting 
 shall be no more. 
 
 "You wish to be remembered to King and Jack. 
 I am pleased, sir, to inform you that they are both 
 here, well, and doing well. They are both living in 
 Canada West. They are now the owners of better 
 farms than the men are who once owned them. 
 
 You may perhaps think hard of us for running 
 away from slavery, but as to myself, I have but 
 one apology to make for it, which is this : I have 
 only to regret that I did not start at an earlier period. 
 I might have been free long before I was. But you 
 had it in your power to have kept me there much 
 longer than you did. I think it is very probable 
 that I should have been a toiling slave on your plan- 
 tation to-day, if you had treated me differently. 
 
 To be compelled to stand by and see you whip 
 and slash my wife without mercy, when I could af- 
 ford her no protection, not even by offering myself 
 to suffer the lash in her place, was more than I felt 
 it to be the duty of a slave husband to endure, while 
 the way w#3 open to Canada. My infant child was 
 also frequently flogged by Mrs. Gatewood, for cry- 
 ing, until its skin was bruised literally purple. 
 This kind of treatment was what drove me Irom 
 
 M. 
 
178 NARRATIVE OP HENRY BIBB. 
 
 home and family, to seek abette|^home for them. 
 But I am willing to "fbrget the past. I should be 
 pleased to hear irom you again, on the reception of 
 this, and should also be very happy to correspond 
 with you often, if it should be agreeable to yourself, 
 I subscribe myself a friend to the oppressed, and 
 Liberty forever. HENRY BIBB. 
 
 William Gate wood. 
 Detroit, March 23d, 1844. 
 
 The first time that I ever spoke before a public 
 audience, was to give a narration of my own suffer- 
 ings and adventures, connected with slavery. I 
 commenced in the village of Adrian, State of Mich- 
 igan, May, 1844. From that up to the present 
 period, the principle part of my time has been faith- 
 fully devoted to the cause of freedom — nerved up 
 and encouraged by the sympathy of anti-slavery 
 friends on the one hand, and prompted by a sense of 
 duty to my en:^laved countrymen on the other, es- 
 pecially, when I remembered that slavery had robbed 
 me of my freedom — deprived me of education — ban- 
 ished me from my native State, and robbed me of my 
 family. 
 
 I went from Michigan to the State of Ohio, where 
 I traveled over some of the Southern counties of 
 that State, in company with Samuel Brooks, and 
 Amos Dresser, lecturing upon the subject of Ameri- 
 can Slavery. The prejudice of the peojjle at that 
 time was very strong against the abolitionists ; so 
 much so that they were frequently mobbed for dis 
 • ussing the subject. 
 
 <^ 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 179 
 
 We appointed a series of meetings along on the 
 Ohio River, in sight of the State of Virginia ; and 
 in several places we had Virginians over to hear us 
 upon the subject. I recollect our having appoint- 
 ed a meeting in the city of Steubenville, which is 
 situated on the bank of the river Ohio. There 
 was but one known abolitionist living in that city, 
 named George Ore. On the day of our meeting, 
 when we arrived in this splendid city there was not 
 a church, school house, nor hall, that w^e could get 
 for love or money, to hold our meeting in. Finally, 
 I believe that the whigs consented to let us have the 
 use of their club room, to hold the meeting in ; but 
 before the hour had arrived for us to commence, they 
 re-considered the matter, and informed us that we 
 could not have the use of theirhouse for an abolition 
 meeting. 
 
 We then got permission to hold forth in the pub- 
 lic market house, and even then so great was the 
 hostility of the rabble, that they tried to bluff us 
 off, by threats and epithets. Our meeting was ad- 
 vertised to take place at nine o'clock, A. M. The 
 pro-slavery parties hired a colored man to take a 
 large auction bell, and go all over the city ringing 
 it, «ifed crying, " ho ye ! ho ye ! Negro auction to 
 take place in the market house, at nine o'clock, by 
 George Ore !" This cry was sounded all over 
 the city, which called out many who would not 
 otherwise have been present. They came to 
 see if it was really the case. The object of the 
 rabble in having the bell rung was, to prevent us 
 from attempting to speak. But at the appointed 
 
 "^ 
 
180 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 hour, Bro. Dresser opened the meeting with prayer 
 and Samuel Brooks mounted the block and spoke 
 for fifteen or twenty minutes, after which Mr. 
 Dresser took the block and talked about one hour 
 upon the wickedness of slaveholding. There were 
 not yet many persons present. They were standing 
 off I suppose to see if I was to be offered for sale. 
 Many windows were hoisted and store doors open, 
 and they were looking and listening to what was said. 
 After Mr. Dresser was through, I was called to take 
 the stand. Just at this moment there was no small 
 stir in rushing forward; so much indeed, that I 
 thought they were coming up to mob me. I should 
 think that in less than fifteen minutes there were 
 about one thousand persons standing around, listen- 
 ing. I saw many of them shedding tears while I 
 related the sad story of my wrongs. At twelve 
 o'clock we adjourned the meeting, to meet again at 
 the same place at two P. M. Our afternoon meet- 
 ing was well attended until nearly sunset, at which 
 time, we saw some signs of a mob and adjourned. 
 The mob followed us that night to the house of Mr. 
 Ore, and they were yelling like tigers, until late that 
 night, around the house, as if they wanted to tear it 
 down. # 
 
 In the fall of 1844, S. B. Treadwell, of Jackson, 
 and myself, spent two or three months in lecturing 
 through the State of JNIichigan, upon the abolition 
 of slavery, in a section of country where abolitionists 
 were few and far between. Our meetings were gen- 
 erally appointed in small log cabins, school houses, 
 among the farmers, which were some times crowded 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 181 
 
 full ; and where they had no horse teams, it was 
 often the case that there would he four or five ox 
 teams come, loaded down with men, women and 
 children, to attend our meetings. 
 
 But the people were generally poor, and in many 
 places not able to give us a decent night's lodging. 
 We most generally carried with us a few pounds of 
 candles to light up the houses wherein we held our 
 meetings after night ; for in many places, they had 
 neither candles nor candlesticks. After meeting was 
 out, we have frequently gone from three to eight 
 miles to get lodging, through the dark forest, where 
 there was scarcely any road for a wagon to run on. 
 
 I have traveled for miles over swamps, where the 
 roads were covered with logs, without any dirt over 
 them, which has sometimes shook and jostled the 
 wagon to pieces, where we could find no shop or 
 any place to mend it. We would have to tie it up 
 with bark, or take the lines to tie it with, and lead 
 the horse by the bridle. At other times we were 
 in mud up to the hubs of the wheels. I recollect 
 one evening, we lectured in a little village where 
 there happened to be a Southerner present, who 
 ivas a personal friend of Deacon Whitfield, who be- 
 eame much offended at what I said about his " Bro. 
 Whitfield," and complained about it after the meet- 
 ng was out. 
 
 He told the people not to believe a word that I 
 said, that it was all a humbug. They asked him 
 how he knew ? " Ah ! " said he, " he has slandered 
 Bro. Whitfield. I am well acquainted with him, 
 we both belonged to one church ; and Whitfield is 
 
l82 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 one of the most respectable men in all that region 
 of country." They asked if he (Whitfield) was a 
 slaveholder ? 
 
 The reply was " yes, but he treated his slaves 
 well." 
 
 " Well," said one, " that only proves that he has 
 told us the truth ; for all we wish to know, is that 
 there is such a man as Wliitfield, as represented by 
 Bibb, and that he is a slaveholder." 
 
 On the 2d Sept., 1847, I started from Toledo on 
 board the canal packet Erie, for Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 But before going on board, I was waited on by one 
 of the boat's crew, who gave me a card of the 
 boat, upon which was printed, that no pains would 
 be spared to render all passengers comfortable who 
 might favor them with their patronage to Cincin- 
 nati. Tliis card I slipped into my pocket, sup- 
 posing it might be of some use to me. There were 
 several drunken loafers on board going through as 
 passengers, one of whom used the most vulgar 
 language in the cabin, where there were ladies, and 
 even vomited ! But he was called a white man, and 
 a southerner, which made it all right. I of course 
 took ray place in the cabin with the rest, and there 
 was nothing said against it that night. When the 
 passengers went forward to settle their fare I paid 
 as much as any other man, which entitled me to 
 the same privileges. The next morning at the 
 ringing of the breakfast bell, the proprietor of the 
 packet line, Mr. Samuel Doyle, being on board, in- 
 vited the passengers to sit up to breakfast. He 
 also invited me personally to sit up to the table. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 183 
 
 But after we were all seated, and some had began 
 to eat, he came and ordered me up from the table, 
 and said I must wait until the rest were done. 
 
 I left the table without making any reply, and 
 walked out on the deck of the boat. After break- 
 fast the passengers came up, and the cabin boy was 
 sent after me to come to breakfast, but I refused. 
 Shortly after, this man who had ordered me from 
 the table, came up with the ladies. I stepped up 
 and asked him if he was the captain of the boat. 
 His answer was no, that he was one of the proprie- 
 tors. I then informed him that I was going to 
 leave his boat at the first stopping place, but before 
 leaving I wanted to ask him a few questions : 
 " Have I misbehaved to any one on board of this 
 boat ? Have I disobeyed any law of this boat ? 
 
 " No," said he. 
 
 Have I not paid you as much as any other passen- 
 ger through to Cincinnati ?" 
 
 "Yes," said he. 
 
 " Then I am sure that I have been insulted and 
 imposed upon, on board of this boat, without any 
 just cause whatever." 
 
 " No one has misused you, for you ought to have 
 known better than to have come to the table where 
 there were white people." 
 
 " Sir, did you not ask me to come to the table ?" 
 
 " Yes, but I did not know that you was a colored 
 man, when I asked you ; and then it was better to 
 insult one man than all the passengers on board of 
 the boat." 
 
 Sir, I do not believe that there is a gentleman or 
 
184 NARKATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 lady on board of this boat who would have coiv^l- 
 dered it an insult for me to have taken my break- 
 fast, and you have imposed upon me by taking my 
 money and promising to use me well, and then to 
 insult me as you have." 
 
 " I don't want any of your jaw," said he. 
 
 " Sir, with all due respect to your elevated station, 
 you have imposed upon me in a way which is un- 
 becoming a gentleman. I have paid my money, and 
 behaved myself as well as any other man, and I am 
 determined that no man shall impose on me as you 
 have, by deceiving me, without my letting the world 
 know it. I would rather a man should rob me of 
 my money at midnight, than to take it in that way." 
 
 I left this boat at the first stopping place, and 
 took the next boat to Cincinnati. On the last boat 
 I had no cause to complain of my treatment. When 
 I arrived at Cincinnati, I published a statement of 
 this affair in the Daily Herald. 
 
 The next day Mr. Doyle called on the editor in a 
 great passion. — "Here," said he, "what does this 
 mean." 
 
 " What, sir ?" said the editor quietly. 
 
 " Why, the stuff here, read it and see." 
 
 " Read it yourself," answered the editor. 
 
 '* Well, I want to know if you sympathize with 
 this nigger here." 
 
 " Who, Mr. Bibb ? Why yes, I think he is a gen- 
 tleman, and should be used as such." 
 
 "Why this is all wrong — all of it." 
 
 "Put your finger on the place, and I will right it." 
 
 " Well, he says that we took his money, when we 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY EIBB. 185 
 
 paid part back. And if you take his part, why I'll 
 have nothing to do with your paper." 
 
 So ended his wrath. 
 
 In 1845, the anti- slavery friends of Michigan em- 
 ployed me to take the field as an anti-slavery Lec- 
 turer, in that State, during the Spring, Summer, and 
 Fall, pledging themselves to restore to me my wife 
 and child, if they were living, and could be 
 reached by human agency, which may be seen by the 
 following circular from the Signal of Liberty : 
 
 TO LIBERTY FRIENDS :— In the Signal of the 
 28th inst. is a report from the undersigned respect- 
 ing Henry Bibb. His narrative always excites deep 
 sympathy for himself and favorable bias for the 
 cause, which seeks to abolish the evils he so power- 
 fully portrays. Friends and foes attest his effi- 
 ciency. 
 
 Mr. Bibb has labored much in lecturing, yet has 
 collected but a bare pittance. He has received from 
 Ohio lucrative offers, but we have prevailed on him 
 to remain in this State. 
 
 We think that a strong obligation rests on the 
 friends in this State to sustain Mr. Bibb, and restore 
 to him his wife and child. Under the expectation 
 that Michigan will yield to these claims : will sup- 
 port their laborer, and re-unite the long severed ties 
 of husband and wife, parent and child, Mr. Bibb will 
 lecture through the whole State. 
 
 Our object is to prepare friends for the visit of 
 Mr. Bibb, and to suggest an effective mode of opera- 
 tions for the whole State. 
 
185 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB 
 
 Let friends in each vicinity appoint a collector- 
 pay to him all contributions for the freedom of Mrs. 
 Bibb and child : then transmit them to us. We will 
 acknowledge them in the Signal, and be responsible 
 for them. We will see that the proper measures for 
 the freedom of Mrs. Bibb and child are taken, and if 
 it be within our means we will accomplish it — nay 
 we will accomplish it, if the objects be living and 
 the friends sustain us. But should we fail, the con- 
 tributions will be held subject to the order of the 
 donors, less however, by a proportionate deduction 
 of expenses from each. 
 
 The hope of this re-union will nerve the heart and 
 body of Mr. Bibb to re-doubled effort in a cause 
 otherwise dear to him. And as he will devote hij 
 whole time systematically to the anti-slavery cause 
 he must also dejDcnd on friends for the means ol 
 livelihood. We bespeak for him your hospitality, 
 and such pecuniary contributions as you can afford, 
 trusting that the latter may be sufHcient to enable 
 him to keep the field. 
 
 A. L. PORTER, 
 
 C. H. STEWART, 
 
 SILAS M. HOLMES 
 
 Detroit, April 22, 1845. 
 
 I have every reason to believe that they acted 
 faithfully in the matter, but without success. They 
 wrote letters in every quarter where they would be 
 likely to gain any information respecting her. There 
 were also two men sent from Michigan in the sum- 
 mer of 1845, down South, to find her if possible, and 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 187 
 
 report — and whether they found out her condition, 
 and refused to report, I am not able to say — but 
 suffice it to say that they never have reported. They 
 were respectable men and true friends of the cause, 
 one of whom was a Methodist minister, and the 
 other a cabinet maker, and both white men. 
 
 The small spark of hope which had still lingered 
 about my heart had almost become extinct. 
 
%. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 My last eflFort to recover ray ftiraily. — Sad tidings of my yriTe. — 
 Her clegradatiou. — I am compelled tojegai'd our relation as dis- 
 solved forever. , 
 
 In view of the failure to hear any thing of my wife, 
 many of my best friends advised me to get mai-ried 
 •again, if I could find a suitable person. They re- 
 garded my former wife as dead to me, and all had 
 been done that could be. 
 
 But I was not yet satisfied myself, to give up. I 
 wanted to know certainly what had become of her. 
 So in the winter of 1845, I resolved to go back to 
 Kentucky, my native State, to see if I could hear 
 anything from my family. And against the advice 
 of all my friends, I went back to Cincinnati, where 
 I took passage on board of a Southern steamboat 
 to Madison, in the State of Indiana, which was only 
 ten miles from where Wm. Gatewood lived, who 
 was my former owner. No sooner had I landed in 
 Madison, than I learned, on inquiry, and from good 
 authority, that my wife was living in a state of 
 adultery with her master, and had been for the last 
 three years. This message she sent back to Ken- 
 tucky, to her mother and friends. She also spoke 
 of the time and nanner of our separation by Deacon 
 Whitfield, my being taken off by the Southern black 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 189 
 
 legs, to where she knew not ; and that she had finally- 
 given me up. The child she said was still with her. 
 Whitfield had sold her to this man for the above pur- 
 poses at a high price, and she was better used than 
 ordinary slaves. This was a death blow to all my 
 hopes and pleasant plans. While I was in Madi- 
 son I hired a white man to go over to Bedford, 
 in Kentucky, where my mother was then living, 
 and bring her over into a free State to see me. 
 I hailed her approach with iDispeakable joy. She 
 informed me too, on inquiring whether my fam- 
 ily had ever been heard from, that the report 
 which I had just heard in relation to Malinda was" 
 substantially true, for it was the same message that 
 she had sent to her mother and friends. And my 
 mother thought it was no use for me to run any 
 more risks, or to grieve myself any more about her. 
 
 From that time I gave her up into the hands of 
 an all-wise Providence. As she was then living 
 with another man, I could no longer regard her as 
 my wife. After all the sacrifices, sufferings, and 
 risks which I had run, striving to rescue her from 
 the grasp of slavery ; every prospect and hope was 
 cut off. She has ever since been regarded as theo- 
 retically and practically dead to me as a wife, for 
 she was living in a state of adultery, according to 
 the law of God and man. 
 
 Poor unfortunate woman, I bring no charge of 
 guilt against her, for I know not all the circum- 
 stances connected with the case. It is consistent 
 with slavery, however, to suppose that she became 
 reconciled to it, from the fact oC her sending word 
 
190 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 back to her friends and relatives that she was much 
 better treated than she had ever been before, and 
 that she had also given me up. It is also reasona- 
 ble to suppose that there might have been some kind 
 of attachment formed by living together in this way 
 for years ; and it is quite probable that they have 
 other children according to the law of nature, which 
 would have a tendency to unite them stronger to- 
 gether. 
 
 In view of all the facts and circumstances con- 
 nected with this matter, I deem further comments 
 and explanations unnecessary on my part. Finding 
 myself thus isolated in this peculiarly unnatural 
 state, I resolved, in 1846, to spend my days in trav- 
 eling, to advance the anti-slavery cause. I spent 
 the summer in Michigan, but in the subsequent fall 
 I took a trip to New England, where I spent the 
 winter. And there I found a kind reception where- 
 ever I traveled among the friends of freedom. 
 
 While traveling about in this way among stran- 
 gers, I was sometimes sick, with no permanent home, 
 or bosom friend to sympathise or take that care ot 
 me which an affectionate wife would. So I conceiv- 
 ed the idea that it would be better for me to change 
 my position, provided I should find a suitable per- 
 son. 
 
 In the month of May, 1847, I attended the anti- 
 slavery anniversary in the city of New York, where 
 I had the good fortune to be introduced to the favor 
 of a Miss Mary E. Miles, of Boston ; a lady whom I 
 had frequently heard very highly spoken of, for her 
 activity and devotion to the anti-slavery cause, as 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 191 
 
 well as her talents and learning, and benevolence in 
 the cause of reforms, generally. I was very much 
 impressed with the personal appearance of JVIiss 
 Miles, and was deeply interested in our first inter- 
 view, because I found that her principles and my 
 own were nearly one and the same. I soon found 
 by a few visits, as well as by letters, that she pos- 
 sessed moral principle, and frankness of disposition, 
 which is often sought for but seldom found. These, 
 in connection with other amiable qualities, soon 
 won my entire confidence and affection. But this 
 secret I kept to myself until I was fully satisfied 
 that this feeling was reciprocal ; that there was in- 
 deed a congeniality of principles and feeling, which 
 time nor eternity could never change. 
 
 When I offered myself for matrimony, we mutually 
 engaged ourselves to each other, to marry in one 
 year, with this condition, viz : that if either party 
 should see any reason to change their mind within 
 that time, the contract should not be considered 
 binding. We kept up a regular correspondence dur- 
 ing the time, and in June, 1848, we had the happi- 
 ness to be joined in holy wedlock. Not in slave- 
 holding style, which is a mere farce, without the 
 sanction of law or gospel ; but in accordance with 
 the laws of God and our country. My beloved wife 
 is a bosom friend, a help-meet, a loving companion 
 in all the social, moral, and religious relations of 
 life. She is to me what apoor slave's wife can never 
 be to her husband while in the condition of a s_ave ; 
 for she can not be true to her husband contrary to 
 the will of her master. She can neither be pure nor 
 
192 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 virtuous, contrary to the will of her master. She 
 dare not refuse to be reduced to a state of adultery 
 at the will of her master ; from the fact that the 
 slaveholding law, customs and teachings are all 
 against the poor slaves. 
 
 I presume there are no class of people in the 
 United States who so highly appreciate the legality 
 of marriage as those persons who have been held 
 and treated as property. Yes, it is that fugitive 
 who knows from sad experience, what it is to have 
 his wife tyrannically snatched from his bosom by a 
 slaveholding professor of religion, and finally reduc- 
 ed to a state of adultery, that knows how to ap- 
 preciate the law that repels such high-handed villany. 
 Such as that to which the writer has been exposed. 
 But thanks be to God, I am now free from the hand 
 of the cruel oppressor, no more to be plundered of 
 my dearest rights ; the wife of my bosom, and my 
 poor unoifending oifspring. Of Malinda I will only 
 add a word in conclusion. The relation once sub- 
 sisting between us, to which I clung, hoping against 
 hope, for years, after we were torn assunder, not 
 having been sanctioned by any loyal power, cannot 
 be cancelled by a legal process. Voluntarily as- 
 sumed without law mutually, it was by her relin- 
 quished years ago without my knowledge, as before 
 named ; during which time I was making every ef- 
 fort to secure her restoration. And it was not until 
 after living alone in the world for more than eight 
 years without a companion known in law or morals, 
 
 that I changed my condition. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Oommeuts on S. Gatewood's letter about slaves stealing. — Their 
 conduct vindicated. — Comments on W. Gatewood's letter. 
 
 But it seems that I am not now beyond the reach 
 of the foul slander of slaveholders. They are not 
 satisfied with selling and banishing me from my 
 native State. As soon as they got news of my 
 being in the free North, exposing their peculiar In- 
 stitution, a libelous letter was written by Silas 
 Gatewood of Kentucky, a son of one of my former 
 owners, to a Northern Committee, for publication, 
 which he thought would destroy my influence and 
 character. This letter will be found in the intro- 
 duction. 
 
 He has charged me with the awful crime of taking 
 from my keeper and oppressor, some of the fruits 
 of my own labor for the benefit of myself and family. 
 
 But while writing this letter he seems to have 
 overlooked the disgraceful fact that he was guilty 
 himself of what would here be regarded highway 
 robbery, in his conduct to me as narrated on page 
 87 of this narrative. 
 
 A word in reply to Silas Gatewood's letter. I 
 
 am willing to admit all that is true, but shall deny 
 
 that which is so basely false. In the first place, he 
 8 
 
194 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 puts words in my mouth that I never used. He 
 says that I represented that " my mother belonged 
 to James Bibb." I deny ever having said so in 
 private or public. He says that I stated that Bibb's 
 daughter married a Sibley. I deny it. He also 
 says that the first time that I left Kentucky for my 
 liberty, I was gone about two years, before I went 
 back to rescue my family. I deny it. I was gone 
 from Dec. 25th, 1837, to May, or June, 1838. He 
 says that I went back the second time for the pur- 
 pose of taking off my family, and eight or ten more 
 slaves to Canada. This I will not pretend to deny. 
 He says I was guilty of disposing of articles from 
 the farm for my own use, and pocketing the money, 
 and that his father caught me stealing^ a sack full 
 of wheat. I admit the fact. I acknowledge the 
 wheat. 
 
 And who had a better right to eat of the fruits of 
 my own hard earnings than myself ? Many a long 
 summer's day have I toiled with my wife and other 
 slaves, cultivating his father's fields, and gathering 
 in his harvest, under the scorching rays of the sun, 
 without half enough to eat, or clothes to wear, and 
 at the same time his meat-house was filled with 
 bacon and bread stuff; his dairy with butter and 
 cheese; his barn with grain, husbanded by the unre- 
 quited toil of the slaves. And yet if a slave pre- 
 sumed to take a little from the abundance which he 
 had made by his own sweat and toil, to supply the 
 demands of nature, to quiet the craving appetite 
 which is sometimes almost irresistible, it is called 
 stealing by slaveholders. 
 
NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 195 
 
 But I did not regard it as stealing then, I do not 
 regard it as such now. I hold that a slave has a 
 moral right to eat drink and wear all that he needs, 
 and that it would he a sin on his part to suffer and 
 starve in a country where there is a plenty to eat 
 and wear within his reach. I consider that I had 
 a just right to what I took, because it was the 
 labor of my own hands. Should I take from a 
 neighbor as a freeman, in a free country, I should 
 consider myself guilty of doing wrong before God 
 and man. But was I the slave of Wm. Gatewood 
 to-day, or any other slaveholder, working without 
 wages, and suffering with hunger or for clothing, I 
 should not stop to inquire whether my master would 
 approve of my helping myself to what I needed to 
 eat or wear. For while the slave is regarded as 
 property, how can he steal from his m-aster ? It is 
 contrary to the very nature of the relation existing 
 between master and slave, from the fact that there 
 is no law to punish a slave for theft, but lynch law ; 
 and the way they avoid that is to hide well. For 
 illustration, a slave from the State of Virginia, for 
 cruel treatment left the State between daylight and 
 dark, being borne off by one of his master's finest 
 horses, and finally landed in Canada, where the 
 British laws recognise no such thing as property in 
 a human being. He was pursued by his owners, 
 who expected to take advantage of the British law 
 by claiming him as a fugitive from justice, and as 
 such he was arrested and brought before the court 
 of Queen's Bench. They swore that he was, at a 
 certain time, the slave of Mr. A., and that he ran 
 
196 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 away at such a time and stole and brought off a 
 horse. They enquired who the horse belonged to, 
 and it was ascertained that the slave and horse both 
 belonged to the same person. The court therefore 
 decided that the horse and the man were both re- 
 cognised, in the State of Virginia, alike, as articles 
 of property, belonging to the same person — there- 
 fore, if there was theft committed on either side, the 
 former must have stolen off the latter — the horise 
 brought away the man, and not the man the horse. 
 So the man was discharged and pronounced free ac 
 cording to the laws of Canada. There are several 
 other letters published in this work upon the same 
 subject, from slaveholders, which it is hardly ne- 
 cessary for me to notice. However, I feel thankful 
 to the writers for the endorsement and confirmation 
 which they have given to my story. No matter 
 what their motives were, they have done me and the 
 anti-slavery cause good service in writing those let- 
 ters — but more especially the Gatewood's. Silas 
 Gatewood has done more for me than all the rest. 
 He has labored so hard in his long communication 
 in trying to expose me, that he has« proved every 
 thing that I could have asked of him ; and for which 
 I intend to reward him by forwarding him one ol 
 my books, hoping that it njay be the means of con- 
 verting him from a slaveholder to an honest man, 
 and an advocate of liberty for all mankind. 
 
 The reader will see in the introduction that Wm. 
 Gatewood writes a more cautious letter upon the 
 subject than his son Silas. " It is not a very easj 
 matter to catch old birds with chaff," and I presume 
 
NARB/TIVE OP HENRY BIBB. .197 
 
 if Silas had the writing of his letter over again, he 
 would not be so free in telling all he knew, and even 
 more, for the sake of making out a strong case. 
 The object of his writing such a letter will doubt- 
 less be understood by the reader. It was to destroy 
 public confidence in the victims of slavery, that 
 the system iBjght not be exposed — it was to gag a 
 poor fugitive who had undertaken to plead his own 
 cause and that of his enslaved brethren. It was a 
 feeble attempt to suppress the voice of universal 
 freedom which is now thundering on every gale. 
 But thank God it is too late in the day. 
 
 Go stop the mighty thunder's roar, 
 Go hush the ocean's sound, 
 Or upward like the eagle soar 
 To skies' remotest bound. 
 
 And when thou hast the thunder stopped, 
 And hushed the ocean's waves, 
 Then, freedom's spirit bind in chains, 
 And ever hold us slaves. 
 
 And when the eagle's boldest feat, 
 Thou canst perform with skill, 
 Then, think to stop proud freedom's march 
 And hold the bondman still. 
 
1 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Eeview of my narrative. — Licentiousness a prop of slavery. — A 
 case of mild slavery given. — Its revolting features. — Times ot 
 my purchase and sale by professed Christians. — Concluding 
 
 remarks. 
 
 f now conclude my narrative, by reviewing briefly 
 what I have written. This little work has been 
 written without any personal aid or a knowledge of 
 the English grammcr, which must in part be my 
 apology for many of its imperfections. 
 
 I find in several places, where I have spoken out 
 the deep feelings of my soul, in trying to describe 
 the horrid treatment which I have so often received 
 at the hands of slaveholding professors of religion, 
 that I might possibly make a wrong impression on 
 the minds of some northern freemen, who are un- 
 acquainted theoretically or practically with the cus- 
 toms and treatment of American slaveholders to 
 their slaves. I hope that it may not be supposed bj 
 any, that I have exaggerated in the least, for the 
 purpose of making out the system of slavery worse 
 than it really is, for, to exaggerate upon the cruel- 
 ties of this system, would be almost impossible : and 
 to write herein the most horrid features of it woula 
 not be in good taste for my book. 
 
 I ha^'o lonof thought from what has fallen under 
 
NARRATIVE OF H£NRY BIBB. 199 
 
 my own observation while a slave, that the strong- 
 est reason why southerners stick with such tenacity 
 to their "peculiar instiution," is because licentious 
 white men could not carry out their wicked pur- 
 poses among the defenceless colored population as 
 they now do, without being exposed and punished 
 by law, if slavery was abolished. Female virtue 
 could not be trampled under foot with iiupunity, 
 and marriage among the people of color kept in 
 utter obscurity. 
 
 On the other hand, lest it should be said by 
 slaveholders and their apologists, that I have not 
 done them the justice to give a sketch of the best 
 side of slavery, if there can be any best side to it , 
 therefore in conclusion, they may have the benefit 
 of the following case, that fell under the observa- 
 tion of the writer. And I challenge America to 
 show a milder state of slavery than this. I once 
 knew a Methodist in the state of Ky,, by the name 
 of Young, who was the owner of a large number 
 of slaves, many of whom belonged to the same 
 church with their master. They worshipped to- 
 gether in the same church. 
 
 Mr. Young never was known to flog one of his 
 slaves or sell one. He fed and clothed them well, 
 and never over-worked them. He allowed each 
 family a small house to themselves with a little 
 garden spot, whereon to raise their own vegetables ; 
 and a part of the day on Saturdays was allowed 
 them to cultivate it. 
 
 In process of tune he became deeply involved in 
 debt by endorsing notes, and his property was all 
 
200 NARRATIVE OP HENRY BIBB. 
 
 advertised to be sold by the sheriff at public au<r ^^m. 
 It consisted in slaves, many of whom v^re his 
 brothers and sisters in the church. 
 
 On the day of sale there were slave traders and 
 speculators on the ground to buy. The slaves were 
 offered on the auction block one after another 
 until they were all sold before their old master's 
 face. The first man offered on the block was an 
 old gray-headed slave by the name of Richard. Hi^ 
 wife followed him up to the block, and when they 
 had bid him up to seventy or eighty dollars one of the 
 bidders asked Mr. Young what he could do, as he 
 looked very old and infirm ? Mr. Young re- 
 plied by saying, " he is notable to accomplish much 
 manual labor, from his extreme age and hard labor 
 in early life. Yet I would rather have him than 
 many of those who are young and vigorous ; who 
 are able to perform twice as much labor — because 1 
 know him to be faithful and trustworthy, a Chris- 
 tian in good standing in my church. I can trust 
 him anywhere with confidence. He has toiled many 
 long years on my plantation and I have always 
 found him faithful. 
 
 This giving him a good Christian character 
 caused them to run him up to near two himdred dol- 
 lars. His poor old companion stood by weeping 
 and pleadiiig that they might not be separated. But 
 the marriage relation was soon dissolved by the sale, 
 and they ivere separated never to meet again. 
 
 Another man was called up whose wife followedhim 
 with her infant in her arms, beseeching to be sold 
 with her husband, which proved to be all in 
 
202 NARKiTIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 ?ain. After tlio men were «}1 sold they then s(^ d 
 the women and children. They ordered the first 
 woman to lay down her child and mount the auction 
 block ; she refused to give up her little one and 
 clung to it as long as she could, while the cruel 
 lash was applied to her back for disobedience. She 
 pleaded for mercy in the name of God. But the 
 child was torn from the arms of its mother amid 
 the most heart rending-shrieks from the mother and 
 child on the one hand, and bitter oaths and cruel 
 lashes from the tyrants on the other. Finally the 
 poor little child was torn from the mother while 
 she was sacrificed to the highest bidder. In this* 
 way the sale was carried on from begining to 
 end. 
 
 There was each speculator with his hand-cuffs to 
 bind his victims after the sale ; and while they 
 were doing their writings, the Christian portion of 
 the slaves asked permission to kneel in prayer on 
 the ground before they separated, which was granted. 
 And while bathing each other with tears of sorrow 
 on the verge of their final separation, their eloquent 
 appeals in prayer to the Most High seemed to 
 cause an unpleasant sensation upon the ears of their 
 tyrants, who ordered them to rise and make ready 
 their limbs for the cafflcs. And as they happened 
 not to bound at the first sound, they were soon 
 raised from their knees by the sound of the lash, 
 and the rattle of the chains, in which they were 
 soon taken olf by their respective masters, — hus- 
 bands from wives, and children from parents, nevc*^ 
 expecting to, meet until the judgment of the gr^^at 
 
:<TAUIIATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 203 
 
 day. 1 liter Christ shall say to the slaveholding 
 professors of religion, " Inasmuch as ye did it 
 unto one of the least of these little ones, my bre- 
 thren, ye did it unto me." 
 
 Having thus tried to show the best side of slavery 
 ihat I can conceive of, the reader can exercise his 
 own judgment in deciding whether a man can be a 
 Bible Christian, and yet hold his Christian brethren 
 as property, so that they may be sold at any time 
 in market, as sheep or oxen, to pay his debts. 
 
 During my life in slavery I have been sold by 
 professors of religion several times. In 1836 " Bro." 
 Albert G. Sibley, of Bedford, Kentucky, sold me 
 for $850 to "Bro." John Sibley; and in the same year 
 he sold me to " Bro." Wm. Gatewood of Bedford, for 
 $850. In 1839 "Bro." Gatewood sold me to Madison 
 Garrison, a slave trader, of Louisville, Kentucky, 
 with my wife and child — at a depreciated price be- 
 cause I was a runaway. In the same year he sold 
 me with my family to "Bro." Whitfield, in the city of 
 New Orleans, for $1200. In 1841 *'Bro." Whitfield 
 sold me from my family to Thomas Wilson and Co., 
 blacklegs. In the same year they sold me to a 
 " Bro." in the Indian Territory. I think he was a 
 member of the Presbyterian Church. F. E. Whit- 
 field was a deacon in regular standing in the 
 Baptist Church. A. Sibley was a Methodist ex- 
 fa orter of the M. E. Church in good standing. J. 
 Sibley was a class-leader in the same church ; and 
 Wm. Gatewood was also an acceptable member of 
 the same church. 
 
 Is this Christianity ? Is it honest or right ? Is 
 
204 NARRATIVE OF HENRY BIBB. 
 
 it doing as we would be done by ? Is it in accord 
 ance with the principles of humanity or justice ? 
 
 I believe slaveholding to be a sin against God 
 and man under all circumstances. I have no sym- 
 pathy with the person or persons who tolerate and 
 support the system willingly and knowingly, mo- 
 rally, religiously or politically. 
 
 Prayerfully and earnestly relying on the power 
 of truth, and the aid of the divine providence, I 
 trust that this little volume will bear some humble 
 part in lighting up the path of freedom and revo- 
 lutionizing public opinion upon this great subject. 
 And I here pledge myself, God being my helper, ever 
 to contend for the natural equality of the human 
 family, without regard to color, which is but fading 
 matt 67' i while mind makes the man. 
 
 New York City, May 1, 1849. 
 
 HENRY BIBB. 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 From the man] 
 volume lias received the following have been selected : 
 
 From the New York Evangelist. 
 
 ''It will be difficult for any reader, however suspicious o 
 narratives of this kind, to resist the conviction which the sim 
 plicity, candor and good feeling of this work produces, of it; 
 entire truthfulness. And if true, what a history it depicts 
 Such oppression, fea7*, and suflFering ; such courage and energy ; 
 such meek endurance and perseverance, could only be exempli- 
 fied by one whose nature was taxed to (he uttermost. The hardest 
 task the reader will find is to suppress his indignation, and to 
 keep the balance of his judgment in reference to a system wliicli 
 can possibly lead to such monstrous results. We wish the book 
 might obtain a universal perusal. It is adapted to produce th<} 
 right kind of feeling — a feeling of deep and abiding sympathy 
 for the oppressed. We are all too indifforent to the wrong." ^i 
 ihe slave. We do not make his case our own. We do not feel 
 for those in bonds as bound with them. There is a lamentable 
 lack of proper Christian sympathy; and it is one of the best re- 
 sults of a book like this, tliat it quickens the flow of feeling, and 
 touches the lieart. Mr. Bibb has mjinifested by a blameless lit'", 
 and by extraordinary talents, a character which not only c»"' 
 roborates the truth of his history, but powerfully illustrates the, 
 terrible nature o^ the system whoso oppressions lie here recorc' >, 
 For his sake, as well as for the sake of humanity and freedom, 
 we hope an extensive sale awaits the little volume. It is smal<, 
 neatly printed, and sold at a low price — from fifty cents to 
 Beventy-tive cents per copy. Let there be a little Christian 
 generosity exhibited in the sale of the work," 
 
 FroJH the jbiberator. 
 
 "Henry Bibb, the well known fugitive slave, has just pub- 
 lislied, in elegant style and witli sundry pictorial illustrations, 
 I Narrative of his Life anrl Adventures, written by himself, ar 1 
 cmarkably well-written too ; with an Introduction by T,nciH-; 
 ) jMatlac' . Of all the UiUTatives that have been pu_bllshe<!, :.•. 
 
OPIIVIONS OF THE PRESS. 207 
 
 slave's longing for freedom — of his deception, tricks and strata- 
 gems to escape his condition, is just, though humiliating. His 
 narrations of the cruelty of individual slaveholders, is natural, 
 and we doubt not in every essential particular is true.. We 
 deem the work a most valuable acquisition to the anti-slavery 
 cause ; and we hope that it may be widely circulated throagb 
 out the country." 
 
 From the Clironotype. 
 
 " This fugitive slave literature is destined to be a powerful 
 lever. We have the most profound conviction of its potency. 
 We see in it the easy and infallible means of abolitionizing tho 
 free states. Argument provokes argument, reason is met by 
 sophistry. But narratives of slaves go right to the hearts of 
 men. We d^ify any man to think with any patience or tolerance 
 of slavery after reading Bibb"s narrative, unless he is one of 
 those intidels to nature who float on the race as monsters, from 
 it, but not of it. Put a dozen copies of this book into every 
 school district or neighborhood in the Free States- and we 
 have known candidates of the Free Soil party whose wealth 
 would not miss the requisite to do it — and you might sweep tho 
 whole north on a tiiorough going Liberty Platform for abolish- 
 ing slavery, everywhere and every how. Stir up honest men's 
 souls with such a book and they won't set much by disclaimers^ 
 they won't be squeamish how radically they vote against a sys- 
 tem which surpasses any hell which theology has ever been 
 able to conjure up. 
 
 '• We believe this to be an unvarnished tale, giving a true 
 picture of slavery in all its features, goo;!, bad and indifferent, 
 if it has so many. TUe book is v^ritten with perfect artlossness, 
 and the man who can read it unmoved must be fit for treasons, 
 stratagems and spoils. 
 
 "One conclusion forced upon the philosophical reader of such 
 narratives of runaway slaves is this, that however tolerable 
 chattel slavery may be as an institution fi^r savage and barbarous 
 life, when you bring it into the purlieus of civilization and 
 r'iiristianity. it becomes unsjjeakably iniquitous and intolerable. 
 If Mr. Calhoun really means to upho-ld slavery, he must — therg 
 is no help for it — abolish Christianity, printing, art, science, ami 
 take his patriarchs back to the standard of Central Africa or tl^ \ 
 days of St«m, Ham and Japhet." 
 
20b OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 one exceeds this in thrilling interest ; and of all the subjects of 
 them, no one appears to have seen and suflFer-ed so much as Mr. 
 Bibb. It is a book for the rising generation in particular ; and 
 we could wish that as many copies of it might be sold during 
 the present year, as there are slaves in the United States." 
 
 From the True Wesleijan. 
 
 "This is a volume of 204 pages, handsomely printed on good 
 paper and well bound. But it is not in the executio-n that the in- 
 terest lies ; it is in the thrilling incidents so well told. We have 
 never been a great reader of novels, as all must know by our style 
 of writing, yet we have read enough to know the almost resistless 
 l>ower which a well-executed tale, when once we conmience read- 
 ing, exerts over the mind, until we reach the end ; and did we not 
 know the author, and know from the best of proof that the book 
 is a true narrative, on reading it we should pronounce it a novel. 
 The reader may rely upon its truth, and yet he will find it so 
 full of touching incidents, daring adventures, and hair-breadth 
 escapes, that he will find his attention held spell-bound, from the 
 time he begins until he has finished the little volume. "We think 
 the work cannot fail to meet with an extensive sale." 
 
 From tlie New York Tribune. 
 
 '■• This is a Nai'rative of intense interest. The author is well 
 known as a powerful speaker, keen in debate, shrewd in argu- 
 ment, and dangerous in retort. He here shows an equally ready 
 command of the pen, and has produced a book which would do 
 credit to a practiced writer. No stronger proof of the absurdity 
 of slavery can be demanded than this little history. By ap- 
 pealing to the sense of justice and the feeling of sympathy in 
 this artless record of a noble struggle with oppression and out- 
 rage, Mr. Bibb will make an impression on many readers, who 
 would not be reached by more elaborate statements. His book 
 has the attraction of a romance, though there was no romance in 
 hissufi'erings. They were matter of fact realities of the stern- 
 est kind." 
 
 Fr<m the North Star. 
 
 " After waiting several weeks, we have received a copy of this 
 little work. It is certainly one of the most interesting and 
 thrilling narratives of slavery ever laid before the American 
 people. The exposure which the author makes of the horrors 
 of slavery — the separations — the whippings, and the accumulated 
 Outrages inflicted on the slave, must stir the blood of every 
 reader who has the pulsations of a man. The description of the 
 

IP 
 
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Date Due 
 
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 £81 1 4 '52 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
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 Form 335. 45M 8-37. 
 
326.92 B581N 319102