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CONTENTS.
j 1. Report on the condition of the People of Color in the State
of Ohio.
2. Dr. Nelson's Letter to the Presbyterians of Missouri, who
hold Slaves.
3. A. R. Grimkie's Letter to W. L. Garrison.
4. Anecdotes, ^-c.—Sale of Slaves—The Slave's Sermon—
Cruel Treatment—Affecting Circumstance—Flogging
—Abduhl Rahhahman.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY ISAAC KNAPP,
46, WASHINGTON STREET.
1 8 3'6.
#
REPORT
ON THE CONDITION OF THE
PEOPLE OF COLOR
IN THE STATE OF OHIO.
From the Proceedings of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention, held at Putnam,
on the 22d, 23d, and 24th of April, 1835.
The Committee to whom was referred the condi¬
tion of the People of Color, in this State, presented
tlie following Report :
That it is impossible, from the limited ma¬
terials which we have been able to collect, to
present to this Convention a satisfactory view
of the condition of this people as a whole ;
but we have been able to obtain a very full
account of their circumstances in Cincinnati,
and in Brown county ; and, as these united,
are believed to constitute nearly one half of
the colored people in the state, and moreover,
as among them are found all the circumstan¬
ces which can be supposed to modify their
social, moral, and intellectual character, we
think we may with confidence adopt the in¬
formation respecting these, as the basis of our
opinions respecting the whole class.
The estimate which we make of the num¬
ber of Colored People in this state is only an
approximation to the truth. We set down
their number at 7500, of whom one-third or
2500 are in Cincinnati,—700 in two settle¬
ments in Brown county, and the remaining
4300 scattered in the principal towns in this
state.
A majority of the adults it is supposed were
born in slavery. Many of them have gained
their freedom by paying for themselves the
market value.
The statement of the fact that they were
so born and trained, will serve instead of a
volume, to inform this Convention what must
be their condition. As a class we find them
ignorant—many of them intemperate and
vicious. Intemperance, gaming, and lewd¬
ness are the vices prevalent among them
where they are located, near the navigable
waters and great thoroughfares of commerce.
In order to determine their relative condi¬
tion when compared with white people, we
need a standard which does not exist. We
must find a class of citizens who, like them,
have been systematically deprived of instruc-j
iion in science—who have been denied the j
protection of law, debarred the pursuit of
lucrative employment—who have never felt
the magnet influence which a hope of eleva¬
tion in society exerts in others, drawing them
out to effort in the field of .honorable emula¬
tion. But as we have no such class among
us, we must compare them with the lowest
class of our white population; if we could se¬
lect from our white population those who have
been abandoned of their parents to the influ¬
ence of every vile example, and left to the
unrestrained pursuit of every vile indulgence,
still we should have a class who were more
eligibly circumstanced than the colored peo¬
ple. Great injustice is done them by com¬
paring them with the whole community, and
pronouncing a condemnation upon them as
vicious and degraded, beyond remedy, from
the data thus unfairly gained.
There are some peculiarities about the
Colored People which we think it proper to
notice. They endure with more patience the
scorn and wrong under which they are press¬
ed down—are more grateful for the favors
which they receive—more tractable than per¬
sons of like information and intelligence
among the whites. In addition to this, we
have inquired, and do not know of an excep¬
tion to this remark,—they are all anxious to
have their children taught and to learn them¬
selves, and are willing to pay for instruction.
They have churches of their own in sev¬
eral places, as Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Zanes-
ville, Stark, and Brown counties.
We regret that instead of seeking to gain
freeholds, and depending upon farming for a
subsistence, they congregate in towns and
become day laborers, barbers, and menial
servants.
The cause of temperance has lately made
encouraging progress among them, though
its influence by no means predominates. In
a settlement in Stark county, where there are
three hundred colored people, mostly farmers,
twenty men own farms of from twenty to
thirty acres eaclv—they have a meeting-house
2
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the Slate of Ohio.
and schottl-house, and abstain, with few ex¬
ceptions, from intoxicating drinks. The in¬
formation which we have gained concerning
this settlement, shows them to be moat or¬
derly and exemplary citizens.
Sixteen years ago, Mr. Guess, an English
gentleman, released by will, a large family ot
slaves, concerning whom Gov. Trimble, then
in Virginia, wrote to his friends in Ohio 'that
the most vicious and degraded family of
blacks in Virginia were coming to reside
among them,' and provided land for them in
Brown county. Their location is known by
the designation ' The Camps,' upper and low¬
er; they now number 700. A school has
has been sustained for eight months in the
upper settlement, and is now suspended for
]ack of funds. The success was encourag¬
ing. A temperance society exists among
them of thirty members.
The heads of families have all been slaves.
Their land is poor and wet, and holds out no
inducement to cultivate it, Consequently
the young men and women seek employment
in steam-boats, where they contract bad hab¬
its, and returning, exert an influence to viti¬
ate the morals of their settlement, These
settlements, even in their degradation, fur¬
nish evidence that little fear is to be enter-
ttined on the score of amalgamation, where
law protects chastity. In the sixteen years
since their settlement, only two mulatto chil¬
dren have been born among this population.
The laws of the State, beside many other
injurious discriminations, shut them out from
the school fund, and hedge up th,eir way to
those more lucrative and mental employments
which are open to others,
Notwithstanding this, we find among this
people, a latent intellect, not a whit behind
that of white citizens, a docility and readi¬
ness to be benefited which invites effort
in their behalf, and a state of morals, dis¬
couraging indeed to those who look to mere
human agency to correct and elevate; but
full of the highest stimulus tq those whose
confidence is in God and the power of his
gospel,
The Anti-Slavery Society, late of Lane
Seminary, appointed a Committee in March
last, to inquire into the condition of the Col¬
ored People of Cincinnati, For the follow¬
ing statement, exhibiting the result of their
investigation, we are indebted to them. Mr.
Wattles, whose personal examination secur¬
ed the facts here Stated, is the superintendent
of the colored schools in that city,
STATEMENT IN REGARD TO CINCINNATI.
In the spring of J829, an effort was made
to enlist the citizens of Cincinnati in the plan
of removing the free people of color from the
United States. This effort was vigorous and
protracted, Whatever were the motives
which prompted the effort, its particular effect
was to excite the powerful against the weak,
to countenance the lowest class of whites in
persecuting the victims of public scorn and
contempt.
The township trustees issued a proclama¬
tion tlnit every colored man who did not fulfil
the requirements of the law in thirty days
should leave the city. The law here referred
to had lain a dead letter since it passed the
Ohio Legislature, in 1807. It provided, that
every negro or mulatto person should enter
into bonds with two or more freehold sureties,
in the penal sum of $500, conditioned for the
good behavior and support of such negrc or
mulatto person, if they should be found in
the state, unable to support themselves. It
also made it the duty of the overseer? of the
poor, to remove all such persons as did not
comply with the above laws, in the same man¬
ner as is required in the case of paupers.
Another section of the same law provided
that any person, who should employ, harbor,
or conceal any such negro or mulatto person,
should for every such offence, forfeit and pay
any sum not exceeding one hundred dollars,
and be liable for their maintenance and sup¬
port, should they ever be unable to support
themselves. This proclamation was fully
sustained and urged into execution by the
public sentiment of the city. The colored
people immediately held a meeting to consid¬
er what should be done. They petitioned
the city authorities for permission to remain
thirty days longer, and forthwith sent a com¬
mittee to Canada to see what provisions could
be made for them there. The sixty days ex¬
pired before their return.
The populace finding that few, if any, gave'
security, and seeing no movement made, be¬
came exasperated, and determined to expel
them by force. For three nights the fury of
the mob was let loose upon them. They ap-.
plied in vain to the city authorities for pro¬
tection. Despairing of succor from the-
whites, they barricaded their houses and de--
fended themselves. Some of their assailants,
were killed and the mob at last retired.
The deputation to Canada returned with a
favorable answer. The reply of Sir James^
Colebrook, Governor of Upper Canada, is
characteristic of a noble minded man. 'Tell
the Republicans,' said he, ',on your side of'
the line, that we royalists do not know rtien
by their color. Should you come to us, you
will be entitled to all the privileges of the
rest of his Majesty's subjects.'
On the receipt of this grateful intelligence
a large number removed to Canada, and form¬
ed what is called the Wilberforce Settlement.
It cannot be ascertained, definitely, how many
went to Canada. But, one of th^ two men,
who took the census a short time previous to
the excitement, states, that the colored peo¬
ple numbered 2200, About three years after,
the same gentleman assisted in taking the
Report on the Conlillon of the People of Color in the Slate of Ohio.
8
census again, when they numbered only 11C0.
' This,'he added, 'is not guess-work, but mat¬
ter of fact.'
The wrongs suffered by those who remain¬
ed behind, either from inability to remove, or
other causes, cannot well be imagined. The
mechanical associations combined against
them. Public schools were closed by law,
and prejudice excluded them entirely from
such as were selected. A general desire
among the white population that they should
remove to Liberia, or elsewhere, rendered the
operation of these laws too effective. They
were by no means a dead letter. One or two
facts will be sufficient.
A respectable master mechanic stated to
us, a few days since, that, in 1830, the Presi¬
dent of the Mechanical Association, was pub¬
licly tried by the Society, for the crime ol
assisting a colored young man to learn a trade.
Such was the feeling among the mechanics,
that no colored boy could learn a trade or
colored journeyman find employment. A
young man of our acquaintance, of unexcep¬
tionable character and an excellent workman,
purchased his freedom and learned the cabi¬
net making business in Kentucky. Oncom¬
ing to this city, he was refused work by ev¬
ery man to whom he applied. At last he
found a shop, carried on by an Englishman,
Avho agreed to employ him—but on entering
the shop, the workmen threw down their
tools, and declared that he should leave or
they would. ' Theywoidd never work toilh a
nigger.'' The unfortunate youth was accord¬
ingly dismissed.
In this extremity, having spent his last cent,
he found a slaveholder who gave him em¬
ployment in an iron store as a common labor¬
er. Here he remained two years, when the
gentleman finding he was a mechanic, exert¬
ed his influence and procured work for him
as a rough carpenter. This man by dint of
perseverance and industry has now become
a master workman, employing at times, six
or eight journeymen. But he tells us he has
not yet received a single job of work from a
native born citizen of a free state. This op¬
pression of the mechanics still continues.
One of the boys of our school last summer,
sought in vain for a place in this city to learn
a trade. In hopes of better success, his
brother went with him to New-Orleans, when
he readily found a situation. Multitudes of
'common laborers at the time alluded to above
"Were immediately turned out of employment,
and many have told us that they were com¬
pelled to resort to dishonorable occupations
or starve. One fact—a clergyman told one
of his laborers who was also a member of his
church, that he could employ him no longer,
for the laws forbade it. The poor man went
out and sought employment elsewhere to
keep his family from starving, but he sought
in vain, and returned in despair to the minis¬
ter to ask his advice. The only reply he re¬
ceived was, 'I cannot help you, you must go
to Liberia.'
This combined oppression of public senti¬
ment and law reduced the colored people to
extreme misery. No colored man could be
a drayman or porter Without subjecting his
employer to a heavy penalty, and few em¬
ployers had the courage or disposition to risk
its infliction. Many families, as we know,
have for years been supported by the moth¬
ers or female part of the family. This they
have done by going out at washing, or per¬
forming other drudgery which no one else
could be procured to do.
The schools, both common and select, remain
shut against them to the present day, although
they have always paid their full proportion of
taxes for all public objects.*, A short time
since, it was discovered by a master of the
common school, a presbyterian elder, that
three or four children who attended had a
colored woman for a mother. Although the
complexion of these children is such that no
one could distinguish them amongst a com-
pny of whites, they were told that they could
not stay in school, and were sent home to
their parents.
The law not only placed the colored popu¬
lation in a situation where they must remain
in ignorance and deprived them of the means
of procuring an honest living, but it went
still further and took from them their oath in
courts of justice in any case where a white
person was one of the parties. Thus they
were placed by law at the mercy of their
cruel persecutors. A few cases have acci¬
dentally fallen under our own observation.
Last spring a colored man had his house
broken into and property to a considerable
amount stolen. The evidence was entirely
conclusive, as one of the thieves turned
State's evidence, and confessed the whole.
At the court, one of the pleas put in by the
counsel was, that neither the oath of the man
nor that of his family could be taken to prove
the property to be his. The jury returned a
verdict of not guilty, and the robbers were
cleared.
At the same court a white man was ar¬
raigned for murdering a colored man. The
case was a plain one,—eight or ten men who
were standing near, saw the murder. Only
two of them, however, were white. On the
day of trial one of the white men could not
be found. The testimony of the other was
received, while that of the colored men,
though equally respectable, was refused. As
* In the new city charter obtained in 1834, a
provision is made that the colored people shall
receive the amount of their school taxes in tui¬
tion. But as yet, so far as our knowledge ex¬
tends, they have received no benefit from thia
provision.
4
Report 011 the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio*
it was a capital crime, where two witnesses
were nefcessary, the murderer escaped un¬
punished. Subject to such disabilities, is it
strange that this population should be igno¬
rant and degraded ? Especially when we
remember that nearly one half of them were
formerly in bondage. They have grown up
under its blighting influences. The charge
is true, they are a degraded people. But this
charge, true as it is, should not make them
objects of contempt. It is the proof that
they have minds, and are susceptible of moral
influence. We wonder, as we sometimes sit
and listen to their tale of sufferings and of
woe, that black despair has not entirely pal¬
sied every energy. To those acquainted
with the system of slavery, it is known that
not only law but 'even brute force is fre¬
quently exerted to prevent the dawn of in¬
tellect. Said a colored woman to us the
other day, " When I was little, I used to long
to read. After prayers, master would often
leave the bible and hymn book on the stand,
and I would sometimes open them to see if
the letters would not tell me something.
When he came in and catched me looking in
them, he would always strike me and some¬
times knock me down."
In September, 1832, a Sunday school was
collected which now numbers 125 scholars ;
soon after a lyceum was established, where^
up to the present time, lectures on scientific
and literary subjects have been delivered
twice a week, to an audience of from 150 to
300 persons. A library of about 100 volumes
was collected, which however, from the ina¬
bility of the people to read, has as yet been
but little used. Arrangements were made
for a school, but was delayed for some time
by the difficulty of procuring a house for
such a purpose. At length, a small tenement
was rented of a colored man, and the school
commenced on the first of March, 1834.
When this school was opened, it was imme¬
diately crowded to overflowing with children
and adults. The house not being large
enough to contain them, sixty small children
were admitted at 9 o'clock in the morning.
After reading and spelling around, they were
dismissed and the house was filled again by
the larger and grown persons, who went
through the same exercises. These classes
returned in the afternoon in the same order,
and again recited lessons in reading and
spelling. At this time, probably one half of
them, old and young, did not know their let¬
ters.
The clamor of the adults for admittance
made it necessary to open an evening school
for their benefit. This was held three even¬
ings in a week, and fully attended. Five or
six individuals engaged in teaching each
evening. This evening school, when the
students left the Lane Seminary, was discon¬
tinued for want of teachers.
In consequence of the crowd at the day
school, another house and teacher were pro¬
cured and the school divided. At the begin¬
ning of the second quarter another division
was made, and two additional schools com¬
menced, one for young ladies and the other
for the small children. These two last are
taught by ladies. The four schools above
described are still in operation, numbering at
present 250 pupils, and exhibiting, so far as
we can discover, the same eagerness to learn
as when they first commenced. Two teach¬
ers are engaged in the young ladies' school,
and two in the school for small children ; all
of them are females. The young ladies who
are engaged in these schools are all of them
thoroughly qualified to fill any department of
female instruction. Just before they devoted
themselves to this work, two of them were
urgently solicited to take charge of a female
seminary of high character in Tennessee,
with an offer to each of five hundred dollars
a year. This offer was renewed with impor¬
tunity after their arrival in Cincinnati, but
they again declined it, choosing rather to in¬
struct the despised, the oppressed, and for¬
saken, sharing with them the burden of their
woes.
In the ladies' school, which now numbers
about eighty scholars, work has been intro¬
duced, and nearly all are now employed two
hours a day in various kinds of needle-work.
This was found to be a necessary part of
their education, as before they had known
how to do little else than the most laborious
kind of house work.
In regard to the improvement of these
schools, our expectations have been more
than realized. The uniform testimony of the
teachers in regard to their pupils is, that they
have never seen their superiors, although
they have taught years in other places. In¬
dividuals who have visited the schools have
expressed much surprise at the mental activ¬
ity, and rapid advancement which they have
discovered.* A few specific facts here, may
* Extract of a letter from Mr. F. A. Say re,
for nine years a teacher of one of the public
schools in Cincinnati.
" Facts have been developed in the progress
of the day schools and Sunday schools here,
which have made me believe that the colored
people are not only equal to white people, in
natural capacity to be taught, but that they ex¬
ceed them—they do not receive instruction,
they seize it as a person who has been long
famishing for food, seizes the smallest crumb.
" I several times visited the different schools
for colored children, and have always been
gratified to observe the good order and atten¬
tion to study which the pupils manifest, and,
particularly, with the affection with which they
regard their teachers. I have, however, known
more particularly the school for boys which
Brother W. teaches; there I have seen boys of
from nine to twelve years of age, who had
RepoH on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio.
5
not be out of place. Rhoda Carr, a girl who
had been a slave, and who had purchased her
freedom, having in some way heard of our
schools, came five hundred miles that she
might attend them. She entered not know¬
ing her letters—in four weeks hdr reading
book was the Testament. Priestly, a boy
aged ten, learned his letters in four days.
He commenced last June, and is now a good
reader, and well advanced in arithmetic.
Charles, another boy ten years old, at the
second quarter had gone through Ray's arith¬
metic, and could do any sum which the book
contained. The children generally of eio-ht
and ten years of age, who commenced with
their letters, can now spell any where in the
spelling book. Fifty are now attending to
geography, thirty to English grammar, forty
to arithmetic, and twelve to history, some of
whom are well advanced. True, some who
attend our schools are stupid and dull, as is
the case with every collection of children ;
but with the majority, the fact is far other¬
wise. Sixty or 'eighty lines in history are
frequently repeated for a morning lesson,
with perfect accuracy, and on inquiring of
the boys how long they sat up last night, the
reply with some is "till ten, eleven, or twelve
o'clock," and with others, "till we burned
the candle out."
The remembrance of friends still in bond¬
age, presses heavily on their hearts. It is
even with the small children a powerful
stimulus to effort. In order to show clearly
the character of this influence, it may not be
out of place to permit the children to speak
for themselves. Not long since, the pupils
were requested to write compositions. As
this was new business, they inquired what
they were to write about? The answer was,
" What you think most about."
The following are specimens of the com¬
positions:
1st. Dear school-mates, we are going next
summer to buy a farm and to work part of
the day and to study the other part if we live
to see it and come hnme part of the day to
see our mothers and sisters and cousing if
we are got any and see our kind folks and to
be good boys and when we get a man to get
learned the alphabet within a year, who were
able to exhibit to advantage in reading and
spelling, to write legibly, to recite long lessons
in History, which they had been a short time
studying, and to undergo an examination in
Arithmetic, which, when I first witnessed it,
perfectly astonished me. I have taught com¬
mon schools for about fifteen years at intervals,
and have visited many taught by others, and I
must candidly say, that I have never been ac¬
quainted with one whieh, for rapid progress in
the different studies pursued, and for the inter¬
est manifested by the pupils, could be compared
with this, nor have I ever seen so much good
feeling in the intercourse of teacher and pupils."
the poor slaves from bondage. And I am
sorrow to hear that the boat of Tiskilwa
went down with two hundred poor slaves
from up the river. Oh how sorrow I am to
hear that, it grieves my soul so that I could
faint in one minute.
, aged seven years.
2d. Dear school-master, I now inform you
in these few lines, that what we are studying
for is to try to get the yoke of slavery broke
and the chains parted asunder and slave hold¬
ing cease for ever. O that God would change
the hearts of our fellow men.
, aged twelve years.
3d. In my youthful days dear Lord, let me
remember my creator, Lord. Teach me to
do his will. Bless the cause of abolition—
bless the heralds of the truth that we trust
God has sent out to declare the rights of
man. We trust that it may be the means of
moving mountains of sin off all the families.
My mother and stepfather, my sister and my¬
self we were all born in slavery. The Lord
did let the oppressed go free. Roll on the
happy period that all nations shall know the
Lord. We thank him for his many blessings.
, aged eleven years.
4th. Dear Sir.—This is to inform you that
I have two cousins in slavery who are enti¬
tled to their freedom. They have done every
thing that the will requires and now they
wont let them go. They talk of selling them
down the river. If this was your case what
would you do ? Please give me your advice.
, aged ten years.
5th. Let us look back and see the state in
which the Britons and Saxons and Germans
lived. They had no learning and had not a
knowledge of letters. But now look, some
of them are our first men. Look at king Al¬
fred and see what a great man he was. He
at one time did not know his a, b, c, but be¬
fore his death he commanded armies and na¬
tions. He was never discouraged but always
looked forward and studied the harder. I
think if the colored people study like king
Alfred they will soon do away the evil of
slavery. I cant see how the Americans can
call this a land of freedom where so much
slavery is.
, aged sixteen years.
These compositions with others were hand¬
ed to the teacher, who put them in his pock¬
et, without any thought of preserving them
or showing them to any one. When it was
thought best to insert them here, he took
them from his pocket without any selection,
and wrote them just in the order they came
to hand. They are a fair transcript of our
pupils' hearts. It is not strange that the sub¬
ject of slavery should sp deeply affect them,
when it is remembered' that nearly all, who
attend our schools, have friends now in bond¬
age. Some have a father or a mother—some
brothers and sisters, and others have dear
6
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio.
children, whom they have left at the mercy
of the task-master. TJiey know their woes
from sad experience. They think of their
sufferings, they listen to their groans, and
they feel. Again and again as the slave has
been mentioned, have we heard from one
and another the Heavy groan,—have seen the
heaving bosom and the trickling tear, and
teacher and pupil have wept together. We
know on this subject what cannot be ex¬
pressed in words.
Those who have friends in slavery, live in
continual dread and anxiety, lest they should
be sold and taken down the river. This so¬
licitude, either like a canker preys upon their
energies, gnaws away the springs of human
effort, or if their minds are of that stern mate¬
rial that will give up the ghost sooner than
yield, it operates as a continual goad, and
urges them on to eiTorts almost superhuman
It is common tor boats loaded with slaves,
to stop at Cincinnati, and it frequently hap¬
pens that the friends and relations of the pu¬
pils are in chains, on board. A few days
■since, a colored man came into one of the
schools and said, he believed there was some
person present who had friends on board a
boat, going down the river. On mentioning
the name of their owners, a woman on the
farther side of the house immediately exclaim¬
ed, ' Oh, they've come,' and fell senseless.
A friend who sat near, caught her in her arms,
and for some time she lay apparently lifeless.
Then, at intervals, a deep groan would burst
from her agonized bosom. When she reviv¬
ed, a flood of tears came to her relief. ' I
must see them? said she,—and hardly able to
support herself, she left the house. 'These
farewell scenes are worse than funerals,—
they cannot be described,'—said a man to us
a few days since, whose children had been
sent down the river,—'I'd rather have seen
ihem die. It broke my heart.' The expres¬
sion is common, that they had rather hear
that their friends are dead, than that they are
sold down the river.
Probably three-fourths of the whole num¬
ber now in the schools, are either now slaves,
have been slaves, or are the children of slave
parents. Those who are now in slavery, have
obtained permission from their masters, to
come to a free state to work out their free¬
dom. They are very anxious to learn, and
when they cannotfind work, come into school.
One man, about thirty-five years of age, is
very patiently trying to learn his letters; but
says he can't come when he can get work.
He is to pay his master, in Kentucky, $700.
Twenty of which, within a few weeks, he has
earned and paid over. Another, a pious
widow, aged 60, is making the same effort.
She says, if she can only get so as to read in
the testament, she will be satisfied. By her
efforts at washing she has paid $50 to her
master, but has yet one hundred more to pay.
Doubtless she will sink into the grave before
her task is accomplished.
Calling upon a family not long since, whose
children did not come to school very regularly,
we found the father and mother were out at
work. On saying to the eldest child, aged
about ten years, ' why don't you come to
school, my girl?' She replied—'I'm staying
at home to help buy father.'
As this family attend the sabbath school,
we will state some particulars respiting
them, to illustrate a general fact. Their his¬
tory is, by no means, a remarkable one. Con¬
versing with them one day, they remarked:
'We have been wonderfully blessed; not one
in a hundred is treated so well as we have
been.' A few years since,, the mother, an
amiable woman, intelligent, pious, and belov¬
ed by all who knew her, was emancipated.
But she lived in continual dread lest her hus¬
band, who was still a slave, should be sold .and
separated from her forever. After much pain¬
ful solicitation, his master permitted him to
come to Cincinnati, to work out his freedom.
Although under no obligation, except his ver¬
bal promise, he is now, besides supporting a
sickly family, saving from his daily wages the
means of paying the price of his body. The
money is sent to a nephew of his master, who
is now studying for the ministry, in Miami
University. The following is an extract from
the correspondence of this candidate for the
ministry. It is addressed to this colored
man.
'Mr. Overton:
Sir, I have an order on you for $150, from
your old master. It is in consideration of
your dues to him for your freedom. I am in
great want of the money, and have been for
some time. I shall only ask you 10 per cent
interest., although 12 is common. The money
has been due two months. If you cannot pay
it before the last of March, I shall have to re¬
turn the order to Uncle Jo,—for I cannot wait
longer than that time. It must also run at 12
per cent interest henceforth. If you cannot
pay it all, write to me, and let me know when
you can. Uncle Jo requests me to let him
know when you would have any more money
for him. Yours, in haste.'
This is only one of a series of dunning let¬
ters which came every few weeks. Soon af¬
ter the reception of this, Mr. Overton scraped
together the pittance he had earned, and sent
the young man $100, with interest. And he
is now going out at day's work, and his wife,
when able, is taking in washing, to pay the
balance. They have two sons still in slavery.
The mother, when emancipated, had the priv¬
ilege of choosing masters for these children.
She selected two men in whom she had con¬
fidence, and who were remarkable for their
kindness to their slaves. They purchased
the boys for $200 each, promising the mother,
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio.
7
that if she should ever procure the means, she
might redeem them at the same price. This,
said she, was the last thing they said to me
as I got into the stage to come away, w!>-ile
the children were clinging' to me, arufscreum-
ing to come along. Tlie following is the copy
of a letter she has just received from one of
these men. It shows how coolly 'kind mas¬
ters' can trifle with the feelings of ail affec¬
tionate and anxious mother.
'Stanton, Va., March, 1835.
To Mrs. Rebeeca Overton:
Yours of the 4th instant, I received on the
14th, and now answer your letter according
to your request. You say you are anxious
for your sons to be where you are, and a
friend ofyours is willing to advance the price I
bought him at. I am not yet determined to sell.
Mr. — savs he will sell his boy, but must
have for him $300. The one I have you know
is the youngest, but almost as large, and of the
two I should prefer mine. Eeither of them,now,
is capable of doing house work or takino- care
of a horse. Both of the boys are perfectly
healthy, and at this time would hire for $30
a year, and every year they would be getting
more valuable if they lived. The friend you
speak of can get Mr. 's at the same
price, so he has just informed me. I do not
feel disposed to part with mine, for I am well
convinced I could not get one that would suit
me better, or even as well,—but as it is for
you, I might part with him, he is good dispos¬
ed and his character good.'
On reading this letter to Mrs. Overton, she
said, 'I see what he wants. He is willing to
sell, but wants we should pay him the other
$100.' The following tantalizing postscript
is appended to the letter:
'Your sons requested me to tell you, they
are well, and should be glad to see you ; and
further they desire their love to their sisters
sand brothers,—and are anxious to live with
you, or nearer than at present, if it could be
,so ordered.'
We have inserted this case thus at length,
to show how all the social sympathies of these
people have been mocked, and their tender-
est sensibilities outraged. Still we see them
bearing up under these accumulated wrongs,
,and struggling onward with a vigor, truly as¬
tonishing. •
One man has just finished paying for him¬
self, wife and babe, $65.0, For a little son
=who attends school with him, 'I paid,'said
ihe, 'a hundred silver dollars, when he was
three years old.' He has done all this by rig¬
id self-denial and persevering'industry. For
4.wo children yet in bondage, one 9 and the
other 11 years of age, he has offered $450,
•but their owner refuses to sell- Another man
jn school, paid $1000 in cash for his own body.
A number of females have paid 2Q0 and 300
dollars for themselves. They earned it ca-1
tirely by their own efforts, principally bjr
washing. These girls now go out at wash¬
ing two days of the week, in order to support
themselves m school the remainder of the
time. More than thirty females are now get¬
ting their education and supporting them¬
selves in this way. Mr. Ralls paid $1130 for
his wife and two daughters. They are all
now constant attendants at school. We
might go on in this way through our cata¬
logue, hut we forbear, lest we should be tedi¬
ous. The above facts are sufficient as a spe¬
cimen, to show the material of which the
schools are composed.
The people had long groped their way in
darkness,and as long had prayed for light. But
such a transition from the midnight of despair,
to the sunlight of hope, was too much for some
of them to bear. One pious mother, was de¬
lirious with joy for more than a week, at the
bright prospect for her children. Said she,
'many times I have lain awake all night, and
prayed for just such things, but when they
came, I could'nt stand it.' One of the most
intelligent and strong minded of the colored
men, was absent from the city till in the sum¬
mer, and had heard not a word of what was
going on amongst the colored people. The
first evening of his return, he attended one of
the lectures. Said he, 'I was in a perfect
maze, to see a man get up, and speak to a
colored congregation on such subjects,—to
hear such sentiments from white men,—to
have them talk in such away to us,—was too
.much forme to beiieve. I thought I was
dreaming. I would jog my neighbor to see
if I was awake ; take out my knife and cut
the bench; take up the shavings and pick
them to pieces ;—and after all I could'nt con¬
vince myself that I was awake. I would
come into the schools during the day,—sit and
look on till I was ready to burst into tears,—
then get up and go out, and say to myself, is
this reality, or is it a dream ? Am I really
awake ? No, it can't be true,—it is all a delu¬
sion. And thus I was several days.'
Said a woman, lately from Virginia, 'If we
should go back and tell of our advantages,
and how we have the white people to teach
us, and how they treat us like brothers,—they
could'nt believe us. There is a heap of peo¬
ple that wouldn't believe a word we said.
We had no idea of it before we cafne. It is
just like changing out of one world into anoth¬
er.'
The gratitude which at times flows out
from their fidl, warm hearts, is rich in bless¬
ing, and lightens all our labors.
The schools have suffered no little incon¬
venience from not having suitable rooms.
Two of them have been taught in churches,
and two in private dweling-houses. It is ex¬
pected, however, that a house will be built
this year, sufficiently large to accommodate
two of the schools. The colored people have
8
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio.
according to their ability, contributed liber¬
ally to this object. They are also making an
effort to pay, for the next year, a greater pro¬
portion of the expenses of the schools. The
expenses for the past year have been $929.
Of this the colored people contributed $250.
The remainder was given by abolitionists, at
the east, and elsewhere. 209 dollars of this
sum has been expended for rent; 150 dollars
for three temporary female teachers, and the
remainder for books, fixtures, fuel, board of
teachers, etc. In addition to the schools now
in operation, another will commence on the
first of June, for colored boatmen, and con¬
tinue four months. Of this class of men,
there are, during the summer, about 300 ;
whose residence is in this city. As they are
well known, and a majority of them active
young men, their influence hitherto has been
bad. Familiar, during eight months of the
year, with all the vices of the river, it could
not be expected that a four months' residence
on the shore, would mend their manners or
their morals. Especially when it is remem¬
bered that during the week, grog-shops, broth¬
els, and gambling-houses, have been the onJy
places open for their reception. Aside from
the common hardships of a boatman's life,
this class of our citizens suffer severe perse¬
cutions by coming in constant contact with
slave laws. As there is danger of making
our report too long, we will state only orle
fact.
A colored woman of our acquaintance
came up on a boat this morning, who had
been down the river to get her husband out
of jail. He was a boatman on the lower
waters, and his family resided in this city.
Some two or three months since, while tak¬
ing in wood, his leg was severely injured.
He spent all his money in paying board and
•doctors' bills. As it healed very slowly, he
became discouraged, and attempted to get
home. He procured a passage, promising to
pay when he arrived in Cincinnati. But on
getting up to the falls, at Louisville, the boat
could'not pass. He then left his free papers
with the captain as security, and took pass-
gage on another boat. When they came for
his passage money, he told them of his mis¬
fortunes and his poverty. His story was not
credited, and they demanded his free papers.
These, of course, he was unable to produce.
He was accordingly set on shore, and thrust
into a Kentucky jail. Here he remained four
weeks, and would have been sold to pay the
jail fees, had lie not found means to send to
his wife, who went immediately to his relief.
Great good may justly be anticipated from
such a school. These boatmen traverse all
our navigable waters t the Ohio, Cumber¬
land, Tennessee, Kenhawa, Illinois, Wabash,
Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, White, Red,
Yazoo, and other rivers. If intelligent, in¬
dustrious and sober, they would every where
be letters of recommendation for all the col¬
ored people. Their influence, if directed
aright, will tell powerfully, not only on the
interests of the free colored man, but on the
whole system of American oppression.
It is to be regretted that an accurate cen¬
sus of the colored population of Cincinnati,
cannot be furnished. Such a census was
commenced some months since, but owing
to the pressure of other duties, has not been
finished. It is a work of considerable labor,
as the people are scattered through all parts
of the city, and large numbers of them are
servants in white families. From the part
gone over, we are able to form, as we be¬
lieve, a tolerably accurate estimate of their
numbers and general condition.
The number of colored people in Cincin¬
nati, is about 2500. As illustrating their
general condition, we will give the statistics
of one or two small districts. The families
in each, were visited from house to house,
taking them all as far as we went:
Number of families in one of these districts, 26
" of individuals, 12$
" of heads of families, 49
" of heads of families who are profes¬
sors of religion, 19
" of children at school, 20
" of heads of families who have been
slaves, 39
" of individuals who have been slaves, 95
Time since they obtained their freedom from
1 to 15 years, average, 7 years.
Number of individuals who have purchased
themselves, 23
Whole amount paid for themselves, $9,112
Number of fathers and mothers still in slavery, 9
" of children, 18
" of brothers and sisters, 98
" of newspapers taken, 0
" of heads of families who can read, %
EMPLOYMENT vOF HEADS OF FAMILIES.
Common laborers and porters, 7
Dealers in second-hand clothing, 1
Hucksters, 1
Carpenters, %
Shoe-blacks, 6
Cooks and Waiters, 11
Wash -women, 18
Five of these women purchased them¬
selves from slavery. One paid $400 for her¬
self, and has since bought a house and lot,
worth $600. All this she has done by wash¬
ing-
Another individual had bargained for his
wife and two children. Their master agreed
to take $420 for them. He succeeded at
length in raising the money, which he car¬
ried to their owner. " I shall charge you $30
more than when you was here before," said
the planter, "for your wife is in a family-way,
and you may pay thirty dollars for that or not
take her, just as you please." "And so,"
said he, (patting the head of a little son three
years old, who hung upon his knee,) "I had
to pay thirty dollars for this little fellow, six
months before he was born."
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio.
9
Number of families in another district, 63
" of individuals, 258
" of heads of families, 106
" of families who are professors of re¬
ligion, 16
" of heads of families at school, 53
" of newspapers taken, 7
Amount of properly in real estate, $9,850
Number of individuals who have been slaves, 108
" of heads of families who have been
slaves, (j9
Age at which they obtained their freedom,
from 3 mos. to 60 yrs. averse 33 vrs.
Time since they obtained their freedom, "from
« » V/VIVJ i j\ r*« * j avriui^t: if Y^rtlS.
Number of heads of families who huve pur¬
chased themselves, 3G
Whole amount paid for themselves, $21,515.00
Average price, 5y7,64
Number of children which the same families
have already purchased, 14
Whole amount paid lor these children, $2,425,75
Average price, 173,27
Total amount paid for these parents and chil¬
dren, $23,940,75
Number'of parents still in slavery, 1G
" of husbands or wives, 7
" of children, 35
" of brothers and sisters, 144
These districts were visited without the least
reference to their being exhibited separately.
If they give a fair specimen of the whole
population, (and we believe that to be a fact,)
then we have the following results : 1,129 oi
of the colored population of Cincinnati have
been in slavery ; 476 have purchased them¬
selves at the total expense of $215,522,04,
averaging for each $452 77; 163 parents are
still in slavery ; 68 husbands and wives ; 346
children ; 1,579 brothers and sisters.
There are a large number in the city who
are now working out their own freedom,—
their free papers being retained as security.
One man of our acquaintance has just given
his master seven notes of $100 dollars each,
one of which he intends to pay every year,
till he has paid them all; his master promises
then to give him his free papers. After pay¬
ing for himself, he intends to buy his wife
and then his children. Others are buying
their husbands or wives, and others again
their parents or children. To show that on
this subject they have sympathies like other
people, we will state a single fact. A young
man, after purchasing himself, earned $300.
This sum he supposed was sufficient to pur¬
chase his aged mother, a widow, whom he had
left in slavery five years before, in Virginia.
Hearing that she was for sale, he started im¬
mediately to purchase her. But, after travel¬
ling 500'miles, and offering all his money, he
was refused. Not because she was not for
sale—nor because he did not offer her full
value. She had four sons and daughters with
her, and the planter thought he could do bet¬
ter to keep the family together and send them
all down the river. In vain'the affectionate
eon plead for his mother. The planter's
heart was steel. He would not sell.her, and
2
with a heavy heart the young man returned
to Cincinnati. He has since heard that they
were sold in the New Orleans market, "in
lots to suit purchasers."
In regard to the general character of this
people, it is perhaps unnecessary to add any
tiling to what has already been said. If we
except the influence of uncommon persecu¬
tion, that portion of them that were free born
do not differ essentially from the colored
population of otiier free states. Many fami¬
lies are in easy circumstances, and,are well
regulated. In some, the Sabbath is, emphat¬
ically, a day of rest; all the cooking, and other
work, having been done on,Saturday. With
regard to the majority, however, their domes¬
tic arrangements are loose, and family gov¬
ernment very much neglected. In this res¬
pect, however, they are improving. The
teachers, especially the females, make it a
part of their duty to visit the families, and
impart such domestic and religious instruc¬
tion as they think will be profitable. That
portion of them who were born in slavery, are
generally from that class of slaves who are
best treated. This we know from observation,
and from their own testimony. Such as were
emancipated, we.firul, on inquiring, were usu¬
ally favorite servants, or they had masters
who liberated them at their death; and those
who bought themselves, also had masters of
a similar character. The permission to buy
themselves, the slaves considered a great
favor.
We mention these things to show that facts
drawn from this portion of the colored pop¬
ulation of Cincinnati, do not, by any means,
give a partial and overwrought picture of
slavery. All these people speak well of their
masters, and say they were treated much bet¬
ter than those on other plantations. But we
have often thought within ourselves when
conversing with them—If these are the ten¬
der mercies of slavery, what are its cruelties ?
One of the accursed influences of slavery,
they have felt with a severity known only to
favorite servants—we mean licentiousness.
Many facts might be given on this subject
but we forbear, for want of time fully to ex¬
hibit this, its most loathsome feature. These
manumitted slaves are from all parts of the
south, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina,
Arkansas and Tennessee; but principally
from Kentucky and Virginia, and we notice
in these some of the peculiarities of each
section.
A considerable number whom we know,
were kidnapped, and are acquainted by sad
experience, with all the horrors of this inter¬
nal traffic. We will mention a few cases:—
Two sisters, who are now in our Sabbath
school, and were free born, were stolen when
young, together Avith three other sisters, and
made slaves in Tennessee. After remaining
in servitude more than thirty years, one of
10
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the Slate of Ohio.
them was emancipated, and the other pur¬
chased herself by paying $325. The other
sisters are still in slavery, with twelve chil¬
dren. James Yeech was kidnapped in Vir¬
ginia,—kept in slavery in Tennessee, twenty
years, obtained his freedom by paying $800.
Ann, a young woman aged twenty-two, was
kidnapped about a year and a half ago, in
Richmond, Virginia. Her mother is a widow,
and was formerly a slave. She hired her time,
paying her master forty dollars a year, and
finally succeeded in purchasing herself and
babe for $880. She then commenced buying
Ann. Urged on by the fond hope of rescuing
an affectionate daughter from the grasp of
the slave-holder, she had already earned and
paid over $400. Ann was living at home,
and there remained only $150 to be paid.
But the industrious mother had toiled in vain.
Passing along the street one evening, Ann
was seized by the slave traders and thrust
immediately into jail. She says, " I never
spent such a night as that was; more than
300 were already in jail, and a number of
others were afterwards brought in who were
kidnapped the same evening. They were
immediately chained together, and towards
morning we were all taken on board the brig
Tribune, Capt. Smith, bound for New Orleans.
She had among her cargo, 15 persons whom
they had kidnapped. This brig was owned
by Ballard & Armfield, of Richmond. I was
sold in New Orleans. About two months
afterwards I sa^v the same brig come in again
with another cargo of 200 slaves. After stay¬
ing in New Orleans about one year, I obtain¬
ed my freedom and came to Cincinnati."
A man who was born in Cincinnati, has just
escaped from a servitude of twenty-six years.
As he was uncommonly intelligent, he was
often sold to prevent assistance from those
who knew him. He started in February,
when the ground was covered with snow and
ice. These, for the first week, were his bed,
and the pine trees his only covering. For
three weeks he ate but one meal a day, and
the third week this was only bread and water.
Mary Brown, another colored girl who was
kidnapped in 1830, was the daughter of free
parents in Washington city. She lived with
her parents until the death of her mother; she
was then seized and sold. The following are
the facts as she stated them. One day when
near the Potomac bridge, Mr. Humphreys the
sheriff, overtook her, and told her that she
must go with him.—She inquired of him what
for ? He made no reply, but told her to come
along. He took her immediately to a slave
auction. Mary told Mr. Humphreys that she
was free, but he contradicted her, and the sale
went on. The auctioneer soon found a pur¬
chaser, and struck her off for three hundred
and fifty dollars. Her master was a Missis¬
sippi trader, and she was immediately taken
to the jaiU After a few hours, Mary was
handcuffed,—chained to a man Blave, and
started in a drove of about forty for New Or¬
leans. The handcuffs made her wrists swell
so that they were obliged to take them off at
night, and put fetters on her ankles. In the
morning the handcuffs were again put on.
Thus they travelled for two weeks, wading
rivers, and whipped up all day, and beaten at
night, if they did not get their distance.
Mary says that she frequently waded rivers
in her chains, with water up to her waist. It
was in October, and the weather cold and
frosty. After travelling thus twelve or fifteen
days, her arms and ankles became so swollen
that she felt that she could go no farther.
Blisters would form on her feet as large as
dollars, which at night she would have to
open, while all day the shackles would cut
into her lacerated wrists. They had no beds,
and usually slept in barns, or out on the naked
ground—was in such misery when she lay
down that she could only lie and cry all night.
Still they drove them on for another week.
Her spirits became so depressed, and she
grieved so much about leaving her friends,
that she could not eat, and every time the tra¬
der caught her crying, he would beat her, ac¬
companying it with dreadful curses. The
trader would whip and curse any of them
whom he found praying. One evening he
caught one of the men at prayer—he took
him, lashed him down to a parcel of rails, and
beat him dreadfully. He told Mary that if he
caught her praying, he would give her hell!
(Mary was a member of the Methodist church
in Washington.) There were a number of
pious people in the company, and at night
when the driver found them melancholy, and
disposed to pray, he would have a fiddle
brought, and make them dance in their chains.
It mattered not how sad or weary they were,
he would whip them until they teovld do it.
Mary at length became so weak, that she
could travel no farther, Her feeble frame
was exhausted and sunk beneath her accumu¬
lated sufferings. She was seized with a
burning fever, and the trader fearing he
should lose her, carried her the remainder of
the way in a wagon.
When they arrived at Natchez, they were
all offered for sale, and as Mary was still sick,
she begged that she might be sold to a kind
master. She would sometimes make this re¬
quest in presence of purchasers—but was al¬
ways insulted for it, and after they were gone
the trader would punish her for such presump¬
tion. On one occasion he tied her up by her
hands so that she could only touch the end of
her toes to the floor. This was soon after
breakfast; he kept her thus suspended, whip¬
ping her at intervals through the day—at
evening he took her down. She was so much
bruised that she could not lie down for more
than a week afterwards. He often beat and
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio.
11
choked her for another purpose, until she was
obliged to yield to his desires.
She was at length sold to a wealthy man
of Vicksburg, at four hundred and fifty dollars,
for a house servant But he had another ob¬
ject in view. He compelled her to gratify his
licentious passions, and had'children by her.
This was the occasion of much difficulty be¬
tween him and his wife, and he has now sent
her up to Cincinnati to be free.
We have no reason to doubt the account of
Mary as given above. The person from whom
we heard this, tonk it down from her own lips.
Her manner of relating it was perfectly sim¬
ple and artless, and is here written out almost
verbatim. We have also the testimony of a
number of individuals who knew her in Vic ks--
burg; they have no doubt of her integrity,
and say that we may rely implicitly upon the
truth of any statement which she may make.
Per sons are occasionally kidnapped in this
city. Two young men, members of our school,
were stolen last fall, but were soon rescued.
When found, they were in irons on board a
steam-boat. Other more aggravating cases
mi?ht be mentioned.
The moral character and condition of this
people, is, we believe, rapidly improving.
There are three churches—two Methodist
and one Baptist, numbering in all about four
hundred and fifty members. In these churches
there is preaching every Sabbath to full con¬
gregations. There are four Sabbath schools,
with each a small library, and three Bible
classes. These schools and classes are well
attended by persons of all ages, and an un¬
common desire to learn the truth of the Bible
is manifested. A few we hope, have recently
been born again. And with many there ap¬
pears to be an increasing solicitude about
their eternal welfare. Male and female
prayer meetings are held by all the churches.
The female prayer meetings are always
crowded and full of interest. A female be¬
nevolent society, was organized a few months
since, consisting of forty members. Their
meetings are held regularly, and the time
spent in working for the poor. A society for
the relief of persons in distress, called the
" Cincinnati Union Society," has been in op¬
eration for a number of years. It now num¬
bers one hundred male members, and its
yearly contributions are about two hundred
and fifty dollars. Another society of a kin¬
dred character numbers about thirty. A tem¬
perance society on the principle of total ab¬
stinence was formed on the first of April.
This was done after a course of lectures
which were listened to by large audiences.
At the two closing lectures one hundred and
sixty-four pledged themselves to entire ab¬
stinence from all intoxicating liquors, includ¬
ing wine, cider, and all malt liquors, except
on sacramental occasions, or when prescribed
by a temperance physician, and also to do all
in their power Jo prevent its use by others.
Between that time and the organization of
the society, the number increased to two
hundred and twenty five, and a few names
have been added since. Great good is an¬
ticipated from the influence of this society.
A number of confirmed drunkards have told
us they were "trying it." The society will
have regular monthly meetings, when an
address will be delivered by one of its mem¬
bers.
The demeanor of the colored population
towards the whites, so far as we can dis¬
cover, is respectful to all; and to their par¬
ticular friends, it, is marked with those pe¬
culiar testimonials of gratitude and esteem,
which we should find it difficult to express.
We notice that in proportion as we visit
them, and mingle in their society, they be¬
come guarded and circumspect in all their
demeanor, and as they become intelligent,
they lose their relish for gaudy tinsel and
display. They feel convinced that character
is based 011 mental and moral worth. There
are none who appreciate the advantages of
education and morality so much as those who
are best educated and most moral. After
living with them a year, and associating on
terms of perfect friendship and equality, we
do not find on their part anything like an un¬
pleasant familiarity, but on the other hand
an increased sense of moral and intellectual
distance. This to us i3 sometimes exceed¬
ingly painful. Said one of their most intelli¬
gent men to us the other day, ^1 feel as-
though I did not know any thing, and never
had done any thing." They know how to
appreciate favors from their friends, and at
the same time they receive insults from their
enemies, with a patience known only to a
people who have been long abused. While
a majority feel pained and depressed at the
cruel prejudice of the whites,—there are oth¬
ers—men of strong and independent minds,
who either do not notice, or if they do, look
down with utter contempt upon tne narrow'
feeling which makes color the test of charac¬
ter.
The question is often asked, Can slaves, if
liberated, take care of themselves ? We
cannot answer this question better than by
pointing to the colored population of Cincin¬
nati. It is amusing to see the curious look
which an emancipated slave assumes, when
he is asked this question. He seems at a
loss to know whether he shall consider it a
joke or an honest inquiry. "We did," they
say, " take care of ourselves and our masters
too, while we were in fetters. We dug our
way out of slavery—and now that we are
free, all we ask is a fair chance." We know
of no class of men who are better qualified to
take care of themselves if placed under pro¬
per influences. True, but few of those in
Cincinnati are wealthy—but let it be remem-
12 Report on the Condition of the P<
\
bered their sympathies are with the slave, and
with all their disabilities they have within a
few years poured into the coffers of the white
man, more than two hundred thousand dol¬
lars, for the purchase of their freedom. Per¬
mit us to give a few more facts on this point
and we have done.
David Young, an emancipated slave, has
bought his wife and six children. He paid
for them $1,265. He yet owes $110 for the
last child. This he expects to pay this sum¬
mer.
Henry Boyd, bought himself at the age of
eighteen. He is now thirty-one, arid is
worth $3,000. He has also bought a brother
and sister, for whom he paid $900.
Samuel Lewis, paid $500 for himself be¬
fore he was eighteen years old.
Rebecca Madison, paid $1,800 for herself,
and is now worth $3,000.
William O'Hara, an emancipated slave,
has been in this city eight years, and is now
worth $7,000.
Henry Blue, paid for himself $1,000, is
now thirty-nine years of age, and is worth
$5,000. He attends school every day.
Richard Keys, for twelve years paid twenty
dollars per month, for his time. He then paid
$850 for his freedom, amounting to $3,739.
This man when a slave, was what is called
.an unmanageable fellow. He was 'sold nine
times. Says, he never would be struck,—
was not the least afraid to dirk or kill any
man that abused him,—always kept a dirk
about him. Supposes that in his various
scuffles with overseers arid others he liadi
stabbed fifteen or twenty men. " But," said
he, " it was not so when I got free." On in¬
quiring why it was not so? he replied, "I
was afraid of the law ! Before, I did not
care. I felt desperate, I knew I might as
•Well die one way as another. But when I
got free my eyes came open,—then I knew
where I was,—I felt like a man. The law
•jvas before me, and I was afraid of it!"
Speaking of his last master, he said, " There
is no man 1 love more than Mr. Lovell, this
blessed day, for he was a kind master, though
he kept me twelve years in slavery." Mr.
Keys is now an exemplary member of the
Baptist church.*
His wife also bought herself. Her master
was an orphan child. He was three months
old when he came in possession of her, and
ehe was his nurse when an infant. The
guardian made her take care of herself and
support the child. After the child left her,
she was required to pay seventy dollars a
year, twenty years, for his support,—boarded
herself, bought all her clothes, paid her house
* We have examined the vouchers in all the cases
here detailed, and are fully satisfied that there is no
deception. The stories told by these persons are
confirmed by receipts and cancelled notes, now in
iheir possession.
ople of Color in the State of Ohio.
rent, etc. She did the whole of this by wash¬
ing,—now and then she could save a little
money, hoping she might, at some iuture day,
redeem herself from bondage. "Many and
many a night," said she, " alter washing all
day, have I sat up and ironed all night.'' Her
husband says, as he came, to visit her in the
night, he has often found her thus at work.
In this way she saved for herself a consider¬
able sum every year, besides paying the sev¬
enty dollars per year, to sustain her young
master. When he became of age, she paid
him what money she had, amounting to $400.
Her husband paid $192 more, and she was
liberated. Can slaves take care of them¬
selves ?
We have done,—although we have not
given one-tenth part of the facts in our pos¬
session. Those we have given, are not by
any means, extreme cases. We chose the
medium, the better to illustrate the true char¬
acter and condition of this interesting people.
Your Committee would conclude their Re¬
port by offering the following resolution:
That in view of the needy circumstances of our
free colored citizens, the influence which their ele¬
vation and good deportment would exert against
slavery,-and the facility afforded lor the introduc¬
tion among them of education and religion, we
earnestly commend this field to the charities of the
good people of this slate, as one in which theii be¬
nevolence can be most efficiently expended.
Augustus Wattles,
John W. Alvord, I
Samuel Wells, }• Committee.
H. Lyman. |
Marcus R. Robinson, J
REPORT OX THE LAWS OF OHIO.
Gentlemen: your "Committee on the laws
of Ohio," after having given them such a
consideration as their time would admit, sub¬
mit the following report:
Whatever may be the minor designs of
government, its principal aim is to promote
the happiness, and to secure the rights and
liberties of man. While legislators keep
these objects in view, it is the source of bless¬
ing, and sends life into every part of the po¬
litical system. But when, unmindful of the
true interest of the people, they use their
power to curtail this liberty, and to banish
this happiness, they make it the instrument
of oppression, and ihe scourge of every com¬
munity.
The government under which we live was
formed upon the broad and universal princi¬
ples of equal and unalienable rights ; princi¬
ples which were proclaimed at its first forma¬
tion, which were incorporated into the com¬
pact under which our own state claims a right
of membership in the Union.
Notwithstanding all this, it is a fact, that
the great and fundamental principles of our
government have been violated by enact-
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the Slate of Ohio.
13
tnents framed under the ostensible authority
of this compact, which are entirely inconsis¬
tent with and subversive of the spirit which
they breathe. These enactments are the
more unjust from their being designed for
the exclusive oppression of a weak and de¬
fenceless class of our fellow citizens,—a
class convicted of no crime—no natural in¬
feriority—no conspiracy against our political
and religious institutions, demanding their
exclusion from the rights and privileges of
citizenship.
Amongst the statutes of Ohio, recorded on
the 25th of January, 1807, and which has
been in force until the present time, we find
the following act. "Be it enacted, That no
negro or mulatto person shall be permitted to
emigrate into, and settle within this state,
unless such negro or mulatto person shall,
within twenty days thereafter, enter into a
bond with two or more freehold sureties, in
the penal sum of five hundred dollars, before
the clerk of the court of common pleas, in
which such negro or mulatto may wish to re¬
side (to be approved of by the clerk,) condi¬
tioned for the good behavior of such negro or
mulatto person,—and moreover, to pay for
support of such persons, in case he, she, or
they should hereafter be found within any
township of this state, unable to support
themselves ; and if any negro or mulatto per¬
son shall migrate into this state, and not
comply with the provisions of this act, it shall
be the duty of the overseers of the poor, of
such township, where such negro or mulatto
person may be found, to remove immediately
such black or mulatto person, in the same man¬
ner as is required in the case of paupers."
The 3d. Section declares, " That if any
person, being a resident of this state, shall
employ, harbor, or conceal any such negro
or mulatto person aforesaid, contrary to the
provisions of the first section of this act; any
person shall forfeit and pay for every guch
offence a sum not exceeding one hundred
dollars, the one half to the informer and the
other half for the use of the poor in the town¬
ship where such person may reside, to be re¬
covered by an action of debt, before any
court having competent jurisdiction ; and
moreover, be liable for the maintenance and
support of such negro or mulatto, provided
he, she, or they, shall become unable to sup¬
port themselves."
"Sect 4. That no black or mulatto person
or persons shall hereafter be permitted to be
sworn or give evidence in any court of re¬
cord or elsewhere in this state, in any cause
depending, or matter of controversy, when
either party to the same is a, white person ;
or in any prosecution which shall be insti-
tuted in behalf of the state against any white
person." , .. . ,
No individual, however much his mind may
be swayed by prejudice and passion, can fail
to perceive that the above statutory restric¬
tions upon the colored population of Ohio,
are arbitrary and unjust, and opposed to prin¬
ciples contained in our state constitution, as
expressed in Sec. 1st. Art. 8th, in these
words: "We declare that all are born free
and independent, and have certain natural,,
inherent, unalienable rights, among which
are the enjoying and defending lite and lib¬
erty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting
property, and pursuing and attaining happi¬
ness and safety." \V hat a contrast between
our constitution and our statutes! Is it a
mark of this liberty which is blazoned forth on
our constitution, as the "inherent and nat¬
ural right of all men," that the blacks should
be under the necessity of entering into a bond
with two or more freehold sureties, in the
penal sum of five hundred dollars, before they
are admitted to acquire and possess property,
or to pursue and enjoy happiness ? No. It
is shutting, by the sanction of law, the very
portals of happiness! It is casting them
friendless and houseless into the open arms
of poverty, and virtually compelling them to
roam like vagabonds over the land,—for they
cannot obtain a residence until they have
given their bonds with competent sureties,
which it is very seldom they will be able to
do. Surely we cannot have the enjoyment
of liberty and freedom, unless we have the
privilege of going into any community we
please—of staying as long as we please, and
of" pursuing after and acquiring happiness,'*
by the same means, and on the same terms,
as other people. Our constitution does not
say, all men of a certain color are entitled to-
certain rights, and are born free and inde¬
pendent. But the expression is unlimited,
and is applicable to every color, clime, and
condition.. All men are so born, and have-
the unalienable rights of life and liberty—the-
pursuit of happiness, and the acquisition and'
possession of* wealth. According to our con¬
stitution, they have all the same rights which-
others enjoy, the same right to emigrate when
and where they please, and the same right to
acquire and possess property. Yet, as we
have seen, our statutory enactments virtually
deprive them of those rights. They make a
certificate of freedom and a penal bond, not
moral worth and intelligence, requisites of
citizenship. They require a penal bond of
five hundred dollars, with two or more free¬
hold sureties, that they will never offend a-
gainst the law,—and that, in spite of the in¬
firmities of age and the pressure of disease,
or casualties, they should be able to support
themselves. Few amongst the whites would
be able to obtain sureties on such conditions,
and much less the blacks, who are strangers,
and pennyless, and against whose race there
exists a geperal prejudice. As if to com¬
plete the disabilities of the blacks, and to
render their lot insupportable in Ohio, in the
14
Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of Ohio.
3d section we find all white persons forbid
hiring or harboring the blacks, unless they
have compiled with the above mentioned re¬
quisitions of the statutes. This enactment
cuts off the last hope of the refugee from
southern oppression. By it he is denied the
poor privilege of working for his daily bread,
and the white who extends to him the com¬
mon rites of hospitality, or perforins the duties
of christian charity, is liable to a prosecution
for harboring him, unless he has the requis¬
ite securities for his good behavior and sup¬
port. Can there be a more flagrant and
unjustifiable violation of "natural, inherent
rights," than is contained in the loregoing acts
of our state legislature, or one more opposed
to the spirit of our constitution ?
Let us now look at the 4th section of this
law. The former sections have carefully
guarded the avenues through which the
blacks could obtain wealth, with a vigilance
worthy of a better cause. But, suppose from
a fortunate occurrence of favorable circum¬
stances, they have been able to acquire prop¬
erty and a comfortable subsistence, this sec¬
tion opens a wido door for him to be deprived
of it, by every unprincipled knave. It de¬
clares, that "no black or mulatto person or
persons shall hereafter be sworn, or permit¬
ted to give evidence, in any court of record or
elsewhere in this state, in any case depend¬
ing, or matter of controversy, when either
party is a white." The unconstitutionality
of this law must be apparent to every indi¬
vidual, as soon as he turns to our state con¬
stitution, and reads in the 7th section, 8th ar¬
ticle, these words: "That all courts shall be
open, and every person, for any injury done
bim, in his lands, goods, person, or reputation,
shall have remedy by the due course of law,
and right and justice administered without
■denial or delay." But of what avail is this to
the black ? His property may be taken away,
Jiis person assailed by the hand of violence,
and his reputation blasted by the foul breath
of calumny; and unless he can produce a
white witness, provided his injurer is white,
he can have no redress. Is not this a palpa¬
ble violation of our constitution ?
Before leaving this subject, your committee
wish to take another view of this law, which
will show its complete inconsistency with
the fundamental principles of our govern¬
ment. It is stated, in the 2d section, 4th ar¬
ticle of the constitution of the United States,
that, " the citizens of each state shall be en¬
titled to all the privileges and immunities of
citjzens in the several states." Who citi¬
zens are, is a question which admits of some
doubt. Neither the constitution of the Unit¬
ed States, nor that of Ohio, clearly defines.
But the constitution of the United States in
apportioning representative and direct taxes,
says, it shall be " according to their respec¬
t-live numbers, which shall be determined by
adding the whole number offree persons in¬
cluding those bound to service for a number
of years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
three-filths of all other persons." From this,
and the fact that freemen are considered citi¬
zens in other countries, it appears that all
free persons, born in and residents of the
United States, with the exception of Indians
not taxed, are citizens, and as such, are enti¬
tled, in every state, to all the privileges and
immunities of citizens of these states,—and
inasmuch as no slate can pass any law, in
contravention of the laws of the United
States, which shall be binding upon any in¬
dividual ; we hence infer, that those enact¬
ments, in the Ohio legislature, imposing dis¬
abilities upon free blacks, emigrating from
other states, are entirely unconstitutional.
There is another law bearing date 1831,
which your committee will briefly notice. In
the 25th section, 8th article, of our state con¬
stitution, we find it declared, " that no laws
shall be passed to prevent the poor, of the
several townships and counties in this state,
from an equal participation in the schools,
academies, colleges, and univerities in this
state, which are endowed, in whole or in part,
from the revenue arising from donations made
by the United States, for the support of col¬
leges and schools, and the doors of said
schools, academies, and universities shall be
open for the reception of scholars, students,
and teachers of every grade, witiout any dis¬
tinction or preference whatever."
From this article of our state constitution,
it would appear that all without any distinc¬
tion, were entitled to the privileges of our
common schools, so far as they are endowed,
in whole or in part, by the revenue arising
from donations by the United States. But
notwithstanding this clear and unqualified
declaration, and the indisputable fact of the
United States having set apart the sixteenth
section of land in each originally surveyed
township, as a donation for the express pur¬
pose of endowing and supporting common
schools: yet, when we turn to the statute
book, we find that colored children are exclu¬
ded. We find it enacted, "That when any
appropriation shall be made by the directory
of any school district from its treasury there¬
of for the payment of a teacher, the school
in such district, shall be open to all the white
children residing therein, etc."
Is this statute unconstitutional or is it not ?
Your committee will spend no further time
in examining "the laws of Ohio," but will pro¬
ceed to inquire into the influence of these
laws. This subject will naturally fall under
the cognizance of a committee appointed to
inquire into the condition of the blacks, and
we will therefore dismiss it with a few re¬
marks. Their influence upon the blacks can¬
not be otherwise than destructive to their
moral and intellectual character, and their
• Dr. Nelson's Letter to Presbyterian Slaveholders.
15
pecuniary interests. Mental debasement—
moral degradation—self disrespect—unyield¬
ing prejudice on the part of the whites, and
the most distressing poverty, are the natural
and necessary consequences of these perni¬
cious, unjust, and impolitic laws. In reyiew-
ing these laws, we find all their bearings and
provisions calculated to produce effects, the
opposite of those for which our government
was instituted,—viz : administering right and
justice, and promoting industry and honesty
by encouraging them ; instead of which, by
refusing employment to the colored man, it
drives him to resort to dishonest means for
his support, and invites the unprincipled
white to defraud, yea, to insult, to maim, and
abuse and injure the black and mulatto with
impunity.
With regard to the course which should be
pursued for the repeal of these laws, your
committee earnestly recommend, that peti¬
tions be presented to our state legislature,
and the subject urged upon their attention,
until they wipe away this foul stain from the
statutes of Ohio. As much as your commit¬
tee would deprecate the idea of making this
a party question, we would yet endeavor to
impress it upon the minds of all, that in choos¬
ing our legislators, we should select those who
will exert their influence to remodel and pu¬
rify our laws, until the last blot is washed
away, and being freemen in theory we shall
be such in practice.
OFFICERS OF THE OHIO ANTI SLAVERY
SOCIETY.
Hon. Leicester King, President. Warren.
How. Alex'r Campbell, V. Preset. Ripley.
Committee.
Names. Residence.
Rev. James Gilliland, Brown Co.
Prof. Charles G.Finney, Oberlin Theol.Sem.
Prof. Asa Drury, Granville College.
Gen. Rees E. Price, Hamilton Co.
Isaac Colby, M. D. Cincinnati.
Hon. Francis Dunlavy, Warren Co.
Col. William Keys, Highland Co.
David Long, M. D, Cuyahoga Co.
Elizur Wright, Esq. Portage Co.
Richard Long, Ross Co.
Nathan Galbrailh, Columbiana Co.
Col. James Stewart, Fayette.
Abraham Baer, Stark Co.
Wm. N. Hudson, M. D. Geauga.
Mai. Samuel Denny, Circleville.
Orestes K. Hawley, M. D. Ashtobula Co.
Levi Whipple, Esq. Muskingum Co.
J. S. Waugh, M. D. Butler Co.
Fiom the St. L>uis Observer.
DR. NELSON'S LETTER.
To the Presbyterians of Missouri, who hold Slaves:
Dear BrethrenI have some acquaintance
with a majority of you. I believe we mutual¬
ly love each other. Through the columns of
the " Observer," we may converse, although
we meet not face to face. I wish to present
you with a thought, which if unimportant you
need not notice. I feel that affection moves
me to the effort—but should the doctrine be
unsound, regard it not—should the argument
be unfair or delusive, it will not be hard for
you to turn away—but should I advocate the
truth, then, in God's name, hear and act. I do
hope to sing many a song with the most of
you on the other side of the river! Then
whilst we are together here, let us help each*
other on, when we have the smallest opportu¬
nity. Connected with the thought which I
desire to suggest for your consideration, are
two original principles, about which we con¬
cur in sentiment, with feeling celerity. Nev¬
ertheless, I will here write them down, plain
as they are, that they may be mentally applied
whenever needed, without direct quotation.
First Principle.—Thei participator in
crime is a criminal. The accessory, in the
view of heaven, is a principal. Standing near
where crime is acted, I participate, if I remove
obstacles, if Iholdthe slightest additional temp¬
tation before the eye of the guilty, if I furnish
facilities, nay, IF I PRE VENT NOT where
my ability reaches.
Second Principle.—This can be longer
remembered by noting the case where a man
was urged to cease from habitual adultery.
After stating, that should he suddenly neg¬
lect his paramour, she, through revenge,,
would make statements to her husband,,
which would cause him to take his (the adul¬
terer's) life—the law would then execute the-
husband, and the homeless, unsupported wo¬
man, would soon reach death through the av¬
enues of abandonment, leaving her children*
to certain wretchedness, &c. He received
the following answer from his adviser, which
contains the principle about which we hearti¬
ly agree: " The.consequences seem awfully
threatening, but I am not aware of any per¬
mit from the Holy One which authorizes the-
gradual cessation from that which his sonF
hateth ; or a partial retreat from abominable
pollution, the violation of the seventh, com¬
mandment."
Or the following case may impress' upon
our memories this all-important principle r
His Bible, his friend, and his conscience,
warned M. to repent of murder. He had
been in the habit, semi-monthly, of going to
a certain road, killing a traveller, and, afld
with his purse furnishing a dissolute family
with the means of revelry. The answer of
M. was: "my conscience is awake—my habit
must cease, but not suddenly. I must first
teach my children industry, they know nt)t
how to work; I must restrain their passiftn
for indulgence ; should food and raiment, the
necessaries of life, suddenly fail them, with
their present lawless habits, my daughters
would become prostitutes, my sobs robbers,
Dr. Nelson's Letter to Presbyterian Slaveholders.
and the increase of murders would be twenty-
fold. I should not only destroy my family,
but the public would bleed for it at every
.pore." The reply he received, contains,
again, that starting principle, concerning
which, I am happy to believe, we have no
dispute. The consequences indeed threaten
wofully. But results are not to frighten us
from ceasing to violate the sixth command¬
ment—thou shalt not kill. Quitting murder
gradually does*not comport with the views of
all the >vicked. Ceasing to dip our hands in
blood as soon as circumstances are altogether
favorable, is not the doctrine, dear brethren,
which you love.
Furthermore: if we may not cease slowly
•from the crimes of murder and adultery, then
it would be hard to show a reason why we
may leave off by degrees, the infraction of
any one of the remaining eight command¬
ments. God has not intimated to us that an
inferior er superior degree of holiness belongs
to any one of the ten. But if we may not vio¬
late moderately, for a time, one of heaven's aw¬
ful injunctions; what shall we say of the cus¬
tom, which in a christian, amounts to the cer¬
tain breaking of each one of th'e command¬
ments, from the first to the tenth, inclusive, as
fast as time beats seconds, while passing by
»us ? That is, eighty-eight thousand four hun¬
dred times in twenty-four hours, the moments
pass our souls to give in their account above.
And that account, correctly, is that each man
or woman claiming a fellow-creature, has
been guilty of each crime pointed at by the
decalogue, as often as every second. Do not
smile, my dear friend. It requires no effort
to prove more than this. Oh ! the picture is
mot the outline of facts. I have lived with
slavery for forty years. You are not very
likely to deny such facts as I write. Have
you courage to turn round and Jook at your¬
self in the glass of truth for half an hour?
€orae, then, and let us be steady and deliber¬
ate ; for shortly all our characters will be un¬
covered, even should we be unwilling. In¬
asmuch, then, as the sixth and seventh com¬
mandments have been already noticed, we
may begin with one of them.
You own a slave, dear brother or sister.
(Permit me to say, dear brother; I have wept
with you in the same room and circle, at the
' mention of Calvary ; the recollection of those
melting moments yet continues, and will, I
hope, until we meet on high.) Your exam¬
ple then, encourag'es slavery !! And let me
here throw in that which 1 expect to prove
ere long—it upholds it more than the example
of one hundred ungodly men. But you agree
that example is encouragement, and (he
strongest of encouragement, in any cause.
As long then, as you continue the practice,
you help to keep on the chain ; and of course,
(forget it or not,) participate in the results.
Now look at that young colored female ; she
knows that if she is known as a fornicatress,
or an adulteress, her standing in society is not
lessened. Nothing else was expected. Her
diminution of respectability is imperceptible,
at best. She had no standing to lose. Will
you say, that keeping any one in a station
where no shame, no disgrace, no forfeiture of
home is to be dreaded, will not add to tlie
temptation toward adultery ? Or will you
say, that those who increase temptation do
not participate in the crime ? (Hold out the
temptation of one half cent, or the promise of
secrecy, or the smallest additional facility to
any one who kills, and human law calls you a
murderer. God's rules are as strict.) Or
will you say that example does not aid in the
perpetuation of slavery ? I really do think
you will not readily take either of these posi¬
tions. And yet one of them you must take,
or it follows that you are accessory to sins,
which, if each polluting act did cover just the
space occupied by an individual star, would
stain the heavens above us to perfect black¬
ness every hour!
Do you toss your head, with something like
anger, my dear relative in the church ? Then
you have stepped to a hiding place. They
are not hard to find when fancied interest
prompts—poor indeed is that invention which
cannot shape something plausible to shun the
plainest inference, where inclination urges.
But I will light another lamp, which may
shine into the corner you at present occupy.
How is it to place males and females, to sleep
before tlie same fire, or in the same narrow
room, their beds almost touching ? Do not
talk to me about bolts or locks. Such state¬
ments might pass with some eastern breth¬
ren 5 but I know the truth. Separation, even
where it is claimed, exists only in name.
And it never will be.better, for the profits of
slavery will not justify a house with many
separate rooms. Will you say that, in their
education, they are so trained to chastity and
elevation of thought, they are beyond temp¬
tation ? I presume this is not your plea. Ia
it that every possible exposure does not
amount to temptation ? No; this you do not
believe. Do you say peace to yourself, be¬
cause you have but one, or none grown, of
different sexes ? Ah! then, I must again re¬
mind you, that you help to encourage all the
slavery in the United States; and this wire
of influence links you to every common re¬
sult. I could mention a variety of ways, by
which you go your share in promoting all
the adulteries and fornications connected with
slavery ; but I have no paper. I shall only
pause to say, that your share will be larger
than you suppose, and wider than an angel
can see across.
Look at an hundred men together, where
one murder is committed. One hand alone
is extended in the bloody deed; but all en¬
courage—some by smiles, some by words of
Dr. JYdsori's Letter to Presbyterian Slaveholders.
17
cheer, others by promises of protection. Do
you say that one hundred cases of murder
were necessary, in order to constitute each
one of these a murderer? No: one crime
is not divided, hut multiplied into one hund¬
red separate acts. Do not stupify yourself
by hoping that the sins of slaves are divided
out to the different families where they hap¬
pen. If you encourage all the slavery that
exists, you encourage all the naturally at¬
tendant sins ; and tlie sins we help on in
any way, belong to us ! When I push away
, all thoughts and feelings of extravagance ;
if I yet dare to be faithful and just, I cannot
see how any one can swim across the sea of
pollution which surrounds every slaveholder,
in half an eternity. Could masters afford
to build kitchens with eating rooms, sitting
room, and separate bed-rooms ; still those fe¬
males are thrown, by the nature of their em¬
ployments, into the same field, or under the
same shade with the men ; or sent on errands
through an exposure, (perhaps with profligate
white young men,) to which no prudent mo¬
ther ever subjects her daughter. Dear sis¬
ter, why do you leave that young slave where
you would not leave your own child ? Shall
1 answer for you r It is through a compara¬
tive amount of indifference whether her chas¬
tity is preserved or not. You would rather
she should stand pure; but she is a slave,
and you have other employment; you cannot
watch her always. Why does not the church
shudder ? Why is not every member seized
with the agony of distraction, remembering
that not a communicant sits at that board,
who is not influentially united with sins of
nameless deformity; any one of which would
stain that white cloth black, oftener and fast¬
er than the speaker pronounces words about
the blood of Christ? O, sister, long habit
may accustom us to almost any spectacle:
but we begin to live in a different age. Light
is dawning. It is time you should think.
You must think ; and if you do, it will not be
long before you act, unless you are satisfied
with the atmosphere of sin, and love the
sound of the hot rivers that flow into hell.
But blessed be the Saviour of the world, and
the God of our salvation, we can act. We
are not tied to that horrible monster. And
there is blood that can wash us from any sin
of which we heartily repent. I begin to find
that I shall not have space to take up each
one of the ten commandments. I may glance
at one or two more, and this will show us
what is the awful truth concerning the whole
moral law.
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy."
That slavery which you say you disap¬
prove, (but still continue to practice,) either
puts it out of the power of the black to keep
holy those blessed hours, or renders it next
to impossible. This million on the right hand
are worked through the week in such a man¬
ner, that the Sabbath can only be to them a
day of slumber and stupefaction. The others
might possibly keep it holy, but never will.
Linked with the shape of our soul, is a pro¬
pensity, not in itself criminal. It cannot be
parted with, or annihilated. It is a wish to
see our fellow-creatures, and to associate
with our kind. The slave can only leave the
circle of his toils (uncheered by the thought
of wages) on Sunday. He longs to see his
equals. If he does ever allow himself to be
in company, this is his day, and it is spent in
gossip, rambling, and sin!
" Honur thy father and thy mother."
Do you, dear fellow-traveller, (I hope to
glory,) suppose it a matter of indifference
with the Lord of Hosts, whether this com¬
mandment is obeyed or broken? I believe
His voice pronounced the words out of
Sinai's blaze, as audibly and emphatically as
it did the sixth, or tenth. You help to put it
out of the power of half a million of children
to obey God here. That child is not reared
by her parents. This one sees them whipped
—hears them called strumpet, harlot, thief,
scoundrel, and every name that denotes in¬
famy. These parents cannot learn the art of
training children—a most difficult and mo¬
mentous branch of education. If they did
possess the skill of government, they cannot
exercise it. They have not time. They pos¬
sess only a divided authority, &c. Children
can never honor parents, who do not act the
part of father and mother towards them with
dilligence and affection.
Thus it is with all the ten commands.
Slavery necessarily involves the continued,
incessant, and total violation and disregard of
every onn, by every victim, every hour. It
is not now expedient to explore this dismal
forest further. We have already seen more
than we can remember. Let us turn a dif¬
ferent course. It may be that you have been
all this time hoping that you are not answer¬
able for the crimes of South Carolina bond¬
men ; or of slaves any where at a ditsance.
Is this your hiding place ? Your door can
be unlocked, and you can be pushed out
where the arrows of conscience will reach
you again. I remember well, when I first
heard it averred that the evil done the earth
by the daily drunkard, was not to be compar¬
ed with that of the steady and respectable
man who only tasted occasionally. My first
thought was, " it is extravagance." My mind
then traversed the assertion again, when I
was compelled to take it in undiminished.
My third reflection was, " how sttipid have I
been all my life, never to have seen that be¬
fore !"
A man need not have his eyes entirely
open, before he can safely depose that the
red-eyed, idiot staggerer, in rags, has nothing
alluring about him. His look and smell will
18
Dr. Nelson's Letter to Presbyterian Slaveholders.
rather serve to drive the incautious away
from the hot track towards putrefaction.
Nay, even those half-gone, smoking, spitting,
noisy fools, who vapour around the bar-keep¬
er, disgust the naturally delicate and refined.
If you wish to make sure that such shall run
the drunkard's race, conduct them into that
parlor; and let the man who never was de¬
based, whose conversation is instructive, and
whose- manners are dignified, hand the glass
with a social smile.
Ah! my brother, you decide here at once.
I have heard you. You know whose exam¬
ple entices towards the pit of intemperance
—the gentleman's or the brute's. You say
there is no comparison. And you say cor¬
rectly. You say that the example of the re¬
spectable man will reach an hundred times
as far in upholding any vice, as that of the
worthless and the hateful. But when you
say all this, you seem to forget its import in
the case of slavery. I never hear you men¬
tion the principle when you talk of slavery.
Do you purposely forget it, or what is the
cause of your strange avoidance ? I fear you
will be afraid to answer the question I am
about to ask you. It will give you pain to
answer it. I, therefore, would not urge the
question; but God will shortly, 1 fear, make
some demands of us, to which we cannot re¬
ply. As a preventive, then, I must ask the
question; whether you, my presbyterian
brethren, have or have not courage to an¬
swer honestly. The question is this: whose
example is the most stable and efficient, in
upholding that slavery with which you agree
we are cursed? Is it that of the bloody, lit-
tle-souled coward, who starves his depend¬
ents, and sinks his lash in human flesh daily,
loving the sight of gore, and charmed with
groans into a feeling of loftiness ? No. If
none but these owned slaves, it would not be
tolerated half a year. The mob in New Or¬
leans, (yes, New Orleans!) pulled down the
house of such a character. These tyrants
do the cause of emancicpation as much ser¬
vice, as the bloated do the cause of temper¬
ance. Is it the example of the professional
negro driver, which encourages men to claim
souls as property ? No: you hate these men
yourself. I hear you often say so. (Al¬
though I confess I am, and always was, too
dull to see much difference between the man
who carries a slave from one state to another,
and the man who sells him, or owns and
chains him to a particular spot.) But you say
that all detest the negro driver. Of course,
his example is rather against, than in favor of
the custom. Whose example is it, then,
which quiets the conscience most, and stills
perturbation, and makes it seem honest to
say, " work without wagesand thickens
every link in that accursed chain ? It is the
example of the steady professor of religion.
It i» the example of nim whose conduct, in
other respects, most adorns the gospel; who
pleads against alcohol, who observes the
Sabbath, who feeds his slaves and clothes
them well, and tasks them lightly. You are
generally of that class. You do more to con¬
firm and continue naked slavery, than any
other class of men in existence. There is
that belonging to the influence which sober-
walking professors have over the earth, that
the wicked do not understand. Many christ'
ians forget, and others do not know it. Let
us build a platform on which to exhibit that
fact.
The time was, when, if I heard an infidel
say that religion and the bible had his entire
contempt, I believed him. When he told me
that he had not' the slightest regard of any
kind for the name of Jesus, he seemed to
think so, and I thought with him. But after
this I saw him, whilst christians were weep¬
ing over a praying sinner, gnashing his teeth
at the spectacle! Whilst the minister was
preaching, I saw him leave the house of God
in anger. I remembered that ifthe minister
had been speaking of Constantine or Tamer¬
lane, it would have been a matter of perfect
indifference with that hearer, whether he
censured bitterly or warmly eulogized. I
spake with, perhaps, an hundred lofty scoffers,
on points of history, science, or law, where
we differed in our views. They maintained
a rational and smiling debate. I addressed
them kindly on their prospects for eternity.
Some grew instantly angry; others asked for
another subject; others turned pale—all
were restless. In short, I found that the
name of Jesus Christ has more torturing in¬
fluence over atheists, deists, and universal-
ists, who profess total indifference, than any
other name ever pronounced, " under heaven
amongst men," Let us now look at the same
principle exhibited in another case. Why
were the humble followers of Wesley, in
England, more tarred, feathered, stoned,
cursed, and hated, than were the horse-
theives and gamblers ? Thfcy had not stolen
the property, or assaulted the persons of their
countrymen. Yet robbers and murderers
did not receive half the hearty hatred, (if we
may judge from the malignant invective, and
bitter cursings,) as they did these inoffensive
men. The Saviour has given us the reason
—" If ye are of the world, the world would
love its own ; but because ye are not of the
world, therefore the world hat^th you."
These men had a powerful influence in Eng¬
land. Their holiness was reproving the mul¬
titude so severely, that it almost drove them
to madness.
The loudest compliment I ever heard paid
a methodist church, either in England or
America, has been the hatred bestowed on
them by the carnal professor, and the wicked.
The boldest praise I could bestow upon the
presbyterian church, and the most flattering
Dr. JVtlson'a Letter to Presbyterian Slaveholders,
19
belief I entertain of them, I here write down;
because it is necessary to my ultimate de¬
sign in this address. I believe they are more
hated and reviled in bar-rooms, and groce¬
ries, than any other people in the Mississippi
valley. It' I am correct in this supposition,
then it follows that their influence is great
indeed. If not correct, it is still true that
their influence may be known and measured
by the amount of calumnies, sneers, and
belchings of animosity, of which they are the
subject; and which may be seen in infidel
prints, and heard elsewhere. If the charac¬
ter, and testimony, and conduct of christians,
torture not the conscience of the' world, there
will be no throes of impatience visible. If the
doctrine and walk of professors resemble
that of the Saviour, they will be hated as
certainly as he was ; and men will be loud in
their abuse of them, as certainly as they were
of Him. Now we are prepared to under¬
stand that all holy and active professors of
every denomination, have an influence over
the ungodly, which the wicked deny ; over
the worldly church member, which he does
not acknowledge ; and over all, far beyond
their own apprehension.
Before christians began to wash their
hands, it was in vain to speak in favor of tem¬
perance. If christians did not own slaves,
(I mean those, who, in other respects, seem
to deserve the name of christian,) the con¬
sciences of thousands who now walk in quiet,
would be tortured most unbearably : and yet
you are waiting, are you ? For what ? For
the world to set you the good example ? No,
you dare not say that. Is it that the slaves
may be prepared for freedom? If you say
tiiis, I have one objection to it; that is, it is
not true. For you are not preparing them.
I have long heard this; but I know it is sham
pretext, for no more is now doing to educ/ite
them, than was years ago. You have not
now, in this state, as many in Sabbath schools,
or in training of any kind, as the natural in¬
crease of one year. You cannot, and in ma¬
ny cases you dare not, assemble them in
schools. And will you, follower of the Lamb,
lhock the Lord, by telling him you are wait¬
ing to have them trained ? Are you waiting
for something to be done by the laws? Oh,
deceptious statement from the bottomless
pit! This song, the christians of my native
state, Tennessee, have been singing for half
a lifetime. And at least they obtained their
convention. And how did the long-hoped-
for convention relieve them ? By making it
unconstitutional for the legislature to touch
the subject.
Do you, the light of the world, (here I ad¬
dress all slave-holding christians,) contend
for the privilege of holding them for a year
or two ? Can it then be strange that others
should design to hold them forever. But do
you reply, "what can I do? The law is
against liberation, my servants are unprepar¬
ed, I am unable to act in the case." Hold
there, brother, sister; you can act. You can
act to-morrow. No human power can com¬
pel you to make, or to continue to make, a
slave of your fellow creature. Do not say
you cannot emancipate. I know better.
Some have tried it. All the difficulty lies in
being wiliing. Do not say a word about
consequences. They cannot be worse than
must attend on many additional Southamp¬
ton cases, in years to come. But no matter
what are the consequences. You are not
justified in continuing to participate in ten
thousand times ten thousand thefts, murders,
adulteries, and every imaginable ciime. You
can say to your slave, to-morrow morning,
"you are no longer mine, but lam willing to
hire you." Do right, and leave the conse¬
quences with God. If you do not do some¬
thing shortly, my dear friend, I tremble for
you.
You have not the excuse you had three
years since. Light is beaming. Discussion
increases. A few years since, when your
preacher came down fiom the pulpit, your
elder handed hiin a glass of spirits for the
sake of his health; (disgusting lies.) What
would you think of either of them, were they
to act so now? You would pitch them from
the church battlement. If you did not, you
would not deserve to lay your filthy fingers
upon a bible. What is the reason of this?
Guilt increases as light strengthens. Just so,
in a few years, you will wonder at those who
could claim an immortal being as property,
and sleep. Did I say just so? The expres¬
sion is inadequate. You will stand in per¬
plexing doubt, whether he who could claim
a brother man long enough to cook one din¬
ner, could possibly have had, at the time, any
respect for any part of the law of God. Oh,
dear brethren, let us l!ear that you are doing
right, that the maxims of perdition no longer
govern you. Do you say, " my wife is unable
to work, because of ill health." Then work
for her yourself. Do you reply, " I am need¬
ed in the field." Then beg—or do any thing
lawful, rather than be a thousand times crim¬
inal every hour. O, get out of that ocean of
sin any way. You will feel happy—exceed-
ingly happy—I know it. To do right brings
a blessing with it, worth worlds. Try it, and
try it speedily. This is a hurrying age.
I hope in a few weeks, to be able to write
an address to the abolitionists, in company
with several other classes of men, on a very
important subject. Do let me have some
good news to tell them. If yoU would free
all your slaves, it would urge the government
to do something sooner than any thing else.
Do you fear your slaves would become vaga¬
bonds ? I have known those who feared this,
but tried it, and were very agreeably disap-
appointed. Do be a little timorous on other
20
Letter from
Miss Grimke.
points. Dread, lest growing up in bondage,
their souls should be lost. I would give what
little I possess of worldly treasure, could I
thereby prevail on you to make the following
innocent experiment, for the next month, un¬
interruptedly. As your servant passes near
you, just look into that dark face seven times
in each day, and say, " there is a deathless
being whose natural rights I do not intend
to restore until the government does some¬
thing." And then go to prayer. This, I have
little expectation you will or can do. May I
then, in conclusion, ask you to comply with
a very fair and reasonable demand ? Will
you go on your knees once in each day, and
' tell Him, whose eye is every where, that you
are faithfully and earnestly educating or pre¬
paring your slaves for freedom, and that as
soon as they are ready you will free them ?
No, you dare not tell him such a falsehood.
Let me, then, in saying farewell, repeat that
which you already believe. The space be¬
tween you and the gate—either the right or
left hand gate—is narrow indeed. The be¬
ings who live where the Prince of compas¬
sionate merey is, who are now in'his compa¬
ny look very beautiful. The everlasting hills
are bright. Heaven is long as well as glori¬
ous. They sing there, oh! how sweetly.
If you are there some eight or nine hundred
millions of years on the other side of the
judgment, you will not regret any inconven¬
ience you sustained hereby waiting on your¬
self. You will not sigh when you recollect
having diminished your property, (proper¬
ty !!!) by doing right. N.
From ths Liberator.
CHRISTIAN HEROISM.
The following epistle is from the sister of
the departed Grimke. Whether it was sent
for our private feonsolation and encourage¬
ment exclusively, or whether it is meekly
committed to the disposal of our judgment,
either for individual or general perusal, we
are not certain. We know that its excellent
authoress ordinarily shuns public observa¬
tion, and that nothing but a willingness to
bear odium for Christ's sake, or the hope of
advancing his cause, would allow her to ob¬
trude her thoughts upon the attention of
others. We are thrilled—subdued—strength¬
ened—soul-animated, on reading it. It comes
to us as the voice of an angel. Its spirit,
dignity, endurance, faith, devotion, are such
as have never been excelled by the noblest
exhibition of christian martyrdom, even since
the days of the apostles. We cannot, wo
dare not suppress it, nor the name of her who
indited it. We publish it, that our cruel as¬
sailants may perceive how heavenly is that
temper^ and how pure that principle, which
they are branding as fanaticism and mad¬
ness. We publish it, that all who are toil¬
ing with us for the redemption of the bodies
and souls of perishing millions, may be with
us quickened and confirmed in our good work.
We publish it, especially, that female aboli¬
tionists may derive support and comfort from
its perusal, in the midst of danger and dis¬
tress. Many of our private friends have seen
it, and importunately urge its publication in
the columns of the Liberator; and in com¬
plying with their request, and the irresisti¬
ble promptings of our own feelings, we hope
if we startle the diffidence of her who wrote
it,' that we shall not be guilty of personal
wrong. Surely, if the exigencies of the
times require this public testimony, she will
most joyfully bear it. Surely, the heart that
could give utterance to a sentiment so melt¬
ing, so sublime, so Christ-like as this—"a
hope gleams across my mind, that our blood
will be spilt, instead of the slaveholder's—our
lives taken, and their's spared"—surely, she
who is thus, through the power of the Holy
One, prepared for an ignominious death—for
a fiery martyrdom—will not shrink from the
publication of a private letter, when in the
opinion of her friends, it will essentially aid
the cause of mercy and righteousness. What
are all the angry resolutions and malignant
speeches of a thousand meetings, in conflict
with an epistle like this ? As chaff!
Yes, we respond to her cheering declara¬
tion—this is a cause worth dying for—dying,
not in the midst of carnage, upon the battle¬
field, but upon the scaffold, in the dungeon,
or at the stake, unresistingly, bearing testi¬
mony to the truth as it is in Jesus, and in im¬
itation of his illustrious example. If, by the
shedding of our blood, the lives of our ene¬
mies may be saved, let it be shed. Father,
thy will be done !
This letter will be read widely—attentive¬
ly, now: it will be read with admiration and
thanksgiving by posterity. It has been writ¬
ten in the midst of universal anarchy and
peril—when scorn and insult are the certain
portion of those who advocate the right of
the bondman to instant emancipation from
his fetters—when worldly prudence and pol¬
icy are crying silence—when many of the
clergy and the church are acting the part of
traitors to God and their dying fellow men—
when to espouse the cause of the black man,
is to place one's self among the off-scouring
of all the earth. This makes the gold of
Ophir as dross in comparison with its value.
Philadelphia, 8th month, 30th.
Respected Friend:
It seems as if I was compelled at this time
to address thee, notwithstanding all my rea¬
sonings against intruding on thy valuable
time, and the uselessness of so insignificant
a person as myself offering thee the senti¬
ments of sympathy at this alarming crisis.
I can hardly express to thee the deep and
Letter from Miss Grimke.
21
Bolemn interest with which I have viewed
the violent proceedings of the last few weeks.
Although I expected opposition, yet I was
not prepared for it so soon—it took me by
surprise, and I greatly feared the abolitionsts
would be driven back in the first onset, and
thrown into confusion. So fearful was I, that
though I clung with unflinching firmness to
our principles, yet I was afraid of even open¬
ing one of thy papers, lest I should see some
indications of a compromise, some surrender,
some palliation. Under these feelings, 1
was induced to read thy appeal to the°citi-
zens of Boston. Judge, then, what were my
feelings, on finding that my fears were utter¬
ly groundless, and that thou stoodest firm in
the midst of the storm, determined to suffer
and to die, rather than yield one inch. My
heart was filled with thanksgiving and praise
to the Preserver of men; I thanked God, and
took courage, earnestly desiring that thou¬
sands may adopt thy language, and be pre¬
pared to meet a martyr's doom, rather than
give up the principles you, (i. e. abolitionists,)
have adopted. The ground upon which you
stand is holy ground: never—never surren¬
der it. ff you surrender it, the hope of the
slave is extinguished, and the chains of bis
servitude will be strengthened an hundred
fold. But let no man take your crown, and
success is as certain as the rising of to-mor¬
row's son. But remember you must be will¬
ing to suffer the loss of all things—willing to
be the scorn and reproach of professor and
profane. You must obey our great master's
injunction ; " fear not them that kill the body,
and after that, have nothing more that they
can do." You must, like the apostles, "count
not your lives dear unto yourselves, so that
you may finish your course with joy."
Religious persecution always begins with
mobs: it is always unprecedented in any age
or country in which it commences, and there¬
fore there are no laics by which reformers
can be punished; consequently, a lawless
band of unprincipled men determine to take
the matter into their hands, and act out in
mobs, what they know are the principles of a
large majority of those who are too high in
church and state to condescend to mingle with
them, though they secretly approve and re¬
joice over their violent measures. The first
martyr who ever died, was stoned by a law¬
less mob; and if we look at the rise of various
sects—methodists, friends, &c.—we shall
find that mobs began the persecution against
them, and that it was not until after the peo¬
ple had thus spoken out their wishes, that
laws were framed to fine, imprison, or destroy
them. Let us, then, be prepared for the en¬
actment of laws even in our free states against
abolitionists. And how ardently has the
prayer been breathed, that God would pre¬
pare us for all he is preparing for us; that he
would strengthen us in the hour of conflict,
and cover our heads (if consistent with his
holy will) in the day of battle ! But O! how
earnestly have I desired, not that we may es-
eape suffering, but that we may be willing to
endure unto the end. If Ave qall upon the
slaveholder to suffer the loss of what he calls
property, then let us show him we make this
demand from a deep sense of duty, by being
ourselves willing to suffer the loss of char¬
acter, property—yea, and life itself, in what
we believe to be the cause of bleeding hu¬
manity.
My mind has been especially turned to¬
wards those, who are standing in the forefront
of the battle ; and the prayer has gone up
for their preservation—not the preservation
of their lives, but the preservation of their
minds in humility and patience, faith, hope,,
and charity—that charity which is the bond
of perfectness. If persecution is the means
which God has ordained for the accomplish¬
ment of this great end, emancipation; then,,
in dependence upon him for strength to bear
it, I feel as if I could say, let it come ; for
it is my deep, solemn, deliberate conviction,,
that this is a cause worth dying for, I say so,,
from what I have seen, and heard, and known
in a land of slavery, where rests the darkness
of Egypt, amd where is found the sin of Sod¬
om. Yes ! let it come—let us suffer, rather
than insurrections should arise.
At one time, I thought this system would
be overthrown in blood, with the confused
noise of the warrior; but a hope gleams
across my mind, that our blood will be spilt,,
instead of the slaveholders ; our lives will be>
taken, and their's spared—I say a hope, for
of all things I desire to be spared the anguish;
of seeing our beloved country desolated with,
the horrors of a servile war. If persecution,
can abolish slavery, it will also purify the
church; and who that stands between the
oorch and the altar, weeping over the sins of'
the people, will not be willing to suffer, if"
such immense good will be accomplished.
Let us endeavor, then, to put on the wholt-
armor of God, and, having done all, to stands
ready for whatever is before us.
I have just heard of Dresser's being flog¬
ged: it is no surprise at all; but the lan¬
guage of our Lord has been sweetly revived"'
—"Blessed are ye when men shall revile
you, and persecute you, and say all manner
evil against you falsely, for my sake. Re¬
joice, and be exceeding fflad, for great is your
reward in heaven." O! for a willingness-
and strength to suffer! But we shall have-
false brethren now, just as the apostles had,,
and this will be one of our greatest griefs.
A. E. GRIMKE.
ANECDOTES, ETC.
SALE OF SLAVES.
The following description of one of these
sales was given by a travelled in the West
Indies : "The poor Africans, who were to be
sold, were exposed naked, in a large empty
building like an open barn. Those who
came with intention to purchase, minutely
inspected them, handled them, made them
jump, and stamp with their feet, and throw
out their arms and their legs; turned them
about; looked into their mouths ; and exam¬
ined them in a variety of ways, to try if they
were sound and healthy. All this was dis¬
tressful and humiliating; but a wound still
more severe was inflicted on the feelings, by
some of the purchasers selecting only sucli
as their judgment led them to prefer, regard¬
less of the bonds of nature and affection.
The husband was taken from the wife, child¬
ren from their parents, and the lover torn
from his mistress. In one part of the building
was seen a wife clinging to her husband;
here was a sister hanging upon the neck of
her brother; there stood two brothers enfold¬
ed in each other's arms, mutually bewailing
1 their threatened separation. In other parts
were friends, relatives, and companions,pray¬
ing to be sold to the same master, using signs
to signify that they would be content with
Slavery, might they but toil together. Silent
tears, deep sighs, and heavy lamentations be¬
spoke the universal suffering of these poor
blacks. Never was a scene more distressful.
Among these nnhappy, degraded Africans,
scarcely was there an unclouded counte¬
nance."—Pinckhard's Notes.
ANECDOTE.
A pious and worthy Episcopalian clergy¬
man, who lately filled the office of bishop in
Pennsylvania, was in early life a dissipated
and immoral character.. Dining one day with
a party of gentlemen, they sat late drinking
wine and smoking segars; and with a view
of promoting merriment, he sent, for one of
his slaves, who was a pious preacher among
the Methodists, and ordered him to preach a
sermon to the company. The good man
hesitated to obey; but after a time of silence
on his part, he at length began to address
them. But instead of the mirth which they
anticipated, from the ignorance and simplicity
of the poor man, the zeal and fervor of his
discourse produced a contrary effect. The
solemnity of the truths which he delivered,
sank deeply into the hearts of some of the
company, and through the divine blessing,
carried conviction to the mind pf his master,
who, from that time became of a serious char¬
acter, took upon him the clerical office from
an apprehension of duty, and continued an
ornament to his profession.—jYcgro Slavery.
CRUEL TREATMENT.
A traveller in America relates:—
"An opportunity once offered which gave
me full demonstration of the treatment, of
negroes in North Carolina. I had hired a
small sailing boat to convey me from the
island of Mattamuskeet, on Pamlico Sound ;
the wind proving adverse, with, the appear¬
ance of an approaching squall, the boatman
proposed to make a harbor in a small creek,
which he observed led to a new negro quar¬
ter, belonging to Mr. Blount, of Ntwburn.
This I gladly agreed to. From tbe head of
the creek, a canal had been cut to the quar¬
ter, and from thence it was intended to com¬
municate with the Great Alligator river. For
this purpose, Mr. Blount had placed there a
gang of about sixty negroes, whose daily
work was in water, often up to the middle.
The overseer was a man of some information,
and he gave us a hearty welcome to his log-
house, which was a few hundred yards from
the huts of the slaves. He said that no hu¬
man foot had trod upon the spot till his arrival
w th the negroes: who had penetrated about
a mile into the forest with the canal, through
the haunts of wild beasts. There was an
unusual number of children in proportion to
the working slaves; and on my noticing this
circumstance, the overseer replied, that few
of them belonged to the gang, but were sent
thither to be raised in safety. From the sit¬
uation of the place, there was no chance of
their escaping; and being fed at a small ex¬
pense, and suffered to run wild and entirely
naked, he observed that their increased value,
when the canal was finished, would nearly
defray the expense attending it. He had
been two years in this desolate place, and
calculated upon remaining three more before
the canal would be finished. The day of our
arrival happened to be on Saturday, when the
week's allowance is given out. This consist¬
ed of salt herrings, of an inferior quality, and
a peck of Indian corn in the cob to each, the
grinding of which occupied the remainder of
the day. Such was the daily food, without
variation, of these wretched people. So ac¬
customed were they to drag on this miserable
existence, that I observed no repining. The
overseer, however, took special care of him¬
self. His residence was surrounded with
Anecdotes, Sfc.
23
turkeys and fowls, and his cupboard was sup¬
plied with excellent bacon. These provisions
were set before us, together with a bottle of
brandy. During our repast we were attended
by a stout negro boy, entirely naked. The
poor fellow's attention was so riveted on the
victuals, that he blundered over his employ¬
ment in a manner that extorted a threat of
punishment from his master, who would not
attribute his momentary absence of mind to
the cause from which it sprung. As soon as
an opportunity offered after dinner, I cut off,
unobserved, a piece of bacon, and gave it to
the boy, who snatched at it in an extasy, and
instantly ran off to the negro huts. On his
return, I questioned him what he had done
with it; when the grateful and affectionate
creature replied, that he had given the morsel
to his poor mother, who was sick, and could
not eat herrings. Hear this ye pampered
slave-holders! contemplate the virtues of
this boy; and while you teach your own off¬
spring to follow his example, treat his unfor¬
tunate race as human beings!
"The day proving boisterous, we remained
all night with the overseer. He described,
with much apparent satisfaction, the means
he employed to keep his gang under subjec¬
tion, and the different modes of punishment
which he inflicted on them. Some months
ago he missed some of his fowls; and being
convinced they had been stolen by the slaves,
he ordered them all into his presence, charged
them with the robbery, and ordered them to
point out the perpetrator. This not produc¬
ing the desired effect, he threatened to flog
them all, observing, that by so doing he should
get hold of the thief without confession; and
lie actually put his threat into instant execu¬
tion. This job, he informed us, occupied the
whole day, as he took his leisure, that it
might be complete, and serve as a warning
in future. Thus, suffered the whole of these
innocent, miserable people, by way of pun¬
ishing one who might have been guilty."—
Jettison's Stranger in America.
The following affecting circumstance is
related in a letter from S. G. a minister of the
Society of Friends, addressed to his wife,
from .
"A physician, a man of a tender spirit, said
that he was sent for by a slave-holder, to
visit one of his negroes. He found the poor
patient stretched on a little straw placed on
a plank, and covered by a blanket; his pulse
seemed throbbing its last, and he was too
much exhausted to utter any complaint. The
master followed the physician, and began to
curse and swear at the dying man; telling
him, that as soon as he recovered he should
be severely flogged, for having, by his own
folly, caught his sickness by attending night
meetings. He was proceeding in his violent
language, when the physician checked Ins
rage, by informing him that the poor fellow
could not live many ninutes. The master
was silent, when the dying slave collecting
all the remaius of his strength, by a last effort
said: 'Glory be to thee, O my God! who art
now taking my soul to thyself, having re¬
deemed it:'—and instantly expired."—Genius
of Universal Emancipation.
FLOGGING, &c.
A person who resided in the Island of
Mauritus in 1820, saw two slaves brought out
to be punished on a plantation where he was.
They were laid flat on their bellies, extended
on a wooden beam, to which they were fast¬
ened, while two men held their hands, and two
their legs; and a driver, who struck alter¬
nately, was placed on each side ofthe sufferer.
One hundred and twenty lashes were inflict¬
ed on each. A few days afterwards, having
occasion to go to the room, used as an hospi¬
tal, he saw their two dead bodies laid out.
Their wounds were putrid, and sent forth a
rank smell. He afterwards saw them carried
out, tied up in mats, to the burial ground. '
In the same island, a blacksmith, named
Rocan, sent a slave a journey of twenty
miles, and on his return put him to blow the
bellows. The slave having fasted for nearly
twenty-four hours, besought his master for
something to eat. Instead of supplying him
with food, his master beat him with great vio¬
lence, and with the blow of an iron bar laid
open his skull and killed him.. It was at¬
tempted to excuse this enormity, by saying
that the slave died, or would have died of
hunger. The same blacksmith chained one
of his slaves to the bellows, and frequently
struck him with the hot iron from the forge.
The poor slave was covered with scars and
wounds, inflicted in this manner.—Anti-Sla¬
very Reporter.
The Reporter of the Protector of Slaves
of Berbice, from November, 1826, to Novem¬
ber, 1827, contains the following amongst
numerous other cases:—
A slave named Brandy, belonging to J. H.
Rawlins, of Plantation Woodlands, having
been twice flogged by the driver, complained
to his master, who thereupon horse-whipped,
and drove him away. The slave then corn-
plained to a magistrate, who sent him back
to his master for a: pass. His master gave
him a pass, but not till he had called the
driver, and had him again tied down and
flogged. The result of this case may prove
an encouragement to the advocates of the
negro cause. The master was fined under
the provisions of the Order in Council; which
orders have undoubtedly been issued in con¬
sequence of the strong expression of public
feeling by the people of England.
A slave boy eleven years of age, named
Johnson, was hired to Mr. Sherburne, the
24
•Anecdotes, §t.
Barrack-master. He presented himself to the
Protector, with a chain locked round one foot,
to which a weight was attached, and which
he had had on day and night, more than a
week. He complained that the chain hurt
his leg; and that Mr. Sherburne had flogged
him that morning with a leathern whip.
Five slaves, the property of James Blair,
Esq. complained that not having ginned the
required quantity of cotton, they were, by
order of the manager, R. Nicholson, stripped
perfectly naked, and each received twenty-
five lashes, in the presence of many women.
At the same time, another slave, having ob¬
jected to work on account of an injury in his
eye, received first, part of his punishment of
flogging, and was then fixed in the stocks by
both hands and feet, and the board for the
hands was drawn tip so high, that he was
raised from the seat, and the whole weight of
his body left suspended, Whilst in this in¬
tolerable situation, he begged the overseer to
intercede for him: he said, "No, the manager
will be angry and the sufferer remained in
this state sixteen minutes.—Anii-Slavery Re¬
porter.
ABDUHL EAHHAHMAN,
Extracts from an account communicated
by a gentleman of Natchez, (Miss.) of an
individual who offered himself as an emigrant
to the colony of Liberia, on the coast of
Africa, Dec. 13th, 1827.
" I address you on behalf of an unfortunate
man, a native of Africa, who has been held
in slavery in this state for thirty-nine years,
■whom we familiarly call Prince. His real
rname is Abduhl Rahhahman. He was born
in 1762, at Tornbuctoo, where his uncle Abu-
Abrahim, was at that time king. The father
of Prince was sent out as governor to Footah
. Jollo. Prince, after completing his education,
entered the army, and at the age of twenty-
six was appointed to the command of about
^000 men, to be employed against the Hebohs,
a tribe of negroes at the north of Footah
Jallo. He marched into their country, suc¬
ceeded in putting them to flight, laid waste
their towns, and commenced a retreat. The
Hebohs however, rallied, and ambushed
themselves in a narrow defile of the moun¬
tains through which Prince was to pass. He
fell into the snare, and with almost his entire
army, was made prisoners, and sold to the
Mandingoes, and by them put on board a
slave ship. Prince has been the property of
Colonel James F., of this place, during his
whole captivity. Colonel F. states, that he
has never known him intoxicated—never
detected him in dishonesty or falsehood—nor
has he known him guilty of a mean action; and
though born and raised in affluence, he has
submitted to his fate without a murmur, and
has been an industrious and faithful servant.
Dr. C. a highly distinguished physiciafi of
this place, knew Prince intimately at Teembo,
in Footah Jallo. He was taken by Prince to
his own house, where during a long and pain¬
ful illness of the disease peculiar to that cli¬
mate, he was treated with kindness and
humanity. They were recognised by each
other in this country, and Prince now relates
their first meeting here as deeply affecting.
Exertions were made by Dr. C. to emancipate
him—from causes inexplicable to me, it was
never effected. Prince now has a numerous
offspring. At my own request he often visits
me. He is extremely modest, polite, and in¬
telligent. I have frequently examined him
in the geography of his own and contiguous
countries; their political condition, religion,
&c. His knowledge is accurate to the
minutest degree, so far as I have compared
it with the best authorities. He was educat¬
ed, and perhaps is still, nominally, a Moham¬
medan. I have conversed with him much
upon this subject, and found him friendly
disposed towards the Christian religion. He
is extremely anxious for an Arabic Testa¬
ment. He has heard it read in English, and
admires its precepts. His principal objection
is, that christians do not follow them. His
reasoning upon this subject is pertinent, and
to our shame, is almost unanswerable. I can
only remind him of the fallibility of man, and
endeavor to show him the necessity of the
great atonement, and of the mercy of God
through Christ to erring man.
f'The father of Prince died soon after the
capture of his son. His brother succeeded
to the throne, and I believe, ie the present
reigning monarch. Prince states, that he
himself is entitled to the throne.—but he has
no wish to enter again the bustle of public
life. Many years of servitude have entirely
subdued his ambition for power. He will be
happy—he speaks to me upon this subject
with a countenance beaming with joy—if he
can return to his native country, live the
friend of the white man, and die in the land
of his fathers.
" Col. F. is ready to give him up without
an equivalent. I have explained to Prince
the object of the establishment at Liberia.
He speaks with gratitude of the benevolent
design ; and taking into view the very short
distance between that place and his own
country, he feels assured he can be of very
great service to that colony.
"Is it impossible—is it improbable—that
Abduhl Rahhahman may become the chief
pioneer of civilization to unenlightened Af¬
rica ? that armed with the Bible, he may be
foremost of that band of pilgrims, who shall
roll back the mighty waves of darkness and
superstition, and plant the cross of the Re¬
deemer upon the furthermost mountains of
Kong ?"—African Repository.