\' 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 ^-. '°-".^' 
 
 
 ■s> 
 
 
 o' 
 
 
 
 .^^ 
 
 V 
 
 
 > 
 
 .V 
 
 t^ 
 
 0^ 
 
 °c- 
 
 ./ 
 
 °o 
 
 - (> 
 
 -; 
 
 f^ ' 
 
 
 
 S^^^ 
 
 '^o. 
 
 -.:,?^- 
 
 ;;\ 
 
 r*^ 
 
 
 
 
 ••^^^ 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^''^^■1>^' .N{> % '-^^^5^:^ ^'^ "^^ ^'W^K^' .s 
 
 .<;■ 
 
 -o . * - .0 
 
 . . s ^ .'V 
 
 '"^^\ \..<^^ 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 r^^^ - 
 
 .0 ■ ■ 
 
 •-■; ^"V. '1*: 
 
 .0 
 
 
 

 ..^""^ 
 
 
 4 O 
 
 
 G° .1^;: % ^-^ 
 
 :<. o^i- 
 
 e^ ~y 
 
 'o . ^ * ,G \:> "- . . 5^ A 
 
 ?v^-;^. 
 
 s.^ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ''-J 
 
 ^^0^ 
 
 G 
 
 0' 
 
 <J> * s « o ' <>'^ 
 
 .•^o. 
 
 <^. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thirty Years a Slave 
 
 From Bondage to Freedom. 
 
 THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY 
 
 AS SEEN ON THE PLANTATION *no 
 
 IN THE HOME OF THE PLANTER- 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LOUIS HUGHES, 
 
 .•^^ 
 
 MILWAUKEE : ^ U" ' '^' 
 
 South Sidr Printing Company, ^ 
 
 1897. 
 
cu^^ 
 
 \U^ 
 
 COPYRIGHT. 
 
 18%. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The institution of human slavery, as it existed in 
 this country, has long- been dead; and, happily for all 
 the sacred interests which it assailed, there is for it 
 no resurrection. It may, therefore, be asked to what 
 purpose is the story which follows, of the experiences 
 of one person under that dead and accursed institution? 
 To such question, if it be asked, it may be answered 
 that the narrator presents his story in compliance 
 with the sug-g-estion of friends, and in the hope that 
 it may add something- of accurate information reg-ard- 
 ing the character and influence of an institution 
 which for two hundred years dominated the countr}^ — 
 exercising a potent but baneful influence in the 
 formiition of its social, civil and industrial structures, 
 and which finally plunged it into the most stupendous 
 civil war which the world has ever known. As the 
 enlig-htenment of each generation depends upon the 
 thoughtful study of the history of those that have 
 gone before, everything which tends to fullness and 
 accuracy in that history is of value, even thoug-h it be 
 not presented with the adjuncts of literary adornment, 
 or thrilling scenic effects. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION, 
 
 BIRTH — SOLD IN A RICHMOND SLAVE PEN. 
 
 I was born in Virg-inia, in 1832, near Charlottes- 
 ville, in the beautiful valley of the Rivanna river. 
 My father was a white man and my mother a neg"ress, 
 the slave of one John Martin. I was a mere child, 
 probably not more than six years of ag^e, as I remem- 
 ber, when my mother, two brothers and myself were 
 sold to Dr. Louis, a practicing- physician in the village 
 of Scottsville. We remained with him about five 
 years, when he died, and, in the settlement of his 
 estate, I was sold to one Washing-ton Fitzpatrick, a 
 merchant of the villag-e. He kept me a short time 
 when he took me to Richmond, by way of canal-boat, 
 expecting- to sell me; but as the market was dull, he 
 brought me back and kept me some three months 
 long-er, when he told me he had hired me out to work 
 on a canal-boat running- to Richmond, and to go to 
 m}' mother and g-et my clothes ready to start on the 
 trip. I went to her as directed, and, when she had 
 
6 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 made ready my l)undle, she bade me g^ood-by with 
 tears in her eyes, sayini^: "My son, be a good bo}-; 
 be polite to eyery one, and always behaye yourself 
 properly." It was sad to her to part with me, though 
 she did not know that she was neyer to see me again, 
 for my master had said nothing to her regarding his 
 purpose and she only thought, as I did, that I was 
 hired to work on the canal-l)oat, and that she should 
 see me occasionally. But alasl We neyer met again. 
 I can see her form still as when she bade me good-bye. 
 That parting I can neyer forget. I ran off from her 
 as ([uickly as I could after her parting words, for I did 
 not want her to see me crying. I went to my master 
 at the store, and he ag'ain told me that he had hired 
 me to work on the canal-boat, and to go aboard im- 
 mediately. Of the boat and the trip and the scenes 
 along the route I reuKinbrr little — I only thoug^ht of 
 my mother and my leaying her. 
 
 Wlicn we arriycd at Richmond, (ieorge Pullan. a 
 ''nigger-trader," as he was calletl, came to the l)oat 
 and began to (|uestion nie, asking me lirst il I could 
 rememl>er lia\ing had the chickenpox, measles or 
 whoo])ing-coiigh. I answered, \ es. 'Phen he asked 
 me if I dill not want to take a little walk with him. 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 7 
 
 I said, no. "Well," said he, "3'ou have got to g-o. 
 Your master sent you down here to be sold, and told 
 me to come and g-et you and take you to the trader's 
 yard, ready to be sold." I saw that to hesitate was 
 useless; so I at once obeyed him and went. 
 
 A SLAVE MARKET. 
 
 The trader's establishment consisted of an office, a 
 larg-e show-room and a yard in the rear enclosed with 
 a wall of brick fifteen feet hig-h. The principal men 
 of the establishment were the proprietor and the fore- 
 man. When slaves were to be exhibited for sale, the 
 foreman was called to the office by means of a bell, 
 and an order g-iven him to bring- into the show-room 
 all the slaves in the establishment. This was the 
 work of but a few minutes, and the women were 
 placed in a row on one side of the room and the men 
 on the other. Persons desirous of purchasing- them 
 passed up and down between the lines looking- the 
 poor creatures over, and questioning- them in about 
 the following- manner: " What can you do?" "Are 
 you a g-ood cook ? seamstress ? dairymaid ? " — this to 
 the women, while the men would be questioned as to 
 their line of work: "Can you plow? Are you a 
 blacksmith? Have you ever cared for horses? Can 
 
8 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 you pick cotton rapidl}-? " Sometimes the slave would 
 be required to open his mouth that the purchaser 
 mig-ht examine the teeth and form some opinion as to 
 his age and ph^^sical soundness; and if it was sus- 
 pected that a slave had been beaten a g-ood deal he 
 would be required to step into another room and un- 
 dress. If the person desiring- to bu}' found the slave 
 badly scarred by the common usage of whipping, he 
 would sa}' at once to the foreman : " Why! this slave 
 is not worth much, he is all scarred up. No, I don't 
 want him; bring me in another to look at." Slaves 
 without scars from whipping and looking well ph^-si- 
 sally always sold readily. The}' were never left long 
 in the yard. It was expected that all the slaves in the 
 yard for sale would be neatly dressed and clean before 
 being brought into the show-room. It was the fore- 
 man's business to see that each one was presentable. 
 
 SLAVE WHIl'PIXG AS A BUSINESS. 
 
 Whipping was done at these markets, or trader's 
 yards, all the time. People who lived in the city of 
 Richmond wouUl send their slaves here for punish- 
 ment. When any one wanted a slave whipped he 
 would send a note to that effect with the servant to 
 the trader. Any petty offense on the part of a slave 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 9 
 
 was sufficient to subject the offender to this brutal 
 treatment. Owners who affected culture and refine- 
 ment preferred to send a servant to the yard for 
 punishment to inflicting- it themselves. It saved them 
 trouble, they said, and possibly a slight wear and tear 
 of feeling. For this service the owner was charged a 
 certain sum for each slave, and the earnings of the 
 traders from this source formed a very large part of 
 the profits of his business. The yard I was in had a 
 regular whipping post to which the}- tied the slave, 
 and gave him " nine-and-thirty, " as it was called, 
 meaning thirt^'-nine lashes as hard as they could la}- 
 it on. Men were stripped of their shirts in prepar- 
 ation for the whipping", and women had to take off 
 their dresses from the shoulders to the waist. These 
 whippings were not so severe as when the slaves were 
 stripped entirel}- of their clothes, as was generall}" the 
 case on the plantations where slaves were owned by 
 the dozen. I saw man}- cases of whipping while I 
 was in the 3'ard. Sometimes I was so frightened that 
 I trembled violently, for I had never seen anything- 
 like it before. 
 
 SOLD IN THE MARKKT. 
 
 I was onlv in the vard a short time before I was 
 
10 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 boug-ht b}^ one Georg'e Reid who lived in Richmond. 
 He had no wife, but an old lady kept house for him 
 and his three sons. At this time he had a place in the 
 postoffice, but soon after I came there he lost it. He 
 then moved into the country upon a farm of about one 
 thousand acres, enclosed by a cedar hedg^e. The house 
 was a plain frame structure upon a stone basement 
 and contained four rooms. It was surrounded with 
 shrubbery, and was a pleasant countr}- seat. But I 
 did not like it here. I gfrieved continually about m}- 
 mother. It came to me, more and more plainly, that 
 I would never see her ag^ain. Young- and lonely as I 
 was, I could not help cr^dng, oftentimes for hours 
 tog-ether. It was hard to g-et used to being" awa}- from 
 my niotlier. I remember well " Aunt Sylvia," who 
 was the cook in the Reid household. She was very 
 kind to me and ahva3's spoke consoling-l}- to me, es- 
 pecially if I had been blue, and had had one of 
 my fits of crying. At these times she would alwa^-s 
 bake mv an ash cake for supper, saving to me : " My 
 child, don't cry ; 'Aunt Sylvia" will look after vou." 
 This ash cake was made of corn meal and water, a 
 little salt to make it palatable, and was baked bv put- 
 tinjif il between cabbaj'-e leaves and covering- it with 
 
lylFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 11 
 
 hot ashes. A sweeter or more delicious cake one could 
 not desire, and it was common upon the tables of all 
 the Virg-inia farmers. I always considered it a great 
 treat to get one of these cakes from "Aunt Sylvia." 
 
 The appellations of "aunt" and " uncle " for the 
 older slaves were not only common among- the blacks, 
 but the whites also addressed them in the same wa3\ 
 
 ON THE AUCTION BI.OCK 
 
 I was sick a great deal — in fact, I had suffered with 
 chills and fever ever since Mr. Reid bought me. He, 
 therefore, concluded to sell me, and, in November, 
 1844, he took me back to Richmond, placing me in the 
 Exchange building, or auction rooms, for the sale of 
 slaves. The sales were carried on in a large hall 
 where those interested in the business sat around a 
 large block or stand, upon which the slave to be sold 
 was placed, the auctioneer standing beside him. 
 When I was placed upon the block, a Mr. McGee came 
 up and felt of me and asked me what I could do. 
 "You look like a right smart nigger," said he, "Vir- 
 ginia always produces good darkies." Virginia was 
 the mother of slavery, and it was held by many that 
 she had the best slaves. So when Mr. McGee found 
 I was born and bred in that state he seemed satisfied. 
 
12 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 The bidding- commenced, and I remember well when 
 the auctioneer said : " Three hundred eighty dollars 
 — once, twice and sold to Mr. Edward McGee." He 
 was a rich cotton planter of Pontotoc, Miss. As near 
 as I can recollect, I was not more than twelve years of 
 age, so did not sell for very much. 
 
 PRICE OF SLAVES. 
 
 Servant women sold for .fSOO to $700, and some- 
 times as high as $800 when possessing extra qualifica- 
 tions. A house maid, bright in looks, strong and 
 well formed, would sell for $1,000 to $1,200. Bright 
 mulatto girls, well versed in sewing and knitting, 
 would sometimes bring as hig-h as $1,800, especially 
 if a Virginian or a Kentuckian. Good blacksmiths 
 sold for $1,()00 to $1,800. When the slaves were put 
 u])on the block the}' were alwa3's sold to the hig-hest 
 l)i(l(ler. Mr. McGee, or "Boss," as I soon learned to 
 call him, Ixnight sixty other slaves before he bought 
 me, and they were starteil in a herd for Atlanta, Ga.., 
 on foot. 
 
 STARTED I'OR A COTTON PI.AXTA'riOX. 
 
 Boss, mvself and ten others met tliein there. We 
 then started lor Pontotoc, Miss. On our wav we 
 stopped at ICdenton, Cia., where Boss sold twenty-one 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 13 
 
 of the sixty slaves. We then proceeded on our way, 
 Boss by rail and we on foot, or in the wag-on. We 
 went about twenty miles a day. I remember, as we 
 passed along-, every white man we met was yelling-, 
 "Hurrah for Polk and Dallas!" They were feeling- 
 g-ood, for election had g-iven them the men that they 
 wanted. The man who had us in charge joined with 
 those we met in the hurrahing-. We were afraid to 
 ask them the reason for their yelling-, as that would 
 have been reg-arded as an impertinence, and probably 
 would have caused us all to be whipped. 
 
 MY MISSISSIPPI HOME. 
 
 At leng-th, after a long- and wearisome journey, we 
 reached Pontotoc, McGee's home, on Christmas eve. 
 Boss took me into the house and into the sitting- room, 
 where all the family were assembled, and presented 
 me as a Christmas g-ift to the madam, his wife. 
 
 My boss, as I remember him, was a tall, raw- 
 boned man, but rather disting-uished in looks, with a 
 fine carriag-e, brilliant in intellect, and considered 
 one of the wealthiest and most successful planters of 
 his time. Mrs. McGee was a handsome, stateh^ lady, 
 about thirty years of ag-e, brunette in complexion, 
 faultless in fig-ure and imperious in manner. I think 
 
14 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 that the}' were of Scotch descent. There were four 
 children, Emma, Willie, Johnnie and Jimmie. All 
 looked at me, and thoug-ht I was "a spry little fellow." 
 I was very sh}' and did not say much, as everything- 
 was strang-e to me, I was put to sleep that night on 
 a pallet on the floor in the dining room, using an old 
 quilt as a covering. The next morning was Christ- 
 mas, and it seemed to be a custom to have egg-nog 
 before breakfast. The process of making this was 
 new and interesting to me. I saw them whip the 
 whites of eggs, on a platter, to a stiff froth; the yolks 
 were thoroughl}' beaten in a large bowl, sug-ar and 
 plent}^ of good brandy were added, and the whites of 
 the eggs and cream were then stirred in, a little nut- 
 meg grated on top of each glass when filled for serv- 
 injr. This was a delicious drink, and the best of all 
 was, there was plenty of it. I served this to all the 
 family, and, as there were also visiting relatives 
 present, many glasses were recjuired, and I found the 
 tray so heavy I could hardl}- carry it. I helped m}-- 
 sclf, after the service was linishetl, and I was de- 
 lighted, lor I had nevor tastetl anything- so tine before. 
 Mv boss told UK' 1 was to wait on the madam, do 
 any errand iKcessary, attend to tlie dining room — in 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 15 
 
 fact I was installed as general utility boy. It was 
 different from the quiet manner of life I had seen be- 
 fore coming- here — it kept my spirits up for some time. 
 I thoug-ht of my mother often, but I was g-radually 
 g-rowing- to the idea that it was useless to cry, and I 
 tried hard to overcome my feeling's. 
 
 PLANTATION LIFE. 
 
 As already stated, it was Christmas morning-, and, 
 after breakfast, I saw the cook hurrying, and when I 
 went out into the yard, everywhere I looked slaves 
 met my view. I never saw so many slaves at one 
 time before. In Virginia we did not have such larg-e 
 farms. There were no extensive cotton plantations, 
 as in Mississippi. I shall never forget the dinner 
 that day — it was a feast fit for a king-, so varied and 
 lavish was the bill of fare. The next attraction for 
 me was the farm hands g-etting- their Christmas ra- 
 tions. Each was g-iven a pint of flour of which they 
 made biscuit, which were called "Billy Seldom," 
 because biscuit were very rare with them. Their 
 daily food was corn bread, which they called "Johnny 
 Constant," as they had it constantly. In addition to 
 the flour each received a piece of bacon or fat meat, 
 from which they g-ot the shortening- for their biscuit. 
 
16 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 The crackling-s from the rendering- of lard were also 
 used by the slaves for shortening". The hands were 
 allowed four daj-s off at Christmas, and if the}' worked 
 on these days, as some of them did, the}' got fifty 
 cents a day for chopping. It was not common to have 
 chopping done during the holidays; some planters, 
 however, found it convenient thus to get it out of the 
 way for the work which came after Christmas. 
 THE GREAT HOUSE. 
 I soon became familiar with my work in the house 
 and with the neighborhood, as I often had to carry 
 notes for Boss to neighboring farmers, as well as to 
 carry the mail to and from the postoflice. The "g-reat 
 house," as the dwelling of the master was called, was 
 two stories high, built of hug'c logs, chinked and 
 daubed and whitewashed. It was divided, from front 
 to rear, by a hall twenty-five feet long and twelve 
 feet wide, and on each side of the hall, in each story, 
 was one large room with a large lire-place. There 
 were but four rooms in all, yet these were so large 
 that they were e([ual to at least six of our modern 
 rooms. Tlie kitchen was not attached to the main 
 l)uilding, but was about lliirty I'eet to the rear. This 
 was the common motlc ol l)uilding in the south in 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 17 
 
 those days. The two bedrooms upstairs were very 
 plain in furnishings, but neat and comfortable, judged 
 by the standard of the times. A wing was added to 
 the main building for dining room. In rear of the 
 kitchen was the milk or dairy house, and beyond this 
 the smoke house for curing the meat. In line with 
 these buildings, and still further to the rear, was the 
 overseer's house. Near the milk house was a large 
 tree, and attached to the trunk was a lever; and here 
 was where the churning was done, in which I had 
 always to assist. This establishment will serve as a 
 sample of many of those on the large plantations in 
 the south. The main road from Pontotoc to Holly 
 Springs, one of the great thoroughfares of the state 
 and a stage route, passed near the house, and through 
 the center of the farm. On each side of this road was 
 a fence, and in the corners of both fences, extending 
 for a mile, were planted peach trees, which bore ex- 
 cellent fruit in great profusion. 
 
 HOUSE SERVANT AND ERRAND BOY. 
 
 My first work in the morning was to dust the par- 
 lor and hall and arrange the dining room. It came 
 awkward to me at first, but, after the madam told me 
 how, I soon learned to do it satisfactorily. Then I 
 
18 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 had to wait on the table, sweep the larg-e 3'ard every 
 morning" with a brush broom and ^o for the mail once 
 a week. I used to get very tired, for I was young- 
 and consequently not strong-. Aside from these 
 thing-s which came regular!}', I had to help the 
 madam in warping the cloth. I dreaded this work, 
 for I always g-ot my ears boxed if I did not or could 
 not do the work to suit her. She alwa3's made the 
 warp herself and put it in, and I had to hand her the 
 thread as she put it throug-h the harness. I would 
 g-et very tired at this work and, like any child, wanted 
 to be at play, but I could not remember that the 
 madam ever g-ave me that privileg^e. Saddling- the 
 horse at first was troublesome to me, but Boss was 
 constant in his efforts to teach me, and, after many 
 trials, I learned the task satisfactorily to the master 
 and to bring- the horse to the door when he wished to 
 go out for business or ])leasure. Riding- horseback 
 was common for both hidies and gentlemen, and some- 
 times I would liavc to saddle three or more lu)rses 
 \vhc!i lioss. the madam, a frieml or friends desired a 
 ride. Bird hunting i)arties were common and were 
 greatly enjoyed, by the young peoi>le especially. Boss 
 always in\ited some oi the young people (jf the 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 19 
 
 neig-hborhood to these parties and they never failed to 
 put in an appearance. Williams, Bradford and Free- 
 man were the sons of rich planters, and were alwaj-s 
 participants in this sport, and their young- lad}' friends 
 joined in it as on-lookers. The young- men singing and 
 whistling to the birds, I in the meantime setting the 
 net. As soon as I had got the net in order the}' would 
 approach the birds slowly, driving them into it. 
 There was great laughter and excitement if they were 
 successful in catching a fine flock. 
 
 CRUEL TREATMENT. 
 I was but a lad, yet I can remember well the cruel 
 treatment I received. Some weeks it seemed I was 
 whipped for nothing, just to please my mistress' 
 fancy. Once, when I was sent to town for the mail 
 and had started back, it was so dark and rainy my 
 horse got away from me and I had to stay al] night in 
 town. The next morning when I got back home I 
 had a severe whipping, because the master was ex- 
 pecting a letter containing money and was disap- 
 pointed in not receiving it that night, as he was going 
 to Panola to spend Christmas. However, the day 
 came and all the family went except me. During the 
 time they were gone the overseer whipped a man so 
 
2(. THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE, 
 
 terribly with the "bull whip" that I had to g-o for 
 the doctor, and when Dr. Hening-ford, the regular 
 family physioian, came, he said it was awful— such 
 cruel treatment, and he complained about it. It was 
 common for a slave to get an " over-threshing," that 
 is, to be whipped too much. The poor man was cut 
 up so badly all over that the doctor made a bran poul- 
 tice and wrapped his entire body in it. This was done 
 to draw out the inflammation. It seems the slave 
 had been sick, and had killed a little pig when he be- 
 came well enough to go to work, as his appetite 
 craved luartv food, antl he needed it to give him 
 strength for his tasks. For this one act, comparatively 
 trivial, he was almost killed. The idea never seemed 
 to occur to the slave holders that these slaves were 
 getting no wages for their work and, therefore, had 
 nothing with which to jtrocure what, at times, was 
 necessary tor their lualtli and strength — palatable 
 antl nourishing food. When the slaves tt)ok anything 
 the masters called it stealing, yet they were stealing 
 the >laves' time year after year. When Boss came 
 home he was called i.n by the town otlicials, for the 
 case had been rej>orted to tluni. l>oss, however, got 
 • •ut of it by saving that he was not at home when the 
 
IvIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 21 
 
 trouble occurred. The poor slave was sick from his 
 ill treatment some four or five months, and when he 
 recovered there was a running- sore left on his body, 
 from the deep cuts of the whip, which never healed. 
 I can not forg-et how he looked, the sore was a sicken- 
 ing- sig-ht ; yet, when he was able to walk he had to 
 return to work in the field. 
 
 I had not been at Pontotoc ver^- long- when I saw 
 the hounds run a slave, b}^ name Ben L3'on. " Old 
 Ben," as he was called, ran away and had been g^one 
 a week when he was seen b}- a woman who " told on 
 him," and then I was sent to g-et the man who had 
 trained dog's, or hounds as they were called. The 
 dog-s ran the slave about ten miles when they lost 
 track at a creek, but he was caug-ht that nig-ht in a 
 farmer's house g-etting- something- to eat. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS IN MEDICINE. 
 
 After some time. Boss beg-an to tell me the names 
 of medicines and their properties. I liked this and 
 seemed to g-rasp the idea very well. After g-iving- me 
 a number of names he would make me repeat them. 
 Then he would tell me the properties of each medi- 
 cine named, how it was used and for what purpose 
 and how much constituted a dose. He would drill me 
 
22 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE, 
 
 in all this until I knew it and, in a short time, he 
 would adil other names to the list. He always showed 
 me each medicine named and had me smell and care- 
 fully examine it that I mig-ht know it when seen 
 a'rain. I liked this, and used to wish that I was as 
 wise as my master. He was very precise, steady and 
 g-entle in any case of sickness, and, althoug-h he had 
 lonj^ retired from the medical world, all recognized 
 his merit wherever he went. I used to go to the 
 woods and g-ather slippery elm, alum root and the 
 roots of wild cherry and poplar, lor we used all these 
 in compoiiuilinLi- medicines for the servants. 
 
 Till-: OVHKSKKK — WHIPPINGS AND OTIIEK CKUELTIES. 
 
 The overseer was a man hired to look after the 
 farm and whi]> the slaves. Ver}' often they were not 
 only cruel. Init barbarous. Eycry farmer or planter 
 considered an overseer a necessity. As a rule, there 
 was also on each plantation, a foreman — one of the 
 hrij^hler slaves, who was held responsible for the 
 slaves under him. and whi]iped if thev did not come 
 u\t to till- ri(|uired t.isk. There was, too, a forewoman, 
 who. in liki- manner, had chart^-e of the female slaves, 
 and also the boys and girls from twelve to sixteen 
 years t»f ag-e, ami all the t)ld people that were feeble. 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 23 
 
 This was called the trash gang-. Ah! it would make 
 one's heart ache to see those children and how they 
 were worked. Cold, frosty mornings, the little ones 
 would be crying- from cold; but they had to keep on. 
 Aunt Polly, our forewoman, was afraid to allow them 
 to run to g-et warm, for fear the overseer would see 
 them. Then she would be whipped, and he would 
 make her whip all of the g"ang-. At leng-th, I became 
 used to severe treatment of the slaves ; but, ever}- 
 little while something- would happen to make me 
 wish I were dead. Everything- was in a bustle — always 
 there was slashing- and whipping-. I remember when 
 Boss made a change in our overseer. It was the be- 
 g-inning- of the year. Riley, one of the slaves, who 
 was a principal plower, was not on hand for work one 
 Monday morning-, having- been delayed in fixing- the 
 ])ridle of his mule, which the animal, for lack of 
 something- better, perhaps, had been vig-orously chew- 
 ing- and rendered nearly useless. He was, therefore, 
 considerably behind time, when he reached the field. 
 Without waiting- to learn what was the reason for the 
 delay, the overseer sprang- upon him with his bull 
 whip, which was about seven feet long-, lashing- him 
 with all his streng-th, every stroke leaving- its mark 
 
24 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 upon the ])t)()r man's body, and tinally the knot at the 
 end of the whip buried itself in the fleshy part of the 
 arm, and there came around it a festering- sore. He 
 suflFered -rreatlv with it. until one nig-ht his brother 
 took out the knot, when the poor fellow was asleep, 
 for he could not bear any one to touch it when he was 
 awake. It was awful to hear the cracking- of that 
 whip as it was laid about Riley — one would have 
 thoug-lit that an ox team had g-otten into the mire, 
 and was l)eing- whipped out, so loud and sharp was 
 the noisci 
 
 I usual] V slei>t in the dining- room on the floor. 
 Karlv ttne morning- an old slave, by name of "Uncle 
 Jim,*" cainr and knocked at the window, and upon my 
 jumping- up and g-oing- to him, he told me to tell Boss 
 that I'ncle Jim was there. He had run awa}-, some 
 liint.- Itcforc, and, for some reason, had returned. Boss, 
 upon hearing- tlic news, g-ot up and sent me to tell the 
 overseer to coiui- at once. He came ami. taking- the 
 bull whip, a cowhide and a lot of peach-tree switches, 
 he and I'.oss led I'ncle Jim l»ack into the cow lot, on 
 tlie sidi- <i| the jiill. where tliev drove four stakes in 
 the ground, and. laving him tlai on his face, tied his 
 liands and leet to thesi- stakes. After wliipping- liim, 
 
HUNOREB 
 
LIFE OX A COTTON PLANTATION. 25 
 
 in this position, all they wanted to, a pail of strong- 
 salt and water was broug-ht, and the poor fellow was 
 "washed down." This washing- was customarj-, after 
 whipping-s, as the planters claimed it drew out all the 
 soreness, and healed the lacerated flesh. 
 
 Upon one occasion, the family being- away, I was 
 left extra work to do, being- set to help three fellow 
 slaves lay off the rows for planting- corn. We did not 
 get them quite straight. The deviation we made 
 from the line was very little, and could scarcely be 
 seen, even by an expert; but the least thing- wrong 
 about the work would cause any slave to be whipped, 
 and so all four of us were flog-g-ed. 
 
 THE SLAVE CABIN. 
 
 There was a section of the plantation known as 
 " the quarters," where were situated the cabins of the 
 slaves. These cabins were built of rough logs, and 
 daubed with the red clay or mud of the reg-ion. No 
 attempt was made to give them a neat appearance — 
 they were not even whitewashed. Each cabin was 
 about fourteen feet square, containing- but one room, 
 and was covered with oak boards, three feet in length, 
 split out of log-s by hand. These boards were not 
 nailed on, but held in their places by what were 
 
26 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 termed wcig-ht-poles laid across them at right ang-les. 
 There were in each room two windows, a door and a 
 larg-e, rude fire-place. The door and window frames, 
 ,or facing-s, were held in their places b}- wooden pins, 
 nails being- used only in putting the doors together. 
 The interior of the cabins had nothing more attrac- 
 tive than the outside — there was no plastering and 
 only a dirt floor. The furniture consisted of one bed, 
 a plain l)oard table and some benches made by the 
 slaves themselves. Sometimes a cabin was occupied 
 l)v two or more families, in which case the number of 
 beds was increased proportionately. For light a 
 grease lamp was used, which was made of iron, bowl 
 shaped, by a blacksmith. The bowl was filled with 
 grease and a rag or wick placed in it, one end resting 
 on the edge for lighting. These lamps gave a good 
 light, and were in general use among the slaves. 
 Tallow candles were a luxury, never seen except in 
 the "great houses" of the planters. The only light 
 Inr outdoors used bv the slaves was a torch made b}- 
 binding logelluT a bundlo of small slicks or splinters. 
 
 COTTON KAISIXO. 
 
 After the seleclioii of the soil most suitable for 
 cotton, tlu' i)re])aration of it was of vital importance. 
 
IvIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 27 
 
 The land was deeply plowed, long- enoug-h before the 
 time for planting" to allow the spring- rains to settle it. 
 Then it was thrown into beds or ridges by turning- 
 furrows both ways toward a g-iven center. The seed 
 was planted at the rate of one hundred pounds per 
 acre. The plant made its appearance in about ten 
 days after planting, if the weather was favorable. 
 Early planting-, however, followed by cold, stormy 
 weather frequentl}^ caused the seed to rot. As soon 
 as the third leaf appeared the process of scraping- 
 commenced, which consisted of cleaning the ridg-e 
 with hoes of all superflous plants and all weeds and 
 grass. After this a narrow plow known as a "bull 
 tongue," was used to turn the loose earth around the 
 plant and cover up any grass not totall}^ destroyed by 
 the hoes. If the surface was very rough the hoes 
 followed, instead of preceding, the plow to unearth 
 those plants that may have been partially covered. 
 The slaves often acquired great skill in these oper- 
 ations, running plows within two inches of the stalks, 
 and striking down weeds within half an inch with 
 their hoes, rarely touching a leaf of the cotton. 
 Subsequent plowing, alternating with hoeing, 
 usually occurred once in twenty days. There was 
 
28 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 (laniJ^fr in deep plowing^ of injuring^ the roots, and this 
 was avoided, except in the middle of rows in wet seasons 
 when it was necessary to bury and more effectuall}" 
 kill the grass. The implements used in the culture of 
 cotton were shovels, hoes, sweeps, cultivators, har- 
 rows and two kinds of plows. It required four 
 months, under the most favorable circumstances, for 
 cotton to attain its full g-rowth. It was usually 
 planted about the 1st of April, or from March 20th to 
 April loth, bloomed about the 1st of June and the 
 first balls opened about Aug^ust 15th, when picking- 
 commenced. The blooms come out in the morning" 
 anil are fully developed by noon, when they are a pure 
 white. Soon after meridian they begin to exhibit 
 reddish streaks, and next morning- are a clear pink. 
 The}' fall off by noon of the second day. 
 
 THE COTTON WOKM. 
 
 A cut worm was troublesome sometimes ; but the 
 l)lanls were watched very carefully, and as soon as 
 any signs of worms were seen work for their destruc- 
 tion was commenced. The majoritv of the eg-g-s were 
 laid ujion the calyx and involucre. The worm, after 
 g-nawing- through its enclosed shell, makes its first 
 meal ujion thf i>art of the plant upon which the eg-g- 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 29 
 
 was laid, be it leaf, stem or involucre. If it were laid 
 upon the leaf, as was usually the case, it mig-ht be 
 three days before the worm reached the boll; but were 
 the eg-g-s laid upon the involucre the worm pierced 
 throug"h within twenty-four hours after hatching-. 
 The newly hatched boll worm walks like a geometri- 
 cal larva or looper, a measuring- worm as it was called. 
 This is easily explained by the fact that while in the 
 full grown worm the abdominal legs, or pro legs, are 
 nearly equal in length, in the newly hatched worm 
 the second pair are slig-htl}- shorter than the third, 
 and the first pair are shorter and slenderer than the 
 second — a state of thing-s approaching that in the full 
 grown cotton worm, though the difference in size in 
 the former case is not nearly so marked as in the lat- 
 ter. This method of walking is lost with the first or 
 second molt. There is nothing- remarkable about 
 these young- larva?. The}' seem to be thicker in pro- 
 portion to their leng-th than the young cotton worms, 
 and the}' have not so delicate and transparent an ap- 
 pearance. Their heads are black and their bodies 
 seem already to have begun to vary in color. The 
 body above is furnished with sparse, stiff hairs, each 
 arising- from a tubercle. I have often watched the 
 
30 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 newl}- hatched boll while in the cotton fields. When 
 hatched from an eg-g- which had been deposited upon 
 a leaf, thc}- invariably made their first meal on the 
 substance of the leaf, and then wandered about for 
 a long^er or shorter space of time, evidently seeking" a 
 boll or flower bud. It was always interesting- to 
 watch this seeming-l}- aimless search of the young- 
 worm, crawling- first down the leaf stem and then 
 back, then dropping a few inches b}' a silken thread 
 and then painfull}' working- its wa}- back ag-ain, until, 
 at last, it found the object of its search, or fell to the 
 g-round where it was destroyed by ants. As the boll 
 worms increase in size a most wonderful diversity of 
 color and marking becomes apparent. In color dif- 
 ferent worms will vary from a brilliant g-reen to a deep 
 pink or dark brown, exhibiting- almost ever}' conceiv- 
 able intermediate stag-e from an immaculate, unstriped 
 specimen to one with regular spots and many stripes. 
 The green worms were more common than those of 
 any other color— a common variety was a very light 
 green. When these worms put in an appearance it 
 raised a great excitement among the planters. We 
 did not use an}' poison to destroy them, as I learn is 
 the method now employed. 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 31 
 
 THE COTTON HARVEST. 
 
 The cotton harvest, or picking- season, beg-an 
 about the latter part of August or first of September, 
 and lasted till Christmas or after, but in the latter 
 part of Jul}' picking- commenced for "the first bale" 
 to go into the market at Memphis. This picking- was 
 done bv children from nine to twelve years of age and 
 bv women who were known as " sucklers," that is, 
 women with infants. The pickers would pass through 
 the rows g-etting- ver}' little, as the cotton was not yet 
 in full bloom. From the lower part of the stalk 
 where it opened first is where the}' g-ot the first pick- 
 ing-s. The season of first picking- was always a great 
 time, for the planter who broug-ht the first bale of 
 cotton into market at Memphis was presented with a 
 basket of champag-ne by the commission merchants. 
 This was a custom established throughout Mississippi. 
 After the first picking-s were secured the cott(jn de- 
 veloped very fast, continuing to bud and bloom all over 
 the stalk until the frost falls. The season of picking 
 was exciting to all planters, every one was zealous in 
 pushing- his slaves in order that he might reap the 
 g-reatest possible harvest. The planters talked about 
 their prospects, discussed the cotton markets, just as 
 
32 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 the farmers of the north discuss the markets for their 
 products. I often saw Boss so excited and nervous 
 during- the season he scarcely ate. The daily task of 
 each able-bodied slave during- the cotton picking- 
 season war 250 pounds or more, and all those who did 
 not come up to the required amount would get a 
 whipping. When the planter wanted more cotton 
 picked than usual, the overseer would arrange a race. 
 The slaves would be divided into two parties, with a 
 leader for each party. The first leader would choose a 
 slave for his side, then the second leader one for his, 
 and so on alternately until all were chosen. Each 
 leader tried to get the best on his side. They would 
 all work like good fellows for the prize, which was a 
 tin cup of sugar for each slave on the winning- side. 
 The contest was kept up for three days whenever the 
 planter desired an extra amount picked. The slaves 
 were just as interested in the races as if they were 
 "foinyf to get a five dollar bill. 
 
 I'KEI'AKIXG COTTON FOK MARKET. 
 
 The gin-house was situated about four hundred 
 yards from " the great house " on the main road. It 
 was a large shed l>uiU upon s(|uare limbers, and was 
 similar to a barn, oiilv it stood some six feel trom the 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 33 
 
 ground, and underneath was located the machinen' 
 for running- the gin. The cotton was put into the 
 loft after it was dried, ready for ginning. In this 
 process the cotton was dropped from the loft to the 
 man who fed the machine. As it was g-inned the lint 
 would g-o into the lint room, and the seed would drop 
 at the feeder's feet. The baskets used for holding- 
 lint were twice as large as those used in the picking- 
 process, and they were never taken from the gin house. 
 These lint baskets were used in removing- the lint 
 from the lint room to the place where the cotton was 
 baled. A bale contained 250 pounds, and the man 
 who did the treading- of the cotton into the bales 
 would not vary ten pounds in the bale, so accustomed 
 was he to the packing-. Generally from fourteen to fif- 
 teen bales of cotton were in the lint room at a time. 
 
 OTHER FARM PRODUCTS. 
 
 Cotton was the chief product of the Mississippi 
 farms and nothing else was raised to sell. Wheat, 
 oats and rye were raised in limited quantities, but 
 only for the slaves and the stock. All the fine flour 
 for the master's family was bought in St. Louis. 
 Corn was raised in abundance, as it was a staple 
 article of food for the slaves. It was planted about 
 
34 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 the 1st of March, or about a month earlier than the 
 cotton. It was, therefore, up and partiall)* worked 
 before the cotton was pkmted and fully tilled before 
 the cotton was ready for cultivation. Peas were 
 planted between the rows of corn, and hundreds of 
 bushels were raised. These peas after being- harvested, 
 dried and beaten out of the shell, were of a reddish 
 brown tint, not like those raised for the master's 
 family, but they were considered a wholesome and 
 nutritious food for the slaves. Cabbage and 3-ams, a 
 large sweet potato, coarser than the kind generalh' 
 used by the whites and not so delicate in flavor, were 
 also raised for the servants in liberal quantities. No 
 hay was raised, but the leaves of the corn, stripped 
 from the stalks while yet green, cured and bound in 
 bundles, were used as a substitute for it in feeding 
 horses. 
 
 FAim IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 Almost all the implements used on the plantation 
 were made by the slaves. Ver}- few things were 
 bought. IJoss had a skilled blacksmith, uncle Ben, 
 for whom he paid SI, Son, and there were slaves who 
 were carjienters and workers in wood who could turn 
 their hands to almost anvthing. Wagons, plows. 
 
WFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 35 
 
 harrows, grubbing- hoes, hames, collars, baskets, 
 bridle bits and hoe handles were all made on the farm 
 and from the material which it produced, except the 
 iron. The timber used in these implements was 
 generally white or red oak, and was cut and thoroughly 
 seasoned long before it was nedeed. The articles 
 thus manufactured were not fine in form or finish, but 
 they were durable, and answered the purposes of a 
 rude method of agriculture. Horse collars were made 
 from corn husks and from poplar bark which was 
 stripped from the tree, in the spring, when the sap was 
 up and it was soft and pliable, and .separated into nar- 
 row strips which were plaited together. Tliese col- 
 lars were easy for the horse, and served the purpose of 
 the more costly leather collar. Every season at least 
 200 cotton baskets were made. One man usually 
 worked at this all the year round, but in the spring ho 
 had three assistants. The baskets were made from 
 oak timber, grown in the home forests and pre])ari.'d 
 by the slaves. It was no small part of the work of 
 the blacksmith and his assistant to keep the farm im- 
 plements in good repair, and much of this work was 
 done at night. All the plank used was sawed by 
 hand from timber grown on the master's land, as there 
 
36 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 were no saw mills in that region. Almost the onlv 
 thing-s not made on the farm which were in general 
 use there were axes, trace chains and the hoes used in 
 cultivating- the cotton. 
 
 THK CLEARING OF NEW LAND. 
 
 When additional land was required for cultivation 
 the first step was to go into the forest in summer and 
 " deaden " or girdle the trees on a given tract. This 
 was cutting through the bark all around the trunk 
 about thirt}' inches from the ground. The trees so 
 treated soon died and in a 3'ear or two were in condi- 
 tion to be removed. The season selected for clearing 
 the land was winter, beginning with January. The 
 trees, except the larger ones, were cut down, cut into 
 lengths convenient for handling and piled into great 
 heaps, called " log heaps," and burned. The under- 
 growth was grubbed out and also piled and burned. 
 The burning was done at night and the sight was 
 often weird and grand. The chopping was done by 
 the men slaves and the grubbing by women. All the 
 trees that l)]c\v down during the summer were left as 
 they fell till winter when they were removed. This 
 went on, year after year, until all llie trees were 
 cleared out. The first vear after the new land was 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 37 
 
 cleared corn was put in, the next season cotton. Asa 
 rule corn and cotton were planted alternately, espec- 
 ially if the land was poor, if not, cotton would be con- 
 tinued year after year on the same land. Old corn 
 stalks were always plowed under for the next year's 
 crop and they served as an excellent fertilizer. C\.t- 
 ton was seldom planted on newly cleared land, as the 
 roots and stumps rendered it difficult to cultivate the 
 land without injur}- to the growing- plant. 
 
 I never saw women put to the hard work of gruli- 
 bing- until I went to McGee's and I greatly wondered 
 at it. Such work was not done by women slaves in 
 Virginia. Children were required to do some work, 
 it mattered not how many grown people were working. 
 There were always tasks set for the boys and girls 
 ranging in age from nine to thirteen years, beyond 
 these ages they worked with the older slaves. After 
 I had been in Pontotoc two years I had to help plant 
 and hoe, and work in the cotton during the seasons, 
 and soon learned to do everything pertaining to the 
 farm. 
 
 COOKING FOR THE SI.AVES. 
 
 In summer time the cooking for the slaves was 
 done out of doors. A large fire was built under a 
 
38 THIRTY YEARvS A SLAVE. 
 
 tree, two wooden forks were driven into the ground on 
 opposite sides of the fire, a pole laid on the forks and 
 on this kettles were hung- over the fire for the prepara- 
 tion of the food. Cabbag-e and meat, boiled, alter- 
 nated with meat and peas, were the staple for summer. 
 Bread was furnished with the meals and corn meal 
 dumpling's, that is, little balls made of meal and 
 g-rease from the boiled bacon and dropped into boiling" 
 water, were also provided and considered quite palat- 
 able, especially if cooked in the water in which the 
 bacon was boiled. In winter the cooking was done in 
 a cabin, and sweet potatoes, dried peas and meat were 
 the principal diet. This bill of fare was for dinner or 
 the mid-day meal. For supper each slave received two 
 pieces of meat and two slices of bread, but these 
 slices were very large, as the loaves were about six 
 inches thick and baked in an old fashioned oven. 
 This bread was made from corn meal for, as I have 
 said, onl}' on holidays and special occasions did the 
 slaves have white bread of any kind. Part of the 
 meat and 1)read received at supper time was saved for 
 the "morning bite." The slaves never had any 
 l)reakrast, but went to llu' Held at dayliglit and after 
 working till the sun was well u]). all would slop for 
 
WFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. y, 
 
 their morning bite. Very often some vcun- Idlnw 
 ate his morning- bite the evening- before at supper and 
 would have nothing- for the morning, goin^ without 
 eating- until noon. The stop for morning l>ito was 
 very short; then all would plung-e into work until 
 mid-day, when all hands were summoned to tlu-ir 
 principal meal. 
 
 CARDING AND SPIXNIXC. 
 
 Throug-h the winter and on rainy days in sumnu-r. 
 the women of the field had to card the wool and sj.in 
 it into 3'arn. They g-enerally worked in jiairs, a spin- 
 ning- wheel and cards being- assig-ned to each ]>air. ami 
 while one carded the wool into rolls, the other spun it 
 into yarn suitable for weaving- into cloth, or a coarse, 
 heavy thread used in making- bridles and lines f<»r the 
 mules that were used in the fields. This work was 
 done in the cabins, and the women working together 
 alternated in the carding- and spinning. Four cuts 
 were considered a task or day's work, and il any one 
 failed to complete her task she received a whipping' 
 from the madam. At nig-ht when the spinners brought 
 their work to the big- house I would have it to reel. 
 The reel was a contrivance consisting of a sort of 
 wheel, turned on an axis, used to transfer the Narn 
 
40 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 from the spools or spindles of the spinning' wheels 
 into cuts or hunks. It was turned by hand and when 
 enough yarn had been reeled to make a cut the reel 
 sig-naled it with a snap. This process was continued 
 until four cuts were reeled which made a hunk, and 
 this was taken off and was read}- for use. So the 
 work went on until all was reeled. I often g-ot very 
 weary of this work and would almost fall asleep at it, 
 as it was g-enerally done at nig"ht after I had had a 
 long" day's toil at something" else. 
 
 WKAVING — CLOTHES OF THE SLAVEvS. 
 
 One woman did the weaving" and it was her task to 
 weave from nine to ten yards a da}-. Aunt Liza was 
 our weaver and she was taug"ht the work by the 
 madam. At first she did not g"et on so well with it 
 and many times I have seen the madam jump at her, 
 pinch and choke her because she was dull in under- 
 standing" how to do it. The madam made the un- 
 reasonable demand that she should do the full task at 
 first, and because she failed she was punished, as was 
 the custom in all cases of failure, no matter how un- 
 reasonable the demand. Li/.a finally ])ccamo cijual to 
 her task and accomplished it each day. l>ut the 
 trouble and worry to me was when I had to assist the 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 4i 
 
 madam in warping— g-etting- the work roudy for the 
 weaver. She would warp the thread horsolt" an.l plaa- 
 it in the loom, then I would have to hand her the 
 threads, as she put them through the hamos. For 
 any failure in quickly comprehending- or dtting my 
 work, I did not fail to receive the customary blow, or 
 blows, from her hand. 
 
 Each piece of cloth contained forty yards, and this 
 cloth was used in making- clothes for the servants. 
 About half of the whole amount required was thus 
 made at home; the remainder was ])ouglit. and as it 
 was heavier it was used for winter clothiii^-. Kach 
 man was allowed for summer two pairs «)f pants and 
 two shirts, but no coat. The women had two dresses 
 and two chemises each for summer. For winter the 
 men had each two pairs of pants, one coat, one 
 hat and one pair of coarse shoes. These shoes before 
 being- worn had to be greased with taUow. with a 
 little tar in it. It was always a happy time when the 
 men got these winter goods— it brought many a smile 
 to their faces, though the supply was meager and the 
 articles of the cheapest. The women's dresses for 
 winter were made of the heavier wool-doth used for 
 the men. They also had one pair of shoes each and 
 
42 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 a turban. The women who could utilize old clothes, 
 made for themselves what were called pantalets. 
 The}' had no stocking's or underg-arments to protect 
 their limbs — these were never g-iven them. The 
 pantalets were made like a pant-leg, came just above 
 the knee, and were caught and tied. Sometimes the}- 
 looked well and comfortable. The men's old pant-legs 
 were sometimes used. 
 
 I remember once when Boss went to Memphis and 
 brought back a bolt of gingham for turbans for the 
 female slaves. It was a red and yellow check, and the 
 turbans made from it were onh' to be worn on Sunda}-. 
 The old women were so glad that they sang and 
 prayed, A little gift from the master was greatly ap- 
 preciated by them. I always came in for my share 
 each year, but mv clothes were somewhat different. 
 I wore pants made of Bosse's old ones, and all his old 
 coats were utilized for me. They rounded them off at 
 the tail just a little and called them jackets. M3' 
 shoes were not l)r()gans, ])ut made of lig-hter leather, 
 and made suitable for in the house. I onlv worked on 
 the farm in busy seasons, and did not have the regu- 
 lar wear of the farm hands. On Mtmday morning it 
 was a <rreat sii^-ht to see all the hands marchinu- to 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 4; 
 
 the field. The cotton dothes worn by both nun ami 
 women, and the turbans of the latter, wore snowy 
 white, as were the wool hats of the men— all con- 
 trasted with the dark faces of the wearers in a strani^c 
 and striking- manner. 
 
 SLAVE MOTHERS— CARE OF THK CIIII.DKFN. 
 
 The women who had young- babies were assigned 
 to what was considered " light work," such as hofinjr 
 potatoes, cutting- weeds from the fence corners, and 
 any other work of like character. About nine o'chnrk 
 in the forenoon, at noon, and three o'clock in the after- 
 noon, these women, known on tlie farnis a> "' the 
 sucklers," could be seen goings from work to nurso 
 their babies. Many were the heart-sighs of these 
 sorrowing- mothers as they went to minister to their 
 infants. Sometimes the little things would seem 
 starved, for the mothers could only stop their toil 
 three times a day to care for them. When old en»>UK'h 
 to receive it, the babies had milk, the \'u\unT from 
 boiled cabbag-e, and bread and milk together. .\ 
 woman who was too old to do much <.f anything was 
 assigned to the charge of these babies in the absence 
 of their mothers. It was rare that she had any one 
 to help her. The cries of these little ones. wh.. were 
 
44 THIRTY YEARS A SI^AVE. 
 
 cut off almost entirely from motherly care and pro- 
 tection, were heart-rending". 
 
 The cabin used for the infants during- the day was 
 a double one, that is, double the usual size, and was 
 located near the g^reat house. The cradles used were 
 made of boards, and were not more than two by three 
 feet in size. The women carried their babies in the 
 cradles to the baby cabin in the morning-, taking them 
 to their own cabins at nig-ht. The children rang-ing- 
 in ag-e from one to seven years were numerous, and the 
 old woman had them to look after as well as the babies. 
 This was indeed a task, and mig-ht well have taxed 
 the strength of a j^oung-er woman. The}- were 
 always from eig-ht to a dozen infants in the cabin. 
 The summer season was trying- on the babies and 
 3"oung children. Often they would drink too much 
 liquor from cabbage, or too much buttermilk, and 
 would be taken with a severe colic. I was always 
 called on these occasions to g-o with Boss to administer 
 medicine. I remember on one occasion a little boy 
 had oaten too much cabbag-e, and was taken with 
 cramp colic. In a few minutes his stomach was 
 swolen as tight and hard as a baloon. and his teeth 
 clenched. lie was given an emetic, put in a mustard 
 
UFE ON A COTTON PLAXTATI. )X. 
 bath and was soon relieved. The Ukk\ was u,u luu; v 
 for these children, and they were nearly alwayr, in 
 need of some medical attendance. Excessive lu-al. 
 with improper food, often broug-ht on cholora intaii- 
 turn, from which the infants sometimes died raj.i.llv 
 and in considerable numbers. 
 
 METHODS OF PUNISHMENT. 
 
 The methods of punishment were barbar<>u> m uii- 
 extreme, and so numerous that I will n»»t attempt to 
 describe them all. One method was to tie the slave 
 to a tree, strip off his clothes, and then whip liim 
 with a rawhide, or long-, limber switches, or the 
 terrible bull whip. Another was to put the slave in 
 stocks, or to buck him, that is, fasten his feet tojfether, 
 draw up his knees to his chin, tie his hamls toifether. 
 draw them down over the knees, and put a stick under 
 the latter and over the arms. In either of these wavs 
 the slave was entirely at the mercy of his tornientiifH. 
 and the whipping- could proceed at tluir pleasure. 
 After these whipping-s the slave was often left heli»- 
 less and bleeding- upon the g-round. until the master. 
 or overseer, saw tit to let him u)-. The must common 
 method of punishment was to have the servants form 
 a ring-, called the "bull ring." into which the on.- to 
 
46 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 be punished was led naked. The slaves were then 
 each g-iven a switch, rawhide, strap or whip, and each 
 one was compelled to cut at the poor victim as he ran 
 around the ring-. The ring- was composed of men, 
 women and children; and, as they numbered from 
 forty to fift}', each circuit of the ring- would result in 
 that number of lashes, and by the time the victim had 
 made two or three rounds his condition can be readily 
 imag-ined. The overseer was always one of the ring-, 
 vig-orously using- the whip, and seeing- that all the 
 slaves did the same. Some of the victims fainted be- 
 fore they had passed once around the ring-. Women 
 slaves were punished in the same manner as the men. 
 The salt water bath was g-iven after each punishment. 
 Runaway slaves were usually caug-ht by means of 
 hounds, trained for the purpose by men who made it a 
 business and a source of revenue, notwithstanding- its 
 brutal features and deg-rading influence. 
 
 FOURTH OF JUI.Y BARBECUE. 
 
 Barbecue orig-inally meant to dress and roast a 
 hog" whole, but has come to mean the cooking of a 
 food animal in this manner for the feeding- of a g^reat 
 company'. A feast of this kind was always g-iven to 
 us, by Boss, on the 4th of Jul}-. The anticipation of it 
 
UFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION 
 acted as a stimulant throug-li the entire vear. Kach 
 one looked forward to this frreat day u{ recreation 
 with pleasure. Even the older slaves would join in 
 the discussion of the coming- event. It mattere«l m»l 
 what trouble or hardship the year had brought, this 
 feast and its attendant pleasure would dissipate all 
 g-loom. Some, probably, would be punished on the 
 morning- of the 4th, but this did not matter ; the nu-n 
 thoug-ht of the g-ood things in store for them, and 
 that made them forg-et that they had been punished. 
 All the week previous to the great dav, the slaves 
 were in hig-h spirits, the young girls and l»oys. each 
 evening, congregating, in front of the cabins, to talk 
 of the feast, while others would sing and dance. 
 The older slaves were not less happy, but would only 
 say : "Ah ! God has blessed us in permitting us t.» 
 see another feast day." The day before the 4th was 
 a busy one. The slaves worked with all their nn«bt. 
 The children who were large enough were engatjed 
 in bringing wood and bark to the spot where the 
 barbecue was to take place. They worked eagerly. 
 all day long; and, by the time the sun was setting, 
 a huge pile of fuel was beside the trench, ready lor 
 use in the morning. At an early hour of the great 
 
THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 day, the servants were up, and the men whom Boss 
 had appointed to look after the killing- of the hog-s 
 and sheep were quickly at their work, and, by the 
 time they hail the meat dressed and ready, most of 
 the slaves had arrived at the center of attraction. 
 They jjathered in groups, talking-, laug-hing-, telling- 
 talcs tliat they had from their g-randfather, or 
 relating practical jokes that they had played or seen 
 played by others. These tales were received with 
 [>cals of laughter. IJut however much they seemed to 
 enjoy these stories and social interchang-es, they 
 never lost sight ol the trench or the spot where the 
 sweetmeats were ti) be cooked. 
 
 The method of cooking; the meat was to dig- a 
 trench in the gmund about six feet long- and eig-hteen 
 inches deep. This trench was filled with wood and 
 bark which was set on lire, and, when it was burned 
 to a great bed of coals, the hog was split throug-h the 
 back l>one, ami laid on jjoles which had been placed 
 across the trench. The sheep were treated in the 
 same way, ami both were luriied from side to side as 
 Ihcy cooked. During the process of roasting- the 
 CiMjks basted the carcasses with a preparation fur- 
 nihhed from the great house, consisting of butter 
 
lylFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 40 
 
 pepper, salt and vineg-ar, and this was continued 
 until the meat was ready to serve. Not far from this 
 trench were the iron ovens, where the sweetmeats 
 were cooked. Three or four women were assigned to 
 this work. Peach cobbler and apple dumpling- were 
 the two dishes that made old slaves smile for joy and 
 the young fairly dance. The crust or pastry of the 
 cobbler was prepared in large earthen bowls, then 
 rolled out like any pie crust, only it was almost twice 
 as thick. A layer of this crust was laid in the oven, 
 then a half peck of peaches poured, in, followed by a 
 layer of sug-ar ; then a covering of pastry was laid 
 over all and smoothed around with a knife. The 
 oven was then put over a bed of coals, the cover put on 
 and coals thrown on it, and the process of baking 
 beg-an. Four of these ovens were usually in use at 
 these feasts, so that enough of the pastry might be 
 baked to supply all. The ovens were filled and 
 refilled until there was no doubt about the ([uantity. 
 The apple dumplings were made in the usual way, 
 only larger, and served with sauce made from brown 
 sugar. It lacked flavoring, such as cinnamon ..r 
 lemon, yet it was a dish highly relished by all the 
 slaves. I know that these feasts made me so excited, 
 
so THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 I CDuld scarcely do my house duties, and I would never 
 fail to stop and look out of the window from the 
 dining room down into the (juarters. I was eag-er to 
 g'et throuf^-li with my work and be with the feasters. 
 About noon everything- was ready to serve. The 
 table was set in a g-rove near the quarters, a place set 
 aside for these occasions. The tableware was not 
 line, being- of tin, but it served the purpose, and did 
 n«»t detract from the slaves' relish for the feast. The 
 drinks were strictly temperance drinks — buttermilk 
 and wali-r. Some of the nicest portions of the meat 
 were sliced otT and i>ut on a platter to send to the 
 great house for Boss and his family. It was a pleasure 
 for the slaves to do this, fi)r Boss always enjoyed it. 
 It was said that the slaves could barbecue meats best, 
 and when the whites had barbecues slaves always did 
 the cooking. When dinner was all i)n the table, the 
 invitation was givm for all to come; and when all 
 were in a good way eating. Boss and the madam 
 would g-o out to witness the progress of the feast, and 
 seemed pleased to see the servants so happy. Every- 
 thing was in abundance, so all could have plenty — 
 Boss always insisted on this. The slaves had the 
 whole (lay »>1T, and could do as they liked. After 
 
I.IFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 51 
 
 dinner some of the women would wash, sew or iron. 
 It was a day of harmless riot for all the slaves, and I 
 can not express the happiness it brought them. Old 
 and young-, for months, would rejoice in the memory 
 of the day and its festivities, and "bless" Boss for this 
 ray of sunlight in their darkened lives. 
 
 ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH. 
 
 There was an observance of religious forms at 
 least by the occupants of both the great house and 
 the cabins. The McGee family were church-going 
 people, and, except in ver}- inclement weather, never 
 failed to attend service on Sunda3\ The}' were 
 Methodists, and their church was four miles from 
 their residence. The Baptist church was but two 
 miles distant, and the family usually alternated in 
 their attendance between the two places of worship. 
 I always attended them to church, generally riding 
 behind while the Boss drove. Upon reaching church, 
 my first duty was to run to a spring for a pitcher of 
 fresh water, which I passed not only to the members 
 of our party, but to any others desiring drink. 
 Whatever may be thought of the religious professions 
 of the slave-holders, there can be no question that 
 many of the slaves were sincere believers in the 
 
52 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 Christian relig-ion, and endeavored to obey the pre- 
 cepts according- to their lig"ht. 
 
 RELIGIOUS MEETINGS OF THE SLAVES. 
 Saturday evening- on the farm was always hailed 
 with delight. The air was filled with happy shouts 
 fn>in men and boys, so g-lad were they that Sunday, 
 their only day of rest, was near. In the cabins the 
 women were washing- and fixing- g-arments for Sunday, 
 that they mig-ht honor the Lord in cleanliness and 
 decency. It was astonishing- how they utilized what 
 they had, ami witli what skill and industry they per- 
 formed these self-imposed tasks. Where the family 
 was larg-e it was often after midnigfht before this 
 w«»rk was done. While this preparation for the 
 Sabbath was in proji^ress in most of the cabins, the 
 ohi men would g-ather in one for a prayer-meeting-. 
 As Ihcy hegfan to sing- some familiar h3'mn^ the air 
 would ring- with their voices, and it was not long; 
 Inrforc the cabin was filled with both old and young-, 
 who came in tluir siini»le yet sincere way to ifive 
 praise to ('■<><!. it \\.i> ^oimiiMii to have one or two 
 i'xhorr -u- pl;iiil;ition who claimed to be called 
 
 tudoM-rvi' i.y te;icliing- their fellow men 
 
 the princi]' Cod certainly must have 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 53 
 
 revealed himself to these poor souls, for they were 
 very ig-norant — they did not know a letter of the Bible. 
 But when they opened their mouths they were filled, 
 and the plan of Salvation was explained in a way 
 that all could receive it. It was always a mystery to 
 the white brethren how the slaves could line out 
 hymns, preach Christ and redemption, yet have no 
 knowledg-e even of how the name of Christ was 
 spelled. They were illiterate to the last degree, so 
 there is but one theory, they were inspired. God 
 revealed unto them just w^hat they should teach their 
 flock, the same as he did to Moses. I remember very 
 well that there was always a solemnity about the 
 services — a certain harmony, which had a peculiar 
 effect — a certain pathetic tone which quickened the 
 emotions as they sang- those old plantation hymns. 
 It mattered not what their troubles had been during 
 the week — how much they had been lashed, the 
 prayer-meeting- on Saturday evening never failed to 
 be held. Their faith was tried and true. On Sunday 
 afternoons, they would all congregate again t.. praise 
 God, and the congregation was enthusiastic. It was 
 pathetic to hear them pray, from the depths of their 
 hearts, for them who "despitefully used them and 
 
54 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 persecuted them." This injunction of our Saviour 
 was strictly adhered to. The words that came from 
 the minister were always of a consolatory kind. He 
 knew the crosses of his fellow slaves and their hard- 
 ships, for he had shared them himself. I was always 
 t«»uched in hearing him give out the hymns. I can 
 hear old Uncle Ben now. as he solemnly worded out 
 the following lines: 
 
 Must I be carried lu the skies, 
 
 On Howerv beds of ease, 
 While others fouf^'-ht to win the prize, 
 
 .\iul sailed thrDUj^-h bloodj' seas? 
 
 After singing he would alwa3'S speak to them of 
 the necessity for patience in bearing the crosses, urg- 
 ing thein to eJidure "as good soldiers." Many tears 
 were shed, and many glad shouts of praise would 
 hurst forth during the sermon. A hymn usually fol- 
 lowed tl" - rmon, then all retired. Their faces 
 seemei; :ine with a happy light — their ver}' 
 
 tt»unten:inre showed til at their soulshad been refreshed 
 anil 11 "good for them to l)e there." 
 
 ThetMj meetings wi-re the joy and comfort of the slaves, 
 and even those who did not ])rofess Christianitv were 
 calm and thoughtful while in attendance. 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 55 
 
 A NEIGHBORHOOD OUAKKEL- 
 
 Opposite our farm was one owned by a Mr. Juval, 
 and adjoining- that was another belong-ing- to one 
 White. The McGees and the Whites were very fast 
 friends, visiting- each other regularly— indeed they had 
 ^rown up together, and Mr. White at one time was 
 the lover of the madam, and engaged to be married 
 to her. This friendship had existed for years, when 
 McGee bought the Juval farm, for which White had 
 also been negotiating, but which he failed to get on 
 account of McGee having- out-bid him. From this 
 circumstance ill feeling was eng-endered between the 
 two men, and they soon became bitter enemies. Mc- 
 Gee had decided to build a fence between the farm he 
 had purchased and that of White, and, during the 
 winter, his teamsters were set to hauling the rails; 
 and, in unloading- them, they accidcntly threw some 
 of them over the line on to White's land. The latter 
 said nothing- about the matter until spring, when he 
 wrote McGee a letter, asking him to remove the rails 
 from his land. McGee paid no attention to the re- 
 quest, and he soon received a second note, when he 
 said to his wife: " That fellow is about to turn him- 
 self a fool— I'll give him a cow-hiding." A third and 
 
56 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 more cmplKitic note followed, in which White told the 
 Boss thai the rails must be removed within twenty- 
 four hours. He grew indig-nant. and, in true South- 
 ern style, he went immediately to town and boug-ht 
 arms, and prepared himself for the fray. When he 
 returned he had every hand on the plantation stop 
 regular work, and put them all to building- the fence. 
 I was i.f the number. Boss and the overseer came 
 out to overlook ihe work and hurry it on. About 
 four o'clock in the afternoon White jiut in an appear- 
 ance, ami came face to face with McGee, sitting- on 
 his horse and liaving- a dt)uble barreled shot g-un 
 lyinff across thr i>ummel of his saddle. White 
 passed on without saving- a word, but Boss 3'elled at 
 him : ** Hello! I see you are about to turn 3'ourself 
 a il <1 fo«»l." White checked up and beg-an to swear, 
 sayinjf: " Vou are a coward to attack an unarmed 
 man." He g-rew furious, took off his hat, ran his 
 finpcrs tlimug-h his hair, saying: " Here I am, blow 
 mc to li 1, and I'll have some one blow you there be- 
 fore niffht."" During White's rage he said: "I'll 
 filfht you anywhere— bowie-knife light, shot g-un fig-ht 
 "'' J*"'' " ■■ n ilKd. in his excitement, for his 
 Wt'Pl" •■'lisiiig- on his farm, to come, and 
 
LIFE ON A COTTON PLANTATION. 57 
 
 immediately sent him to Bill}^ Duncan's to g-et him a 
 double barreled shot g-un. Meantime, Mrs. McGee 
 appeared on the scene, and beg-an to cr}-, beg-g-ing- 
 White to stop and allow her to speak to him. But he 
 replied: "Go off, g-o off, I don't want to speak to 
 you." Boss g-rew weak and sick, and through his ex- 
 citement, was taken violently ill, vomiting' as if he 
 had taken an emetic. He said to White : "I'll re- 
 turn as soon as I take my wife home," but he never 
 came back. As Boss and the madam rode off, White 
 came g-alloping- back, and said to Brooks, our over- 
 seer: " If I am shot down on foul play would 3'ou 
 speak of it?" Brooks replied: "No, I don't care to 
 interfere— I don't wish to have anything- to do with 
 it." White was bloodthirsty, and came back at inter- 
 vals during- the entire nig-ht, where we were working-, 
 to see if he could find Boss. It is quite probable that 
 White may have long- cherished a secret g-rud-j^e 
 ag-ainst Boss, because he had robbed him of his first 
 love; and, brooding- over these offenses, he became so 
 excited as to be almost insane. Had McGee returne.l 
 that nig-ht. White would certainly have shot him. 
 Boss became so uneasy over the situation that he sent 
 one of his slaves, a foreman, to Panola county, some 
 
58 THIKTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 seventy-five miles distant, to Mrs. McGee's father, to 
 g-et her brother, a law^-er, to come and endeavor to 
 eflfect a settlement. He came, but all his efforts were 
 unavai]in<jf. Tlu- men met at a mag^istrate's office, but 
 they canu' to no understanding^. Our folks became 
 dissatisfied, and did not care to remain longer in the 
 place, so they beg'an to look out for other quarters. 
 Boss finally decided to buy a farm in Bolivar, Miss., and 
 to remove his family to Memphis, where he secured a 
 lini' i)laci-. just outside of the city. 
 
L 
 
 
 W (/OQ ^^ ^ 
 
 Si 
 
 c« 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 
 
 REMOVAI. TO MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. 
 
 McGee had decided to build a new house upon the 
 property which he had purchased at Memphis ; and, 
 in August 1850, he sent twenty-five of his slaves to 
 the city, to make brick for the structure, and I went 
 along- as cook. After the bricks were burned, the 
 work of clearing- the g-round for the building-s was 
 commenced. There were man}- larg-e and beautiful 
 trees that had to be taken up and removed; and, when 
 this work was completed, the excavations for the 
 foundations and the cellar were undertaken. All of 
 this work was done by the slaves. The site was a 
 beautiful one, embracing- fourteen acres, situated two 
 miles southeast from the city, on the Memphis and 
 Charleston railroad. The road ran in front of the 
 place and the Boss built a flag--station there, for the 
 accommodation of himself and his neig-hbors, which 
 was named McGee Station, 
 
THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 A NKW AND SPLENDID HOUSE. 
 
 The house was one of the most pretentious in that 
 region, and was a 3-ear and a half in buihling-. It 
 was two stories in heig-ht, and built of brick, the 
 exterior surface l)eing- coated with cement and marked 
 olT in Idocks, about two feet square, to represent 
 stone. It was then whitewashed. There was a 
 veranda in front with six largfe columns, and, above, 
 a balcony. On the back there were also a veranda 
 and a balcony, extending across that end to the 
 servants' wing". A larg-e hall led from front to rear, 
 on one side of which were double parlors, and on the 
 other a siiiirii;- room, a bedroom and a dining- room. 
 Ill the second story were a hall and four rooms, 
 similar in all respects to those below, and above these 
 was a larg-e attic. The interior woodwork was of 
 black walnut. The walls were white, and the center- 
 pieces in the ceilin<js of all the rooms were very fine, 
 bcintf the work of an ICugiish artisan, who had been 
 only a short time in this country. This work was so 
 superior, in design and linish, to anvthing- before seen 
 in that reg-ion that local artisans were much excited 
 over it; and s(.ine tilTered to purchase the rig-ht to 
 reprmluc I. ; tus.Hl the offer. However, 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. f,l 
 some one, while the house was finishing-, helped him- 
 self to the desig-n, and it was reproduced, in whole or 
 in part, in other building-s in the city. This 
 employment of a foreig-n artist was unusual there and 
 caused much comment. The parlors were furnished 
 with mahogany sets, the upholstering- being in red 
 brocade satin. The dining room was also furnished 
 in mahog-any. The bedrooms had mahogany bed- 
 steads of the old-fashioned pattern with canopies. 
 Costly bric-a-brac, which Boss and the madam had 
 purchased while traveling in foreign countries, was 
 in g-reat profusion. Money was no object to Edmund 
 McGee, and he added every modern improvement and 
 luxury to his home; the decorations and furnishing-s 
 were throughout of the most costly and elegant; and 
 in the whole of Tennessee there was not a mansion 
 more sumptuously complete in all its appointments, 
 or more palatial in its general appearance. When all 
 was finished — pictures, bric-a-brac, statuary and 
 flowers all in their places, Mrs. McGee was brought 
 home. 
 
 In this new house Boss opened up in grand style; 
 everything was chang-ed, and the family entered upon 
 a new, more formal and more pretentious manner ol 
 
(,2 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE, 
 
 living. I was known no long-er as errand boy, but 
 installed as butler and body-servant to my master. I 
 had the sanu- routine of morning" work, only it was 
 more extensive. There was a g-reat deal to be done 
 in so spacious a mansion. Looking- after the parlors, 
 halls and dining rooms, arrang-ing flowers in the 
 rooms, waiting on the table, and g"oing- after the mail 
 was my regular morning- work, the 3'ear round. Then 
 there were my duties to perform, night and morning-, 
 for my master; these were to brush his clothes, black 
 his shoes, assist liim to arrange his toilet, and do any 
 little thing that he wanted me to. Aside from these 
 reifular duties, there were windows to wash, silver to 
 polish and steps to stone on certain days in the week. 
 I was called to do any errand neccessary, and some- 
 times to assist in the garden. A new staff of house 
 servants was installed, as follows: Aunt Delia, cook; 
 I-,<iuisa, chambermaid; Puss, lady's maid to wait on 
 the ma«lam; l\lia, luirse; Lethia, wet nurse; Sarah, 
 dairymaid; Julia, laundress; Uncle Gooden, g-ardener; 
 Thumus, Coachman. 
 
 i.W STVI.H OK UVING. 
 • tii-st, were dazed with the splen- 
 ""• ii'-w liuusc, and laughed and chuckled to 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 63 
 
 themselves a good deal about mars' fine house, and 
 really seemed pleased; for, strange to seiy, the slaves 
 of rich people always rejoiced in that fact. A servant 
 owned by a man in moderate circumstances was 
 hooted at by rich men's slaves. It was common for 
 them to say: " Oh! don't mind that darkey, he belongs 
 to po'r white trash." So, as I said, our slaves rejoiced 
 in master's good luck. Each of the women servants 
 wore a new, gay colored turban, which was tied 
 differently from that of the ordinary servant, in some 
 fancy knot. Their frocks and aprons were new, and 
 really the servants themselves looked new. My outfit 
 was a new cloth suit, and my aprons for wearing 
 when waiting on the table were of snowy white linen, 
 the style being copied from that of the New York 
 waiters. I felt big, for I never knew what a white 
 bosom shirt was before; and even though the grief at 
 the separation from my dear mother was almost un- 
 bearable at times, and my sense of loneliness in 
 having no relative near me often made me sad, there 
 was consolation, if not compensation, in this little 
 change. I had known no comforts, and had been 
 so cowed and broken in spirits, by cruel lashings, that 
 I really felt light-hearted at this improvement in my 
 
64 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 personal appearance, althoug-h it was merely for the 
 gratification of my master's pride; and I thought I 
 would do all I could to please Boss. 
 
 THE ADORNMENT OF THE GROUNDS. 
 
 For some time before all the appointments of the 
 new home were completed, a great number of me- 
 chanics and workmen, besides our own servants, were 
 employed; and there was much bustle and stir about 
 the premises. Considerable out-door work was yet to 
 be done — fences to be made, gardens and orchards to 
 be arranged and planted, and the grounds about the 
 house to be laid out and adorned with shubbery and 
 flower beds. When this work was finalh^ accomplished, 
 the grounds were indeed beautiful. The walks were 
 graveled, and led through a profusion of shrubber}- 
 and llower beds. There was almost every variety of 
 roses; while, scattered over the grounds, there were 
 spruce, pine and juniper trees, and some rare varieties, 
 seldom seen in this northern climate. Around the 
 grounds was set a cedar hedge, and, in time, the 
 place became noted lor the Ijeauty of its shrul)bery; 
 the roses especially were marvelous in the richness 
 and variety of their colors, their fragrance and the 
 luxuriousness of their growth. l*eoi)le who lia\ene\-er 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 65 
 
 traveled in the South have little idea of the richness 
 and profusion of its flowers, especially of its roses. 
 Among- the climbing- plants, which adorned the house, 
 the most beautiful and fragrant was the African 
 honeysucle — its ordor was indeed delightful. 
 
 THE GARDEN. 
 
 One of the institutions of the place was the veg- 
 etable garden. This was established not only for the 
 convenience and comfort of the family, but to furnish 
 employment for the slaves. Under the care of Uncle 
 Gooden, the gardner, it flourished greatly; and there 
 was so much more produced than the famil}- could use, 
 Boss concluded to sell the surplus. The gardner, 
 therefore, went to the city, every morning, with a load 
 of veg-etables, which brought from eight to ten dol- 
 lars daily, and this the madam took for " pin money." 
 In the spring I had alwa3's to help the gardner in set- 
 ting out plants and preparing beds; and, as this was 
 in connection with my other work, I became s'o tired 
 sometimes that I could hardly stand. All the veget- 
 ables raised were fine, and at that time brought a 
 good price. The first cabbage that we sold in the 
 markets brought twenty-five cents a head. The first 
 sweet potatoes marketed always brought a dollar a 
 
66 • THIRTY YEARS A SI^AVB. 
 
 peck, or four dollars a bushel. The Memphis market 
 reg"ulations required that all veg^etables be washed be- 
 fore being- exposed for sale. Corn was husked, and 
 everything- was clean and inviting. Any one found 
 g-uilty of selling, or exhibiting for sale, vegetables of 
 a previous da}- was fined, at once, by the market 
 master. This rule was carried out to the letter. 
 Nothing stale could be sold, or even come into market. 
 The rules required that all poultr}' be dressed before 
 being- brought to market. The entrails were cleaned 
 and strung and sold separatel}- — usuall}- for about ten 
 cents a string-. 
 
 PKOFUSION OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Flowers grew in profusion everywhere through the 
 south, and it has, properlv, been called the land of 
 flowers. IJut flowers had no such sale there as have 
 our flowers here in the north. The pansv anil man}" 
 of our highly prized plants and flowers grew wild in 
 the south. The peoi)le there did not seem to care for 
 flowers as we do. I have sold manv bouquets for a 
 dime, and very beautiful ones for fifteen and twentv 
 cents, that would sell in the north for fifty to seventy- 
 five cents. 
 
SOCIAI. AND OTHER ASPECTS OE SLAVERY. 67 
 THE FRUIT ORCHARD. 
 
 The new place had an orchard of about four acres, 
 consisting- of a variety of apple, peach, pear and 
 plum trees. Boss hired an expert gardner to teach 
 me the art of g-rafting^, and, after some practice, I 
 became quite skilled in this work. Some of the pear 
 trees that had been g-rafted had three different kinds 
 of fruit on them, and others had three kinds of apples 
 on them besides the pears. This g-rafting- I did 
 myself, and the trees were considered very fine by 
 Boss. Another part of my work was the trimming- of 
 the hedg-e and the care of all the shrubbery. 
 
 I PRACTICE MEDICINE AMONG THE SLAVES. 
 
 McGee had a medicine chest built into the wall of 
 the new house. The shelves for medicine were of 
 wood, and the arrang-ement was very convenient. It 
 was really a small drug- store. It contained every- 
 thing- in the way of drug-s that was necessary to use 
 in doctoring- the slaves. We had quinine, castor-oil, 
 alcohol and ipecac in g-reat quantities, as these were 
 the principal drug-s used in the limited practice in the 
 home establishment. If a servant came from the field 
 to the house with a chill, which was frequent, the 
 first thing- we did w^as to g-ive him a dose of ipecac to 
 
68 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 vomit him. On the evening- after, we would give 
 him two or three of Cook's pills. These pills we 
 made at home, I always had to prepare the medicines, 
 and give the dose, the Boss standing by dictating. 
 Working with medicine, giving it and caring for the 
 sick were the parts of my work that I liked best. 
 Boss used Dr. Gunn's book altogether for recipes in 
 putting" up medicines. He read me the recipe, while 
 I compounded it. 
 
 A SWELL KECKPTION. 
 
 In celebration of the opening of the new house, 
 McGee gave an elaborate reception and dinner. The 
 menu embraced nearly everything that one could 
 think of or desire, and all in the greatest profusion. 
 It was a custom, not only with the McGees but among 
 the southern people generally, to make much of eat- 
 ing — it was one of their hobbies. Kverything was 
 cooked well, 'iind highly seasoned. Scarcity was 
 foreign to the homes of the wealthy southerners. 
 
 KKI.ATIVKS VLSIT AT THK MANSION. 
 After the family had been settled about a month 
 in the new home, their relatives in Panola Co., Miss., 
 INIr. Jack Mc(iee, known among the servants as "Old 
 
SOCIAIv AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 69 
 
 Jack," Mrs. Melinda McGee, his wife, Mrs. Farring-- 
 ton, their daug"hter who was a widow, and their other 
 children Louisa, Ella and William, all came up for a 
 visit, and to see the wonderful house. Mr. Jack 
 McGee was the father of madam and the uncle of 
 Boss. My master and mistress were therefore first 
 cousins, and Boss sometimes called the old man father 
 and at other times, uncle. Old Master Jack, as he 
 alig-hted, said to those behind him: "Now be careful, 
 step lig^htly, Louisa, this is the finest house you ever 
 set foot in." When all had come into the house, and 
 the old man had beg"un to look around, he said: "I 
 don't know what Edmund is thinking- about-out to 
 build such a house-house." He was very old, and had 
 never lost all of his Scotch dialect, and he had a habit 
 of repeating- a part or all of some words, as in the 
 foreg-oing^ quotation. The other members of the 
 visiting- family were well pleased with the house, and 
 said it was grand. They laug-hed and talked merrily 
 over the many novel thing-s which they saw. Mrs. 
 Farring-ton, who was a g-ay widow, was naturally 
 interested in everything-. I busied myself waiting- 
 upon them, and it was late that nig^ht before I was 
 throug-h. So many made extra work for me. 
 
70 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 ONE OF THE VISITORS DISTRUSTS ME. 
 
 The next morning-, after breakfast, Boss and old 
 Master Jack went out to view the grounds. They 
 took me along- so that if anything was wanted I could 
 do it. Boss would have me drive a stake in some 
 place to mark where he desired to put something-, 
 perhaps some flowers, or a tree. He went on throug-h 
 the g-rounds, showing- his father how everything- was 
 to be arrang-ed. The old man shook his head, and 
 said: "Well, it's g-ood, but I am afraid vou'll spoil 
 these nig-g-ers-nig-gers. Keep you eye on that boy Lou, 
 Oneaning^ me) he is slipper3--slippery, too smart-art."' 
 " Oh! ril mana«re that, Father,"" said Boss. " Well, 
 see that 3'ou do-00, for I see running away in his 
 eyes." One of the things that interested old Master 
 Jack was the ring-ing- of the dinner bell. "Well, I do 
 think," said the old man, "that boy can ring- a bell 
 better than anbody I ever heard. Why, its g-ot a 
 reg-ular tune." I used to try to see how near I could 
 come to making it say, come to dinner. 
 
 THE MADAM IN A RACE. 
 
 Tlie four days soon passed, and all the companv 
 g-one, we were once more at our regular work. Delia, 
 the cook, seemingly had not pleased the madam in 
 
SOCIAI. AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 71 
 her cooking- while the company were there; so, the 
 morning- after they left, she went toward the kitchen, 
 calling: "Delia, Delia." Delia said: "Dah! I wonder 
 what she wants now." By this time she was in the 
 kitchen, confronting- Delia Her face was flushed as 
 she screamed out: "What kind of biscuits were those 
 you baked this week? " "I think they were all rig-ht. 
 Mis Sarh." "Hush!" screamed out the madam, 
 stamping- her foot to make it more emphatic. "You 
 did not half cook them," said she; " they were not 
 beat enoug-h. Those waffles were ridiculous," said 
 the madam. "Well, Mis Sarh, I tried." "Stop!" 
 cried Madam in a rage, " I'll give you thunder if you 
 dictate to me." Not a very eleg-ant display in lan- 
 g-uag-e or manner for a great lady! Old Aunt Delia, 
 who was used to these occurances, said: "My Lord! 
 dat woman dunno what she wants. Ah! Lou, there is 
 nothing but the devil up here, (meaning- the new 
 home); can't do nothin to please her up here in dis 
 fine house. I tell you Satan neber git his own til he 
 g-it her." They did not use baking- powder, as we do 
 now, but the biscuits were beaten until light enough. 
 Twenty minutes was the time allotted for this work ; 
 but when company came there was so much to be 
 
72 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 done — so many more dishes to prepare, that Delia 
 would, perhaps, not have so much time for each meal. 
 But there was no allowance made. It was never 
 thoug"ht reasonable that a servant should make a mis- 
 take — thing-s must £ilwa3-s be the same. I was 
 listening- to this quarrel between madam and Delia, 
 supposing- my time would come next; but for that 
 once she said nothing- to me. 
 
 THE madam's severity, 
 
 Mrs. McGee was naturally irritable. Servants 
 always g-ot an extra whipping- when she had an}' 
 personal trouble, as thoug-h the}- could help it. 
 Ever}- morning little Kate, Aunt Delia's little g-irl, 
 would have to g-o with the madam on her rounds to 
 the different building-s of the establishment, to carry 
 the key basket. So many were the keys that they 
 were kept in a basket especially provided for them, 
 and the child was its reg-ular bearer. The madam, with 
 til is little attendant, was everywhere — in the barn, 
 in tlie Ik'Uiutv, in the smokehouse — and she always 
 made trouble with the servants wherever she went. 
 Indeed, she rarely returned to the house from these 
 rounds without having- whipped twoor three servants, 
 whellier there was really any cause for the ])unisli- 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 73 
 ment or not. She seldom let a day pass without beat- 
 ing some poor woman unmercifully. The number 
 and severity of these whipping's depended more upon 
 the humor of the madam than upon the conduct of 
 the slaves. Of course, I always came in for a share 
 in this brutal treatment. She continued her old habit 
 of boxing- my jaws, pinching- my ears; no day ever 
 passing- without her indulg-ing- in this exercise of her 
 physical powers. So long had I endured this, I came 
 to expect it, no matter how well I did my duties; and 
 it had its natural effect upon me, making me a cow- 
 ard, even though I was now growing into manhood. 
 I remember once, in particular, when I had tried to 
 please her by arranging the parlor, I overheard her 
 say: " They soon get spirit— it don't do to praise 
 servants." My heart sank within me. What good 
 was it for me to try to please? She would find 
 fault an3'way. Her usual morning greeting was: 
 "Well, Lou, have 3'ou dusted the parlors?" ''Oh, 
 yes," I would answer. "Have the flowers been ar- 
 ranged?" "Yes, all is in readiness," I would say. 
 Once I had stoned the steps as usual, but the madam 
 grew angry as soon as she saw them. I had labored 
 hard, and thought she would be pleased. The result, 
 
74 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 however, was very far from that. She took me out, 
 stripped me of my shirt and began thrashing- me, say- 
 ing" I was spoiled. I was no long-er a chikl, but old 
 enoug-h to be treated differentl}-. I beg-an to cr}-, for 
 it seemed to me my heart would break. But, after the 
 first burst of tears, the feeling" came over me that I 
 was a man, and it was an outrag-e to treat me so — to 
 keep me under the lash day after day. 
 
 A SHOCKING ACCIDENT. 
 
 Not long- after Mrs. Farring-ton had made her first 
 visit to our house, she came there to live. Celia had 
 been acting- as her maid. When Mrs, Farring-ton had 
 been up some months, it was decided that all the 
 family should g-o down to old ^faster Jack's for a 
 visit. Celia, the maid, had been so hurried in the 
 preparations for this visit that she had done nothing- 
 for herself. The nig-ht before the family was to 
 leave, therefore, she was g-etting- read}- a g-arment for 
 herself to wear on the trip; and it was supposed that 
 she sewed until niidnig-ht, or after, when she fell 
 asleep, letting the g-oods fall into the candle. All at 
 once, a little after twelve o'clock, I heard a scream, 
 then a c-ry of "lire! lire! " and Boss yelling-: "Louis! 
 Louis!" I juiiiiu'd up, throwing- an old coat over me, 
 
SOCIAIy AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SEA VERY. 75 
 and ran up stairs, in the direction of Mrs. Farring-- 
 ton's room, I encountered Boss in the hall; and, as it 
 was darK and the smoke stifling-, I could hardly make 
 any headway. At this moment Mrs. Farring-ton 
 threw her door open, and screemed for "Cousin 
 Eddie," meaning- McGee. He hurriedly called to me 
 to g-et a pitcher of water quick. I g-rasped the pitcher 
 from the stand, and he attempted to throw the water 
 on Celia, who was all in a blaze, running- around like 
 a mad woman; but the pitcher slipped from his hand 
 and broke, very little of the water reaching- her. She 
 was at last wrapped in an old blanket, to exting-uish 
 the flames; but she was burned too badly to recover. 
 Boss, being a physician, said at once: "Poor g-irl, 
 poor girl! she is burned to death." He did all he 
 could for her, wrapped her in linen sheets, and en- 
 deavored to relieve her suffering-s, but all was of no 
 avail— she had inhaled the flame, injuring- her in- 
 ternally, and lived only a few days. 
 
 mastkr's new cotton plantation. 
 
 Shortly after Boss bought his home in Memphis, 
 
 he bought a larg-e farm in Bolivar, Miss. It was a 
 
 reg-ular cotton farm, on the Missippi river, embracing- 
 
 200 acres. The houses built for the slaves were 
 
76 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 frame, eighteen in number, each to contain three or 
 four families, and arranged on each side of a street 
 that ran through the farm. This street was all grassed 
 over, but there were no sidewalks. All the buildings 
 — the barn, gin-house, slaves' quarters and overseers' 
 house — were whitewashed, and on this grass-grown 
 street they made a neat and pretty appearance. The 
 house where the Boss and the madam staid, when 
 they went down to the farm, was about two hundred 
 yards from the slaves' quarters. It was arranged in 
 two appartmcnts, one for the overseer and wife, and 
 the other for the master and mistress upon the occa- 
 sion of their visits. This building was separated 
 from the other buildings by a fence. There was what 
 was called the cook house, where was cooked all the 
 loud for the hands. Aunt Matilda was cook in charge. 
 Besides the buildings alreadv named, there were 
 stables, a blacksmith shop and sawmill; and the 
 general order of arrangement was carried out with re- 
 spect to all the appearance was that of a village. 
 Everything was raised in abundance, to last from one 
 crop to the next. Vegeta1)les and meat were provided 
 Iroiii tlu' farin, and a dairy of lift}' cows furnished all 
 the milk and butler needed. r 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OE SLAVERY. 77 
 
 The cane brakes were so heavy that it was com- 
 mon for bears to hide there, and, at nig-ht, come out 
 and carry off hog's. Wolves were plenty in the woods 
 behind the farm, and could be heard at any time. 
 The cane was so thick that when they were clearing- 
 up new g-round, it would have to be set on fire, and 
 the cracking that would ensue was like the continuous 
 explosion of small fire crackers. 
 
 About one hundred and sixty slaves, besides 
 children, all owned by McGee, were worked on the 
 farm. Instead of ginning two or three bales of cotton 
 a da}', as at Pontotoc, they ginned six to seven bales 
 here. 
 
 INCIDENTS. 
 
 I remember well the time when the great Swedish 
 singer, Jenny Lind, came to Memphis. It was during- 
 her famous tour through America, in 1851. Our 
 folks were all enthused over her. Boss went in and 
 secured tickets to her concert, and I was summoned 
 to drive them to the hall. It was a great event. 
 People swarmed the streets like bees. The carriages 
 and hacks were stacked back from the hall as far as 
 the eye could reach. 
 
 On another occasion, when the g-reat prodigy. 
 
78 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 Blind Tom, came to Memphis, there was a similar 
 stir among- the people. Tom was very young- then, 
 and lie was called the Blind Boy. People came from 
 far and near to hear him. Those coming- from the 
 villag-es and small towns, who could not g-et passag-e 
 on the reg-ular trains, came in freight or on flat 
 bottom cars. The tickets were $5.00 each, as I 
 remember, Boss said it was expensive, but all must 
 hear this boy pianist. Many were the comments on 
 this boy of such wonderful talents. As I drove our 
 people home they seemed to talk of nothing- else. 
 They declared that he was indeed a wonder. 
 
 LONGING FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 Sometimes when the farm hands were at work, 
 peddlers would come along; and, as the}- were treated 
 badly by the rich planters, they hated them, and 
 talked to the slaves in a wa^- to excite them and set 
 them thinking of freedom. They would say en- 
 couragingly to them: "Ah! Vou will be free some 
 day." But the down-trodden slaves, some of whom 
 were bowed witli age, with frosted hair and furrowed 
 clu'ck, wouUl answer. h)oking up from llieir work: 
 " We don't bliexe (hit; mv grandrathcr said we was to 
 l)e Iri-e, hiil wi,' ainl free vet." It liad lieen talked of 
 
SOCIAIv AND OTHElR ASPECl'S Of" SLAVERY. 79 
 
 (this freedom) from g-eneration to g-eneratioti. Per- 
 haps they would not have thoug-ht of freedom, if their 
 owners had not been so cruel. Had my mistress been 
 more kind to me, I should have thought less of 
 liberty, I know the cruel treatment which I received 
 was the main thing- that made me wish to be free. 
 Besides this, it was inhuman to separate families as 
 they did. Think of a mother being sold from all her 
 children — separated for life! This separation was 
 common, and many died heart-broken, by reason of it. 
 Ah! I cannot forget the cruel separation from my 
 mother. I know not what became of her, but I have 
 always believed her dead many years ago. Hundreds 
 were separated, as my mother and I were, and never 
 met again. Though freedom was yearned for by 
 some because the treatment was so bad, others, who 
 were bright and had looked into the matter, knew it 
 was a curse to be held a slave — they longed to stand 
 out in true manhood — allowed to express their 
 opinions as were white men. Others still desired 
 freedom, thinking- they could then reclaim a wife, or 
 husband, or children. The mother would again see 
 her child. All these promptings of the heart made 
 them Yearn for freedom. New Year's was always a 
 
80 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 heart-rending- time, for it was then the slaves were 
 boug"ht and sold; and they stood in constant fear of 
 losing some one dear to them — a child, a husband, or 
 wife. 
 
 MY FIRST BREAK FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 In the new home my duties were harder than ever. 
 The McGees held me with tighter g^rip, and it was 
 nothing- but cruel abuse, from morning- till nig-ht. 
 So I made up my mind to tr}' and run away to a free 
 country. I used to hear Boss read sometimes, in the 
 papers, about runaway slaves who had g-one to 
 Canada, and it alwa3's made me long- to g-o; yet I 
 never appeared as if I paid the slig-htest attention to 
 what the family read or said on such matters; but I 
 felt that I could be like others, and tr}- at least to g-et 
 awa}'. One morning-, when Boss had g-one to town, 
 Madam had threatened to whip mo, and told me to 
 come to the house. When she calletl me I tlid not g-o, 
 but went off ilown through the garden and throug-h 
 the woods, and made my way for the citv. When I 
 got into Memi)his, I fount! at the landing a boat 
 called the Statesman, and I sneaked aboard. It was 
 not expected lh;it the boat W(tuld stay more than a 
 lew hours, l)uL, for some reason, it staved all ni^ht. 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 81 
 
 The boat was loaded with sugar, and I hid myself 
 behind four hog-sheads. I could see both engineers, 
 one each side of me. When night came on, I crept 
 out from my hiding place, and went forward to search 
 for food and water, for I was thirsty and very hungry. 
 I found the table where the deck hands had been 
 eating, and managed to get a little food, left from 
 their meal, and some water. This was b}^ no means 
 enough, but I had to be content, and went back to my 
 place of concealment. I had been on board the boat 
 three days; and, on the third night, when I came out 
 to hunt food, the second mate saw me. In a minute 
 he eyed me over and said: "Why, I have a reward for 
 3-ou." In a second he had me go up stairs to the 
 captain. This raised a great excitement among the 
 passengers; and, in a minute, I was besieged with 
 numerous questions. Some spoke as if they were 
 sorry for me, and said if they had known I was a poor 
 runaway slave they would have slipped me ashore. 
 The whole boat was in alarm. It seemed to me they 
 were consulting slips of paper. One said: "Yes, he 
 is the same. Listen how this reads:" 
 
 '•Ran away from Edmund McGee, my mulatto boy Louis, 
 5 feet 6 inches in height, black hair, is very bright and in- 
 
82 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 tellig-ent. Will g^ive S500 for him alive, and half of this 
 amount for knowledg-e that he has been killed." 
 
 My heart sprang- into my throat when I heard two 
 men read this advertisement. I knew, at once, 
 what it all meant, remembering- how often I had 
 heard Boss read such articles from the papers and 
 from the handl)ills that were distributed throug-h the 
 city. The captain asked me if I could dance. It 
 seemed he felt sorr}- for me, for he said: "That's a 
 brig-ht boy to be a slave." Then turnings to me he 
 said: "Come, g-ive us a dance." I was 3-oung- and 
 nimble, so I danced a few of the old southern clog- 
 dances, and sang- one or two song-s. like this: 
 
 "Come along', Sam, the lifer's son, 
 
 Aint you mighty g"lad your daj^'s work's done?" 
 
 After I finished sing-ing- and dancing", the captain 
 took up a collection for me and got about two dollars. 
 This cheered me a g-ood deal. I knew that I would 
 need money if I should ever succeed in getting on. 
 
 ( )n the following evening-, when we reached West 
 l-'ranl<liii. Indiana, wliile the passeng-ers were at tea, 
 aiiotlur l)oat jiushed into port rigiit after ours. Imine- 
 (iiat(,ly a gentleman passenger came to me hurriedlv 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 83 
 and whispered to me to go down stairs, jump out on 
 the bow of the other boat, and g-o ashore. I was 
 alarmed, but obeyed, for I felt that he was a friend to 
 slaves. I went out as quietly as I could, and was not 
 missed until I had g-otten on shore. Then I heard 
 the alarm g-iven that the boy was g-one — that the 
 runaway was g-one. But I sped on, and did not stop 
 until I had run throug-h the villag-e, and had come to 
 a road that led right into the country. I took this 
 road and went on until I had gone four or live miles, 
 when I came to a farm house. Before reaching it, 
 however, I met two men on horseback, on their way 
 to the village. They passed on without specially 
 noticing me, and I kept on my way until reaching the 
 farmhouse. I was so hungry, I went in and asked 
 for food. While I was eating, the men whom I had 
 met rode up. They had been to the village, and, 
 learning that a runaway slave was wanted, and 
 remembering meeting me, they returned in hot haste, 
 in hope of finding me and securing the reward. They 
 hallooed to the people in the house, an old woman 
 and her daughter, whom they seemed to know, 
 saying: " There is a runaway nigger out, who stole 
 off a boat this evening." The old lady said, " Come," 
 
84 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 becoming- frig^htened at once. When the}' came in 
 they beg-an to question me. I trembled all over but 
 answered them. They said: "You are the fellow 
 we want, who ran off the boat." I was too scared to 
 den}' it; so I owned I was on the boat, and stole off. 
 They did not tarry long-, but, taking- me with them, 
 they went, about a mile and a half, to their house. 
 They planned and talked all the way, and one said: 
 "We are g-ood for $75.00 for him an}' waw" The 
 next morning- they took me into the villag-e. They 
 soon found out that the eng-ineer, by order of the 
 captain, had stayed over to search for me. A lawsuit 
 followed, and I was taken before the mag-istrate before 
 the eng-ineer could g-et possession of me. There was 
 a leg-al course that had to be g-one throug-h with. A 
 lawyer, Fox by name, furnished the $75.00 for the 
 men who had caug-ht me. That part of the case being- 
 settled. Fox and the eng-ineer started for Evansville, 
 Ind., that same nig-ht. Upon arriving- there, Fox re- 
 ceived from the captain of the boat the money he had 
 advancc'd to llie men who caug-ht me; and we went 
 on, arriving- at Ivouisville, Kv., the next tlav. I was 
 then taken again l)erore a mag-istrate, bv the captain, 
 when the loliuwing- statement was read bv that 
 oiru-ial: 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 85 
 
 " Captain Montgomery broug-lit forth a boy, and said he 
 is the property of Edniiuid McGee, of Memphis, Tenn. Come 
 forth owner, and prove property, for after the boy shall re- 
 main in jail six months he shall be sold to pay jail feed." 
 
 Mr. McGee was informed of my whereabouts, and 
 it was not long" before he and his cousin came to g"et 
 me. When they came, I was called up by the nick- 
 name they had g-iven me, " Memphis." " Come out 
 here, 'Memphis,'" said the turnkey, "your master 
 has come for you." I went down stairs to the office, 
 and found Boss waiting- for me. "Hello, Lou!" 
 said he, " what are you doing" here, you dogf? " I was 
 so frig-htened I said nothing". Of course, some few 
 words were passed between him and the officers. I 
 heard him say that I was a smart fellow, and he could 
 not tell why I had run away; that he had always 
 treated me well. This was to impress the officers with 
 the idea that he was not unkind to his slaves. The 
 slave-holders all hated to be classed as bad task- 
 masters. Yet nearly all of them were. The clothes 
 I wore were jail property, and he could not take me 
 away in them; so we started to g"o up town to g"et 
 others. As we passed out the jailor, Buckhanon, said: 
 "Ain't you going- to put hand-cuffs on him? " " Oh, 
 
86 THIKTY YEARS A SIvAVE. 
 
 no! " said Boss. After I was taken to the store and 
 fitted with a new suit of clothes, he broug-ht me back 
 to the jail, where I washed m3'self and put on the 
 new g-arments. When all was complete, and I seemed 
 to suit master's fastidious e3'e, he took me to the Gault 
 House, where he was stopping-. In the evening we 
 started for home, and reached Memphis the following 
 da}-. Boss did not flog me, as I expected, but sent me 
 to my regular routine work. We had been in this new 
 home so short a time he did not want it to be rumored 
 that he whipped his slaves, he was so stylish and rich. 
 But the madam was filled with rage, although she did 
 not say much. I think the}' saw that I was no longer a 
 child — they feared I would g-o again. But after I had 
 been home some three or four weeks, Madam Sarah 
 commenced her old tricks attempting to whip me, 
 box my jaws and |)inch me. If any little thing was 
 not i)leasing to her at meal time, it was a special de- 
 light for her to reach out, when I drew near to her 
 to i»ass sonu'lhing-, and give me a blow with her hand. 
 Truh it was a monstrous domestic institution that 
 not only tolerated, l)ut fostered, such an exhibition of 
 table manners bv a woul(l-l)e tine lady such vulgar 
 spite and cruelty! 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 87 
 MY SECOND RUNAWAY TRIP. 
 
 About three months after my first attempt to get 
 away, I thought I would try it ag-ain. I went to 
 Memphis, and saw a boat at the landing-, called the 
 John Lirozey, a Cincinnati packet. This boat carried 
 the mail. She had come into port in the morning-, 
 and was being- unloaded. I went aboard in the after- 
 noon and jumped down into the hull. Boss had been 
 there in the fore part of the afterooon inquiring- for 
 me, but I did not know it then. After I had been in the 
 boat some time, the men commenced loading- it. I 
 crept up in the corner and hid myself. At first two 
 or three hundred dry and g-reen hides were thrown in, 
 and these hid me; but later on two or three tiers of 
 cotton bales were put in the center of the hull, and, 
 when the boat started, I g-ot upon the top of these, 
 and lay there. I could hear the people talking- above 
 me, but it was so dark I could not see anything-— it 
 was dark as a dung-eon. I had lain there two nig-hts 
 and beg-an to g-et so weak and faint I could stand it no 
 long-er. For some reason the boat did not start the 
 day I went aboard, consequently, I had not g-otten as 
 far from home as I expected, and my privations had 
 larg-ely been in vain. Despairing and hungry, on the 
 
88 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 third day, I commenced howling- and screaming-, hop- 
 ing- that some one would hear me, and come to my re- 
 lief, for almost anything- else would have been prefer- 
 able to the privation and hung-er from which I was 
 suffering-. But I could make no one hear, at least no 
 one paid an}- attention to m}- screams, if they did 
 hear. In the evening-, however, one of the deck 
 hands came in with a lantern to look around and see 
 everything^ was all rig-ht. I saw the lig-lit and fol- 
 lowed him out, but I had been out of my hiding- onl}- 
 a short time when I was discovered b}' a man who 
 took me up stairs to the captain. It was an effort for 
 me to walk up stairs, as I was weak and faint, having- 
 neither eaten nor drank anything- for three days. 
 This boat was crowded with passeng-ers, and it was 
 soon a scene of confusion. I was placed in the pilot's 
 room for safet}-, until we arrived at a small town in 
 Kentucky called Monroe. I was put off here to be 
 kept until the packet came l)ack from Cincinnati. 
 Then I was carried back to Memphis, arriving- about 
 one (/clock at nig-ht, and, for safe keeping-, was put 
 into what was called the calaboose. This was es- 
 pecially for the keeping- of slaves who had run away 
 and Ijeen cauulit. Word was sent to Boss of my 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 89 
 
 capture; and the next morning' Thomas Bland, a fel- 
 low servant of mine, was sent to take me home. I 
 can not tell how I felt, for the only thoug^ht that came 
 to me was that I should g^et killed. The madam met 
 us as we drove into the yard. " Ah! " she said to me, 
 "you put up at the wrong- hotel, sir." I was taken 
 to the barn where stocks had been prepared, beside 
 which were a cowhide and a pail of salt water, all 
 prepared for me. It was terrible, but there was no es- 
 cape. I was fastened in the stocks, my clothing re- 
 moved, and the whipping- beg-an. Boss whipped me a 
 while, then he sat down and read his paper, after 
 which the whip^ping- was resumed. This continued 
 for two hours. Fastened as I was in the stocks, I 
 could only stand and take lash after lash, as long- as 
 he desired, the terrible rawhide cutting- into m}' flesh 
 at every stroke. Then he used peach tree switches, 
 which crp.cked the flesh so the blood oozed out. After 
 this came the paddle, two and a half feet long- and 
 three inches wide. Salt and water was at once ap- 
 plied to wash the wounds, and the smarting^ was 
 maddening. This torture was common among- the 
 southern planters. God only knows what I suffered 
 under it all, and He alone gave me streng-th to endure 
 
90 THIRTY YEARS A vSLAVE- 
 
 it. I could hardly move after the terrible ordeal was 
 finished, and could scarcely' bear my clothes to touch 
 me at first, so sore was my whole body, and it was 
 weeks before I was myself again. 
 
 PREACHING TO THE SLAVES. 
 
 As an offset, probably, to such diabolical cruelties 
 as those which were practiced upon me in common 
 with nearly all the slaves in the cotton reg-ion of the 
 south, it was the custcmi in the section of country 
 where I lived to have the white minister preach to the 
 servants Sunday afternoon, after the morning- service 
 for the whites. The white people hired the minister 
 1)y the year to preach for them at their church. Then 
 he had to preach to each master's slaves in turn. The 
 circuit was made once a month, but there was service 
 of some kind every Sunday. The slaves on some 
 places gathered in the yard, at others in the white 
 folks' school liouses, and the}' all seemed pleased and 
 eag"er to hear the word of Ood. It was a strong- evi- 
 dence of their native intelligence and discrimination 
 that they could discern the difference between the 
 truths of the "word" and the professed i)raclice of 
 those truths by their masters. My Boss took priile in 
 having- all liis slaves look clean anv tidy at the Sab- 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 91 
 
 bath service; but how would he have liked to have the 
 slaves, with backs lacerated with the lash, appear in 
 those assemblies with their wounds uncovered? The 
 question can never be answered. The master and 
 most of his victims have g"one where professions of 
 rig-hteousness will not avail to cover the barbarities 
 practised here. 
 
 A FAMILY OF FREE PERSONS SOLD INTO SLAVERY. 
 
 M}' wife Matilda was born in Fayette count}-, 
 Kentuck}-, June 17th, 1830. It seems that her mother 
 and her seven children were to have been free accord- 
 ing- to the old Pennsylvania law. There were two 
 uncles of the family who were also to have been free, 
 but who had been kept over time; so they sued for 
 their freedom, and gained it. The lawyers in the 
 case were abolitionists and friends to the slaves, and 
 saw that these men had justice. After they had 
 secured their freedom, they entered suit for my wife's 
 mother, their sister, and her seven children. But as 
 soon as the brothers entered this suit, Robert Logan, 
 who claimed my wife's mother and her children as his 
 slaves, put them into a trader's yard in Lexington; 
 and, when he saw that there was a possibilit}- of their 
 being successful in securing their freedom, he put 
 
92 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 them in jail, to be "sold down the river/' This was 
 a deliberate attempt to keep them from their rights, 
 tor he knew that they were to have been set free, 
 many vears before; and this fact was known to all the 
 neig-hborhood. My wafe's mother was born free, her 
 mother, having- passed the allotted time under a law, 
 had been free for many years. Yet they kept her 
 children as slaves, in plain violation of law as well as 
 justice. The children of free persons under southern 
 laws were free — this was always admitted. The 
 course of Logan in putting the family in jail, for safe 
 keeping until they could be sent to the southern 
 market, was a tacit admission that he had no legal 
 hold upon them. Woods and Collins, a couple of 
 "nigger traders," were collecting a "drove" of 
 slaves for Memphis, about this time, and, when they 
 were ready to start, all the family were sent off with 
 the gang; and, when they arrived in Memphis, they 
 were put in the traders" yard of Nathan Bedford 
 Forrest. This Forrest afterward i)ecame a general in 
 the rebi'l .irinw and commanded at the capture of 
 ^^)rt I'illow; and, in liarmi>nv with the debasing 
 inllueiices of his earlv l)Usiiiess, he was responsible 
 for the fundish massacre of negroes after the capture 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 93 
 of the fort— an act which will make his name forever 
 infamous. None of this famil}- were sold to the same 
 person except mj' wife and one sister. All the rest 
 were sold to different persons. The elder daug-hter 
 was sold seven times in one day. The reason of this 
 was that the parties that boug-ht her, finding- that she 
 was not legally a slave, and that they could g-et no 
 written guarantee that she was, g-ot rid of her as 
 soon as possible. It seems that those w^ho boug-ht 
 the other members of the family were not so particu- 
 lar, and were willing- to run the risk. They knew 
 that such thing-s — such outrag-es upon law and 
 justice — were common. Among- these was my Boss, 
 who bought two of the girls, Matilda and her sister 
 Mary Ellen. Matilda was bought for a cook; her 
 sister was a present to Mrs. Farrington, his wife's 
 sister, to act as her maid and seamstress. Aunt 
 Delia, who had been cook, was given another branch 
 of work to do, and Matilda was installed as cook. I 
 remember well the day she came. The madam 
 g-reeted her, and said: " Well, what can you do, g-irl? 
 Have you ever done any cooking? Where are you 
 from? " Matilda was, as I remember her, a sad 
 picture to look at. She had been a slave, it is true, 
 
04 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE, 
 
 but held seen g-ood days to what the slaves down the 
 river saw. An}- one could see she was almost heart- 
 broken — she never seemed happy. Days g-rew into 
 weeks and weeks into months, but the same routine 
 of work went on. 
 
 MY MARRIAGE — BIRTH OF TWINS. 
 
 Matilda had been there three years when I married 
 her. The Boss had always promised that he would 
 o^ive me a nice wedding-, and he kept his word. He 
 was very proud, and liked praise. The wedding- that 
 he g-ave us was indeed a pleasant one. All the slaves 
 from their neig-hbor acijuaintances were invited. One 
 thing Boss did was a credit to him, but it was rare 
 among- slave-holders — he had me married bv their 
 parish minister. It was a beautiful evening", the 3()th 
 of November, 1S58, when Matilda and I stood in the 
 parlor of tlie McCiee house and were solemnly made 
 man and wife. Old Master Jack came up from Panola 
 at that time, and was there when the ceremonv was 
 jierformed. As he looked through his lingers at us, 
 lie was overheard saying: " It will ruin them, givin 
 wcdiiis-wedins." Things went on as usual after this. 
 The madam grrw more irrital)le and exacting, ahvavs 
 linding fault wilh the serxants. \vliii»ping them, or 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 95 
 
 threatening- to do so, upon the slightest provocation, 
 or none at all. There was something" in m}^ wife's 
 manner, however, which kept the madam from whip- 
 ping her — an open or implied threat perhaps that 
 such treatment would not be endured without resis- 
 tance or protest of some kind. This the madam 
 regarded as a g-reat indignity, and she hated my wife 
 for it, and, at times, was ready to crush her, so great 
 was her anger. In a year there were born to us twin 
 babies; and the madam now thought she had my wife 
 tied, as the babies would be a barrier to anything like 
 resistance on her part, and there would be no dang-er 
 of her running away. She, therefore, thought that 
 she could enjoy, without hindrance, the privileg-e of 
 beating the woman of whose womanhood she had 
 theretofore stood somewhat in fear. 
 
 madam's cruelty to my wife and children. 
 
 Boss said from the first that I should give my wife 
 assistance, as she needed time to care for the babies. 
 Really he was not as bad as the madam at heart, for 
 she tried to see how hard she could be on us. She 
 gave me all the extra work to do that she could think 
 of, apparently to keep me from helping my wife in 
 the kitchen. She had all the cooking- to do for three 
 
% THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 heav}^ meals each da}', all the washings and ironing' of 
 the finest clothes, besides caring- for the babies be- 
 tween times. In the morning she would nurse the 
 babies, then hurr}- off to the kitchen to get breakfast 
 while they were left in charge of a little girl. Again 
 at noon she repeated her visit to the babies, after 
 cooking the dinner, then in the evening, after supper, 
 she would go to nurse them again. After supper was 
 over, dishes all washed and kitchen in order, she 
 would then go to the little ones for the night. One 
 can see that she had very little time with the children. 
 My heart was sore and heavy, for my wife was almost 
 run to death with work. The children grew puny 
 and sickly for want of i)roper care. The doctor said 
 it was because the milk the mother nursed to them 
 was so heated by her constant and excessive labors as to 
 be unwholesome, and she never had time to cool be- 
 fore ministering to them. So the little things, in- 
 stead of thriving and developing, as was their right, 
 dwindled toward the inevitable end. Oh I we were 
 wretched our hearts ached for a day which we could 
 call our own. My wife was a Christian, and hail 
 learned to know the worth of praver, so would 
 always speak consolingly. "God will lu-lp us." she 
 
SOCIAIv AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 97 
 said: " let us try and be patient." Our trial went on, 
 until one morning- I heard a g-reat fuss in the house, 
 the madam calling- for the yard man to come and tie 
 ray wife, as she could not manag-e her. My wife had 
 always refused to allow the madam to whip her; but 
 now, as the babies were here, mistress thoug-ht she 
 would try it once more. Matilda resisted, and madam 
 called for Boss. In a minute he came, and, g-rabbing- 
 my wife, commenced choking- her, saying- to her: 
 "What do you mean? Is that the way you talk to 
 ladies? " My wife had only said to her mistress: 
 "You shall not whip me." This made her furious, 
 hence her call for Boss. I was in the dining room, 
 and could hear everything-. My blood boiled in my 
 veins to see my wife so abused; yet I dare not open 
 my mouth. After the fuss, my wife went straight to 
 the laundry. I followed her there, and found her 
 bundling- up her babies' clothes, which were washed 
 but not ironed. I knew at a g-lance that she was 
 g-oing- away. Boss had just gone to the city; and I 
 did not know what to say, but I told her to do the best 
 she could. Often when company came and I held the 
 horses, or did an errand for them, they would tip me 
 to a quarter or half a dollar. This money I always 
 
98 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 saved, and so had a little cliang-e, which I now gave 
 to Matilda, for her use in her effort to get away from 
 her cruel treatment. She started at once for Forrest's 
 trader's yards, with the babies in her arms and, after 
 she got into Memphis, she stopped outside the yard to 
 rest. While she was sitting on the curb stone, For- 
 rest came out of the yard by the back gate and saw 
 her. Coming up to her he said: " My God! Matilda, 
 what are you doing here? Vou have changed so I 
 would not have known you. Why have 3'ou come 
 here? " Matilda said: '' I came back here to be sold 
 again." He stepped back and called another " nigger 
 trader," Collins by name, from Kentucky. " Look 
 here," said Forrest, pointing to m}' wife. Collins 
 took in the situation at once and said he would l)uy 
 luT and tlie children. " That woman is of a good 
 family," said he, "and was only sold to prevent her 
 from getting her freedom." She was then taken into 
 the yard. " Oh! " said Forrest. "I know these Mc- 
 (iees. they are hard ct)lts." Word was then sent Mc- 
 (lee that his cook was in the vard and had come to be 
 sold. Ill,' went in haste to the vard. C'ollins offered 
 to 1)U\' hrr, l»ut Mciiee saitl no man's monev couhl buv 
 that woiiKiii and Ikt children. I raised hcv husl)and 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 99 
 and I would not separate them. She was broug-ht 
 back, and as they rode along- in the rockaway, Boss 
 said: "When I am through with you I guess you 
 won't run away again." As they drove up I seiw the 
 madam go running out to meet them. She shouted to 
 Matilda: "Ah! madam, you put up at the wrong- 
 hotel." They at once went to the barn where my 
 wife was tied to the joist, and Boss and the madam 
 beat her by turns. After they had finished the whip- 
 ping, Boss said, tauntingly: " Now I am buying you 
 and selling you — I want you to know that I never 
 shall sell you while my head and yours is hot." I was 
 trembling from head to foot, for I was powerless to 
 do anything for her. My twin babies lived only six 
 months after that, not having had the care they 
 needed, and which it was impossible for their mother 
 to give them while performing the almost endless 
 labor required of her, under threats of cruel beatings. 
 One day not long after our babies were buried the 
 madam followed my wife to the smoke house and said : 
 " I am tempted to take that knife from you, Matilda, 
 and cut you in two. You and old Ruben (one of the 
 slaves) went all around the neig-hborhood and told the 
 people that I killed your babies, and almost whipped 
 
100 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE- 
 
 you to death." Of course, when the slaves were ac- 
 cused falsely, as in this case, they were not allowed 
 to make any reply — they just had to endure in silence 
 whatever was said. 
 
 p:ffokts to leakx to kead and write. 
 Thomas, the coachman, and I were fast friends. 
 We used to g-et together every time we had a chance and 
 talk about freedom. " Oh! " Tom would say, " if I 
 could only write." I remember when Tom first beg-an 
 to take lessons at night from some plasterers, work- 
 men of the neighborhood. They saw that he was so 
 anxious to learn that they promised to teach him 
 every evening- if he would slip out to their house. I, 
 too, was eager to learn to read and write, but did not 
 have the opportunity which Tom had of g-etting out 
 at night. I had to sleep in the house where the folks 
 were, and could not go out without bein^ observed, 
 while Tom had (juarters in another part of the es- 
 tablishment, and could slip out unobserved. Tom, 
 however, consoled me by saying that he would teach 
 me as soon as he knew how. So Tom one night put 
 a coj)v of some ligures on the side of the barn lor me 
 to jdMctici' from. I took the chalk and imitated him 
 as near as I couhl, l)Ul my wt)rk was jjoor besiiK' his. 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY, loi 
 as he had been learning- for some months, and could 
 make the fig-ures quite well and write a little. Still I 
 kept trying-. Tom encouraging me and telling me 
 that I would learn in time. "Just keep trying," 
 said he. When this first lesson was over, I forgot to 
 rub out the marks on the barn, and the next morning 
 when Old Master Jack, who happened to be at our 
 home just at that time, went out there and saw the 
 copy and my imitation of it, he at once raised great 
 excitement by calling attention to the rude characters 
 and wanting to know who had done that. I was 
 afraid to own that I had done it; but old Master Jack 
 somehow surmised that it was Tom or I, for he said 
 to Boss: "Edmund, you must watch those fellows, 
 Louis and Thomas, if you don't they will get spoilt- 
 spoilt. They are pretty close to town here— here." 
 Tom and I laughed over this a good deal and how 
 easily we slipped out of it, but concluded not to stop 
 trying to learn all we could. Tom always said: 
 " Lou, I am going to be a free man yet, then we will 
 need some education; no, let us never stop trying to 
 learn." Tom was a Virginian, as I was, and was sold 
 from his parents when a mere lad. Boss used to 
 write to his parents (owners) occasionally, that his 
 
102 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 people mig-ht hear from him. The letters were to his 
 mother, but sent in care of the white folks. Tom 
 had prot^ressed very fast in his secret studies, and 
 could write enoug-h to frame a letter. It seems it had 
 been over a year since Boss had written for him, but 
 nothing- was said until one morning I heard Boss tel- 
 ling Tom to come to the barn to be whipped. He 
 showed Tom three letters which he had written to his 
 mother, and this so startled him that he said nothing". ~ 
 I listened breathlessly to each word Boss said: 
 "Where did you learn to write?" asked he, "and 
 when did you learn? How long- have you been writ- 
 ing- to your mother?" At that moment he produced 
 the three letters which Tom had written. Boss, it / 
 seems, had mistrusted something-, and spoke to the 
 postmaster, telling- him to stop any letters which Tom 
 mig-ht mail for Virginia to his mother. The post- 
 master did as directed, for slaves had no rig-hts which 
 postmasters were l)ound to respect; hence, the letters 
 fell into the master's liands instead of going to their 
 destination. Tom, not hearing from his first letter, 
 wrote a second, then a third, never dreaming" that 
 thev had been intercepteil. Boss raged and Tom was 
 scveri'lv whipped. After this nothing Tom did 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 103 
 
 pleased any of the family — it was a continual pick on 
 him. Everything- was wrong- with both of us, for 
 the}' were equally hard on me. They mistrusted, I 
 think, that I could write; yet I could not find out just 
 what they did think. 
 
 TO^[ STKIKES FOR IJBERTY AND GAINS IT, 
 
 Tom starved onl}- a few weeks after this. He said 
 to me, one morning-: " Lou, I am g-oing- away. If I 
 can g-et a boat to-nig-ht that is starting- off, why, I am 
 g-one from this place." I was sad to see him g-o, for 
 he was like a brother to me — he was my companion 
 and friend. He went, and was just in time to catch 
 the boat at the Memphis dock. He succeeded in 
 g-etting- on, and made an application to the captain to 
 work on the boat. The captain did not hesitate to 
 employ him, as it was common for slaves to be per- 
 mitted to hire themselves out for wag-es which they 
 were required to return, in whole or in part, to their 
 masters. Of course all such slaves carried a written 
 pass to this effect. Tom was shrewd; and, having- 
 learned to write fairly well, he wrote himself a pass, 
 which was of the usual kind, stating- his name, to 
 whom he belong-ed, and that he was privileg-ed to 
 hire himself out wherever he could, coming- and going- 
 
104 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 as he pleased. Where the slave was an exceptional 
 one, and where the owner had only two or three 
 slaves, a pass would readily be g-iven to hire himself 
 out, or hire his own time, as it was g-enerally called, 
 he being- required to turn over to his master a certain 
 amount of his earnings, each month or week, and to 
 make a report to his master of his whereabouts and 
 receipts. Sometimes the slave would be required to 
 turn in to his master a certain sum, as, for instance, 
 llfty or one hundred dollars a year; and he would 
 have to earn that before he could use anv of his earn- 
 ings for himself. If he was a mechanic he would 
 have little trouble in doing this, as the wages of such 
 were often (juite liberal. This kind of a pass was 
 rarel^y, if ever, given bv the planters having large 
 numbers of slaves. Another kind of pass read some- 
 thing like this: "Pass my bov or mv girl," as the 
 case might l)e. the name being- attached. These were 
 only given to permit the slave to go from the farm of 
 his own master to thai of another. Some men had 
 wives or chil(lri.'n belonging on neiglil)oring fai'ms, 
 and would bi,' given ])asses to visit them. Without 
 siuli a pass tlu'v were liablr to Ite stopped and turned 
 back to their lionirs. 'I'luTt.' was, howe\er. a good 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER AvSPECTS OF SLAVERY. 105 
 
 deal of visiting- without passes, but it was ag-ainst the 
 general rule which required them; and any slave 
 leaving- home without a pass was liable to punishment 
 if discovered. On our plantation passes were never 
 given, but the slaves did visit in the neighborhood, 
 notwithstanding, and would sometimes slip into town 
 at night. Tom had in this wa}- seen the pass of a 
 neighboring slave to hire out; and it was from this he 
 learned the form from which he wrote his, and which 
 opened his way to freedom. Upon reading Tom's 
 pass, the captain did not hesitate, but hired him at 
 once; and Tom worked his way to New Orleans, to 
 which city the boat was bound. In the meantime 
 Boss took me and we drove to numerous stations, 
 where he telegraphed ahead for his run-away bo}' 
 Tom. But Tom reached New Orleans without hind- 
 rance, and there fell in with the steward of a Boston 
 steamer, and, getting aboard of it, was soon on the 
 ocean, on his way to that city where were so many 
 friends of the slave. Arriving there he made his way 
 to Canada; which was, for so many generations, the 
 only land of freedom attainable to American slaves. 
 NEWS OF Tom's reaching canada. 
 Now that Tom was gone, excitement prevailed at 
 
106 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 the house among' the white folks — nothing had been 
 heard of him or the method of his escape. All the 
 servants expected that he would be caught, and I was 
 alarmed ever}- time Boss came from the cit}', fearing 
 that he had news that Tom was caught. He had been 
 g"one about six months, when, one morning, I went to 
 the j)ost()ftice and l)rought back a letter. It seemed to 
 me that I felt that it contained something unusual, 
 but T did not know what it was. It proved to be a 
 letter from Tom to Boss. The}- did not intend that 
 the servants should know it was from Tom, but one 
 of the house maids heard them reading it, and came 
 out and told us. She whispered: " Tom is free; he 
 has gone to Canada; Boss read it in the letter Lou 
 brought." This news cheered me, and made me eager 
 to get away; but I never heard from him any more 
 initil alter the rebellion. Tom gone made my duties 
 more. I now had to drive the carriage, but Uncle 
 Madison was kept at the ])arn to do the work there, 
 and hitch uj) llie team I only had to drive when the 
 iamil V went out. 
 
 iNfcKi"; Rxpi';cTS to CAPTI-KIv TOM. 
 In tlu' suiunuT the McCtccs made uj" their minds to 
 go <lown east, and come around by Niagara Kails, for 
 
SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 107 
 this was the place from which Tom had written them. 
 Boss had great confidence in himself, and did not 
 doubt his ability to take Tom home with him if he 
 should meet him, even thoug-h it should be in Canada. 
 So he took a pair of handcuffs with him as a prepar- 
 ation for the enterprise. His 3'oung- nephew had been 
 to Niag-ara Falls, and seen and talked with Tom; but 
 Boss said if he had seen him anj^where he would have 
 laid hands on him, at once, and taken him home, at 
 all hazards. 
 
 MAKING CLOTHES. 
 
 When the family went on this visit down east I 
 was left in charg-e of the house, and was expected to 
 keep everything- in order, and also to make the winter 
 clothes for the farm hands. The madam and I had 
 cut out these clothes before she left, and it was m}^ 
 principal duty to run the sewing- machine in their 
 manufacture. Many whole days I spent in this work. 
 My wife made the button holes and sewed on the 
 buttons. I made hundreds of sacks for use in picking- 
 cotton. This work was always done in summer. 
 When the g-arments were all finished they were ship- 
 ped to the farm at Bolivar, to be ready for the fall and 
 winter wear. In like manner the clothes for summer 
 use were made in winter. 
 
108 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 A SUPEKSTITION. 
 
 It was the custom in those days for slaves to carr}- 
 voo-doo bag-s. It was handed down from g-eneration 
 to g-eneration; and, thoug-h it was one of the super- 
 stitions of a barbarous ancestry, it was still very 
 g"enerally and tenacious!}- held to by all classes. I 
 carried a little bag-, which I g-ot from an old slave who 
 claimed that it had power to prevent any one who 
 carried it from being" whipped. It was made of 
 leather, and contained roots, nuts, pins and some other 
 things. The claim that it would prevent the folks 
 from whipping" me so much, I found, was not sustained 
 by my experience — m\- whippings came just the same. 
 Man}^ of the servants were thoroug"h believers in it, 
 though, and carried these bag"s all the time. 
 
 MEMPHIS AND ITS COMMERCIAL IMl'OKTANCIv. 
 
 The cit}- of Memphis, from its hig'h bluff on the 
 Mississippi, overlooks the surrounding" countr}' for a 
 long distance. The muddy waters of the river, when 
 at a low stage, lap the ever crumbling banks that 
 yearly change, yielding to new deflections of the cur- 
 rent. \'\)V hundreds of miles below there is a highly 
 interesting and rarely l)r(>ken series of forests, cane 
 brakes and sand bars, covered with masses of willows 
 

SOCIAL AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 109 
 
 and poplars which, in the spring", when the floods 
 come down, are overflowed for many miles back. It 
 was found necessary to run embankments practically 
 parallel with the current, in order to confine the 
 waters of the river in its channel. Memphis was and 
 is the most important city of Tenessee, indeed, the 
 most important between St. Louis and New Orleans, 
 particularly from the commercial point of view. Cot- 
 ton was the principal product of the territory tribu- 
 tary to it. The street running- along- the bluff was 
 called Front Row, and was filled with stores and busi- 
 ness houses. This street was the principal cotton 
 market, and here the article which, in those days, was 
 personified as the commercial " king-," was boug-ht 
 and sold, and whence it was shipped, or stored, await- 
 ing an advancing price. The completion of the Mem- 
 phis and Charleston railroad was a g-reat event in the 
 history of the city. It was termed the marriag-e of 
 the Mississippi and the Atlantic, and was celebrated 
 with a g-reat popular demonstration, people coming- 
 from the surrounding- country for many miles. Water 
 was brought from the Atlantic ocean and poured into 
 the river; and water taken from the river and poured 
 into the Atlantic at Charleston. It was anticipated 
 
110 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 that this railroad connection between the two cities 
 would make of Charleston the g-reat shipping- port, 
 and of Memphis the principal cotton market of the 
 southwest. The expectation in neither of these cases 
 has been fully realized. Boss, in common with 
 planters and business men througfhout that whole 
 rej^-ion, was g-reatl}' excited. I attended him and thus 
 had the opportunity of witnessing^ this notable cele- 
 bration. 
 
^'^.<^:'^''''li^^^fmiP'm3m'-*^ 'mss»iBmmx*>-.i^:^;y'^rr<:v-rsi 
 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, 
 
 BEGINNING OF THE WAR. 
 
 I remember well when Abraham Lincoln was 
 elected. Boss and the madam had been reading- the 
 papers, when he broke out with the exclamation: 
 " The very idea of electing- an old rail splitter to the 
 presidency of the United States! Well he'll never 
 take his seat." When Lincoln was inaug-urated, Boss, 
 old Master Jack and a g-reat company of men met at 
 our house to discuss the matter, and they were wild 
 with excitement. Was not this excitement an admis- 
 sion that their confidence in their ability to whip the 
 Yankees, five or six to one, was not so strong as they 
 pretended? 
 
 The war had been talked of for some time, but at 
 last it came. When the rebels fired upon Fort Sump- 
 ter, then g-reat excitement arose. The next da}- when 
 I drove Boss to town, he went into the store of one 
 Williams, a mei;,chant, and when he came out, he 
 
112 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 stepped to the carriage, and said: " What do you 
 think? Old Abraham Lincoln has called for four 
 hundred thousand men to come to Washing-ton im- 
 mediatel}'. Well, let them come; we will make a 
 breakfast of them. I can whip a half dozen Yankees 
 with my pocket knife." This was the chief topic 
 everywhere. Soon after this Boss boug^ht himself a 
 six shooter. I had to mould the bullets for him, and 
 every afternoon he would g^o out to practice. By his 
 direction, I fixed a larg-e piece of white paper on the 
 back fence, and in the center of it put a larg^e black 
 dot. At this mark he would tire away, expecting- to 
 hit it; but he did not succeed well. He would some- 
 times miss the fence entirely, the ball g-oino^ out into 
 the woods beyond. Each time he would shoot I would 
 liavc to run down to the fence to see how near he 
 came to the mark. When he came very near to it — 
 within an inch or so, he would say laug^hing-lv: *' Ah! 
 1 would have- g-ot liini that time."" (Meaning* a 
 Yankee soldit^T. \ TIutc was something- verv ludicrous 
 in this ])i>l(il practice ol a man who l)oastetl that he 
 could wliip hall a do/en Yankees with a jacknife. 
 Ivvi-ry day for a month this husiness, so tii\'sonie to 
 nie. went tni. IIdss was verv hraxe until it came time 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 113 
 for him to g-o to war, when his courag-e oozed out, and 
 he sent a substitute; he remaining- at home as a 
 "home guard." One day when I came back with the 
 papers from the city, the house was soon ringing- with 
 cries of victory. Boss said: " Why, that was a great 
 battle at Bull Run. If our men had only known, at 
 lirst, what they afterwards found out, they would 
 have wiped all the Yankees out, and succeeded in tak- 
 ing- Washington." 
 
 PETTY DISRESPECT TO THE EMBLEM OF THE UNION. 
 
 Right after the bombardment of Fort Sumpter, 
 they broug-ht to Memphis the Union flag- that floated 
 over the fort. There was a g-reat jubilee in celebra- 
 tion of this. Portions of the flag-, no larg-er than a 
 half dollar in paper money, were g-iven out to the 
 wealthy people, and these evidences of their treason 
 were long- preserved as precious treasures. Boss had 
 one of these pieces which he kept a long- time; but, as 
 the rebel cause waned these reminders of its begin- 
 ning- were less and less seen, and if any of them are 
 now in existence, it is not likely that their possessors 
 will take any pride in exposing- them to view. 
 
 As the war continued we would, now and then, 
 hear of some slave of our neiij:hborhood running- 
 
114 THIRTY YKARS A SLAVE. 
 
 away to the Yankees. It was common when the mes- 
 sag^e of a Union victory came to see the slaves 
 whisperino^ to each other: " We will be free." I 
 tried to catch everything- I could about the war, I was 
 so eag^er for the success of the Union cause. These 
 thing-s went on until 
 
 THE BATTLE OF SHILOH, APKIL *^ 1S()2. 
 
 Boss came hurrying- in one mornin^r, ri^fht after 
 breakfast, calling; to me: " Lou, Lou, come; we have 
 a great victory I I want to g^o up and carr}- the boys 
 something- to eat. I want you and Matilda to g-et 
 something- ready as (quickly as you can." A barrel of 
 flour was rolled into the kitchen, and my wife and I 
 " pitched in " to work, liiscuit, bread, hoe-cake, ham, 
 tong-ue all kinds of meat and bread were rapidly 
 cooked; and, thoug-h the task was a heavv one for my 
 wife and me, we worked steadily; and. about live 
 o'clock in the afternoon the Ihing-s were reaily. One 
 of the large l)askets used to hold cotton was packed 
 lull of these provisions. ()ur limbs ached from the 
 strain o| 11h> work, for we had little help. One reason 
 for the anxiety of the I Joss for the preparation of this 
 jirovision for tlie soldiers was that he knew so nianv 
 in one ot tile compani(.'s, which was known as the 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OE THE REBELLION. 115 
 
 " Como Aveng^ers,'' and he had a son, a nephew and a 
 brother of his wife connected with it; the latter a 
 major on Gen. Martin's staff. On the following- morn- 
 ing- I g-ot up earl}', and hurried with my work to get 
 through, as I had to go to the postofflce. Madam 
 hurried me off, as she expected a letter from her hus- 
 band, who had promised to write, at the earliest mo- 
 ment, of their friends and relatives. I rushed into 
 the city, at full speed, got some letters and a morning 
 paper, and, returning- as rapidly as possible, gave 
 them to her. She g-rasped them eagerly, and 
 commenced reading the paper. In a short time I 
 heard her calling me to come to her. I went in, and 
 she said, in great excitement: " Louis, we want to 
 have you drive us into town, to see the Yankee 
 prisoners, who are coming through, at noon, from 
 Shiloh." I went and told Madison to hitch up, as 
 soon as he could. In the meantime I got m^-self 
 read3% and it was not long before we were off for the 
 city. The madam was accompanied b}- a friend of 
 hers, a Mrs. Oliver. We were at the station in plenty 
 of time. About twelve o'clock the train from Shiloh 
 drew into the station; but the prisoners that were 
 reported to be on board were missing — it proved to be 
 
110 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 a false report. While they were looking for the 
 prisoners, Mrs. Oliver saw Jack, a servant of Edward 
 McGee, brother of madam. "Oh! Look," said Mrs. 
 Oliver, "there is Edward's Jack. Lou, run and call 
 him." In a minute I was off the carriage, leaving the 
 reins in madam's hands. Jack came up to the 
 carriage, and the women began to question him: 
 "Where is vour Master, Ed," asked both of them. 
 "He is in the car. Missis— he is shot in the ankle," 
 said Jack. In a minute the women were crying. "I 
 was going to get a hack," said Jack, " to — " " No, 
 No!" said both of them. " Go, Lou, and help Jack to 
 bring him to our carriage. Vou can drive him more 
 steadily than the hackman." Jack and I went to the 
 car, and helped him out, and after some effort, got 
 liim into our carriage. Then I went and g(U a livery 
 hack to take the women and his baggage home. 
 When we reached home, we found there old Mrs. Jack 
 McGee, mother of the madam, Mrs. Charles Dan- 
 dridge, Mrs. l<\-irrington. sisters of madam, and 
 Fannv, a colored woiiuin. Ivlwanrs housekeeper and 
 mistress a wife in all but name. All of these liatl 
 coine to luar the news of tlie grt.'at battle, for all had 
 near relatives in it. Mrs. Jack McCiee and Mrs. Dr. 
 
SIvAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 117 
 Charles Dandridg-e had each a son in the terrible 
 conflict. 
 
 MOURNING IN MASTER'S FAMILY. 
 
 In the afternoon, when all were seated in the 
 library reading-, and I was in the dining- room, finish- 
 ing- up my work, I happened to look out of the win- 
 dow, and saw a messeng-er coming- up the g-raveled 
 walk. I went out to meet him. "Teleg-ram for Mrs. 
 McGee," he said. I took it to her; and, reading it 
 without a word, she passed it to the next member of 
 the family, and so it v^as passed around until all had 
 read it except Mrs. Dandridge. When it was handed 
 to her, I saw, at a g-lance, that it contained for her 
 the most sorrowful tidings. As she read she became 
 livid, and when she had finished she covered her face 
 with her handkerchief, g"iving- a g-reat, heavy sob. 
 By this time the whole family was crying- and 
 screaming-: "Oh! our Mack is killed." " Mars, Mack 
 is killed," was echoed by the servants, in tones of 
 heart-felt sorrow, for he was an exceptional young- 
 man. Every one loved him — both whites and blacks. 
 The affection of the slaves for him bordered on 
 reverence, and this was true not alone of his father's 
 slaves, but of all those who knew him. This teleg-ram 
 
lis THIRTY YEAKS A SLAVE. 
 
 was from Boss, and announced that he would be home 
 the next day with the remains. Mrs, Farring-ton at 
 once wrote to okl Master Jack and to Dr. Dandridg-e, 
 telling them of Mack's death and to come at once. 
 After I mailed those letters nothing- unusual happened 
 during the afternoon, and the house was wrapped in 
 silence and gloom. On the following morning I went 
 for the mail as usual, but there was nothing new. At 
 noon, Ihe remains of the much loved young man 
 arrived at our station, accompanied bv Boss and Dr. 
 Henrv Dandridge, brother of the father of the de- 
 ceased, who was a surgeou in the rebel army. I went 
 to the station with another servant, to assist in bring" 
 ing the l)ody to the house. We carried it into the 
 l)ack parlor, and, after all had been made ready, we 
 procei'ded to wash and dress it. He had lain on the 
 l)attKrul(l two days l)efore he was found, and his face 
 was black as a piece of coal; but Dr. IIenr\' Dandridge, 
 with his rrady tact, suggested the idea of jKiinting 
 il. 1 was lIuTi' to assist in whatever wav thev needed 
 nir. Alti'r llir l)od\- was all dressed, and the face 
 paiiitrd, chrrks tiiili'd with a rosv hue, to appear as 
 he always did in life, the look was natural and hand- 
 some. Wv wiM\' all tlu' altrrntion eniploved in this 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 119 
 sad work, and it was not until late in the evening- 
 that his father and mother came down to view the 
 body for the first time. I remember, as they came 
 down the broad stairs tog-ether, the sorrow-stricken 
 yet calm look of those two people. Mrs. Dandridge 
 was very calm — her grief was too g-reat for her to 
 scream as the others did when they went in. She 
 stood and looked at her Mack; then turning to Boss, 
 she said: " Cousin Eddie, how brave he was! He died 
 for his country." Poor, sorrowing, misguided woman! 
 It was not for his country he died, but for the per- 
 petuation of the cruel, the infamous system of human 
 slavery. All the servants were allowed to come in 
 and view the body. Many sad tears were shed by 
 them. Some of the older slaves clasped their hands, 
 as if in mute prayer, and exclaimed, as they passed 
 by the coffin: " He was a lovin boy." It seems that 
 all his company but five or six were killed. At an 
 early hour next morning the funeral party started for 
 the home in Panola, where the body of the lamented 
 young man, sacrificed to an unholy cause, was buried, 
 at the close of the same day. 
 
 Edward stayed at our house some six weeks, his 
 ankle was so slow in getting well. At the end of 
 
120 THIRTY YEARvS A SLAVE. 
 
 that time, he could walk with the aid of crutches, and 
 he took Fanny and went home. 
 
 ALARM OF THE .MEMPHIS REBEL.S. 
 
 Not long- after this the people were very much 
 worked up over the military situation. The Yankees 
 had taken Nashville, and had beg-un to bombard Fort 
 Pillow. The officials of the Memphis and Ohio rail- 
 road compan}^ became alarmed at the condition of 
 things, fearing for the safety of their stock. The offi- 
 cers, therefore, set about devising- some plan by which 
 they mig-ht g-et the cars down on the Memphis and 
 Jackson road, where they imag-ined their property 
 would be safe from the now terrible Yankees. The 
 railroad officials at once set to work to buy the rig-ht 
 of way through Main street, to give them the con- 
 nection with the southern road named. At first it 
 was refused l)y the city authorities, but finally the 
 right of way was granted. When, however, the rail- 
 road nu'ii beg-an to lay the ties and rails, the people 
 grrw furious. Some tied at once, for thev imagined 
 that this act of tlu' railroad officials indicated that 
 the Yankees must !)(,■ coming ]>retty near, lioss be- 
 came so excited, ai tills time, that he almost felt like 
 going awav too. The family jf-rew more and more 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 121 
 
 uneasy; and it was the continual talk: " We must 
 gfet away from Memphis. The companies are already 
 moving- their rolling- stock, fearing- the Yankees may 
 come at any time and destroy everything-; we must 
 g-et away," said Boss, speaking- to the madam." 
 
 THE FAMILY FLEE FROM MEMPHIS. 
 
 Thing-s continued in this way until about June, 
 1862. The Union troops had taken Fort Pillow. We 
 had heard the firing- of cannon, and did not know 
 what it meant. One morning- I was in the city after 
 the mail, and I learned that a transient boat had just 
 come down the river, which had lost a part of her 
 wheelhouse. She was fired on from Fort Pillow, 
 sustaining- this serious damag-e from the shot. This 
 increased the excitement among- the people; and our 
 folks became alarmed rig-ht away, and commenced 
 talking- of moving- and running- the servants away 
 from the Yankees, to a place of safety. McGee was 
 trying- for some time to g^et some one to take the 
 house, that is, to live in and care for it until after the 
 war, while the family were g-one. They never thought 
 that slavery would be abolished, and so hoped to come 
 back again. After some search, they found a widow, 
 a Mrs. Hancock. She was to have full charsre of the 
 
122 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 house and continue keeping- boarders, as she had been 
 doing- in Memphis. The vaunted courag-e of this 
 man seems to have early disappeared, and his thoug-ht 
 ■was chiefly devoted to g-etting- his family and his 
 slaves into some obscure place, as far away as pos- 
 sible from the Yankees, that were to be so easily 
 whipped. We were about two weeks g-etting" ready to 
 leave, stowing- away some of the things they did not 
 want to move. The Boss and his famil}", m}' wife and 
 I, and all the house servants were to g-o to Panola, to 
 his father's. The family went by rail, but I had to 
 drive through in a wagon. 
 
 I AM TAKEN TO BOLIVAK FAK:\1. 
 
 Soon after the family all reached Master Jack's, 
 Boss took me to his own farm in Bolivar county. This 
 separated me for a time from ni}' wife, for she re- 
 mained with the family. I had to look after the 
 house at the farm, attend the dining- room, and, be- 
 tween meals, sew every day, making clothes for the 
 hands. I could run on the machine eig-hteen to twenty 
 I)airs of pants a day, but two women made the button 
 holes and did the basting for me, g-etting the goods 
 all ready lor the machine. 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBEELION. 123 
 CAPTURE OF A UNION TRADING BOAT, 
 
 The Yankees had made a raid throug^h Bolivar, be- 
 fore I came, and the excitement had not abated, as 
 the}" were spreading" themselves all throug^h the state. 
 There v^^as a Union trading boat, the Lake City, that 
 had been successful in exchang-ing" her goods for 
 cotton that came from Memphis. She usually stopped 
 at Helena, Fryer's Point and other small towns; but 
 on a trip at this time she came about fifty miles 
 farther down the river, to Carson's Landing, right at 
 Boss' farm. She was loaded with all kinds of 
 merchandise — sugar, tobacco, liquor, etc. She had a 
 crew of about forty men, but they were not well pre- 
 pared for a vigorous defense. The rebel soldiers 
 stationed in the vicinit}' saw her as she dropped her 
 anchor near the landing, and they determined to make 
 an effort for her capture. They put out pickets just 
 above our farm, and allowed no one to pass, or stop to 
 communicate with the boat. Every one that sought 
 to pass was held prisoner, and every precaution taken 
 to prevent those on the boat from learning of the pur- 
 poses of the rebels, knowing that the boat would land 
 in the morning, if not informed of the danger, and 
 then it was anticipated that they could easily make 
 
124 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 her a prize. There was a small ferry boat behind the 
 steamer, and as the latter dropped down stream, and 
 then steamed up to the landing", the former stood off 
 for a few moments. As the steamer touched shore, the 
 rebels charged on her, and captured her without a 
 struggle. In the meantime the ferry boat, seeing 
 what had happened, sped away up stream, the soldiers 
 firing at her, but doing little damage, except the 
 breaking of the glass in the pilot house. The rebels, 
 seeing that the ferry boat had escaped them, turned 
 their attention to the unloading of the steamer. They 
 sent out for help in this work, and the summons was 
 answered b}- the neighbors far and near. Wagons 
 were brought, two of which were from our farm, and 
 loaded with goods, which were taken to Deer Creek, 
 forty miles from Carson Landing. What goods they 
 found tliemselves unable to carry away were packed 
 in the warehouse. The steamer was then burned. 
 Mc(iee was present, and the rebel captain gave him a 
 written statement of the affair to the effect that the 
 residents were not responsible for it, and that this 
 sliould lie ii protection for them ag-ainst the Union 
 forces. Tlu' oflicers and crew of the steamer to tlie 
 nuiiiltiT of lortv were made prisoners, and taken to 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 125 
 
 Deer Creek, the rebel headquarters of that reg"ion, 
 and put in the jail there. The ferry boat that es- 
 caped went to Helena, Arkansas, and carried the 
 news of the affair to the Union forces there. 
 
 BOSS TAKEN PRISONER. 
 
 I was told by Boss to take my stand on our ver- 
 anda, and keep watch on the river, and if I saw any 
 boat coming- down to let him know at once. I kept a 
 close watch the next morning until about eight 
 o'clock, when I saw a boat, but she had almost g-one 
 past our house before I discovered her. I ran into the 
 house and told Boss. He ordered me to get his horse 
 at once, which I did; and he mounted and went down 
 to the landing as fast as he could. Upon reaching- 
 there, he was taken prisoner b}- the Union soldiers, 
 who had just landed from the boat. All who came 
 near were captured. The Union soldiers went to 
 work and transferred all the goods which the rebels 
 had put into the warehouse from the boat which they 
 had captured, then setting fire to the warehouse and 
 the postoftice, they pushed off yelling- and shouting- 
 with glee. Among those captured by the Union 
 soldiers were three other rich planters besides Boss, 
 all of whom were taken to Helena. After they had 
 
126 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 been there about a week, the planters offered to se- 
 cure the release of the Unionists captured on the 
 boat which the rebels had burned at Carson Landing", 
 and who had been sent to the rebel jail at Deer Creek, 
 if they were gruaranteed their own release in ex- 
 change. They offered to bear the expense of a mes- 
 senger to the rebel officer, at Deer Creek, with this 
 proposition. The Union officer at Helena accepted 
 the proposition, and the messenger was sent off. It 
 was arranged that he should stop ov^er at our house, 
 both on his way down and back. Upon his return, he 
 stopped over night, and the next morning proceeded 
 on his way. When he had gone about live miles, he 
 saw a flat-boat at a landing", on which were people 
 drinking- and having- a merry time. He stopped, and 
 went aboard; and, in joining the carousal, he soon 
 became so intoxicated that he was unable to go on 
 with his journey. Amt)ng those present was one Gil- 
 crease, a cousin of the McGees, who recog-nized the 
 man as the messenger in this important business, went 
 to liim and askod liiui lor tlic letters he carried. The 
 fellow rc'fusing to give them up, (iilcrease took them 
 trom him. and at once sent to our overseer for a reli- 
 altU- man bv whom to forward them to the command- 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBEEEION. 127 
 
 ant at Helena. The overseer called me up from the 
 cabin to his room, and told me that I was to g-o to 
 Helena to carry some important papers, and to come 
 to him for them in the morning-, and make an early 
 start. I left him and went back to my cabin. 
 
 MY THIKD EFFORT FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 I made up my mind that this would be a g-ood 
 chance for me to run away. I got my clothes, and 
 put them in an old pair of saddle bags — two bags 
 made of leather, connected with a strip of leather, 
 and used when traveling horseback for the same pur- 
 pose as a satchel is used in traveling in the cars. I 
 took these bags, carried them about a half mile up 
 the road, and hid them in a fence corner, where I 
 could get them in the morning when I had started on 
 my trip. Fryer's Point, the place to which I was to 
 go, was about fifty miles from the farm. I started 
 early in the morning, and, after I had gone twent}'- 
 iive miles, I came to the farm of William McGee, a 
 brother of the madam, and stopped to change horses. 
 I found that William McGee was going, in the morn- 
 ing, down to old Master Jack's; so I took one of their 
 horses, leaving mine to use in its place, went right to 
 Fryer's Point, delivered the letters to a man there to 
 
128 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 carry to Helena, and gfot back to William McGee's 
 farm that nig^ht, I made up m}- mind to g-o with 
 William down to Panola, where madam was, to tell 
 her about Boss being- captured. The next morning-, 
 he started, and Gibson, his overseer and myself 
 accompanied him. He questioned me about the 
 capture of Boss, what the soldiers had done, etc., and 
 I told him all I knew of the matter. " Well, Lou," 
 he said, " wh}- did you not bring- us some whisky? " 
 " I did bring a little with me," I said. He laug-hed, 
 saying: "Oh, well, when we come to some clear water 
 we will stop and have a drink." Then I said: " Mr. 
 Smith will look for me to-night, but he wont see me, 
 I am going to tell the madam that Boss is captured." 
 "Hey, hoi "' he said, " then you are running away." 
 I replied: " Well I know Miss Sarah dont know Boss 
 is in prison." We traveled on, all three of us, stopping- 
 at intervals to be refreshed. After two days, we 
 arrived at Panola. Our journey was a tedious one. 
 The streams were so swollen in places that we could 
 liardly pass. The Tallehatchie we had to swim, and 
 one of till' men came near losing- his horse and liis 
 life. Tin- horses l)ecame tanj^-Jed in a ])ra]>e vine, as 
 \vr wi-ri' in aiing the shore at which we aimed, and, 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 129 
 
 the current being- very swift, we were carried below 
 the landing- place; but, finally, we got safely ashore, 
 McGee landing, and we following. Reaching Panola, 
 wet and weary, I conveyed to madam the story of her 
 husband's capture and imprisonment, a rumor of 
 which had already reached her. 
 
 The next morning- was Christmas, and a number 
 of the family had come to spend it together. They 
 had heard that McGee was captured and in prison ; 
 but, now, as I told them every feature of the affair in 
 detail, they grew excited and talked wildly about it. 
 Among those who came were Dr. Dandridge and his 
 wife, Blanton McGee and his wife, Tim Oliver and 
 his wife. All these women were daughters of old 
 Master Jack McGee, and sisters to the madam. Mrs. 
 Farrington and old lady McGee were already there. 
 These re-unions on Christmas were a long- established 
 custom with them, but the pleasure of this one was 
 sadly marred by the vicisitudes and calamities of the 
 war. A shadow hung over all the family group. 
 They asked me many questions about Boss, and, of 
 course, I related all I knew. 
 
 After I had been there three days, they started me 
 back with letters for Boss. When I left it was near 
 
130 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 iiigiit, and I was to stop over at Master Jack's farm 
 fifteen miles away. It was expected that I would 
 reach Fryer's Point on the third morning, thus allow- 
 in<i;- me three da3's to g"o sixty miles; but I could not 
 make much headway, as the roads were so heavy. 
 The understanding- was that I was to deliver the 
 letters to the same gentleman, at Fryer's, to whom I 
 delivered the others, for forwarding to Boss at Helena. 
 I was then to go straight to the farm at Boliver, and 
 report to Smith, the overseer. But after I had got 
 about four miles away, I concluded that I would not 
 go back to the farm, but try to get to the Yankees. I 
 knew I had disobeyed Smith by going down to the 
 madam's to tell her about Boss, because he told me 
 not to go when I spoke to him about it. And now if 
 I went ])ack I feared he would kill me; for I knew 
 there would be no escape for me from being run into 
 the ])ull ring, and that torture T could not think of 
 enduring. I, llieretore, slopped, and, taking- the 
 bridle and saddle from the horse, liitl them in the 
 corner of a fence in a cornileld. Then I went into the 
 woods. 'IMie pai)ers which I had were in the saddle- 
 bag safe. The place where I slaved in the daytime 
 was in a large shuck-pen — a pen built in the field lo 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 131 
 
 feed stock from, in the winter time. This pen was on 
 Dr. Dandridg-e's farm; and the second nig-ht I worked 
 my way up near the house. Knowing- all the servants, 
 I was watching- a chance to send word to the coach- 
 man, Alfred Dandridge, that I wanted him to tell my 
 wife that I was not g-one. I went down to his cabin, 
 in the quarters; and, after a short time he came. I 
 was badly scared, and my heart was heavy and sore; 
 but he spoke comfortingly to me, and I was cheered, 
 somewhat, especially when he promised to see 
 Matilda, and tell her of my whereabouts. He g-ave 
 me some food, and hid me away for the nig-ht in his 
 house. I kept close all the next day; and, at nig-ht, 
 when all was still, Alfred and I crept out, and went 
 to old Master Jack's. The distance was not g-reat, 
 and we soon covered it. Alfred went in and told my 
 wife that I was outside and wanted to see her. She 
 came out, and was so frig-htened and nervous that she 
 commenced sobbing and crying-, and almost fainted 
 when I told her, in low tones, that I was g-oing- to try 
 to get to Memphis, and that Alfred was helping- to 
 plan a way to this end. The rebels occupied both 
 roads leading- to Memphis, and I was puzzled to know 
 how to reach the city without coming- in contact 
 
132 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 with them. Two days after I had talked with ni}' 
 wife, the rebel troops who were camped on the Holly 
 Spring's road left for some other point. My friend 
 Alfred found this out, and came and told me the 
 encourag-ing- news. The following- nig-ht I went to 
 old Master Jack's and told my wife that the wa}^ now 
 seemed clear, and that I was gfoing- at once. I was 
 bent on freedom, and would try for it again. I urg-ed 
 mv wife not to g-rieve, and endeavored to encourag-e 
 her by saying- that I would return for her, as soon as 
 possible, should I succeed in g-etting^ to a land of free- 
 dom. After many tears and blessing-s, we parted, and 
 I left, Uncle Alfred g-oing- with me some three miles, 
 as I was not acquainted with the road. When he left 
 me I went on alone with g-loomy foreboding-s, but 
 resolved to do my best in this hazardous undertaking", 
 whatever might happen. The road passed over hills 
 and throug-h swamps, and I found the traveling- very 
 wearisome. I had travelled some hours, and thoug-ht 
 I was doing well; when, about one o'clock in the 
 nii^lil, I came uj) out ol a long swamp, and, reaching 
 llie to]) of a hill, I stopped for a moment's rest, raising 
 myself to an erect jiosilion from that of walking, 
 inclined l>v reason of weariness and the weiii-ht of the 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 133 
 
 saddle - bag's thrown across my shoulders. The 
 weather was bad, a heavy mist had come up, aad it 
 was so dark that I could hardly see my way. As I 
 started on, a soldier yelled at me from the mist: 
 "Halt! advance and g"ive the countersign." I stopped 
 immediately, almost scared out of my wits. "Come 
 right up here," said the soldier, " or I'll blow you into 
 eternity." I saw at once he was a rebel soldier. I 
 knew not what to do. This place where I was halted 
 was Nelson's farm, and the house was held as head- 
 quarters for a company of rebel soldiers, known as 
 bushwhackers. While they belonged to the rebel 
 army, they were, in a measure, independent of its 
 regulations and discipline, kept back in the woods, 
 ready for any depradation upon the property of union- 
 ists — any outrage upon their persons. The soldier 
 who had halted me took me up to the house, and all 
 began to question me. I told them that I had been 
 sent on an errand, and that I had lost my way. The 
 next morning I was taken about a mile away down in 
 the swamp, over hills and through winding paths, till 
 at last we came to the regular rebel camp. I was in 
 great fear and thought my end had come. Here they 
 began to question me again — the captain taking the 
 
134 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 lead; but I still stuck to my stor}' that I had been sent 
 on an errand, and had lost my wa}', I knew that this 
 was my only chance. The}' tried to make me say 
 that I had come from the Yankees, as they were in 
 camp near Holly Spring-s. They thoug-ht the Yankees 
 had sent me out as a spy; but I said the same as at 
 first — that I had lost my way. A soldier standing- by 
 said: "Oh! we will make you talk better than that; " 
 and stepping- back to his horse, he took a sea-g-rass 
 halter, and said: " I'll hang- you." There was a law 
 or reg-ulation of the rebel g-overnment directing- or 
 authorizing- the hanging- of any slave caug-ht running- 
 away; and this fellow was g-oing- to carry it out to the 
 letter. I talked and pleaded for my life. My feeling-s 
 were indescrii)able. God only knows what they were. 
 Dr. Carter, one of the soldiers, who knew me and the 
 entire McGee famil}-, spoke up and said: " You had 
 better let me gfo and tell Mr. Jack McGee about him." 
 The cai)tain agreed to this, and the doctor went. The 
 following- day. Old Jack came, and steadily refused to 
 consent to my l)t-ing- hung. He said: "I know Edmund 
 Would not ]ia\T him hung-ung-. He is too valuablr- 
 aluabli'. No, no! wi.' will put him in jail and feed 
 him on brrad and water loo valual)le a nig-g-er to l)e 
 hung--ung-," 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBEELrlON. 135 
 
 They tried ag-ain to make me say that I was with 
 the Yankees. They whipped me a while, then 
 questioned me ag-ain. The dog-wood switches that 
 the}' used stung me terribly. They were commonly 
 used in Mississippi for flogging slaves — one of the re- 
 finements of the cruelty of the institution of slavery. 
 I refused to say anything different from what I had 
 said; but when they had finished whipping me I was 
 so sore I could hardly move. They made up their 
 minds to put me in jail at Panola, twenty-two miles 
 away, to be fed on bread and water. The next day 
 was Sunday, and all arrangements having been made 
 for taking me to the place appointed for those whose 
 crime was a too great love for personal freedom, they 
 started with me, passing on the way Old Master 
 Jack's, where they halted to let him know that his 
 advice respecting me was to be carried out. The old 
 man called to my wife: "Come out and see Louis." 
 Some one had told her that they were going to hang- , 
 me; and I shall never forget her looks as she came 
 out in the road to bid me g-ood-by. One of the 
 soldiers was softened b}- her agony, and whispered to 
 her: "Don't cry, aunty, we are not going to hang 
 him — we will only put him in jail." I saw this 
 
136 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 chang-ed my wife's looks in a minute. I said a few 
 words to her, and, with a prayer for God's blessing- on 
 us both, we parted, and they moved on. After we had 
 g^one about seven miles, we met two soldiers, who be- 
 longed to the regiment at Nelson. The\' said: 
 "Hello! where you going with that nigger?" The 
 two men in charge of me replied: " We are going to 
 take him to Panola jail." "Why," said one of the 
 soldiers, "there is no jail there; the Yanks passed 
 through and pulled down the doors and windows of 
 the jail, and let all the prisoners out." This caused 
 a stop; and a council of war was held in the fence 
 corner, the result of which was a decision to take me 
 l)ack to old Jack McGee's. After we had g-otten back 
 there, they took me and gave me another flogging to 
 satisfy the madam. I was never so lacerated before. 
 I could hardly walk, so sore and weak was I. The 
 law was given me that if ever I was caught out in the 
 , public road again, by any soldier, I was to be shot. 
 Monday morning I was sent to the held to plow; and, 
 lliough I was very stiff and my llesh seemed sore to 
 till' l)onf, my skin drawn and shriveled as if dead, I 
 liad, at li asl, to make the attempt to work. To have 
 said: "Master, 1 am too sore to work." would only 
 

 11. 
 
SlyAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 137 
 
 have g*otten me another whipping". So I obeyed with- 
 out a word. 
 
 REBELS BURN THEIR COTTON. 
 
 The capture of Memphis b^- the Union troops 
 closed the principal cotton market of the country, and 
 there was, as a consequence, an immense accumula- 
 tion of the product in the hands of the farmers of 
 that reg-ion. They were, therefore, compelled to re- 
 sort to temporary- expedients for its protection from 
 the elements. Old Master Jack had his piled up in a 
 long- rick, and shelters built over it. Other farmers 
 did the same. As cotton was almost the only source 
 of revenue for the farmers, and as there was now no 
 opportunity of g-etting" it to market, there was such a 
 dearth of money as had seldom, if ever, been known, 
 and a corresponding" dearth of those necessaries of 
 life which money was the only means of procuring-. 
 The accumulations of our family in this product were 
 very great. While the rebel farmers were waiting- for 
 a time when they could turn their stores of this valu- 
 able article into money, a proclamation was issued b}- 
 the rebel government that all the owners of cotton 
 that had it stored on their farms must prepare to have 
 it burned. Hundreds of rebel soldiers marched to 
 
138 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 every section of Mississippi that they could reach, and 
 applied the torch to these cotton ricks. The destruc- 
 tion was enormous. This was to prevent the cotton 
 from falling- into the hands of the Unionists. Jeff 
 Davis said to his deluded followers that it was better 
 for them to destroy this propert}' than to risk its com- 
 ing- into the possession of their enemies, since that 
 would equally impoverish themselves, while it might 
 result to the pecuniary advantage of those with whom 
 they were at war. I know that it was a terrible sight 
 when our cotton was burned. Hundreds of bales were 
 consumed, and it seemed like a wholl}" unnecessar}' 
 destruction of propert}', and, therefore, unwise as a 
 war measure. Many were sorry that the}- had acqui- 
 esced in the polic}-, as it cost them thousands of dol- 
 lars, and made many poor. They thought that pos- 
 sibly their farms might have escaped the visits of the 
 Union soldiers, and the propert}', so much needed, 
 been saved in whole or in part. They reasoned, and 
 reasoned correctly, that their condition would in no 
 sense have been worse if tlieir cotton had not been 
 burned ]>y their own soldiers, l)ul iiiighl have been 
 nnich belter in many cases, without any real detri- 
 ment to the rei)el cause. The sacrifice of the propert}' 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 139 
 
 of their own people, b}- the rebel authorities, was evi- 
 dence of the desperation of the condition of the re- 
 bellion, and was so reg-arded b}- not a few at that 
 time. Those were terrible days. One could see 
 anxiet}' written on ever}- face among the whites. 
 The slaves even looked worried at times, thougfh the 
 war meant so much to them, as they were alwa3-s 
 looking- forward to freedom, at its close, if the Union 
 troops were successful. 
 
 MY FOURTH RUNAWAY TRIP. 
 
 After I had been working- on the farm about two 
 months, and had thoroug-hl}- talked the matter over 
 with Alfred Dandridg-e, we planned to make a careful 
 and persistent effort to escape from the land of bond- 
 ag-e. We thoug-ht that as others, here and there, all 
 throug-h the neig-hborhood, were g-oing-, we would 
 make trial of it. My wife and I were at old Master 
 Jacks; and, after we had consulted wnth Alfred and 
 L^'dia, his wife, we all concluded to g-o at once. 
 Alfred had been a teamster for Dandridg-e for manv 
 years, and was familiar with the road, as he had 
 hauled cotton into Memphis for his master for so long- 
 a time he could hardh' tell when he began. Matt 
 Dandridge was a fellow servant, belonging to the 
 
140 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 same man, and both had, as was not unusual, taken 
 their master's name, or, rather, were known b}- it. 
 Matt had learned of our purpose to run awa}', and 
 concluded to join our party. So one nig"ht, when all 
 was still, we started. Uncle Alfred, as I alwa3's called 
 him, was to be our leader. He was older than an}- of 
 the rest of us, and had had a g^ood deal of experience; 
 we, therefore, all looked to him — in fact, we relied 
 entirel}' upon him. Aftei we had traveled about 
 twelve miles, we came to a swamp, called Hicke- 
 Halley. Here we stopped, as day was dawning-, and 
 settled down for the day, as we could travel onl}- in 
 the nig-ht, lest we should be seen and caught. We 
 were wet — our clothes soaked throug-h from the heav}' 
 dew. We had to travel through corn fields, cotton 
 patches, oat fields and underbrush, not daring- to take 
 tlic main road. This is why we were so wet. Uncle 
 Alfred traveled wholly by the stars — they were his 
 guide. He knew by looking- at them the four cardinal 
 points of the compass. Many old slaves were g-uided 
 in this way when traveling- in the night, and some 
 could tell the time of nig-ht by the position of the 
 stars. We stayed in Hickc-Halley all day, and in the 
 evening, when it was dark enough, we started on 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBEEEION. 141 
 
 ag-ain, Uncle Alfred offering- up a prayer to God to 
 g"uide us safely through. Cold Water was our next 
 stopping place, and here a difficulty rose before us 
 that made us fearful. We had nothing- to wear but 
 what we had on, and not much of that, so had small 
 space for carrying anything, and, therefore, had 
 brought with us only a little bite to eat. As we had 
 lived on this small provision for a day, there was now 
 but little left for our increasing wants; and the diffi- 
 culty of securing anything from the houses without 
 dang-er of detection was almost insurmountable. But 
 we felt encouraged as we thought of what we were 
 striving for, and sped on our way. But the way was 
 hard, for sometimes we got completely stuck in brier 
 patches, and had to turn and go back, in order to find 
 a way out. Old logs and driftwood, that had been 
 piled up year after year, were other obstacles in our 
 way; and one can imagine how hard it was to make 
 our way through such a mass of brush and forrest by 
 the dim light of the stars as they struggled throug-h 
 the dense branches of the trees. We stumbled on, 
 however, as best we could, each fearful, 3'et silently 
 praying for guidance and help. When within four or 
 five miles of Cold Water, Uncle Alfred stopped, and 
 
142 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 cautioned us not to speak above a whisper, as the 
 rebel troops were camped on both sides of us. We 
 were in a swamp between the two roads, g-raduallj 
 working- our way through to the river, as we could not 
 g-o on either of the roads for fear of detection. At 
 the bridges, where these roads crossed the river, there 
 were rebel camps, and it was useless for us to think of 
 crossing either. We, therefore, worked our wa}' care- 
 fully through the thicket that we were in until we 
 came within sight of the river. Then Uncle Alfred 
 went ahead, creeping a few steps, then stopping to 
 see if the river was clear of soldiers. From this 
 point it was some two and a half miles to the bridges, 
 each way; and it was our idea that if we could cross 
 here without being seen b}- the soldiers, we would be 
 all ritiht. Uncle Alfred came back to us and told us 
 llial lie thought the vva}' was clear. "I can not hear 
 a sound," said he, " so let us g'O on." We followed 
 the river down until we came to a place where we 
 could cross. Here we found some drift-wood — an old 
 tree had been l)lown down, nearl}- across the river, 
 leaving a space of a])out twenty feet. Over this 
 natural bridge we crept to the ()i)en space which we 
 watletl, tile water being up to our knees; but we did 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OE THE REBELLION. 143 
 not mind this. There was no talking- above a 
 whisper, for fear of being- heard by the soldiers. 
 Daylight had beg-un to dawn, and we felt g-ood that 
 we had succeeded thus far. We went on quietly until 
 we got entirely out of the swamp and reached some 
 hills. The woods were on each side of us and still 
 thick; so we stopped here, on the side of a hill, where 
 the sun shone brig-htly on us, expecting- to rest for the 
 day. Our clothes had already become quite dry from 
 the sunshine; and, so far, we felt all right. Alfred 
 and I had made a turn around the place, listening- to 
 see if we could hear any noise, or see any trace of 
 soldiers; but we discovered no trace of them, and 
 went back to our stopping- place. I had been asleep 
 and some of the others were still asleep, when sud- 
 denly I heard the yelp of blood hounds in the distance. 
 It seemed quite far away at first, but the sound came 
 nearer and nearer, and then we heard men yelling. 
 We knew now that they were on our trail, and became 
 so frightened that we all leaped to our feet, and were 
 about to run, when Uncle Alfred said: " Stop child- 
 ren, let me oil you feet." He had with him a bottle 
 of ointment made of turpentine and onions, a prepar- 
 ation used to throw hounds off a trail. All stopped; 
 
144 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVED. 
 
 and the women, having- their feet anointed first, 
 started off, Uncle Alfred telling- them to run in dif- 
 ferent directions. He and I were the last to start. 
 Alfred said: " Don't let the bushes touch ^'ou;" at the 
 same time he ran throug-h the bushes with such a 
 rattling noise one could have heard him a great dis- 
 tance. He wore one of those old fashioned oil cloth 
 coats made in Virg-inia; and, as he ran, the bushes, 
 striking against the coat, made a noise like the beat- 
 ing- of a tin board with sticks. The funn^' part of it 
 was that, havings cautioned us to be careful about 
 noise, he made more than all of us. By this time the 
 woods were resounding- with the 3'elping of the 
 hounds and the cries of their masters. The hounds 
 numbered some fourteen. The men howled and 
 cheered in concert with the brutes, for they knew that 
 the}- were on the right trail, and it would be but a 
 short time before they caugflit us all. I had g-otten 
 further away than any of them. Having run about a 
 mik', I came t<» a farm, and started across an open 
 field, li(i]»ing tu r«.'acli a wood l)evond, where I mig-ht 
 concral myself. IJefore I was lialf wav across the 
 lield, oil looking back, I saw the dogs coming" over the 
 lence, and i<iio\ving there was no chance of my g-et- 
 
SLAVE^RY AND 'THE WAR OE THE REBEELION. 145 
 
 ting- to the woods, I turned around, and ran back to a 
 persimmon tree, and just had time to run up one of the 
 branches when the dog-s came upon the ground. I 
 looked and saw the men, Williams the nigger-catcher, 
 and Dr. Henry and Charles Dandridge. As soon 
 as Williams rode up, he told me to come down, 
 but I was so frightened I began to cry, yet came 
 down trembling. The dogs laid hold of me at once, 
 tearing my clothes and biting my flesh. Dr. Dand- 
 ridge was just riding up, and seeing what was hap- 
 pening, yelled out to Williams: "I thought your 
 dogs didn't bite." "Oh! well," said Williams, "he 
 aint hurt — we've g-ot to let 'em bite a little." 
 
 They took us all back to the fence where I crossed 
 over, all the others having been caught. Our hearts 
 were filled with dismay. All looked as if they were 
 condemned to be hung. We knew not what was to be 
 done with us. The women were pitiful to see, crying 
 and moaning — all courage utterly gone. They started 
 back with us to Old Master Jack's, at Panola, and we 
 stopped for the night at a small farm house. The old 
 woman who kept it said, tauntingly: "You niggers 
 going to the Yankees? You all ought to be killed." 
 We started on the following morning, and got back 
 
146 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 home at one o'clock in the afternoon. All of us were 
 whipped. All the members of the family were yery 
 angfry. Old Lady Jack McGee was so enrag-ed that 
 she said to my wife: " I thoug-ht you were a Christ- 
 ian. You'll never see your God." She seemed to 
 think that because Matilda had soug-ht freedom she 
 had committed a g'reat sin. 
 
 INCIDENTS. 
 
 Ever since the beg"inning- of the war, and the 
 slaves had heard that possibly they mig-ht some time 
 be free, they seemed unspeakably happy. They were 
 afraid to let the masters know that they ever thoug-ht 
 of such a thing-, and they never dreamed of speaking- 
 about it except among- themselves. The}- were a 
 happy race, poor soulsl notwithstanding- their down- 
 lidddcn condition. They would laug-h and chat about 
 freedom in their cabins; and many a little rhyme about 
 it orig-inated among- them, and was softly sung- over 
 their work. I remember a song- that Aunt Kitty, the 
 cook at Master Jack's, used to sing-. It ran souielliing- 
 like this: 
 
 Tlici'c'll \)v no uioro I. ilk about Monday, by and by. 
 But every <lay will be Sunday, by and by. 
 
 'I'lie ohl woniati was sing-jug-, or rather hunnning-, 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OE THE REBELLION. 147 
 
 it one day, and old lady McGee heard her. She was 
 busy g-etting- her dinner, and I suppose never realized 
 she was sing-ing- such an incendiary piece, when old 
 Mrs. McGee broke in upon her: " Don't think you are 
 going- to be free; you darkies were made by God and 
 ordained to wait upon us." Those passages of Scrip- 
 ture which refer to master and servants were always 
 cited to us when we heard the Word preached; and 
 they were interpeted as meaning that the relation of 
 master and slave was right and proper— that they 
 were rig-htly the masters and we the slaves. 
 
 I remember, not long- after Jeff Davis had been 
 elected president of the Confederacy, that I happened 
 to hear old Master Jack talking- to some of the mem- 
 bers of the family about the war, etc. All at once the 
 old man broke out: " And what do you think! that 
 rascal, Abraham Lincoln, has called for 300,000 more 
 men. What is Jeff Davis doin'-doin'? " He talked 
 on, and seemed so ang-ry that he g-ave no one a chance 
 to answer: "Jeff Davis is a g-rand rascal-rascal," 
 said he, "he oug-ht to go into the field himself." At 
 first all the Southerners were jubilant over Davis; but 
 as they were losing- so, and the Unionists g-aining, 
 they g-rew ang-ry and denounced him oftentimes in un- 
 sparing- terms. 
 
148 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 UNION RAID AT MASTER'S FARM. 
 
 During- the time the Union headquarters were at 
 Helena, a Union g-un-boat came down the river as far 
 as BoHva, and stopped at Miles McGee's. The sol- 
 diers made a raid through the farm, taking- chickens, 
 turkej's, meat and everything that the}' could lay 
 hands on. During- this raid Miles McGee came out of 
 the house with a gun, and shot the commanding- of&cer 
 of the party. He became alarmed over what he had 
 done, and hid in the cabin of one of the servants. He 
 never came near the house. The Union soldiers came 
 three different times to catch him, but never succeeded. 
 The last time they came, he made for the canebrake, 
 and hid himself there until they were g-one. But 
 lliough lie had escaped their rig-liteous veng-eance, he 
 became so nervous that he left his hiding- place in the 
 canebraker, and went to Atlanta, Ga., and staid there 
 among friends until things became more (|uiet. At last 
 wearying- of this, he determined to return to old 
 Master Jack's, hut not to his own home. Word had 
 been received of his coming, and g'reat preparations 
 were ma<le for his rece])tion. After he had started on 
 his rrtuni. 1k' was taken ill on the train, and was left 
 at a small town calleil Jackson, where he soon dietl. 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 149 
 
 I drove the family to the depot upon the day of his ex- 
 pected arrival, and as the train came in, the women 
 waved their handkerchiefs; and, when the conductor 
 stepped off, they asked him if Mr. McGee was aboard. 
 He said no — "I have his remains." The scene that 
 followed, I can not describe — such wailing- and scream- 
 ing-! I could not but feel sad, even thoug-h they had 
 treated me so meanl}', causing- the death of my chil- 
 dren, and separating- me from my wife. Their grief 
 was indeed g-reat. The sad news was conveyed to his 
 mother, old Mrs. Jack McGee, at the house b}- an ad- 
 vance messeng-er, and we soon followed with the body. 
 He was the favorite son of his mother, and her g-rief 
 was very great. But for his w^anton shooting- of the 
 Union officer, he would probably not have met his 
 death as he did. 
 
 UNION SOLDIERS PASS THE PANOLA HOME. 
 
 One winter nig-ht, while I was at old Master 
 Jack's, I was awakened by a rumbling- noise like that 
 of heavy wag-ons, which continued steadily and so 
 long- a time that I finally concluded it must be an 
 army passing-, and such I found to be the case, upon 
 getting- up and venturing- out, the rumbling- which had 
 awakened me being caused by the passing artillery. 
 
150 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 I was afraid to g-o out straig-ht to the soldiers, but 
 would take a few steps at a time, then stop and listen 
 behind a tree or the shrubber}'. All seemed quiet — 
 there was no talking-. I had listened about twenty 
 minutes when there seemed to be a halt at the creek, 
 some distance from the hcmse. Soon afterwards I 
 heard the command g-iven: "Forward!" I at once 
 made up my mind that they were Yankee soldiers. I 
 got on my knees and crawled to the fence, not daring- 
 to g-o openly, fearing- that they might hear or see 
 me and shoot, supposing me to be a spy. I went back 
 into the house and told my wife that they were 
 Yankees who had just passed. '' Uncle Georg-e," said 
 I, '* this would be a good time for us to g-o." "Oh, 
 no," said he, " we are not (juite ready." Uncle 
 George's cabin was where my wife and I stayed while 
 at old Master Jack's. In the morning- I was to carry 
 a parcel to Como, a place not far from home, to Mr. 
 James McGec, who was in the rebel army. It was 
 not (|uite daylight wlien I made ready to g-o on my 
 trip, for I was anxious to liiid out more abt)Ut the 
 soldiers, (ioiiig to the stable and saddling my horse, 
 I iiiouiilrd and rode out to the big gate leading to the 
 main road, just as day was dawning. As I dismounted 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBEEEION. 151 
 
 to open the g"ate, some soldiers were passing- and an 
 officer sung- out to me. "Hello! which way are you 
 g-oing-." I .said " to Como, to carr}- this parcel of 
 clothing- to mj' young master in the war." "You 
 have a fine horse," said the officer, " I guess I will 
 exchange horses with you." He took my packag-e of 
 clothing- and some letters which I had to mail and my 
 horse, leaving- me his, which was a very poor animal. 
 I was badly scared at this peformance, fearing- that I 
 would be severely whipped for the loss of the horse 
 and packag-e. Yet how could I help it? We knew 
 nothing- but to serve a white man, no matter what he 
 asked or commanded. As a matter of course, I did 
 not g-o to Como, as I had nothing to take — the officer 
 had everything-, but went back to the cabin. I sup- 
 posed that the soldiers had all passed; but in about 
 half an hour Aunt Kitty, on looking- out of her cabin 
 window, exclaimed: "My God! just look at the 
 soldiers! " The yard was covered with the blue coats. 
 Another venerable slave said: "My Lord! de year of 
 jubilee am come." During- the excitement I ran to the 
 big- house, and told the madam that the Yankees were 
 there, and had taken my horse and every thing- 1 had. 
 Old Master Jack had heard the news, but was not able 
 
152 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 to come out. He had arisen, but, when he knew of 
 the presence of the Yankees, he went back to bed, 
 calling- for Kitt}- to g-et him a mush poultice. " Tell 
 Kittv-it3--ity to g-et me a mush poultice-oltice." It 
 was customar}-. after the beg-inning- of the war, for 
 him to take sick, and call for a poultice to be put upon 
 his stomach whenever he heard of the Yankees being" 
 near. He and many like him were especiall}' valorous 
 only when the blue coats were far awa}-. The soldiers 
 went into the dair}^ and drank all the milk, helped 
 themselves to butter, cheese, meat, bread and every- 
 thing in sig-ht which they wanted. Nothing" was said 
 to them by the white folks, but the slaves were g-lad, 
 and whispered to each other: '' Ah! we's goin' to be 
 free." Old Master Jack, lying- on his couch would 
 ask every little while: '' Where are they? Are they 
 gone? " After they had all left the premises, he said : 
 " My God! I can't stand it. Them devils-evils are 
 just g-oin' throug-h the countr3'destroyin' everything-.' 
 I was sent down to g-ot Uncle Peter for old master, 
 and when l*etcr came uj) the old man asked: " Well, 
 did any of the servants go away? And, sir, them 
 di'vils look Louis' horse ami tlie clothes lie had for his 
 vouiiL!" masU-r." 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 153 
 HIDING VALUABLES FROM THE YANKEES. 
 
 Rig-ht after this the McGees commenced planning- 
 to put awa}' their valuables, to keep them from the 
 Union soldiers. All the servants had to fill up their 
 bed-ticks with fine g-in cotton — the lint part — ^for safe 
 keeping-. Great boxes and barrels were packed full 
 of their best things, and put into the cellar, under 
 the house. It was not exactly a cellar, but a larg-e 
 shallow excavation, which held a g-reat deal. We put 
 all the solid silver ware, such as cake baskets, trays, 
 spoons, forks, dishes, etc., in boxes, and buried them 
 under the hen house. Great packages of the finest 
 clothing I had to make up, and these were g-iven in 
 charg-e of certain servants whose duty it was to run 
 into the big- house and get them, whenever they heard 
 that the Yankees were coming-, and take them to their 
 cabins. This was a shrewd arrangement, for the 
 soldiers never went into the cabins to get anything. 
 When the soldiers had passed, these packages were 
 taken back to the house. It speaks well for the 
 honesty and faithfulness of the slaves that such trusts 
 could be devolved upon them, notwithstanding all the 
 cruelties inflicted upon them by their masters. 
 
154 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 DEATH TO RUNAWAY SLAVES. 
 
 It was about this time, that the law or reg^uhition 
 of the rebel g-overnment was promulgated, authorizing- 
 or directing the shooting- or hanging- of an}- slave 
 caug-ht tr^nng- to g-et awa^- to the Union arm}-. This 
 barbarous law was carried out in many cases, for 
 every little while we would hear of some slave who 
 was caug-ht running- away, and hung or shot. A 
 slave belonging- to Boss, ran away, and got safely 
 within the Union lines; but he returned to g-et his 
 sister. They both g-ot away from the house, but had 
 gone only a few miles, when William McGee overtook 
 them, and shot the man dead. William boasted of 
 this, 1)ut told Uncle Peter, the foreman, that he never 
 wanted it mentioned. 
 
 SLAVES HUNG AND LEFT TO HOT AS A WAKNIXG. 
 
 Two slaves belonging to one Wallace, one of our 
 nearest neighbors, had tried to escape to the Union 
 soldiers, but were caught, brougfht back and hung. 
 All of our servants were called up, told every detail 
 of the runaway and capture of the poor creatures 
 and their shocking nuirder. ami then compelled 
 to go and see tluni where they hung. I never 
 shall forget the horror of the scene — it was sicken- 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 155 
 
 ing". The bodies hung- at the roadside, where the 
 execution took place, until the blue flies literal!}' 
 swarmed around them, and the stench was fearful. 
 This barbarous spectacle was for the purpose of 
 showing- the passing- slaves what would be the fate 
 of those caug-ht in the attempt to escape, and to se- 
 cure the circulation of the details of the awful affair 
 among- them, throug-hout all the neighborhood. It 
 is diffiicult at this day for those not familiar with 
 the atrocities of the institution of slaver}- to believe 
 that such scenes could ever have been witnessed in 
 this or any other civilized land, as a result simply 
 of a human being-'s effort to reach a portion of the 
 country, where the freedom of which it was said to 
 be the home, could be enjo3'ed without molestation. 
 Yet such was the horrible truth in not one case 
 alone, but in many, as I know onh* too well. 
 
 RUNAWAY SLAVE CAUGHT AND WHIPPED. 
 
 One da}' while I was waiting- at dinner, some of 
 the children from the slave quarters came running- 
 into the house, and said to old Master Jack: 
 " Uncle John is g"oing- away — he is down to the 
 creek." He had been put in the carpenter shop, 
 fastened in the stocks, but by some means he had 
 
156 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 g-ottcn the stocks oif his feet, and got lose. All in 
 the house immediatcl^v g^ot up and ran out. Old 
 master told me to run and catch the runaway-. I 
 did not like to do it, but had to obey. Old master 
 and I ran in pursuit, and soon overtook him. He 
 could not run, as the stocks were still on his arms 
 and neck. We brought him back, and he was 
 "staked out" — that is, four stakes were driven into 
 the g-round, the arms tied to two and the legs to 
 the other two. He was then paddled with the 
 whipping paddle upon the bottom of his feet, by 
 old Master Jack, until blood blisters arose, when 
 he took his knife and opened them. I was then 
 sent for salt and water, and the bruises of the suf- 
 fering chattel were washed as usual in the stinging- 
 brine. 
 
 .\ 1I<):\IH CUAKD ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTS HIMSELF. 
 
 After the capture of Memphis b}- the Union 
 forces, the soldiers were in the habit of making- 
 raids into the surroundinj^- countr}-. These were a 
 source of alarm and anxiety among- the ]ieople, and 
 they were constantly on the watch to defend their 
 property and tliemselves, as best they could. One 
 ilav Dr. Charles Dandridjj-e went over to one of 
 
SLAVERY AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 157 
 
 our neig"hbors, Mr. Bobor's, to practice shooting", 
 and to see if he had heard an3"thing' new about the 
 war. It was the custom of the home-g-uards to 
 meet weekly, and practice with their tire-arms, in 
 order to be the better prepared, as they pretended, 
 for any sudden incursion of the now dreaded Yankee. 
 Mr. Bobor had gotten a Yankee pistol from some 
 friend, who was in the army, and Dr. Charles 
 wanted to see and try it. It was shown him, and 
 its workings explained. He took it and began 
 shooting, and in showing the other men how 
 quickly he could shoot a Yankee, and mount his horse, 
 he accidentally shot himself under the short rib near 
 his heart, and fell to the ground. All the men came 
 running to him, picked him up and carried him into 
 the house, immediately sending word to Mrs. Dan- 
 dridge and Master Jack McGee, his father-in-law. 
 The boys came hurr34ng in, and told us what had 
 happened. I hitched up and drove Boss over to Mr. Bo- 
 bor's. We found the wounded man rapidly sinking; 
 and when, a little later, his wife came, he could not 
 speak — only clasped her hand. He died that night, 
 and we carried his bod}- to the home, which so short a 
 time before, he had left in health and high spirits. 
 
158 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 No casket was to be had— everything- of that kind had 
 been consumed or shut out b}- the war. According-ly 
 two shives were ordered to make a coffin, which the}- 
 did, usin<f phiin boards. It was then covered with 
 bhick ahipaca from a dress of the madam, and lined 
 with the ch)th from Mrs. Dandridg-e's opera cloak. The 
 regular material used for these purposes was not to be 
 had. By the time the coffin was read}-, the body was 
 so bloated, that it could not be got into it. Resort 
 was then had to a plain box, and in this the body of 
 another of the stricken family group was laid away_ 
 At the suggestion of old Master Jack, the coffin, was 
 put up in the carriage house, for safe keeping, he 
 sa3Mng it would do for him to be hurried in. Sorrow 
 had come to this lamily with such crushing force, 
 that tlu'ir fornuT i)ride and boastful spirit had given 
 place to utter dejection. 
 
 SUHSTITUTKS FOK COFl'EE. 
 During the war everything was scarce and dear, 
 and substitutes were devised for many of those things 
 which had formely been regarded as the necessaries 
 mI lile. Sweet potatoes were i)eele(U then cut in 
 Miiall ]>ieees and put out in Uie sun to drv. They 
 were then Used as a substitute for coffee, when that 
 
SLAVEiRY AND THE WAR OF THE REBEEEION. 159 
 
 article becxime so scarce, toward the close of the war. 
 Great quantities of this preparation were used. Okra 
 was another substitute for coffee. It was dried in the 
 pod, then the seeds shelled out, and these were dried 
 agfain and prepared something- as the coffee is. This 
 made a delicious drink when served with cream, being- 
 very rich and pleasant to the taste. Quinine was a 
 medicine that had been of almost universal use in the 
 south; yet it became so scarce that it was sold at 
 seven dollars a bottle, and could not often be had at 
 that price. Lemon leaves were used as a substitute 
 in cases of chills and fever. The leaves were made 
 into a tea, and g-iven to the patient hot, to produce 
 prespiration. During an attack of chills, I was 
 treated in this manner to some advantage. At any 
 rate I got well, which can not always be said of all 
 methods of treatment. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 REBELLION WEAKENING- SLAVES' HOPES 
 STRENGTHENING, 
 
 m'gEE.S slaves taken to ALABAMA. 
 
 While I was absent on my last runaway trip, the 
 Yankees had made a raid throug"h Panola; and our 
 people had become greatl}- frig-htened. As soon as 
 the}' had ^ot back with me and my fellow runaways, 
 they assembled a g'ang- of slaves for the purpose of tak- 
 in<rthem to Atlanta, Ga., to g^et them out of the reach 
 of the Union soldiers. Among" the slav^es selected for the 
 transfer \yere myself, my wife Matilda, and the seams- 
 tress. The others all belong-ed to Dr. Uandridg^e and 
 IJlanton Mc(iee. Both the Drs. Dandridg-e went with 
 us to Atlanta. We traveled across the country until 
 wo came to Demopolis, Alabama, where we found Boss 
 camped on the l)ank of the Tombig"bee riyer with all 
 the farm slaves from Bolivar count}-. This was the 
 lirsl tinu' I liad seen Boss since he was captured and 
 taken lo Helena. As mv wife and I were the only 
 
REBE^LLION WEAKENING. 161 
 
 ones in the gfang- who belong-ed to Boss, we left those 
 with whom we had come and joined his g"ang-. We 
 all then went aboard a boat and were taken to the 
 salt works, situated on the Tombig-bee, ninety miles 
 from Mobile. These salt works belong-ed to the rebel 
 government. The first president of the works was 
 Mr. Woolsey, of Salem, Alabama. During Mr. 
 Woolsey's term, the first part of 18(»4, when we had 
 been there some time, he wrote to Boss asking- if he 
 would sell m3^self and wife, and offering $3,000 for 
 both of us. Boss was indignant at this and curtly re- 
 fused. My wife acted as cook at the salt works, in 
 the headquarters for the president, managers and 
 clerks. Mr. Woolsey was delighted with her cooking; 
 her bread and rolls, he said, could not be surpassed. 
 m'gee's great scheme. 
 When the election of officers of the works came 
 off in the fall, Mr. Gallatin McGee was chosen presi- 
 dent. Boss then hired us all, about 100 in number, 
 to labor in these works, but he, of course, received all 
 the revenue. The work assigned me was that of 
 butler at headquarters, and my wife was cook. Both 
 women and children, as well as men, were employed 
 in these works. After some months labor here, soon 
 
162 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 after Gallatin McGee became president, Matilda and 
 I were removed to the Montg-omery headquarters, 
 where we remained until nearly Christmas. A few 
 days before that time, Boss came to Montgomery and 
 arrang-ed for us to meet him in Mobile. We started 
 at the appointed time, reached the cit}- in the morn- 
 ing-, and I went directly to the hotel where he told me 
 he would be. I found him at once, and he informed 
 me all about his plans for the future, and what he ex- 
 pected to accomplish. He had purchased an island in 
 the bay, a little wa^- from Mobile, where he had de- 
 cided to establish salt works of his own. All the 
 brick and lumber for the building's had been carried 
 there, and work upon them was to be commenced im- 
 mediately after Christmas. He intended to make a 
 home for the family on the island; and, as soon as he 
 could complete the works, to remove all his hands from 
 the government works to his own. lie was very en- 
 thusiastic over this scheme, claiming that he would 
 make far more money by it than lie was then receiv- 
 ing from hiring out his slaves. He told me that he 
 would remain in Mobile two or three days and would 
 go to Panola to sjiend the liolidavs. after which he 
 intended t(. l)ring all the family to Mobile, and re- 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 163 
 
 main there until the island was in readiness to be oc- 
 cupied. There was to be a g-eneral break up of the 
 old home, and the beg-inning- of a new manner of life. 
 I stayed in his room at the hotel all the forenoon, 
 listening to his plans; then I went back where m}^ 
 wife was stopping. As I left his room, he said: 
 "Lou," as he always called me, "I will see you and 
 Matilda at the boat this evening." We went to the 
 boat at the appointed time and saw the Boss, but he 
 did not come near us. As the boat was about to put 
 off, I looked and saw him walking up and down the 
 levee, apparently much excited, running his hands 
 nervously through his hair — a habit common to him 
 when he was worried. He seemed greatly distressed. 
 The military situation troubled him, for the Union 
 armv had conquered nearly everything; and the fact 
 now stared him in the face that he would soon lose his 
 slaves. He never dreamed in the beginning of the 
 war that the Unionists would conquer, and that the 
 slaves would be freed; but now he saw that not onl}- 
 all his wealth in the bodies and souls of men was slip- 
 ping away from him, but that much, if not all of the 
 gain which these chattels had brought him was likely 
 to " take wings and fly away." 
 
164 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 m'gee's death. 
 
 We returned to the salt works the morning- after 
 leaving- Mobile. Boss remained two days in Mobile, 
 and then started for Panola, the home of his father- 
 in-law; but, on his way, he was taken sick, having" 
 contracted a heavy cold which ran into pneumonia, and 
 he lasted only a short time, dying- on New Year's da^'. 
 He had taken cold in brinjjing- the slaves from Boli- 
 var over the river on barg-es. The river was over- 
 flowed about fifty miles out, and the only wa}' he 
 could g-et the slaves across was by using- larg-e barg-es 
 made of logs. They were several days floating^ do\vn 
 in this way, before he could get out to the railroad at 
 Jackson, Miss., where he transferred them to the cars. 
 This was too much of an exposure and it killed him. 
 
 After Boss died all the plans were changed. Col. 
 Hunting, son-in-law of old Master Jack, came down 
 to the salt works and hired us all out there foranother 
 3'ear. This was the beginning- ol' the vear 1S()5. Of 
 master's i)lans concerning- the island and his ])r()p«)sed 
 salt works the family knew little, for they (juestioned 
 nu' closi'iy as to what he told me of the matter. What 
 111- s]Hiit on the- island in lumber, brick, etc.. was 
 lost, as thev knew nothing of the particulars of the 
 
\ 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 >> 
 
 v 
 
 $ 
 
 o^\m 
 
 )H 
 
 I 
 
 't~j 
 
 CO 
 
 ♦J"r 
 
 ,<5 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 L 
 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 165 
 
 expenditure. The madam remained at her fathers, 
 and the slaves at the works. 
 
 I MAKE SOME MONEY. 
 
 As I was here for another 3'ear, acting- as butler, 
 thoug-ht I would tr}' and see if I could not make some 
 mone}' for myself. I asked Mr. Brooks, the manag-er of 
 the works, if he could g-et me some tobacco by sending- 
 to Mobile for it. He said he could; and on the fourth 
 day thereafter, in the evening-, it came. I was anxious 
 to get it the same evening-, but Mr. Brooks said: 
 "Oh! I guess you had better wait until morning, 
 then when you finish 3'our work come down to the 
 office and get it — 3-ou will then have more time to see 
 the boys in the works."" In the morning I was up 
 earl}', and after doing m}' morning work I was off to 
 Brooks' office. When I went in he said: " There it 
 is under the table." The package was so small I felt 
 disappointed — a hundred dollars worth ought to be 
 more, said I to myself; but I took it, and went out 
 among the men. I thought I would tr}' to sell it at 
 five dollars a plug, and if I could not sell it at that I 
 would take four dollars. I must make something, for 
 I had borrowed the money to bu}' it with; and I saw 
 that to clear anything on it, I must at least get four 
 
166 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 dollars a plug". The mone}' which I had borrowed 
 was from three fellow servants, who had been fortunate 
 in earning- some little time and had saved their 
 money. The first man I met in the works boug^ht 
 two plug's, at five dollars each: and after I had been 
 there about an hour all was sold. So I went back 
 with a lig-ht heart. Mr. Brooks said to me at dinner: 
 "Well, how did vou g'et along- with your tobacco?" 
 " I did very well," I said, " the only troul)le was I did 
 not have enoug"h. I sold it for SlSO." " Well," said 
 he, " if 3'ou did, you made more clear money than the 
 works here. How much a plug- did you sell it for? " 
 at the same time drawing- out his pencil and commenc- 
 ing- to lig-ure it up. '" I had thirty-six plug's," said I, 
 " and I sold them for five dollars a plug-." Nothing- 
 more was said just then, but after dinner Brooks and 
 two of the clerks went out on the veranda to smoke. 
 When they were in a <xood way smoking-. Brooks 
 slipped into the dining- room, and said: "Well, that 
 was fine; you g-ot five dollars a plug- for the tobacco?" 
 "Oh, yes!" T said, ''tobacco is scarce, and they were 
 hungry lor it; it went liko hot cakes the price was 
 nt»t (|ursti()ne(l, I sold at once." " What is the pros- 
 pect for selling- more?" he asked. "Will you sell it 
 
REBELIvION WEAKENING. 167 
 
 for half the profit if T furnish the tobacco? " I said 
 " yes." So he sent the same day for a box of tobacco 
 —about five hundred plug-s. When the tobacco came 
 the box was sawed in two and one-half sent up to my 
 room. I put some fellows out as ag-ents to sell for me 
 — Uncle Hudson, who took care of the horses and 
 mules at the works; John at the hospital; William, 
 head chopper, among- the 100 men in the woods. Each 
 broug-ht in from $40.00 to $50.00 every two or three 
 days, and took another supply. Sometimes, when I 
 had finished my work in the afternoon, I would g-et an 
 old pony and g-o around throug-h the neig-hborhood 
 and sell four or five plug's. It was a mystery to the 
 servants how I g-ot the tobacco; but I did not let on 
 that Brooks was backing- me. In two weeks we had 
 taken in $1,600.00, and I was happy as I could be. 
 Brooks was a fine fellow — a northerner by birth, and 
 did just what he said he would. I received one-half 
 of the money. Of course this was all rebel mone}', 
 but I was sharp, and boug-ht up all the silver I could 
 find. Just as we g-ot on the other half of the box, 
 Brooks received word that the Yankees were coming-, 
 and to send all the hands to their masters. I was 
 glad that I had made some money, knowing- that I 
 
168 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 would need it if I g-ained my freedom, which I now 
 knew was quite probable, as the Union forces were 
 gaining- g-round ever^-where. But the messag-e ended 
 ni}- moncv-making-. and I prepared to go home to 
 Panola. 
 
 GOING BACK TO PANOLA. 
 
 Mr. Brooks fixed the return papers so that mj wife 
 and I could leave the part)- of slaves at Demopolis, 
 and go on thence to Panola b}- rail, to convey the 
 news to madam that all hands were coming home; 
 that the Yankees were expected to capture the salt 
 works within a short time. At Jackson, some seven 
 miles from the salt works, we were dela^-ed over 
 night by reason of lack of facilities for crossing the 
 Tombigbec river. The report that the Yankees were 
 coming through had created a panic among the white 
 people; and hundreds, fleeing from their homes, had 
 g-athered at the river, waiting and clamoring for an 
 opportunity to cross. Though slaves were property, 
 and \alual)le on that account, the whites seemed to 
 think that their own lives were in danger, antl to be 
 protected first. They therefore took precedence of us. 
 In the nii>rning about seven o'clock a steamer was 
 seen coming at a distance; but it could not be dis- 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 169 
 
 covered at once just what the character of it was. 
 The whites became alarmed. Some said: "The 
 Yankees are coming-." Other said: "It is a gun 
 boat they will surely fire on us." But as the boat 
 drew n^ar the people saw that there was nothing- to 
 fear — it was only the regular passenger boat. Besides 
 the hundreds of people, there were scores of wag-ons, 
 filled with household g-oods to g-o over, and the pas- 
 sage was slow and tedious We finally got across 
 and traveled as far as Demopolis, where Matilda and 
 I left the other slaves, and took a train and went on 
 to Panola. I delivered the papers to the madam from 
 Brooks, which told her all the particulars concerning- 
 the break up at the salt works. She sent wag-ons 
 rig-ht away after the other slaves who were coming- 
 back on foot. They were not broug-ht back to Panola; 
 but were hired out to different farmers along- the road 
 home — some in Jackson, some in Granda and others in 
 Panola town. These were all small towns in Mississ- 
 ippi. My wife and I went to work at old Master 
 Jack's, I on the farm and my wife at her old duties in 
 the house. We long-ed for freedom, but were content 
 for the time with hoping- and praying- for the coming- 
 of the day when it should be realized. It was sad to 
 
170 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 see the chang-es that had come to the white folks. 
 Sorrow had left its impress upon all and we felt it, 
 notwithstanding- all that we had suffered at their 
 hands. Boss had willed the homestead in Memphis 
 to Mrs Farring-ton, and she was g-etting- ready to take 
 possession. He had borrowed a g^reat amount of 
 money from her when he boug-htthe island at Mobile; 
 and the rapid coming- on of the end of the rebellion 
 destroyed all prospect of the success of his salt works 
 scheme, even before his death, and really rendered him 
 bankrupt. Hence the transfer of the Memphis 
 property to her was the only way he could make g-ood 
 what he owed her. The madam now had no home, 
 but was compelled to stay with her father, old Master 
 Jack. She was sadly chang-cd — did not appear like the 
 same person. Her troubles and sorrows had crushed 
 her former cruel and haug-ht}^ spirit. Her mother had 
 died a few months before, and then her husband had 
 followed, d)'ing suddenh' and away from home. Then 
 much of her property- had been lost, and social 
 pleasures and distinction were gone forever. Who 
 sliall say tliat the wrong's done her pt)or, lielpless 
 slaves were not aveng-ed in this life? The last I knew 
 ol luT she was still at her father's. 
 
REBEIyLION WEAKENING. 171 
 
 INCIDENTS. 
 
 A servant who belong-ed to Dr. Dandridg-e ran 
 away and got to Memphis just affer it was captured 
 by the Union soldiers. He was put into the army and 
 was stationed at one of the entrances to the city. He 
 was to halt all persons passing" to or from the city, no 
 difference who they were, and learn their names and 
 their business. Young- William McGeeand his sister, 
 Miss Cherry, one day went up to Memphis and, to 
 their surprise, were halted b}' this former servant of 
 their uncle. When they came home they were speak- 
 ing- of it to their father, and old Master Jack said: 
 " And you halted, did you?" "Why, yes," replied 
 William, "we had to do it." "Well," said the old 
 man, " I would have died-died before I would have 
 done it. To think that a servant should have halted 
 you, and one who has belong-ed to the famil}" like 
 Anderson!" This old man, notwithstanding- all his 
 boasting- in the absence of immediate danger, was the 
 verriest coward when dang-er was present; and if he 
 had been in the place of young- William, he would 
 have halted with the greatest alacrity. 
 
 While at the salt works I had a little experience at 
 nursing-. A fellow slave was taken ill, and I was 
 
172 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 called on to care for him at nig-ht. I alwa3-s liked this 
 work; it was a pleasure to me to be in the sick room. 
 Typhoid fever was a new case to me, but I remembered 
 what instructions Boss had g^iven me about it. I 
 " pitched in" to do what I could; but the fever was so 
 g-reat he lasted only a few da^^s. 
 
 MY FIFTH STRIKE FOR FREEDOM IS A SUCCESS. 
 
 We had remained at old Jack's until June, 1865, 
 and had tried to be content. The Union soldiers were 
 still raiding- all throug-h that section. Every day 
 some town would be taken, and the slaves would 
 secretely rejoice. After we came back from Ala- 
 bama we were held with a tig^hter rein than ever. 
 We were not allowed to g-o outside of the premises. 
 Georg-e Washing-ton, a fellow servant, and Kittv, his 
 wife, and I had talked considera])ly about the 
 Yankees, and how we mig-ht g-et awav. We knew it 
 was our right to l)e free, for the proclamation had long 
 been issued— yet they still held us. I did not talk 
 much to my wife about g"oing awav, as she was 
 always so afraid I would be killed, and did not want 
 nu" to try any more to escape. But Georg-e, his wife 
 and I Continued to discuss llic nuitter, wluMiever we 
 hat! a chance. We knew that Memphis was head- 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 173 
 
 quarters for the Union troops, but how to reach it was 
 the g-reat question. 
 
 It was Sunday, and I had driven one portion of the 
 famil}' to church, and Georg-e the other. The familj- 
 was now ver}- larg-e, as the madam and her family 
 were there, in addition to Old Master Jack's, and all 
 could not oro in one carriage. On the way back, 
 young- William McGee came up througfh the farm, on 
 horseback, a nearer wa}- home from church, and en- 
 countered several servants belong-ing- to some of the 
 neigfhbors. He asked them what they were doing- 
 there, and if the}^ had passes. To this last question 
 all answered no. "Well," said he, "never come 
 here ag-ain without having- passes, all of vou." At 
 this they all quickly- disappeared. When Old Jack 
 came home, Will told him what had passed; and he " 
 immediately called for George and Uncle Peter, the 
 foreman, and told them that no one not belong-ing- 
 there was to come into the quarters without a pass; 
 and any servant with a pass should be brought to the 
 house, that the pass mig-ht be inspected. They 
 thoug-ht, or feared, that if the servants were permitted 
 to come tog-ether freely they mig-ht plan ways of 
 escape, and communicate to each other what thev 
 
174 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 knew about the war and the Yankees. Georg^e came 
 out, and finding- me, told me what the}' had said. 
 " No slave from outside is to be allowed on the place," 
 said he. I replied: "If we listen to them we shall be 
 here until Christmas comes ag-ain." " What do 3'ou 
 mean?" asked Georg-e. "I mean that now, today, is 
 the time to make a start." So, late in the afternoon, 
 during the servants' pra3^er meeting-, of which I have 
 heretofore spoken, we thoug-ht would be a good time 
 to g"et away, as no one would be likel}- to see us. We 
 talked with John Smith, another servant, and told 
 him all about our plan, asking- him not to sa}' a word 
 about our being- g-one until he was throug-h feeding- 
 the stock. This would g-ive us another hour to ad- 
 vance on our journey, as the feeding- usually took 
 about that time — from six o'clock until seven. Our 
 fear was that we mig-ht be overtaken by the blood- 
 hounds; and, therefore, we wished to g-et as far away 
 as possible before the white ])eople knew we were 
 gone. It was Sunday afternoon, June 26th, 18()5, 
 when George and I, having- made ready for the start 
 for the Union lines, went to bid our wives good-bye. 
 I told my wife to cheer up, as I was coming ag-ain to 
 g-et her. I said to Kitty, George's wife: "We are 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 175 
 
 g"oing-, but look for us ag-ain. It will not be with us 
 as with so many others, who have g^one away, leaving" 
 their families and never returning- for them. We will 
 be here ag^ain." She looked up at me, smiling-, and 
 with a look of resolution, said: "I'll be ready." She 
 was of a firm, daring- nature — I did not fear to tell her 
 all mj plans. As my wife was so timid, I said as 
 little as possible to her. Georg-e and I hurriedly said 
 our farewells to our wives. The parting- was heart- 
 rending-, for we knew the dang-ers were g-reat, and the 
 chances were almost even that we should not meet 
 ag-ain. I could hardly leave my wife, her ag-ita- 
 tion and g-rief were so great. But we were off in 
 a few moments. We crept throug-h the orchard, pass- 
 ing- throug-h farm after farm until we struck the rail- 
 road, about seven miles from home. We followed this 
 road until we reached Senatobia, about half past seven 
 in the evening-. We felt g-ood, and, stopping- all nig-ht, 
 we started the next morning- for Hernando, Miss., 
 another small town, and reached there at two o'clock 
 in the afternoon. The most of the bridg-es had been 
 burned, by the troops, and there were no reg-ular rail- 
 road trains. Fortunately, however, flat cars, drawn 
 by horses were run over the road; and on a train of 
 
176 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 this kind we took passag-e. On several occasions, the 
 passeng"ers had to g^et out, and push the car over a 
 bridg"e, as it was not made so horses could cross on it, 
 the horses meantime being- driven or led throug"h the 
 stream, and then hitched to the car ag-ain. After we 
 had g-one throug"h this process repeatedly', we at last 
 reached Memphis, arriving- about seven o'clock Mon- 
 day evening-. The city was filled with slaves, from 
 all over the south, who cheered and g-ave us a welcome. 
 I could scarcely recog-nize Memphis, thing-s were so 
 chang-ed. We met numbers of our fellow servants 
 who had run away before us, when the war beg-an. 
 Tuesday and Wednesday we spent in making- in- 
 quiries; and I visited our old home at McGee's station. 
 But how different it was from what it had been when 
 the McGees were there. All was chang-ed. Thursday 
 we went to see Col. Walker, a Union officer, who 
 looked after the colored folks, and saw that they had 
 their rig-hts. When we reached his office we found it 
 so lilled with people, waiting- to see him, that we were 
 delayed about two hours, before we had an oppor- 
 tunity of speaking- with him. When our turn came, 
 we went in, and told him that we were citizens of 
 Mcmpliis until the tall of Fort Pillow and Donelson, 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 177 
 
 when our master had run us off, with a hundred other 
 slaves, into Mississippi, and thence to the salt works 
 in Alabama. He questioned us as to where we lived 
 in Memphis. I answered: "What is now head- 
 quarters of the Union forces was the home of master, 
 Mr. Edmund McGee, who is now dead." After a few 
 minutes, I said: "Colonel, we want protection to g^o 
 back to Mississippi after our wives, who are still held 
 as slaves." He replied: " You are both free men to g-o 
 and come as you please." "Why," said I, " Colonel, 
 if we ^o back to Mississippi thej- will shoot the giz- 
 zards out of us." " Well," said he, " I can not g-rant 
 your request. I would be overrun with similar appli- 
 cations; but I will tell 3'ou what you can do. There 
 are hundreds of just such men as you want, who would 
 be g-lad of such a scout." We thanked him and left. 
 
 GOING BACK FOR OUR WIVES. 
 
 After carefully considering- the matter, we con- 
 cluded to g-o back to Senatobia and see the captain of 
 the Union troops there. The next day, Friday, we 
 hired a two horse waggon, and made preparations to 
 start on our perilous undertaking" Saturday morning. 
 It was our hope to find some one at Senatobia to g-o 
 with us to Panola, and protect us in the effort to 
 
178 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 bring- away our wives. So, earl}- in the morning', we 
 set out. Our first stop was at Big- Spring-s camping- 
 ground, where we made preparations for refreshing- 
 ourselves and spending- the nig-ht. Just as we had 
 finished building a fire, for cooking- and keeping- off 
 the mosquitoes, two soldiers came riding up to the 
 spring. " Hello," said one, " which wa}- are you 
 traveling-? " " We are just from Memphis," said 
 Georg-e. " Have you an}- whisky? " asked one of 
 them. We replied "3-es." Will you g-ive a fellow a 
 horn? " We answered the question by handing- them 
 the bottle. While they were drinking-, Georg-e and I 
 stepped aside, and, after a few moments talk, we de- 
 cided to put the ([uestion to them of g"oing- with us to 
 get our wives. I asked: " Where are you from? " 
 "Senatobia," replied one. We at once laid our cause 
 before them, telling- them what Col. Walker had said 
 regarding- our g-etting- some one to g(> with us on our 
 enterprise. The}' listened attentively, and when we 
 had finished, one of them asked: "How much 
 whisky have you?" (Tcorg-e answered: *'Two bot- 
 tles." " Wliat do you intend to do when you see the 
 captain at Senatobia? " "Lav our com))laint before 
 liini," said I. " Now niv friend/' said one oi the 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 179 
 
 soldiers, "I am afraid if ^-ou o^o to the captain 3'ou 
 will be defeated. But Fll tell you what I'll do. Give 
 m}' comrade and me one of 3'our bottles of whisky, 
 and we will put you on a straig-ht track. The reason 
 why I say this is that our captain has been sweetened 
 by the rebel farmers. He is invited out to tea by them 
 every evening-. I know he will put you off. But I 
 will write a note to some comrades of mine who, I 
 know, will bring- 30U out safe." We ag-reed at once 
 to this proposition, and g"ave them the whisky. He 
 wrote the note, and g-ave it to us, telling- us to g-o to 
 the last tent on the line in the camp, where we would 
 find two bo\'S to whom we should g"ive it. "They 
 are brave," said he, " and the onl}- two I know of that 
 can help you. If they are not there don't g-ive the 
 note to an}' one else, but wait till they come back, on 
 Tuesday nig-ht. I feel satisfied that they will g-o and 
 help you out." With these words, they rode off. 
 Georg-e and I felt g-ood over our prospects. 
 
 A HAZARDOUS TRIP. 
 
 The next morning- was Sunday-, and we started on, 
 reaching Senatobia about eleven o'clock. We went 
 into the camp, following- the directions g-iven us, to 
 g-o to the last tent in the line; but, when we reached 
 
180 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 there, the soldiers were out. We ling-ered around the 
 grounds a short time, then went back, and found them 
 there. We g-ave them the note; and, after reading- it, 
 the}' simply asked us where we had stopped our 
 wag-on. I told them outside the villag-e. " Go there," 
 said one of them, " and remain until we come out to 
 see you." Shortly the}- came out; and, after we had 
 told them what we wanted, the distance to McGee's, 
 which was about nineteen miles from Senatobia, and 
 had g-iven them such other information as they de- 
 sired, the}- concluded that they would go. " We 
 want to be back," said I, "before da^'lig-ht Monda}' 
 morning-, because we must not be seen on the road ; 
 for we are well known in that section, and, if dis- 
 covered, would be captured and killed." " Well," 
 said one of the soldiers, " we will have to g-o back to 
 cam]), and arrang-e to be excused from roll call this 
 evening-, before we can make the tri]).'" The}- went 
 back to camp; and, in about ten minutes they came out 
 again saying: "All is rig-ht; we will g"*)." We g-ave 
 them each ten dollars; and promised, if tliev broug-ht 
 us out safely, to give each ten dollars more. 1 1 was 
 now about halt-past eleven o'clock. Tliev had to go 
 to camj), and slij) their horses t)ut cautiouslv, so as nc^t 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 181 
 
 to be seen b}- the captain. lu half an hour we were 
 on our way; and, after we had ridden some two 
 miles, we were overtaken b}- the two soldiers. It was 
 Sunda}' afternoon; and our havings a wag^on attracted 
 much attention from the farmers as we passed along-. 
 They looked at us so sharply that Georg-e and I felt 
 decidedly uneasy; yet we kept up courag-e and pressed 
 steadily on. After a long and wear}- ride we reached 
 old Master Jack's a little after sundown. The soldiers 
 rode into the yard ahead of us, and the iirst person 
 they met was a servant (Frank) at the woodpile. 
 The}' said to him: " Go in and tell your master, Mr. 
 McGee, to come out, we want to see him," at the same 
 time asking- for Louis' and George's wives. Young 
 William McGee came out and the soldiers said to him: 
 " We want feed for seventy-five head of horses." 
 McGee said: "We have not got it." Just then 
 George and I were coming up. We drove in at the 
 gate, throug-h the grove, and passed the woodpile 
 where McGee and the soldiers were talking. McGee 
 had just replied: "We have not got that much feed 
 to spare — we are almost out." "Well," said the 
 soldiers, "we must have it," and the}' followed on 
 right after the wagons. As we drove past them. 
 
182 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 j'oung- McGee went running' into the house, sa^dng- to 
 his mother: "It is Louis and Georg-e, and I'll kill 
 one of them to-nig-ht." This raised quite an alarm, 
 and the members of the famih' told him not to do 
 that, as it would ruin them. As soon as George and 
 I drove up to the first cabin, which was my wife's and 
 Kitt3''s, we ran in. Kitt}- met us at the door and 
 said: " I am all ready." She was looking- for us. 
 We commenced loading- our wag-on with our few 
 thing-s. Meanwhile the soldiers had ridden around a 
 few rods and came upon old Master Jack and the 
 minister of the parish, who were watching- as g-uards 
 to keep the slaves from running- away to the Yankees. 
 Just think of the outrage upon those poor creatures 
 in forcibly retaining them in slavery long after the 
 proclamation making them free had gone into effect 
 beyond all question! As the soldiers rode up to the 
 two men they said: ''Hello! what are you doing- 
 here? Why have 3'ou not told these two men, Louis 
 and (ieorge. that they are free men that they can g-o 
 and come as they like? " B}- this time all the family 
 were aroused, and great excitement i)revailed. The 
 soldier's jtri'sence drew all the servants near. George 
 and I hurried to till u]i our wagon, telling our wives 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 183 
 
 to get in, as there was no time to lose — we must go at 
 once. In twent}- minutes we were all loaded. My 
 wife, Aunt Kitt}' and nine other servants followed the 
 wag-on. I waited for a few moments for Mary Ellen, 
 sister of my wife; and as she came running out of the 
 white folks' house, she said to her mistress, Mrs. Far- 
 ring-ton: "Good-bye; I wish you g-ood luck." "I 
 wish 3-ou all the bad luck," said she in a rag-e. But 
 Mary did not stop to notice her mistress further; and, 
 joining- me, we were soon on the road following the 
 wag-on. 
 
 TWO BRAVE MEN. 
 
 Those soldiers were brave indeed. Think of the 
 courag-e and daring involved in this scheme — only two 
 soldiers g-oing- into a country of which they knew 
 nothing- except that every white man living- in it was 
 their enemy. The demand which they made for food 
 for seventy-live horses was a clever ruse, invented by 
 them to alarm the McGees, and make them think 
 that there was a troop of horses near by, and that it 
 would not be safe for them to offer any resistance to 
 our g'oing- away with our wives. Had they thought 
 that there were but two soldiers, it is certain that 
 they would have endeavored to prevent us g-etting- 
 
184 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 iiway again, and one or more of us would undoubtedly 
 have been killed. 
 
 As already stated, nine other slaves followed our 
 wag-on, as it moved off. They had no hats on; some 
 were bare-footed, — they had not stopped to get any- 
 thing; but, as soon as the}' saw a chance to get away, 
 they went just as they were at the moment. Aunt 
 Kitty was brave and forethoughtful, for during the 
 week we were gone she had baked and cooked a large 
 amount of substantial food that would keep us from 
 starving while on our journey. 
 
 At the first road crossing, the two soldiers thought 
 they saw a hirge troop of soldiers in the distance, and 
 the}- galloped ahead of us at full speed; but, on 
 arriving at the spot, they found that what the}' 
 had thought soldiers were only a herd of cattle. 
 They rode on to the next crossing, we following as 
 we conveniently Cdiild. Each poor slave was busy 
 with his thoughts and his prayers. Now and then 
 one wouUl hear a moan or a word from some of the 
 party. All wore scared, even though the st)ldiers 
 were with us. We came to the next cross road, and 
 passed that safely. ( )ur fear was that the Mc(jees 
 might i^et the neighborhood to join them and pursue 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 185 
 
 US, or send the home g-uards after us; but Providence 
 was seeming-ly smiling' upon us at last, for no one 
 followed or molested us. We moved on all nig"ht, 
 until we came to a creek, at four o'clock in the morn- 
 ing- of Monday. The banks of the creek were ver}' 
 steep, and as the horses and wagon went down into 
 the stream, the mattress on top of the wag-on, upon 
 which m}' wife and her sister's children were sitting", 
 was thrown off into the water. Immediatel}- the horses 
 stopped, and became balky. It was such a warm 
 nig-ht that they did not want to move on out of the 
 water, and would not start, either, until they g-ot 
 ready. As soon as the soldiers saw the mattress slide 
 off with my wife and the children, one of them plung-- 
 ed into the water with his horse, and, in a minute, 
 broug-ht them all out. All had a g-ood ducking- — 
 indeed it seemed like a baptism by immersion. The 
 drenched ones were wrapped in old blankets; and, 
 after an hour's delay, we w^ere ag-ain on our way. 
 The soldiers said: "Now we must leave you; the time 
 is coming- when we must be in camp for roll call. If 
 3'ou are not at our camp when roll call is over, we will 
 come back and see about you." We g-ave them each 
 the second ten dollars, as ag-reed upon, and just as 
 
186 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 they rode to the top of the hill they left us. We had 
 a clear sweep from this point, and we came into Sena- 
 tobia about nine o'clock in the forenoon. Our two 
 soldier friends, who had broug^ht us out so safel}', 
 came out of camp to see us. They cheered us, and 
 seemed g-lad that they had rendered us service. We 
 stopped at the camp until we had dried our clothes 
 and had some breakfast; and, then, we made our way 
 to Memphis. 
 
 OUT OF BONDAGE AT LAST. 
 
 My wife and her sister were shoeless, and the 
 latter had no hat on — she had hurried out of the house 
 in such excitement that she thougfht of nothing- but 
 g-etting- away. Having- to walk some of the way, as 
 all could not ride in the wagon at the same time, we 
 were all tired, dirt}' and rest-broken, and, on the 
 whole, a pitiful crowd to look at, as we came into the 
 city. One venerable old man, bent with age, whose 
 ebon}- face shone with delight, came running- out into 
 the road as we appeared, exclaiming-: " Oh I hero dev 
 come, (rod bless 'em! Poorchil'en! they come fannin." 
 We used larg-e palm leaves to fan ourselves with, as 
 we were so warm. Those nine souls that followed us 
 walked the whole distance, arriving shortly after we 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 187 
 
 did. Thousands of others, in search of the freedom 
 of which they had so long- dreamed, flocked into the 
 city of refug-e, some having- walked hundreds of 
 miles. 
 
 It was appropriately the 4th of July when we 
 arrived; and, aside from the citizens of Memphis, 
 hundreds of colored refugees throng-ed the streets. 
 Everywhere you looked you could see soldiers. Such 
 a day I don't believe Memphis will ever see ag-ain — 
 when so larg-e and so motley a crowd will come to- 
 g-ether. Our two soldier rescuers looked us up after 
 we were in Memphis, and seemed truly g-lad that we 
 had attained our freedom, and that they had been in- 
 strumental in it. Only one thing- we reg-ret, and that 
 is that we did not learn their names; but we were in 
 so much trouble, and so absorbed in the business 
 which we had in hand — so excited by the perils of our 
 undertaking-, that we never thoug-ht to ask them their 
 names, or to what reg-iment they belonged. Then, 
 after we g-ot to Memphis, thoug-h we were most g-rate- 
 ful for the service which they had rendered us, we 
 were still so excited by our new condition and sur- 
 rounding-s that we thoug-ht of little else, and forg-ot 
 that we had no means of establishing-, at a later time, 
 
188 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 the identity of those to whom we owed so much. 
 Freedom, that we had so long- looked for, had come at 
 last; and we g^ave praise to God, blessing- the day 
 when we met those two heroes. It is true that we 
 should have been free, sooner or later; still, but for 
 their assistance, my wife and I mig-ht never have met 
 again. If I could not have gone back, which I could 
 never have done alone, until long- after, such chang-es 
 might have occured as would have separated us for 
 3-ears, if not forever. Thousands were separated in 
 this manner — men escaping- to the Union lines, hoping- 
 to make a way to return for their families; but, fail- 
 ing- in this, and not daring- to return alone, never saw 
 their wives or children more. Thanks to God, we 
 were guided to these brave soldiers, and so escaped 
 from so cruel a fate. 
 
 A WORD FOR -MY OLD .MASTER. 
 
 In closing this account of my 3'ears of bondage, it 
 is, perhaps, but justice to sa}' of my old master that 
 he was in some respects kinder and more liuniane than 
 many other slaveholders. He fed well, and all had 
 enough to wear, such as it was. It is true that the 
 material was coarse, l)ut it was suited to the season, 
 and, therefore, comfortable, which could not truthfully 
 
REBELLION WEAKENING. 189 
 
 be said of the clothing- of the slaves of other planters. 
 Not a few of these did not have sufficient clothes to 
 keep them warm in winter; nor did they have sufficient 
 nourishing" and wholesome food. But while m}^ master 
 showed these virtues, similar to those which a provi- 
 dent farmer would show in the care of his dumb 
 brutes, he lacked in that humane feeling- which should 
 have kept him from bu^nng- and selling- human beings 
 and parting- kindred — which should have made it im- 
 possible for him to have permitted the lashing-, beat- 
 ing- and lacerating- of his slaves, much more the hir- 
 ing of an irresponsible brute, by the year, to perform 
 this barbarous service for him. The McGees were 
 charitable — as they interpreted the word — were 
 alwa)'s ready to contribute to educational and mis- 
 sionary funds, while denying-, under the severest 
 penalties, all education to those most needing- it, and 
 all true missionary effort — the spiritual enlightenment 
 for which they were famishing-. Then our masters 
 lacked that fervent charity, the love of Christ in the 
 heart, which if they had possessed they could not 
 have treated us as they did. They would have remem- 
 bered the g-olden rule: " Do unto others as ye would 
 that men should do to you." Possessing- absolute 
 
190 
 
 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 power over the bodies and souls of their slaves, and 
 grown rich from their unrequited toil, they became 
 possessed by the demon of avarice and pride, and lost 
 sig"ht of the most vital of the Christly qualities. 
 
 # 
 
 ,M 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY, 
 
 COMING NORTH. 
 
 As before stated, we arrived in Memphis on the 
 Fourth of July, 1865, My first effort as a freeman 
 was to g-et something- to do to sustain myself and 
 wife and a babe of a few months, that was born at 
 the salt works. I succeeded in g^etting a room for us, 
 and went to work the second day driving" a public car- 
 riag-e. I made enough to keep us and pay our room 
 rent. By our economy we manag-ed to g"et on very 
 well. I worked on, hoping- to g-o further north, feel- 
 ing somehow that it would be better for us there; 
 when, one da}- I ran across a man who knew my wife's 
 mother. He said to me: " Why, your wife's mother 
 went back up the river to Cincinnati. I knew her well 
 and the people to whom she belonged." This in- 
 formation made us eager to take steps to find her. 
 My wife was naturally anxious to follow the clue 
 thus obtained, in hopes of finding her mother, whom 
 she had not seen since the separation at Memphis 
 
192 THIRTY YEARvS A SLAVE. 
 
 years before. We, therefore, concluded to g^o as far 
 as Cincinnati, at any rate, and endeavor to g^et some 
 further information of mother. My wife seemed to 
 g-ather new strength in learning- this news of her 
 mother, meag-er though it was. After a stay in 
 Memphis of six weeks we went on to Cincinnati, 
 hopeful of meeting- some, at least, of the famil}- that, 
 though free, in defiance of justice, had been consig-ned 
 to cruel and hopeless bondag-e — bondag-e in violation 
 of civil as well as moral law. We felt it was almost 
 impossible that we should see any one that we ever 
 knew; but the man had spoken so earnesth' and pos- 
 itively regarding- my mother-in-law that we were not 
 without hope. On arriving at Cincinnati, our first in- 
 quir}' was about her, my wife g-iving her name and 
 descri])ti()n; and, fortunately, we came upon a colored 
 m;m who said he knew of a woman answering- to the 
 name and description which ni}- wife g-ave of her 
 mother, and he directed us to the house where she was 
 sto])iiing. When we reached the place to which we 
 had \K-vn (lirLclcd, my wife not only found her mother 
 hill oiu- of lier sisters. The meeting was a joyful one 
 to us alh No mortal who has not experienced it can 
 imagine the feeling of those who meet again after 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 193 
 
 long- years of enforced separation and hardship and 
 utter ig-norance of one another's condition and place 
 of habitation. I questioned them as to when and 
 where they had met, and how it happened that they 
 were now tog-ether. My mother-in-law then beg-an 
 the following- narrative: 
 
 " When I was sold from the Memphis trader's yard 
 I was bought by a man who lived not far from Mem- 
 phis. I never heard of any of the children, and knew 
 nothing- as to what had become of them. After the 
 capture of Memphis by the Union army, the people to 
 whom I belonged fled from their home, leaving- their 
 slaves; and the other slaveholders of the neig-hbor- 
 hood did the same. The slaves, left to themselves, at 
 once departed for Memphis, and I among the number. 
 When I had been there but a short time a call was 
 made for nurses to g-o into the hospital; and, after 
 thinking- of it for a few minutes, I concluded to 
 answer the call, and was speedily installed in the 
 work. When I had been there a short time I found, 
 to my g-reat surprise and delig-ht, my eldest daug-hter 
 was also employed there. She had come to Memphis 
 as I had, because her master's family had fled; and, 
 hearing- the call for nurses, had entered the service at 
 
194 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 once. I can not tell my pleasure in meeting- one of 
 mv children, for I had never expected to see an}' of 
 them again. We continued our work in the hospital 
 until Oenerals Sheridan and Grant said the city was 
 getting too crowded with colored people — there was 
 not room for them; some must be removed. So, large 
 numbers of them were sent to Cincinnati, and my 
 -daug-hter and I were among them. This is why you 
 see us here together." 
 
 When she had finished telling this story my wife 
 and I were shedding tears of joy. My sister-in-law, 
 Mary Ellen, whom Boss bought at the same time that 
 ho bought my wife, was with us; thus the mother and 
 three daughters had met again most unexpectedls', 
 ami in a way almost miraculous. This meeting again 
 of mother and daughters, after years of separation 
 and many vicisitudes, was an occasion of the pro- 
 foundest joy, although all were almost wholly desti- 
 tute (»l tlie necessaries of life. This first evening we 
 sjient together can never be forgotten. I can see the 
 (thl woman ii(»\v, with bowed form and g'rav locks, as 
 she gave tlianks in jovful tones vet reverent manner, 
 liirsih'li a WMiulerlul l)lessin<r. 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 195 
 
 IN CANADA. 
 
 We did not remain long- in Cincinnati, as houses 
 were so scarce we could not g-et a place to stop in. 
 My wife's mother had but one room, and we could not 
 stay there. We went on to Hamilton, but staj-ed 
 there only two months. I worked at whatever I could 
 g-et to do — whitewashing- and odd jobs of any kind. 
 The women manag-ed to get washing- to do, so that 
 we g-ot on very well. Our aim was when we left 
 Memphis to g-et to Canada, as we reg-aided that as the 
 safest place for refug-ees from slavery. We did not 
 know what might come ag-ain for our injury. So, 
 now, as we had found some of my wife's people, we 
 were more eager to g-o; and, as I could not g-et any 
 steady work in Hamilton, we made ready to move on. 
 We went straight to Detroit, and crossed over the 
 river to Windsor, Canada, arriving- there on Christmas 
 1865. I succeeded in g-etting- work as a porter at the 
 Iron House, a hotel situated near the landing-. Here 
 my wife also was employed, and here we remained 
 until spring; when, as the wag-es were so small in 
 Windsor, I went over to Detroit to seek for more 
 profitable employment. After some effort, I succeeded 
 in securing- a situation, as waiter, in the Biddle House, 
 
196 THIRTY YEARS A SI^AVE. 
 
 iiiid remained there two years, when the manager 
 died, and it chang-ed hands; and, much as I disliked 
 to make a change in ni}^ work, I found it necessary. 
 An opportunity soon offered of a position as sailor on 
 the steamer Saginaw, which ran from Green Bay to 
 Escanaba, in connection with the railroad. 
 
 A CLEW TO MY BROTHER WILLIAM. 
 
 While I was on this boat, one of the men who 
 worked with me said to me, one day: "Have you a 
 brother, Hughes?" I said, "Yes, but I don't know 
 anything about him. We were sold from each other 
 when bo^'S, " Well." said he, " I used to sail with a 
 man whose name was Billy Hughes, and he looked 
 just like you." I told him there were three boys of us; 
 that we were sold to different parties, and that I had 
 never seen either of my brothers since. One brother 
 was named William, but went by the nickname of 
 Billy. "Has this man had his forefinger cut off," 
 asked I. "OhI" replied he, " I don't know, Hughes, 
 about that." "Well," said I, "this is all I remember 
 al)i)Ut Hilly. I accidentally chopped off his forelinger 
 oni- day, when we were small l)ovs in \"irginia. 'Phis 
 is till,' only tiling by wliich I could idcntifv mv brother 
 William." Ndlliing more was said upon the matter. 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 197 
 
 and it dropped out of my mind. I did not realize how- 
 important were the words of this man. It never 
 occured to me that he held the clew that mig^ht bring- 
 us tog-ether again. 
 
 WORK IN CHICAGO. 
 
 When the sailing season had ended, the steamer 
 tied up at Chicago for the winter. Upon going 
 ashore, I at once tried to get something else to do, for 
 I could not afford to be idle a day. One of the first 
 men I met in Chicago was my old friend and fellow- 
 servant Thomas Bland. He was glad to see me, and 
 told me all about his escape to Canada, and how he 
 had met Will McGee, at Niagara Falls. He was 
 working at the Sherman House, having charge of the 
 coat room. I told him that I had been sailing during 
 the summer, but that the boat was now laid up, and 
 that I was anxious for another job. He said he would 
 try and see what he could do for me. He went to the 
 proprietor of the hotel, Mr. Rice; and, to my surprise 
 and delight, he was so fortunate as to secure me a 
 position as porter and general utility man. My 
 family were still at Windsor, Canada; and, when I 
 had secured this place, I got leave of absence to make 
 them a visit, and went there at once. Two babies had 
 
198 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 been born only a day before my arrival. I had hoped 
 to be there on the interesting- occasion, but was too 
 late. However, I was pleased to find two bright little 
 g-irls to aid in the family g-reeting", which was delig-ht- 
 ful after the months of separation. My wife, her 
 sister Mary and her two children, her mother and the 
 sister we found at Cincinnati were all still here living- 
 tog-ether. 
 
 ATTENDING NIGHT SCHOOL. 
 After a visit of two weeks with m}' family, I 
 returned to Chicag-o, and beg-an my work at the 
 Sherman House. I was full of energ-y and hope, and 
 resolved to put forth ever}- effort to make a man of 
 myself, and to earn an honest living-. I saw that I 
 needed education, and it was one of the bitterest re- 
 membrances of my servitude that I had been cheated 
 out of this inalienable rig-ht — this immeasurable 
 blessing. I, therefore, determined to do what was in 
 my power to g-ain something- of that of which I had 
 Ijccn cruelly defrauded. Hence I entered the nig-ht- 
 school for Ireedmen, which had been established in 
 the city, and laitli fully attended its sessions during- 
 tlu- iiiDiilhs it was kcjtt open. 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SEA VERY. 199 
 
 I SETTLE IN MILWAUKEE. 
 
 I worked at the Sherman House until Aug-ust 1868, 
 and, during- this time, saw many travelers and busi- 
 ness men, and made some lasting" friends among them. 
 Among these was Mr. Plankinton. He seemed to take 
 a fancy to me, and offered me a situation in the 
 Plankinton House, soon to be opened in Milwaukee. I 
 readily accepted it for I was not getting a larg"e 
 salary, and the position which he offered promised 
 more. The Plankinton House was opened in Septem- 
 ber, and I was placed in full charg-e of the coat room; 
 and, after I had been there some time, I had, in 
 connection with my coat room duties, charge of the 
 bell stand. My wife had charge of the waiter's rooms, 
 a lodging house situated on Second street, one door 
 from Grand Avenue. This was a brick building that 
 stood where the west portion of the Plankinton now 
 stands. The second floor was used as our living- 
 rooms; the third and fourth floors constituted the 
 sleeping- apartments of the hotel waiters. My wife 
 looked after these apartments, saw that they were 
 clean, and had a general supervision of them. 
 
 BEGIN BUSINESS FOR MYSELF IN A SMALL WAY. 
 
 After the hotel had been running a little over a 
 
200 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 )-ear, I saw there was a chance for me to make some- 
 thing- at hiundry work. I was allowed to take wash- 
 ing: from an}- of the g-uests who desired their work 
 done privatel}'. In this way I worked up quite a 
 business. I still continued m}- coat room duties, as 
 my wife manag^ed the laundr}' work. Our laundry 
 business increased so rapidly- I deemed it best to 
 chang-e our quarters from Second street to 21 <> Grand 
 avenue, which seemed better suited for our purpose. 
 Here the business continued to g-row until it reached 
 proportions of which we had little idea when we be- 
 g"an it. 
 
 MEETING KKLATIVES OF MY OLD MASTER. 
 
 One da}- while I was at the Plankinton I happened 
 to be coming throug^h the hall, when whom should I 
 meet but Col. Hunting-, son-in-law of old ^Master Jack 
 McGee, of Mississippi. We came face to face, and I 
 knew him at once, but he only partially recog-nized 
 me. He said: *' I know your face, but can not recall 
 your name." I said: " Don't you know Louis Mc- 
 Gee? " He tlien remembered me at once. "Why," 
 said lu\ "my wife, mv brollier and all his family are 
 luTi'. There is a i)arly of us on a pleasure Irij) 
 through the north." I soon learned Dial tliev had 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 201 
 
 visited at Waukesha spring's, and had been at the 
 hotel only a few hours, waiting- for the boat for Grand 
 Haven. I hastened to bring- my wife to see them and 
 g-ot back with her just in time. The}' were already in 
 the 'bus, but waited for us. We very cordially shook 
 hands with them. They asked me why I had come so 
 far north, and I replied that we kept traveling- until 
 we found a place where we could make a g-ood living-. 
 They wished us success and the 'bus rolled awa3\ 
 
 FINDING MY BROTHER WILLIAM. 
 
 While I was at the Plankinton House many of the 
 traveling- men seeming-ly liked to talk with me when 
 the}' came to the coat room to check their thing's. I 
 remember one day when conversing- with one of these 
 g-entlemen, he asked, all of a sudden: " Say, Hug-hes, 
 have you a brother?" I answered: " Yes, I had 
 two, but I think they are dead. I was sold from them 
 when a mere lad." "Well," said he, "if you have a 
 brother he is in Cleveland. There is a fellow there 
 who is chief cook at the Forest City Hotel who looks 
 just like you." I g-rew eag-er at these words, and put 
 the same question to him that I did to the man on the 
 steamer when I was sailing-: " Has he one fore-fing-er 
 cut off?" He laug-hed and answered: " Well, I don't 
 
202 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 know, Hug-hes, about that; but I do know this: His 
 name is Billy and he resembles 3'ou ven' much. Til 
 tell you what I'll do, when I g-o back to Cleveland on 
 my next trip I'll look and see if that fore-fing'er is off." 
 Now that the second person had called my attention 
 to the fact that there was a man in Cleveland who 
 looked ver}' much like me, I became deeply interested 
 - — in fact, I was so excited I could hardly do my work. 
 I awaited the ag-ents return with what of patience I 
 could command; and, at last, one day, when I was 
 least expecting- him, I was g^reeted wdth these words: 
 "Hello, Hug-hes! I have g"ood news for you." I g^rew 
 so excited I could hardly stand still. "Well," he 
 said, "you told me that you had a brother whose 
 name was William, but called Bill}- for short? " 
 "Yes," I said. "Did your brother Billy have his 
 fore-fing-er chopped off by his brother Louis, when, as 
 boys, the}' were one day phnnng- tog-ether? " " Yes," 
 I replied. "Then I have found your brother," he 
 said. "I have seen the man in Cleveland, and he cor- 
 r(»l)<)ratos your story in every particular. He says 
 that ho was l)orn in Virg-inia, near Charlottesville, 
 and was owned by one John Martin." I knew now, 
 beyond question, that this was mv l)rothcr William. 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 203 
 
 Words failed me to express my feelino-s at this news. 
 The prospect of seeing- my brother, lost so many years 
 before, made me almost wild with joy. 1 thanked the 
 ag-ent for the interest he had taken in me, and for the 
 invaluable and comprehensive information he had 
 broug-ht. He could hardly have done me a g-reater 
 favor, or bound me to him by a more lasting- oblig-a- 
 tion. 
 
 My first step was to arrang-e for a leave of absence 
 from my work, which I found no difficulty in accom- 
 plishing-, and by nig-ht I was aboard the express going- 
 to Cleveland. My excitement did not diminish as I 
 sped on my journey, and the speed of the express was 
 too slow for my eag-er anticipations. Upon reaching- 
 Cleveland I went directly to the hotel where I was 
 told my brother was employed, and inquired at the 
 office for Billy Hug-hes. A bell boy was summoned to 
 take me around to the department where he was. 
 When we met neither of us spoke for some moments- 
 speech is not for such occasions, but silence rather, 
 and the rush of thoug-hts. When the first flash of 
 feeling- had passed I spoke, calling- him by name, and 
 he addressed me as brother. There seemed to be no 
 doubt on either side as to our true relationship, 
 
204 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 thougfh the features of each had long- since faded for- 
 ever from the memory of the other. He took me to 
 his house; and each of us related his story with such 
 feelings as few can fully appreciate. He told me that 
 he had never heard anything- of our mother or brother. 
 He went back to the old home in Virg-inia, after the 
 close of the rebellion, but could g-et no trace of her. 
 
 As we related our varied experiences — the hard- 
 ships, the wrong's and sorrows which we endured and 
 at last the coming- of brig-hter days, we were sad, 
 then happy. It seemed, and indeed was, wonderful 
 that we should have met ag-ain after so long^ a sepa- 
 ration. The time allotted to ni}^ visit with him passed 
 most pleasantly, and all too quickl}" and, as I looked 
 into the faces of his wife and children, I seemed to 
 have entered a new and broader life, and one in which 
 the joys of social intercourse had marvelously ex- 
 panded. When I came to saying- g-ood-bye to him, so 
 close did I feel to him, the tic between us seemed 
 never to have been broken. That week, so full of new 
 experiences and emotions can never be erased from 
 my niomory. After man}- promises of the maintenance 
 of the social relations thus renewed, we parted, to 
 take up ag-ain the l)urdens of life, but willi new 
 inspiration and deeper feeling-. 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 205 
 
 I came back to m}' work with renewed vig-or, and 
 I could not but rejoice and g-ive praise to God for the 
 blessing's that I had experienced in the years since my 
 bondag-e, and especially for this partial restoration of 
 the broken tie of kindred. I had long since learned 
 to love Christ, and ni}- faith in him was so firmly es- 
 tablished that I gave him praise for each and every 
 ray of happiness that came into my life. 
 
 GROWTH OF THE LAUNDRY BUSINESS. 
 
 I continued the laundry work, in connection with 
 that at the hotel, until 1874. I had been in the 
 Plankinton House then six years and a half. The 
 laundry business had increased to such an extent that 
 my wife could not manage it all alone. I, therefore, 
 gave up my position at the hotel, and went into the 
 laundry work on a somewhat larger scale than that 
 upon which we had been conducting it. We were still 
 doing- business at 216 Grand avenue, and there we re- 
 mained until 1876; when we removed to more com- 
 modious quarters at 713 on the avenue. But we re- 
 mained there only a few months, when we removed to 
 134 Fourth street in the rear. The establishment 
 here was fitted up with all modern appliances; but I 
 was not so successful as I anticipated. My losses 
 
206 THIRTY YEARS A SIvAVE. 
 
 were heavy; and thoug-h the facilities for doing- the 
 work were much better than those which we had be- 
 fore possessed, the location was not so accessible or 
 inviting-. Wc, therefore, went back to our former 
 location at 713 on the avenue. 
 
 EMPLOYED AS A NURSE. 
 
 Not long- after this. Dr. Uoug-las, a prominent 
 physician of the city at that time, was in failing- 
 health, and, wishing- a nurse, I was recommended to 
 him for this service b}- a friend. I served the doctor 
 in this capacity every night for three months. I then 
 went with him to McComb, a villag-e in southern 
 Mississippi, which had been, in the days of slavery, a 
 somewhat famous resort, but which had lost its pres- 
 tig-e, and entered upon a g-eneral decline; the hotel 
 and all its surroundings i)resenting- the appearance of 
 g-eneral dilapidation. I remained here with the 
 doctor for two weeks — until they succeeded in g-etting- 
 another person to care for him. I then took a run 
 down to New Orleans. 
 
 A TRIP SOUTH. 
 
 On this southern trip I had the opporlunitv of ob- 
 serving tile C(»n(lition of the country through which 
 we passed. Many of the farms seemed neglected, the 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 207 
 
 houses dilapidated, or abandoned, the fields either un- 
 cultivated and overg-rown with bushes, or the crops 
 strug-g-ling- with g-rass and weeds for the mastery, and 
 presenting but little promise of a paying- harvest In 
 some places the bushes and other underg-rowth were 
 fifteen feet hig-h, and the landscape was peculiar and 
 by no means inviting-. I could remember the appear- 
 ance of the cotton farms in slavery days; but how 
 chang-ed were thing's I now saw! They did not look 
 at all like those which I had been accustomed to see. 
 Everything- was dismal and uninviting-. The entire 
 country passed throug-h in Mississippi looked like a 
 wilderness. This deterioration was the natural 
 result of the devastating- war which had swept the 
 country, and to the industrial revolution which fol- 
 lowed and to which affairs had not been adjusted. 
 
 When I arrived at New Orleans I found the levee 
 filled with fruit. Orang-es and bananas were piled in 
 masses like coal, and the scenes in this portion of the 
 city were ver}- different from anything one sees in the 
 north. Among- the many places of interest in the 
 city were the cemeteries. Owing- to the low level of 
 the g-round and its saturation with water, burials are 
 seldom made in graves, but instead in tombs built of 
 
208 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 brick or marble or other stone, in which are con- 
 structed cells running- back from the front and of a 
 size and shape sufficient to admit a coffin. Then, as 
 soon as filled, they are sealed up. These tombs con- 
 tain from two to six or eig-ht, or even more of these 
 cells, and their g-eneral appearance from the front is 
 not unlike that of a section of mail boxes in a post 
 office. Other places of interest were the old French 
 market, the public squares and g^ardens, the old 
 Catholic churches, and some of the relics of slaver3^ 
 days in the shape of pens where slaves were exposed 
 for sale. One of these was in the basement of the 
 Hotel Ro3'al, which would contain several hundred at 
 once, and from which hundreds went to a bondag-e 
 bitterer than death, and from which death was the 
 only relief. 
 
 I MAKE NURSING MY REGULAR BUSINE.SS. 
 
 I came back to Milwaukee with a new idea. I 
 liked nursing- — it was my choice from childhood. 
 K\en though I had been deprived of a course of train- 
 inj^-, I felt that I was not too old to try, at least, to 
 learn the art, or to add to what I already knew. Dr. 
 Douglas g-ave me a splendid recommendation, and had 
 some cards printed, ])earing mv name antl address. 
 
FREEDOM AFTER SLAVERY. 209 
 
 These I distributed, and thusbeg-an the business which 
 I have followed steadily since that time. Dr. Marks 
 ver}' kindly recommended me to well known men 
 needing- the service of a nurse, and to his professional 
 associates; and through this means, and through his 
 continued kindness and interest, I have been almost 
 constantly engag-ed in this work. I am also indebted 
 to Drs. Fox and Spearman and other prominent physic- 
 ians for recommendations which have resulted in secur- 
 ing- me employment which has proved remunerative to 
 me, and which seemed to give entire satisfaction to the 
 sick and their friends. This is no small part of the 
 compensation in the difficult, often wearing, and 
 always delicate duties of the nurse in the sick room. 
 To every true man or woman it is one of the greatest 
 satisfactions to have the consciousness of having been 
 useful to his fellow beings. My duties as nurse have 
 taken me to different parts of the state, to Chicago, 
 to California and to Florida; and I have thus gained 
 no little experience, not only in my business, but in 
 many other directions. 
 
 I have endeavored, in the foregoing sketch, to give 
 a clear and correct idea of the institution of human 
 slavery, as I witnessed and experienced it— its brutal- 
 
210 THIRTY YEARS A SLAVE. 
 
 ity, its degradino- influence upon both master and 
 slave, and its utter incompatibilit}- with industrial 
 improvement and g-eneral educational progfress. 
 Nothing- has been exagerated or set down in malice, 
 although in the scars which I still bear upon my 
 person, and in the wounds of spirit which will never 
 wholly heal, there might be found a seeming excuse 
 for such a course. Whatever of kindness was shown 
 me during- the years of my bondage, I still gratefully 
 remember, whether it came from white master or fel- 
 low slave; and for the recog-nition which has been so 
 generously accorded me since the badge of servitude 
 was removed, I am profoundly and devoutly thankful. 
 
 THE ,-^ END. 
 

 > 
 
 V 
 
 0^ .:• 
 
 
 
 r^ 
 
 
 -iT .'^-^^N 
 
 -^ 
 
 
 
 
 r ^'^^ 
 
 ^' 
 
 
 ;^ 
 
 
 
 A, 
 
 V'S^ 
 
 mV?- 
 
 
 
 ° (7^ 
 
 
 '"^^ .<.^' ^'M/i\ ■ "^^ .A^ ' ..^^ 
 
 
 •^^^^ 
 
 
 
 <■- •'...• ,0 
 
 
 ,<^ 
 
 
 
 *.-^^<<*' ^b^ 
 
 
 
 'i^ . * • 
 
 
 
 V- ■>-. 
 
 J- 
 
 
 xo -n,. 
 
 
 c 
 
 iJo \0 T 
 
^*z~. 
 
 ^^6 
 
 
 
 v.^^ °^^fe:- \/ .^^&^^ %.^^ »*#