^/l^x. -^-L. REMINISCENCES BY LUCY N. COLMAN. I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews, bought and sold, have ever earned. .No : dear as freedom is, and in my heart's Just estimation prized above all price, I had much rather be myself the slave. And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him. — Cowper. BUFFALO, N. Y. H . L. G R p: E N, Publisher. 189T. E ^ /3^ PREFACE. JN the early years of the antislavery a<,ntation in our country, it was my good fortune to become acquainted with Lucy N. Cohiian, author of these "Reminiscences" of her Hfe-work ; more particularly in the advocacy of the immediate emancipa- tion of the slave, although she has not failed to demand the equal rights of her own sex with man, not only sociall)- but politically. Since the time of our first acquaintance, we have lived on the most intimate terms of love and friendship. I have never found her f^iltering in any duty— popular or unpopular. If some one or some amsc needed her help, she was read)' to give it. Mrs. Colman, by her own exertions, without hcl[) from any one, removed from our city of Rochester the blot of the colored ?>z\\oo\, thereby giving to our colored people equal rights in our public schools, and helping to remove the prejudice so harmful to both races. Mrs. Colman and myself have in most things "seen eye to eye," but in the matter of Spiritualism we are widely apart. While to me the hiozvlcdge, for such it is to me, that my departed loved ones can and do come to me is a blessing po great that I cannot describe it, she has no faith in it whatever. What matter ? our friendship is too strong — too sweet to be disturbed by difference of opinion. I cheerfully recommend the work to all reformers of whatever name and grade. / Amy Post. REMINISCENCES By LUCY N. COL MAN. T DO not remember at what age I learned the astounding lesson that in this so-called republican country there were several millions of human beings who were bought and sold like the beasts of the field. But it must have been almost in my babyhood, for I well remember being taught the " Cradle Song," by my mother, who died when I was six years of age. Let me give a few verses of this song which Christian mothers taught their children : I thank the goodness and the grace That on my birth hath smiled, And made me, in these Christian days, A happy English child. I was not born, as thousands are. Where God was never known. And taught to pray a useless prayer To blocks of wood and stone. I was not born a little slave. To labor in the sun, And wish I were but in my grave And all my labor done. I think my pious mother must have been sorely troubled to answer satisfactorily to herself the questions which I continually asked her: Why did God let children be slaves? And if God made little children, why did he make them black, if that were the reason that they were slaves? And was God good? etc.. etc. This being a slave seemed to me at that time the worst of all calamities, save one, that could happen to anybody, and that other was the going to hell, to be burned forever in actual fire. My poor little brain was so excited in trying to find answers 6 REMINISCENCES. to these puzzling questions, that I wonder I did not entirely lose my senses and become idiotic. Perhaps the death of my mother and the changes that necessarily followed in the family served to take my mind from this particular problem in theology. About this time (from 1824 to 1830) there swept over New England what was called a revival of religion. As I look back upon it, it seems like some scourge or plague, so great was the sorrow that followed in its wake. Protracted meetings were everywhere the order of the day; sensational ministers were sought for and employed to preach, with all the effect possible, the coming of the day of judgment, and the sure doom of the impenitent. Here was another problem to be solved. Of what use was preaching, or praying, for those who were elected from the foundation of the world to be saved, and how worse than useless to try, by any means, to avert the doom of those who were fore-ordained to destruction ? My queries, no matter to whom addressed, always received the same answer, " Child, Satan desires to have you, and so he is putting such questions into your head ; answer him as did the Saviour, ' Get thee behind me, Satan ! ' and remember it is very wicked to reason on the ways of God ; you have the Holy Bible, read that, and accept it, it is God's word." At last, in despair. I began to read the bible, consecutively, chapter by chapter, but alas, I found it wholly inexplicable, and when I went to my good Christian aunt (who was in the place of mother to me), and begged her to tell me what such things meant, and wh}- God used such filthy words, and what was the good of such laws, and wh}' woman was required to do things that were wrong in the nature of things, the only answer that she could give me was, " I don't know; put away the bible till you arc older; read the Psalms and the New Testament." Such was the fo(ul that was given to children to mentally digest sixty and sevent}' j'cars ago. Is it better to-day ? Liberalism has so permeated thought that, like h(inieo[)athy in medicine — all p.itliirs are more or less affected by it, so that no respectable physician to-day salivates with calomel, or bleeds, or denies to patients burning up with fever cold water — the Protestant religion, in all its different creeds, is a mild mixture compared to what it was seventy }'ears ago. And perhaps for the reason that its hideousness is so nicely covered, there is more neeii th.il l.ii)cials be on the alert. REMINISCENCES. 7 Christianity is the more dangerous when it gives its attention to this life. Christianity demands entire subordination to its edicts, no matter that it keeps out of sight the damnation of infants in another world, if it subjugates all children to its decrees by teach- ing them, not only in Sunday-schools but in public schools sup- ported by the public at large, the doctrines taught in the bible. Until the majority of the people are emancipated from authority over their minds, we are not safe. To-day, in this year 287 since Bruno lost his life in defense of freedom, a citizen of New York is under arrest in the State of New Jersey for ridiculing the idea of a God of the universe being born of a woman, and subject to all the ailments of babyhood. It is to be hoped that the jury will fail to convict, but the intelli- gence of a New Jersey juryman is, at the least, questionable. Freethinkers everywhere should use the utmost diligence to cause the removal of all laws that make free speaking 2^ crime. Within three years three persons have suffered imprisonment in England for caricaturing the God of the established church of that realm. Christians of this country and England do not hesitate to go into foreign countries, decry their gods and demolish the representa- tives of such gods, and if they, the natives, object, the sword soon settles the matter. At the time when Mr. Garrison first published his demand for the immediate and unconditional emancipation of the slave, all respectable people considered themselves Christians. The different sects denied the name to each other, but each sect assumed the name for themselves. The Presbyterian, who was at that time Christian par excellence, refused to fellowship the Unitarian be- cause the Unitarian denied that Jesus of Nazareth was the real God ; he made him out a strange being, hardly intelligible, per- haps, to himself, but surely not God. Presbyterian and Unitarian alike denied the Christian name to Universalists, for tliough the Universalist took excellent care of the son of God, making him not exactly equal to the father God, but really of the greatest importance to the human family, in that he had willingly suffered death for every individual, and in so doing had paid to his father (the principal God) the debt which Adam and Eve had entailed upon all of their descendants forever and forever. This debt once paid, the Universalist persisted and so taught, " had de- stroyed death and hell, and even him that had the power of death. 8 REMINISCENCES. the devil," and so they were d.enied the name of Christian, for of what use was a creed without a burning hell, and a devil to so tempt human beings that few could escape the eternal flames? I was a young girl at that time, just in my teens, but with what eagerness I accepted the Univcrsalist faith ! Forgotten were the inconsistencies and vulgar laws recorded in tlic bible; here were learned men who proved conclusively that all people at death were immediately freed from sin, went to heaven, and, in the society of God and his angels, were employed in chant- ing praises to the majesty (be it one or three) who had redeemed them and made them fit subjects for an eternal life. I thought very little about the chattel slave, so happy was I in contem- plating the destruction of hell ; the world was redeemed and eternal suffering a thing of the past. Here are a few anecdotes, showing the egotism with which each sect regaled itself while it enjoyed the discomfiture of the others : There lived at this time a lady in Massachusetts, somewhat famous as a writer, who left the Presbyterian Church and joined the Unitarian. This lady was a great favorite with an aunt of hers, who considered this new heresy as a sin fatal to salvation, but she was so warmly attached to this very sinful niece that she could not deny herself the pleasure of frequently visiting her. One day, when taking leave of her after a pleasant day's visit, the aunt embraced the niece very warmly and, with the tears falling profusely, said to her, " Oh, do come and see me very often while we live, as you know when we die we shall be separated forever." Such was the assurance with which a certain class of Christians were endowed that they could, with great certaint\% fix the eter- nal state of themselves and others. The Methodists were very few in this countr)- in ni\- L;irllu)od, save in some (jf the large eastern towns. The PresbN'terians opposed them with great vigor. IVlost of the ministers were settled for life, and the head of every famil)' was obliged to pay a minister's tax. Church and State were as much connected as Crunch and State in England, only this marked difference was apparent, the " Church of England " was the Episcoi^al Church, only one degree removed from the Romish Church. The Puritans could not abide anything popish; even the hoi)' da}'s, such as Christmas and Master, were wholly ignored by them. The com- REMINISCENCES. 9 ing into their midst of a people so widely different, most of them quite illiterate, noisy in their worship, with a creed wiiich made salvation free, with a possibility of falling from grace and being restored for an indefinite number of times, was too much for these very respectable Christians. The}' looked upon them ver)' much as the churches look upon the " Salvation Army," when they introduce themselves among them. In the little town in Massachusetts, where I then lived, the minister of the only church in the place (Presbyterian) was an arrogant, t)'rannical man. Settled for life, with a salar)' of $600 per year, having married with his wife a good farm, he seemed to feel that he was "monarch of all he surveyed. " He visited the schools, ordered the Westminster catechism to be recited every Saturday by all the school, appointed church meetings, in which he told the brethren which of the political candidates they were to vote for, and in any and all matters that came up he was always both judge and jury. When the Methodists made their entrance into the place, this dictator said they were not to be toleratetl. " Keep away from them," was the command ; but then, as ncnv, there were some people who were tired of arbitrary rule ; they broke over the command, went to hear these enthusiastic, earnest men, and brought away such glowing descriptions of the exercises that others ventured, and at last a society was formed and a demaiul made for the use of the meeting-house a portion of the time. At a meeting of the town it was decided that every fourth .Sun- day the house was to belong to the Methodist Societ)', and the members "signed off" from the Presbyterian, and were to pay the minister's tax in that direction. The fourth Sunday at length arrived. My father decided to go and hear the strange speaker, taking his children with him. We arrived in good season ; when the bell ceased tolling, the Presby- terian minister walked up one flight of stairs into the pulpit, the Methodist the other. The Methodist, as is their wont, began the meeting by reading a hymn ; the Presbyterian stepped in front of him, lifted his open hands, and said, " Let us ask for the bless- ing of God." He raised his voice so loud that the more modest Methodist was completely lost, and the congregation were in wonder as to what should be the further proceedings. In the midst of the confusion, a man, b\' name Dennis Wood, known as lo REMINISCENCES. an Infidel, but so honorable that he always held some town office, rose, and with a loud voice invited the new society to use his house (a large dwelling-house opposite the meeting-house) to hold service in. The hiinister left the pulpit, proceeded to the offered building, followed by his society. The next day these people began la}'ing the foundation of a meeting-house, which they completed in a very short time, and their society grew apace. What of the old society ? From that day their prosperity began to wane ; the congregation diminished ; it was impossible to raise the salar\' recjuired ; the minister's farm was so badly man- aged that it yielded but a small supply for the owner's growing family ; they were so poor they were obliged to give up their home ; they went to a neighboring town, where a brother of the minister owned a home, which he allowed them to occupy; and finally, in the last years of husband and wife, they were supported by charity, cared for personally by a young woman whom they took in her childhood, treated her so shabbily that even members of their own church sometimes prayed for her as a fatherless orphan. They dared not speak about her to the minister, and so quieted their consciences by asking God to do for her what they dare not do. Perhaps their prayers were a success, at any rate the woman was a success. She went into a cit\', entered upon a business which proved profitable, and when these people with whom she lived as a servant in her girlhood found themselves poor and need}', she left her business and went and cared for them in all their long illness. So the table turns. One of the most bitter opposers of the Methodist Church was a man considered rich in those days of small fortunes. Me was superintendent of the Sunday-school, and in a general way officious. His eldest daughter had married a man who \\as con- verted to this new sect. I ihink he never loigaxe him tor so great a crime, and made public announcement that il he could see even the steeple of the building where this heres\' was preached fioin his attic wiiulow, he umild board it up. "See how these Christians lo\e each oilier" was as applical)le to the different sects sixt}' ami seveiit)' }ears ago as to-ihiy. 1 he Bap- tist Church ditl not (lourish much in this regicMi so long ago. I became an|uainte(l with il a fVw xears later, .iinl louiid it ver\' mucli like the others. A religion that has a personal Coil outride of hiimauit\- lo REMINISCENCES. 1 1 worship and to please is quite apt to get appointed an officer to regulate the people, and particularly to execute punishment, adequate to the offense committed against an infinite ruler of the universe. Humanity so likes authority, and it seems sometimes as if it gloated up mi the suffering of its fellows. It is always easy to find persons, called detectives, who, if paid for it, will even mingle with the dci)raved and assume to connnit the crime, if by so doing they may bring the criminal into the power of tiie law. The "Jesus of Nazareth," whom the Church professes to follow as guide, is reported to have saitl, " Ihit whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also, and it a man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also." But let us not glory too much in being Freethinkers, or be too sure of ourselves. Within the last decade, a person brought up at the very feet of Liberalism made quite a journey to fasten upon a brother Freethinker a misdemeanor, which should injure his reputation and thereby destroy his busi- ness, while this same Freethinker was shut up in prison suffering for us. In the words of James Parton, " He was suffering for us ; human nature itself was outraged in his person ; the act for which he suffered was as innocent as selling a loaf of bread to a hungry person." The editor and publisher of the Truth Seeker died a martyr to mental liberty, but his paper lives, and is to-day the bible of thousands of readers. I never heard that this brotherly deed was paid for in money; perhaps the connection which the author of the wrong hekl for some years to a Liberal paper was sufficient to pay for the labor. Some of us work "dirt cheap." That paper is no more. If any of its readers put on the garments of mourning at its burial we iiave not heard of it. The paper commanded large talent, but it was not successful enough to live, and so let it rest. Peace and for- getfulness to its ashes. When I was eighteen years of age 1 w;is marrie'd, and was too happy in the relation to think much about the slave. Universalism was ni}- religion, in which m\- iiusband also believed. I was almost content. Our removal to Boston gave me oppor- tum'ties for intellectual improvement, that were so grateful to me that I felt myself a most favored person; but alas! for human happiness, it is usu;ill\- of short duration. M\' husband was a victim of New England's scourge, consumption. SI.k \-ears com- REMINISCENCES. pleted my life with him, and at the age of twenty-four 1 was a widow. At twent}-six I was again married, and at the age of twenty-eight became a mother. I alwa\'s like to write the word Mother with a capital M. To me it is the most wonderful word in all the language; it means jox' that has nc\er been equaled. I can ne\'er forget the ecstac\' tiiat came over me when I first looked in the face of my child, and knew that it was mine; but with the joy came the remembrance of the slave-mother's agony, as she looked upon her child and knew its fate. I had not then given much thought to the marriage laws of all the states. I did not realize that only because nn' husband was too good to take advantage of the law, that lu\ the father, instead of VIC, the mother, who had gone down to death's door to give life to the child, oiviicd it and could control it, at any and all times, against my will. I was very sick for many months, but in this time of m\' new motherhood I waked to the understanding of what it is to be obliged to submit to laws in which you have no voice. That the North was by the United States laws just as responsible as the South ; for the terrible crime of slavery had become entire!}- ap- parent, but \\ hat could a woman do to abolish these dreadful laws? She was admc^nished by the Church that she A\as to qui- etly ask her husband at home for knowledge, and to submit to him as to God. I determined to find some way to work for the slaves' deli\'erance, and from that time till the I-'.mancii)ation, by and through the War of the Rebellion, I faithfully earned the reputation of an earnest Abolitionist. Some of the scenes through which I passed, as I have related them to m\' friends, ha\'e seemed to them worthy of recortl ; and so, as the work of m\' seventieth )'ear, I rectnd them. I shall also find a plade in this Autobiography to relate some- thing about wrougsthat do not belong exclusi\el\- to the " Anglo- iXfiican." In a life of so many )'ears a reformer cannot be \ery narrow. " Woman's wrongs and rights" must claim much atten- tion. I wor]' heart beat, so actively did it thump; but when I .saw Mr. Cooper, with his Rochester friend, looking as though a gicat catastrophe 2 2 REMINISCENCES. was about to happen, I lost all fear, and so conquered the timid getter-up of tlie meeting that, at the close of the service he came to me, apologized for liis inhospitable greeting, said he was proud of my success, and gave me a cordial invitation to his house. But I was already engaged by Mr. Gregg to go that evening to Webster, some tweh'e miles, and speak for him at his regular evening service. All these persons, sa\'e my constant friend, Am\' Post, are dead;"" but I have recorded this to show how much more to be dreaded, and if possible avoided, is a false friend than an open foe. Once engage in the dirty work of injuring one who tloes not believe in )-our creed, and the work grows apace ; and worse -than all else, such persons come to think they are really doing God a service for which they shall merit and obtain a high seat in heaven. In the autumn of that year Mrs. Post proposed that we should go to Michigan and attend the annual convention of the Western Anti-Slavery Society, and so find and plan work for the winter. And now commences my most arduous work for the slave. This annual convention was held in a small town, some fifteen or twenty miles west of Detroit — not on the line of the railroad — so we were obliged to stop in Detroit overnight, and find as earl\' conveyance as possible. Mrs. Post, always fertile in resources, suggested that we hunt up some of the colored people of the cit\', <}uite a number of whom she had entertained at her house. So we went first into a barber-shop, where we found a hne-look- ing, intelligent nuilatto, who, learning our names and business, iiu'itcd us to go to his house, where he said we would hiul his wife, who would be glad to entertain us as long as we desired to stay in Detroit; adding that ]\Irs. Pibb, the widow of Henry Bibb, was a boarder in their family. I think Henry liibb tleserves some little notice here, as he was somewhat notable, and was also the first coloreil man whom 1 ever heard speak. 1 le made his escape from slaver)', was retaken, and subjected to a punishment for the awful crime of tr\ing to be a ficcnian, that would shame a s,i\-.igc-. ;\n iron ring. lilKd with sharp pointed nails, was put about his neck and welded togetlier so close-, that tin- least lurnin;.;(if llie head in an)' way * Since lliib article was wiiUcn tli:U noble associate of Mis. Culman. .Amy l'»)st, has also ilieil, as has many others of that noble band of .\bolilionisls. — I'liui.lsiiiCK. REMINISCENCES. -3 would cause these points to bore into the flesh. Such was his ecjuipment for day and night. The master was a Christian, the deacon of the Presbyterian church in the phice. That region of the South where this man was a shive, was at this time greatly troubled by horse-thieves, and a compan\' of tliem \isiting this town, for the purpose of buying horses, as they .said, came to see the deacon's stables. They were shocked at the cruelty displayed, and iiiimcdiately decided to buy the slave, the deacon agreeing to make the price less, because the slave was so light-colored that he was of less value. The bargain was made, and Bibb was taken to a blacksmith and the iron collar cut from his neck, the horse- thieves taking good care to possess themselves, in a {c\\ days, of horse-flesh from the possessions of this good man of sufficient value to cover the expense of the slave. They were ver)' kind to their man, but told him thc\' could not afford to give him his freedom without making something out of him, and that the)' would sell him to some one who would treat him well, compared to the treatment he had received from his former master ; and that before they would sell him, they would first teach him to escape from slavery, and put himself beyond being re-taken ; all of which they did. Mr. Eibb became a Reverend, quite a suc- cessful business man, and died leaving a small pro})ert\' to his widow, who Avas an accomplished woman. To return to our journe)': We found a more than comfortable home at the residence of our colored acquaintances, William and Agnes Wallace. They were fugitives of some ten )'ears. In that time the husband had earned a home — a pretty cottage on (.\)n- gress street — and the wife had furnished it by the use of her needle ; and it was not only comfortable in the furnishing, but there were many elegancies, that very few of the working people of that day felt able to suppl}' themselves with. Hut the\- were fugitives, and liable to arrest for the crime of trying to own themselves. Mrs. Wallace proposed that we return to Detroit after the convention closed, and we concludetl to do so. We found a conveyance to our meeting, arriving rather late in the afternoon. We were both of us entire strangers. Henry C". Wright was present, and a man formcrlx' from Rochestei', Ilein\- De Garmo, whose father was a Friend. De (iarmo had become an Infidel of the Thomas Paine stamp. No one i)aid much atten- tion to us; and we were a good deal disturbed by the character 24 REMINISCENCES. tliat the nieetino- seemed to have taken. It was the anniversary of the Western .\ntislaver\' Societ\^ but Si)iritualisni was the subject under discussion. My friend Mrs. Post, as well as my- self, was a Spiritualist, but we could see no propriety in turninj^ an Abolition meeting into an "experience-meeting" for Spiritualists. Even the veteran Henry C. Wright seemed to have lost all zeal for the work of the slave, saying that now the spirits would, without doubt, bring about the emancipation of the race; just as the Christian would have said, " God will, in his own good time, take care of the slave." Mr. Wright did not make himself at all familiar with us, not even introducing us to an}' of the res- idents ; but Mr. De Garmo remembered Mrs. Post, and soon found a home for us with his sister and her husband who lived in the place. Mere I found the Boston Investigator, as well as I'Jic Liberator. This famih' were ready to become Spiritualists when the proof should come to them ; Init I think it ne\'er came — never while I knew them. We had very earnest discussions as to the proper subjects to come before the meeting. Marius Robinson was present from Ohio, — a man almost ethereal in his make-up. lie was one of the young men called " the Lane Seminar}- bo\-s," stuth'ing un- der Dr. Beecher, who left the seminary on account of the position its president held toward the anti-sla\'er}' cause. Mr. Robinson gave up his anticipations of the pulpit, became an earnest worker for emancipation, — editing for some years the Aulislavery Bugle, a very respectable paper published in Salem, Ohio, — the organ of the Western Society. This man- -whom to look upon would impress one with Ids goodness — was set upon b\' a mob (some years before the time I am describing), wltile \<:Q\.\\\\wgJarred atid feathered, left to die, but b\^ an effort removed himself from the solitarv place of his j)ersecution. .So long a time elapsed before he was disc(jvereci and rescuetl, that his death seemed immim-nt. He was very sick', and for man\- months entirel\' confmeil to his bed, and never recox'ered his wonted luailh. This m.in was not at all inclined to give up this meeting, — to .Spii jlu.dism. lie, with Mrs. Post and mx'self, strongly opposetl the whole thing, 'ihis was the beginning of hostilities, so to speak, with the Spir- itualists of Michigan and inxseli. I was appointed b\ this We^ti'm .Soeietx' as their aceredili'd agent, .\.\\\\ so advertised, but li.id to p.iy my own ex[)enses, and REMINISCENCES. 25 make my own salary; not a very briyjht outlook iur carninj^ a living for the home in Rochester. But I had succeeded so well in three months that the American Antislavcr\' Society, havini,^ its head-quarters in Boston, being informed that I had kept myself employed, paying my own way, sent me a commission to work for them, guaranteeing my expenses and a small salar\', at the same time charging me to make, or rather use diligence to make the collections cover the expenses. I had asked that society to em- ploy me, when 1 decidi-d to go west, but my Rochester friouh had sent them word that I would fail (I had uKjre than one of that kind of friends there) ; so I had failed to get the ap- pointment. It was a great satisfaction to be told, as I was, by the general agent at the end of the year, that my work had cost the society less than that of any other agent, and that I had been into man)' new places that no other person had atteni[)ted. I did not tell him, what was true, that when not able to find people friendly to the cause who would entertain me for the cause's sake, I never allowed myself the luxury of more than one meal a da)-, nor a fire in my room ; no matter tlujugh the thermometer marked fifteen or twenty degrees below zero. If reformers were a little less like other people, and woukl put aside their jealousies, fearing that some other one would be a little more popular than they, and so not be guilt)^ of suggesting that there might be improprieties in their conduct, the work for the world would be more easily done ; but if the people of the world were perfect, then there would be no need of reform. When I went to Michigan, Spiritualism was rioting, like some outbreak of disease. Circles were the order of the day. and of the night. Though I believed at that time in the phe- nomena as spiritual, I could not consent to be tlictated in \\\\ work by spirits. Spirits had always existed since the advent of humanity, as had God. Why had the)-, like (loil. been so dila- tory in their work? I preferred to do ni)- own work, and hi- responsible for its success or failure The Indian spirits had not then made their advent, the\- were mostly one's own pej-sonal friends, or some noteii man like John Quincy Adams, or some minister; if among Methodists, John Wesley; Friends, George Fox or I-llias Hicks. They came and communicated by raps, or tips, and some people were 2 6 REMINISCENCES. entranced, and delivered speeches; not always full of wisdom, Init often, seemingly, above the capacity of the medium. Tlie sub- ject more generally dwelt upon was the inharmonies of domestic life, and more than one couple released themselves from each other b}' and through the advice of the spirits. I remember one person who, with her husband, was traveling, giving discourses on the development of the " love principle." Their outfit was a hand-cart, containing their wardrobe, some pictures, which the\' offered for sale, and two children. The husband drew the cart, the wife walked, and the children alternated ; sometimes walking, and at others riding. These people were so refined that they ate no meat, nor any- thing that grew in the dark, — like roots of any kind, — but as the\' asked the hostess — who had taken them into her home to stay over Sunda\- — for eggs for their breakfast, I suggested that it would be very improper to eat eggs, as Xhcy surely gr civ in the dark. The}', however, ate the eggs with a relish, and their spirituality was not dimmed. The wife told me she had never been so happ)' since she was married as then. She felt that she was helping the spirits to improve the world, and surely I do not know that she was not. But the most remarkable case of Spiritualism that came under my notice, was that of a young married woman, whom the spirits constantly controlled, who refused all food for weeks at a time. .She was informed by her own hand that she must reluse any longer to be the wife of her husband ; that even her child was begotten by lust, and hence she was not to see her much ; that she was now on a low plane, and that if she would refuse food, she wouKl become ethereal, and the ph)'sical bodx' wcndd jKiss off in parti- cles, and she would become a spirit without death. She practiced the diixctions, eating nothing for one or two weeks, then eating a small lum[) of loaf sugar, or a teaspoonful of some higlilx' con- centrated preserved fruit. This wcjinan finally Kfl her home, and, atUr being gone a _\e.ir, or tliereabouts, returned to the cilw and wt>uUl ha\'e ri;lurnei.l to her home, but it was shut against her. .She iiatl a strange life — lived some years with ancjther husband, wlu) pro\etl ^hiltless in all things. She became a Si)irilual 1 balei, accumulated (|uite a little property, shirked tuitlur care of Ik r husl)and, and when I last saw her, had become a charming woman. I ne\er tell it ni}' REMINISCENCES. J7 business to decry this woman. She hud accepted this new doc- trine as a religion, and faithfully she kept its commands. The wrong is in giving up one's sense, and listening to counsel that you do not understand. There was, no doubt, back of all this that I have related, a bitterness that none but a woman married to a coarse, uncongenial husband, could appreciate. There is in one of the prisons of Michigan to-day, a woman who, in the following year, was sentenced for life for the crime of killing her children, — two, I think, — made possible to her by the acceptance of communications from alleged spirits. This woman is a member of a very respectable family of Central New York. She was always respectable, but a " little queer." She lived in IMichigan with her husband, on a small farm, and when she be- came a widow had three children. I called on her, and had 1 been describing her, should have said she was doing very well. working hard to support her famil}\ but very ignorant, and inclined to accept all the nonsense coming through mediums as authoritative. A medium at last became an inmate of her family. The younger children were sent to heaven, and she — and I think- the medium — was sent to prison for life. Why will peoi)le give up their own common-sense and take into their homes men and women to give them reports of spirit friends? The\- are all, so far as I have known them, after the "loaves and fishes" fur themselves, and they always obtain them. When the convention which Mrs. Post ami I had attended ad- journed, she prepared to go home; and as I had promised to speak in Detroit, I concluded to go with her on her way home, and fulfill the engagement. Mrs. Wallace had obtained a house, and the meeting Vvas advertised. We had a peaceful meeting, but not large. Mrs. Wallace had been in the habit of doing sew- ing for the "Ward family." Capt. Ward was reputed rich, — he afterwards employed a medium to advise him in his business — so it was said. Mrs. W. vvas confident if I would make application to him, he would make a donation to the slave's cause ; so she undertook to introduce me. I ha\-e often been refused money — sometimes with insolence — but I do not remember ever to have been so grossly insulted as by this same gentleman. As I recall his words, and looks,— happening more than thirt\- \ears ag«), — my indignation returns; and I find that in all these years I have not fori^iven him. 28 REiMINISCENCRS. My colored friend was astonished beyond measure, — this was before A. J. Davis had borrowed from the Russians a Diaki, else we might believe some one of the supposed infernals possessed him. Some of the Scriptures are so applicable to people of this century, that I like to quote from them: " Let no man say when he is tempted of evil, he is tempted of God (spirits), for God can- not be tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts and enticed." It seems to me quite as dishonorable to put our own wrong-doing upon spirits, as it is for a Christian to go into heaven upon the merits of another. Let vie at least bear the fruits of my wrong- doing, as well as the honor of my good deeds, or if not the honor, the satisfaction. T cannot feel that the .Spiritualist gains any- thing over the Christian, in having so many gods as guardian spirits, nor so large a number of evil spirits, or devils. I should feel like the little girl who would not allow her pet dog to follow her, because " 't was bad enough to have Dod tagging after," without having a dog also. Too many attendants are not agree- able, of either kind. I have spun out my rcllections upon Capt. Waril to more length than was requisite, and so will say, " peace to his ashes." After leaving Detroit I went to Ypsilanti, and worked in that region. I found a good home with Samuel Moore and wife — one of the subscribers to The Truth Seeker, and Frekthinkers' Ma(jAZINE. He is an old man, hut his letters always seem to give me the feeling of a good hand-shake. His wife, a good woman, has " passed on." Mr. Moore took me around the country and spoke with me, wherever he could find a house open to us. We met with very little hostility. 1 then went to Ann Arbor. There was a little society there who were mostly Reformed I'ricnds. The)' hail a small house, and it was oj)en to any one who w islieii to use it lor the slave's cause. I had no difficult}' in this cit}'. The students of the col- lege, lor sonic leason, did not get aroused to deeds of violence, but a few months later, while an antislavery meeting was in ses- sion, addressed by a man, tiiey (the stuiU-nts. with sonu- "others of the baser sort", attacked the speaker, broke the windows of the little chunli, diMnolished the seats, and coni|)Ktely l)it)ke up thp meeting. I found a home in tlie lainil)' ol .i Oiiakcr minister, whom I REMINISCENCES. 29 have been told was vei')' po[)iilai" in tlie order of I'^icinls. lie was a very tyrant in his family. His eldest son told nie he had often flogged him, but the last time he attempted it he had refused to remove his coat, as ordered by his father. He instead said, "If you wish to fight, I am read)-. Yesterday I was a hoy, and would have obeyed you, but to-day I'm a many Such was Christian parental authority thirty years ago. Sixty years ago I knew a Methodist presiding elder to stop three times in his morn- ing pra)'er, and severely whip his child, a mere baby, because it would not keep still through the service. "Spare the rod," etc., was a Icsr^on well learned b)' some of our fathers of the olden time. In a little town not far from Ypsilanti. there occurred a cir- cumstance among the Baptists, of which 1 was not I he heroine, but as I spoke in the church a month later, it will not be trespassing to relate it. This place was the home of our infidel friend, Henr}- De Garmo. He had in his employ a fugitive slave, a very l)lack man, large and good-looking. His wife was also of the same style, very dark, and the children, of whom there were seven, were ditto. This negro was a very pious liaptist, always attended church, and paid as much as he could afford in support of the minister, but his place was always in the "negro pew." Mr. De Garmo used to ask him if he expectetl tooccup\'a jiew in heaven, telling him that his brethren cared nothing for him, only that he was a good paying member. This, Jimmie, as he was called, de- nied the saying, " That they were all one in Christ Jesus." At length a new church was to be built, and Jimmie, when he hail a da)^ that could be spared . from his regular work, helped about the church with right good will, and in good time the house was completed and dedicated, and the tla\- ai)pointe(l f'r the sale of the pews. Mr. De Garmo said, " Wouldn't )'ou like to buy a pew, Jimmie?" " Yes, very much, if I had money." "Well, I want you to buy a pew ; it's hardl\- respectable not to own a pew, such a faithful Baptist as you are; go and bid off the best pew in the broad aisle, and I will find the money. You may go as hi('"h as one hundred antl fift>- dollars; hut be sure sou ha\e tin- best seat." So Jimmie, with that amount of moni\- in his pocket, bid off the " upper seat in the synagogue." 1 think he paid om- himdn-d and thirt)' dollars. Of course his while brethren were glad to ^rll 30 REMINISCENCES. the i)c\v, as now it would be let at a reasonable jjiice, to some one of the church not able to bu\- it. Mr. De Garino had seen to it that the wife and all the seven children were in good trim for church on Sunda\' ; hats and shoes foi^ the childriMi, a new bonnet and shawl for the wife, and all sent to church in projier order. Instead of taking the negro pew, Mr. Jimmie walketl up the aisle, followed by his entire family, — nine, all told. Tlie con- sternation was as dreadful as though the dark cloud had been a western cyclone. The sexton went to the pew and told the owner that he must leave with his famih% and take a back seat ; but the occupant refused to be disturbed. He had bought the seat and paid for it, and he refused to leave it. The services were gotten through with as soon as possible, the principal members held a consultation, and the minister told the negro that if he persisted in occup}-ing that seat, it would prove him itncliristian, as a true Christian was humble, m hile he was manifestly very proud. The negro and his family left the church, fulh^ convinced that that churcli, at least, was a sham, and that he, for the future, would worship outside a Baptist church. I went to Battle Creek and vicinit\-, but ever)-where Spiritual- ism was in the ascendant, and no one cared much for the slave. I do not remember that we (I had now joined another agent) were violently assailed in Michigan, but in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, we were constantK' in jeopardy. On the Ohio River the spirit of slavery was as strong on the north as the south side. At one place pepper or tobacco would be put upon the sto\e. the perpetrators of the infam)- having first fastened down the win- dows, so that it was impossible to raise them. Our carriage would be bereft of one wheel, or the harness cut ; sometimes the horse would be shorn of mane or tail, and the carriage fdled with night-soil, or rotten eggs. liiit such things were as nothing to an ass.iull upon us intli\id- uall}'. A mob of infiniated im-n can be compared to nothing but themselves. Stones, brick-bats, antl addled eggs are the weapons, and a tar-kettle and pillow of feathers were the most to be drc idi-d. I fortunately escapetl the last, though I \va\v smelKil the tar, and seen the bag containing the feathers. And whom do you suppose were the leader;-, in these riots ? Al\\a\s ministers, or leadc-rs of llu.' l^epublican part)'. I )o you not see the logic of the fact ? W'e showed conclusivel\- that the Church was tlu- " l)ul- REMINISCENCES. ^ , wark of slavery " ; that the holdiiiL,^ of slaves was never a hindrance to. Church fellowship, but Abolitiouism was often a cause of dis- fcIlcnvsJiip. And the new political party was not f vjAe birth, .it three diKerent times, REMINISCENCES. 39 to ii child — the first, a girl (the step-mother told me her depravity was beyond description), was idiotic, thoui^di not entirely without sense. She would wander off and become the victim of some masculine demon, and had already been delivered of a child, too much deformed to live. Following" her birth, a son was born, more than half a fool, but not given to licentiousness. Then a third son was born — an entire idiot. As this man told me of these things, I was so aroused that I said, " You permitted yourself to be the father of three idiotic children, by a woman who had been driven mael by the cruelty of her religious creed ! " " Why," said he, " she was harjiiless, and she was my WIFe!" I wondered in my heart if he had learned that definition of wifehood from his Bible: "Wives, be obedi- ent," etc. The eldest son controlled the property. The two idiotic sons had a home with him, and the daughter wandered a vaga- bond upon the face of the earth. The second wife, a widow with a daughter, had married ex- pecting in that way to make a home for herself and child, but found no place for her child, hardly for herself. Will some one tell me if wifehood, when it means, as it did in her case, legal prosti- tution, is less degrading than when a mother goes upon the street and yields herself to a stranger, who as yet has not disgusted her by long years of such brutality ? Alas ! that woman does not yet own her own physical body. One more anecdote of Ohio customs thirty years ago : A con- vention was to be held at Crestline. The railroacis had just been opened through, and a dei)ot built. The Western Abolitionists owneil a commodious tent, which was transported to the place. A number of the more distinguished lecturers from Massachusetts were there to be in attendance, and, as was expected, a large crowd gathered, the new railroad facilities making it easy to reach the place. I arrived early in the morning of the opening day of the meeting. A gentleman met me at the depot, and, on ascer- taining that I was Mrs. Colman, said that I was ttj be entertained at his house. On entering the house 1 was met by a young lad}' with whom I had become acquainted the year previous, in Mich- igan. She came to me w ith outstretched arms, threw iheni about my neck, and burst into a fit of violent weeping. 1 at length succeeded in soothing her, so that she told me iier grief. She was a resident of Philadelphia, and had been spending a )ear 40 REMINISCENCES. with her uncle in the West. In that time she had become en- gaged to a young man (the brother of her' uncle's wife) who was accompanying her home, to make the acquaintance of her famih'. As both families were very active, distinguished Abolitionists, the young couple had taken in the Convention on their way. Thc)' had been met on their arrival, at Crestline, and invited to this house, and given, for the night, one room with /zcv beds, with just space to walk between the beds. I said, " You pour foolish child ! You are crying because you have stayed for a night w ith people so unsophisticated, that they had no idea that chaste, pure people required bolts and bars to keep them from wronging each other. Wipe your eyes; there is no need of crying because you have been entirely trusted by people who did not know you ; but what is of much greater consequence to you, you have proved your lover's character to be unblemished, under temptation." That da)' the house was so filled that the two beds were made into one, and five persons occupied the little room, which had been a cell of suffering and mortification to my little lady on the first night of her arrival. I cannot leave this part of Ohio without recording a case of " woman's wrongs " (a cousin of mine charged me to keep out of my " Reminiscences " any reference to " woman's rights "). I am troubled to find " woman's rights," so much of " woman's wrongs" come up to my memory. I saw no appearance of the getting ready to attend the meeting by our hostess, and so ventured to say, "Are you not going?" " How can you ask? The house full, dinner to get for the crowd, two babies, the oldest not a year older than the youngest, and already heavy with another, — can you think I have time, or wish to go?" I said, "Have )-ou no hell)?" She said, "Yes, my sister is here to take care of the children to-day. O, go and talk about your slaves' wrongs, aiul if you can find one as much a slave as myself, both night and da)', 1 hope you will pity her." 1 said, "Will you let me help you to-day? Let me plan for you ; give us just st)mc bread and but- ler at noon, and I w ill help you to get the dinner after the after- noon session." .She said she feared her husband would not like it. 1 ^„ii(l " Leave him to me. I am to speak to-day. and I shall have something to say to him. and I wish )'ou to hear it." The sister joined me in persuasions, and the poor woman went to the meeting. I found my tongue unloosed, and said quite as much 1 REMINISCENCES. 41 for oppressed wifehood, as for the chattel slave. I have never seen the family sinfce. Chaplain Piiotius Fisk. I have often queried in my own mind, if the readers of the Freethinkers' Magazine, Tnitli-Sccker, Investigator, etc., have any idea of this man Photius Fisk, and how much we are all indebted to him for his generous help, whenever any call is made for money for any worthy object. If a meeting of the Secular Society is called, and aid is solicited to pay expenses, you will always, or "almost always," sec opposite his name $10.00 given. Is a Lib- eral sick or aged, and without means of support, }'ou may expect to find a monthly donation from this same man, that shall kcej) the " wolf from the door." Thus much I know, as I have seen his subjects, and found them quite near home. Does some one wish to put in print something that the Liberals ought to know, Mr. Fisk's purse is opened, and a donation made for that cause. I know a woman who worked hard in the Antislavery times for the slave, and is still in the South teaching among the freed people, who finds her work much lighter from her acquaintance with this generous man. And the freed people, with whom her daily work is done, are always remembered, with barrels of food, once at least every year. Does some Abolitionist die, who suffered torture and impris- onment at the hands of the slaveholders, like Captain Jonathan Walker, of the " branded hand," Mr. Fisk originates and pays for an appropriate monument, sends it to the burial-place, and has it • placed upon the grave. I do not know how many stones he has thus erected, but I know of three. I think he owns a thousand dollars' worth of shares in Paine Hall, and a munificent donation of valuable pictures, gathered from all parts of the world, are already occupying the walls of some of the rooms in that me- morial building. But this does not tell my readers who this remarkable man is. I am about to tell you who, so far as I am able to do so, Mr. Fisk is. I have before me a Missionary Herald o^ i(S22, given me by Mr. Fisk himself, while making him a short visit in the summer of 1886. I asked him to tell me something about himself, and he gave me this book, which says he was a native Greek, b}' name Photius Kavasales. That he is the only one of his family that 42 REMINISCENCES. escaped death (in Smyrna) from plague, which ravaged the coun- tr}' in 1 8 14. Father, mother, four brothers and sisters — two each. Mis age is a disputed matter, one writer making it ten, another twelve, while his uncle, who then had him in charge (1822), calls him sixteen years of age, and says that he was born in Hydra. This Missionary Herald contains a report of a conversation held with this young Greek boy, in reference to being sent abroad by his uncle,- with some missionary. The writer says: "When I asked him if lie would like to go to America, liis eyes sparkled with. joy. I asked why he wished to go. He said, 'To learn.' ' How long are you willing to remain ? ' 'Till I am learned.' I named several branches, and asked if he could learn all these. He answered modestly, ' Quanta posso — as much as I can.' The boy speaks Maltese, and reads and speaks Greek and Italian." The above is taken from a letter dated Malta, Oct. 12, 1822, and signed Pliny Fisk. He, it seems, took, or was given the name of Fisk, perhaps by Mr. Fisk's desire. He was put under the care of the Rev. Mr. Cornelius, of Salem, Mass. So much I take from the Missionary Herald. I think ]\Tr. Fisk was first sent to a Mission School, in Corn- wall, Conn., but not quite liking the strictness of the rules, and showing an inclination to have his own wa\', he was removed to Amherst, Mass., the college there being in its infanc)\ Mr. Fisk was not inclined to follow out the rules of the Amherst school, and finally was sent back to Malta. He then worked his wax- back to America, took his education into his own hands, became quite learned, and finally having been converted was ordained a Christian minister, and for a time preached in Vermont. Mr. Pillsbury, in a short sketch which I find in an account of "The Man with the Branded Hand," says of Mr. Fisk-: "The severities of the winters in Northern Vermont were toc^ much for his constitution ; he being of a race born, and for man\' genera- tions living, under so much more indulgent skies, he soon became unable to discharge the many duties and responsibilities of a min- ister, especially so far north as Vermont." Mr. Pillsbury also says: " In his travels he had seen much of Slavery, both in this countr)' and the West Indies, and had be- come too much of an iAbolitionist to be tolerated in an .\merican puii)it. " In 1842 Mr. I'isk received the appointment of Chaplain in the REMINISCENCES. 43 United States Navy, which he still holds, though retired from ac- Uve service. On my table is a plrotograph of Lhaplan, F,sk. akenin Malta some years ago. I am always asked who the p,c- u,re represents, and am immediately told, " That person, wl>oever r s must be good : what a benevolent face." AU of winch ,s ;, He did not forget, though on another contment when the Jr at fires occurred in Chicago and Boston, to telegraph to Wen- Sell Phillips,who had charge of his funds: " Do as I would do_ M Fisk wa- never married, and having no imnted.ate fam.ly, he selms to have adopted the poor, and especially the oppressed and down-trodden, as his to care for and comfort ^hanlain I have never met a more pronounced /.,&r«/ than Chap am Fisk He has n6 patience with anything maniby pamby m the- Igy, but is thoroughly outspoken and candid. / >-e been ofte^n asked by the readers of Liberal papers, Who ,s he Photius Fisk who is so liberal a contributor to funds called fo, . [have answered as well as I know: but have no doubt he ,s nrore remarkable in that I ,/. not know ">- ™"^: / /",,^^ "^ seems to follow the scriptural injuncfor^s : " T^ke ^-d^hat yc do not your alms before men to be seen of them. Let not your left hand know what your right hand doeth. After leaving Ohio I went to Indiana and llhno.s. Very htt e AnS lavery woTk had ever been done in Indiana, and the people we too sLpkl to be easily aroused. I had suffered al the nrcon- :::>::::, se^mmgly, of westem life, but the half had .u>t been told. A sample of the hotels may be amus.ng. / f°- "• " "y room a bed, and a broken chair,-no article whatever fo, the oilet. This was to be put up with without -T f-s, where^we were given the best they had, ■' without money and w.thout p ,ce but in a hotel, which had a large swinging s,gn, on wluch was painted, in bright-colored letters. " Preserve the Un.on and where 1 paid one dollar per day for accommodations, I felt hke demanding a little more, and so asked for water, m some vessel my room, for a bath in the morning. Quite late,-so la e that was already dressed, despairing of the "ath,-! was confro ed by a man, with what they used to call n, Massachusetts a sk.llet, with a eood quart of water. ^^cc ■ ■ This skillet was an iron vessel with three legs, or feet, d.ffer ng from w-hat is called a kettle in the form of its handle : ms ead o a bail it had a straight har.dle on one side. Th.s one wouUl hold 44 REMINISCENCES. about three pints. The reason of the dehiy, I was informed, was that this skillet had to be used to cook the meat in for breakfast, and, besides, the towel liad to be washed and ironed, a proof of which was, the towel was warm from ironing. In Ohio I was elected to travel at one time, for two or three weeks, with a Dr. B . He was then a resident of the State, though his native State was Delaware. I have heard of awkward people, but it has been my fortune to meet but one, and that one was this Doctor. All other awkwardness becomes- gracefulness, when I think of him. He drove his own horse, a beast that well represented his owner, I had no trouble with mobs, while under Dr. B 's escort. Perhaps " those fellows of the baser sort," judging us by our carriage, horse and ourselves, thought we were "hale fellows," in search of a job of their kind, and did not wish to disturb our equipment. I traveled in that vehicle three weeks, and in the many, many times that my driver stepped into his car- riage, I do not rememember once that he did not step with his entire weight onto me. If by great adroitness I saved my feet, by getting them entirely under the scat, down would come his entire person onto my lap, but he was perfectl}' oblivious to any trouble. He was always well satisfied with himself and all our accommodations. Let me describe one of the homes to which he took me, where, as it proved, it was a favorite stopping-place of his. We had started from one of our homes in the early morning, in a violent rain, as it was Saturday, and we were to hold a Convention on the Sunday following. When we came in sight of this house, the Doctor said, " That's the place." It was a white cottage, with green blinds, a front-yard fence and shrubbery, which really looked inviting. As we drove to the door a young woman opened it with a hearty good-morning, saying, "Come in ; you must be very wet." Now, if I could only use a brush, I could paiiU \ou a picture worth looking at, for nudity in a picture is not objec- tionable ; neither are rags, as they are sometimes preferable to fashionable attire. Hut in these days of Comstock rule, a l''ree- tliiukcr's work is closely watched. This woman might have been thirt)' \'ears of age. She was really beautiful. IKr skin was clear, red and white, licjuid gray eyes, her teeth like pearls, and her chestnut hair so glossy that you could easily imagine it a mirror. But the dress, or the un- REMINISCENCES. 45 dress, — she had evidently been giving her baby its natural nour- ishment, for her bust was entirely uncovered. Her arms, a model for a sculptor, were equally bare with her bosom, as the sleeves to her garment hung in shreds. We went into the house; the odor was choking. Two babies were in a long cradle ; one might have been a year older than the other. I presume they were washed when they first came into the world, but there was nothing at that time to lead one to suppose the bath had ever been repeated. As the Doctor came in, after putting his horse in the stable, he washed his hands in a hollow stone at the door. The lady said her towel was on the grass, as she only washed the day be- fore. The hands were shaken, and held to the fire to dry, — a large open fire-place. The lady was not at all embarrassed at the lack of a towel. She was well informed, no lack of books and papers, and all the Antislavery papers were in sight. When this woman spread her table, she took from the grass a table-cloth, and held it to the fire until it ceased to drip, then put it on the table. She made for dinner what a Yankee would call " flapjacks,'' a kind of wafifie. The knife she gave me to use would have been greatly benefited had it been on the grass with the table- cloth through the night's rain. This lady was a teacher from Vermont. A well-to-do widower had married her. Five children in less than eight years Ifad blessed \\\c \\w\o\\. No skill as a housekeeper, — the rest is easily imagined. At another hotel, where I arrived in the middle of the da)', I was met by the daughter of the house, a nice-looking girl, if only she had been comfortably clean. Her feet were bare, and they, with her ankles, might have been washed sometime. I would not say they hadn't, but they were certainly in need of a bath then. I asked for a room, making no further demand, only that the bed should be clean. As I sat down, I drew my watch from its hiding-place (I always wore it out of sight) when this young lady, with the greatest astonishment in her tone, said: "What was that great yellow thing you took out of your bosom ? " I had no idea what she meant, but finally learned it was my watch, and that she had never before seen one. In the course of the day she brought all her friends, whom she could reach, to see the 46 REMINISCENCES. wonder. But the room (which she announced was as clean as it could be)! I was obliged to leave the bed and rest in a chair, for though the one sheet (which, as the young lady said, was all she ever heard of putting onto a bed at a time), was clean, there were more living creatures about the bed than I could comfort- ably sleep with. Such were some of the hotels in the west forty, and even thirty, years ago. I was in Indiana at the time of a crusade against saloons, where alcohol in its many stages, and under as many different names, was sold to whoever applied for it. I think the name of the town was Richmond, where the traged)- 1 am about to record was enacted. The eldest son of a widow, a boy who had just entered his teens, had paid for a drink, and then been treated to more by the proprietor and the regular fn- quenters of the saloon. He drank until he was dead (\x\\x\V, and so entirely dead that no effort could call back life. A }'oung lady, as 1 remember her, nineteen or twenty years of age,^ — Amanda Way, — planned, and was chief actor in, the plot. She, with the mother of the dead boy, led a procession of women, armed with axes, hammers and hatchets, told the several proprietors they would purchase all the litjuors in their possession, and then proceeded to break everything, from bottles to barrels, empt}ing the contents onto the ground. Some of the men who kept these places, took pay for their liquors, and promised to quit the lous- iness; others refused, sued Captain Way, as she was called (I don't know if others were sued), and the case was tried by a court of Dii'H (no mother nor sister in the jury box); the damages were thirty dollars (a light award, the judge said, because of the tobacco, logwood, and other drugs, that turned tlu- whisk)- inti> brand)'. In Illinois, in the nortlu'iii counties, Spiiitualism was again in the way of work. All the places usiiall)' opt'iied to K'ctui'es were prefjccupied b)' .Spiritualists, and heaven in another world was a greater temptation than a free countr)' here and now. Our \\xo- gress was about tlie same as in Indiana. ( )iir nu-etings weie dis- turbc-d, as usual, though in Chicago we had ([uite iaigt- meetings, and no mobs. In Whiteside count)', the northwestern count), we were enlertainetl ri;.;lit io)-,dl\- !))■ a man lormerl)- from New N'ork, Jaccjb I'owell, and Ins good housekeeper (now his wife). lie REMINISCENCES. 47 planned our meetings for a month, taking us to them with his own team, and returning us to his hospitable home. I can never forget the little delicate attentions which are so grateful to a woman, away from home, battered and worn by, I think, worse " beasts " than St. Paul fought at Ephesus, that this woman was constantly bestowing upon me ; and not only little attentions, but large, everything for our comfort. And then we were made wel- come for a life-time, if we had accepted the offer. While stopping with Mr. Powell, there came in our way a tre- mendous freshet in Rock River. The bridges were all washed away in that region, and we were cut off from our mail, Avhich we had ordered sent to Lyndon, the other side of the river. One morning, it had been six weeks since letters from home had reached me, Mr. Powell announced that he should take me over the river that day, as he thought it too much for a mother to bear, to wait longer in suspense for news from home. I asked, " How will you cross?" He said that some five miles away there was a bridge, though several feet under water, still fast. That he proposed to go there, and if the bridge failed, his horses would swim the river. We had meetings appointed on that side, and were in haste to be about our work. Mr. Foss was then with me. He had been in the Baptist pulpit twenty-five years, and was less afraid of water than of sin, no matter how deep the water might run. We started in good season, and having reached the place where the bridge should be, found nothing of that sort in sight ; but a long pole was set up on either side of the river, and one about midway, showing the location of the bridge. A man driving the mail wagon preceded us, but when he reached the point to drive into the water, stopped, and no persuasion of Mr. Powell and Mr. Foss combined, could influence him to try the bridge first. He said his life was worth just as much to him as the lady's was to her (and why wasn't it?), and he would not go first; and so Mr. Powell, talking all the time to his horses as though they were hu- man, drove them into the water. When they began to swim, Mr. Foss told me very cheerfully that if by any accident the wagon should be upset, he was strong enough to take me and swim to the shore. He stood in the wagon, and I stood on the seat, he holding me, that I should not fall ; and though the water filled the wagon up to the seat, we reached the other side safelv. 48 REMINISCENCES. as did the mail-driver, also. When we were over, Mr. Powell said : " Mrs. Colman, I would not have done that for any one but a mother. You have said very little, but your face had be- come so anxious, that it was painful to look at it." This was one of the experiences of our trip in Illinois. Some twenty years before this time, an uncle of mine had em- igrated to this State, and settled in a town to which we were at that time destined. My uncle and his wife were both deceased, but two daughters were living, and very orthodox in their opin- ions. My uncle was, or had been, sheriff of the county, post- master of the town, and school teacher. He was practically the minister, as he had charge of the little society, read printed ser- mons to them on Sundays, and led their prayer-meetings during the week. He was an excellent man, save his bigotry, and that was unparalleled. As an instance, when the postal laws required that the mail should be opened on Sunday, he gave up his office rather than break the fourth commandment, though he every Sun- day made a fire and ate of the food prepared on that day. As sheriff he apprehended any one suspected of stealing, even though he worshipped as God, Jesus of Nazareth, who expressly forbade his followers to deal with the law of revenge. I presume the coninianil, " Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool," had never presented itself to his mind as a command to be strictl}' enforced, nor had he ever felt that the office of sheriff was inct)nipatil)le with the creed of a Christian. We found no helj:) in our work from either of ni)' rclatixes. The husl)and of one of my cousins was a Reverend, a graduate of Oberlin College; hut 1 do iii)t remember one act of conmion courtesy given me b) him or his wife. His was work for tlir Lord, not for men. We however held two meetings in L^-ndon. and had the use of the church for the purpose. Wc crossed the Mississippi, worked a little time in Iowa and Wisconsin, meeting with very little opposition and (|uite as little success. Returning, we sto[)ped awhile in l\nns\l\'auia, where the ignorance of the peojile was ai)palling. ;\t a gathering of peoj)le engaged in some mechanical work, Mr. l"\)ss said: "Well, ni)' friends, who are }'ou going to ha\e for I'ri'sidciil ." lor whom will \'ou vote?" "We don't know; the Inhcii nmn hasn't been 'round to tell us." At another place-, putting the same question, REMINISCENCES. 49 the answer came, " Giwal Jackson." Being informed by us that General Jackson had been dead some years, the speaker seemed astonished at our audacity, and answered us that they had ahvays voted {ox the Gineral, and that we needn't think we should pre- vent them from doing it then. I am not making a plea for Woman s Rights in these Reminis- cences, but if I were, I think the answers of these men might be a good text whereon to base an argument. At one of our ap- pointments in Pennsylvania, the agent who was to speak was sick, and I was sent for to fill the place. I went, found a crowded hall, and not one woman among them. I felt rather troubled to be the only one of my sex, but these ignorant men were per- fectly respectful, treating me in ever}' respect well. Another ar- gument for a Woman's Rights lecture. If one woman could keep such a company of coarse men .on their good behavior, what might not a goodly number do at the polls, or in the halls of Congress, if they went as rightful members of the "body politic," rather than Ti?, petted visitors ? My memory takes me now back into the State of New York, where I worked mostly by myself for a year or two. I went through the southern counties, from Buffalo to New York City, with varied experiences. At one place a good Christian man, taking advantage of my permission, if anyone wished to speak, that the meeting was free, rose and said that the speaker was no doubt a woman of, to say the least, weak morals, as she entirely ignored the commands of the Bible, " uncovering her head, and speaking in public," all of which was expressly against the laws of God laid down in the Bible. After he had finished his tirade, by say- ing he did what he could to prevent my obtaining the house, I said, " Have you concluded your speech, sir?" "Yes," he said. I then said: " Do you, sir, keep the laws laid down in the Scrip- tures of the Old and New Testament ? " He indignantly answered: "Of course I do. I am a Christian, and I do not wish to be insulted by such a question." I said: " No insult was intended, sir. I knew you were a very ignorant man, but I did suppose you knew something of the Bible laws in reference to your own sex, as you were so familiar with the laws by which I should be governed." He seemed astonished at my audacity. I then said : " You come into a meeting of mine, and insult me with your charges, with )our face as smooth as a woman's; and 50 REMINISCENCES. your Bible says, * Thou shalt not mar the corners of th}* beard ' — you have cut yours all off" (this was when it was an offense to the Church to wear the full beard). He said, with strong emphasis: " There is no such passage or law in the Bible." I said : " Don't make your ignorance so apparent. If there were a Bible in the house, which there is not, I would read it to you." A man with a full beard, the only one in the large audience, said : " I will get one," and went out for that purpose. When he returned with the book I said : " This is not my book. You can look at it, sir, and see that it is the real Bible, if you wish ; " and turning to the law I read it, telling them all, chapter and verse, where it was found. You can realize that that Christian man was a somewhat " -ioiscr, if not better man," when he left that meeting. I received a letter from Frederick Douglass about this time, introducing to my notice a young colored woman, the daughter of a fugitive slave, who showed considerable talent for public speaking, asking me if I would take her with me and initiate her into the ways of advertising and getting up meetings; saying: " It is impossible for me to take her with me, as I am a married man, and she is ?i young woman ; and I know of no other speaker of whom I can ask such a favor." I had my meetings arranged for some weeks, when this request reached me, and had received invitations to be the guest in homes where they were friendlj' to the cause of emancipation ; but I was invited expecting to be alone. To take another w ith me was embarrassing, but I felt that I could not refuse, and so wrote in answer: " Yes, send her to me." The first place where I presented m)self as guest with my new friend, was at IIoneo\-e, the home of Mr. fiooddl. The lady, who had sent me a press- ing invitation to make lur house my home, looketl at us with consternation on every feature. She at last said : " \\ alk in : ' and giving ni}' friend a seat near the door, took me into an inner apartment, sa)'ing : "Mrs. Colman, I did not, when }ou were sent the invitation, know that jou had a colored woman with you. I am greatly embarrassed, as 1 have onh' one guest-room." 1 said : " Let me relieve you at once. I consulted my frientl's prejudices, as 1 anticipated such happenings, and she told me she had no pn-judict- against r.'////*' pc'o])Ic, and would be perfectly willing to occup\' a room with nic. 1 am sun- if \ on consult her she will not object." REMINISCENCES. 51 The change in Mrs. A's face was ludicrous, but I kept a very serious look as I said : " If it should happen that the white should leave a stain upon the black skin, I suppose it would be just as bad to bear, as if the black skin should impress itself upon the white." My hostess " saw the point," opened her guest-room and asked us both to walk in and take possession. We did so, and no reference was made to the difference in race again, while we occupied it, but we were cared for in the best possible man- ner. I have often heard of Mrs. A. referring to the lesson she learned at that time, as one she had never forgotten. We of the North have always indulged in the most bitter prejudice against color. No matter how refined and charming a person may be, if we can discover a little dark blood, we make them social outcasts. At the same time, how many ladies will take into their arms and caress, with the greatest affection, a black dog, bringing the mouth of the four-footed pet into the closest contact with their own ! Perhaps they are not degrading themselves by such intimacies. Such is prejudice. I was once advertised to speak in a place, and was not known to any of the committee who had the meeting in charge. A col- ored lady was speaking in the State at the same time, and no one of the getters-up of the meeting knew whether the name Colman belonged to the white woman or the colored. I arrived at the station after nightfall, and the problem was unanswered. At last a man, a little more bold than some of the others in waiting, pro- pounded the important question : " Mrs. Colman, we do not know whether you are colored or white. We know there is a colored lady in the lecture field; will you please tell us which }'ou are?" I felt a little mischievous, and so said : " If you are not able to tell a white pet'son and a colored, one from the other, why should you care?" If I am colored, and pass for white, I ma}' gain a little among the people who are prejudiced ; " and so I refused to tell them. Not one of the audience was able, positively, to de- cide. The morning light gave them the much-desired answer. I think, as I am on the subject of color, I will tell a little anec- dote, which more properly belongs some years later ; but I might omit it should I wait for the more proper time, chronologically speaking. During the war, when I was in Washington, a Dr. Thompson was sent from England by the friends of the colored people, to look about and see what was the best thing to do for 52 REMINISCENCES, them. Calling at my office he immediately took me for his coun- trywoman, and was so pleased to be with one of his own nation, that before I was ready to announce myself as a full-blooded Yankee, he had begged me to allow him to remain ni}- guest while he should be in Washington. He was in comi)any w^ith Rev. D. K. Leigh, of New York City, and as Mr. Leigh's daugh- ter, of perhaps fourteen years, was with him, he asked as a great favor that I would take her in charge, show her the sights, etc., while the two gentlemen should find their business or pleasure without incumbrance. I of course took the young lady to the public reception at the White House. Dr. Thompson and Rev. Mr. Leigh soon after arrived, and following them came Captain Carse, of Freedman Village. Captain Carse was my friend, and seeing me, he came immediately to me, and with great indigna- tion in his voice and look, told me that he had brought Sojourner Truth with his wife, just as he would have brought his own mother, and that they would not allow Sojourner to enter the house, because she was colored. Dr. Thompson was very much surprised, and quite indignant, but there was no help. A colored lady, Mrs. Lincoln's dress-maker, always dressed her (Mrs. Lin- coln) for the receptions, but was never permitted to go into the house as a caller. Color, in any degree, was a bar to the entrance. Dr. Thompson said to me, " I would so like to take a colored per- son on my arm and enter the house." I said, " I will arrange that; you shall.'' And so, on the ne.xt reception da}-, I intro- duced him to Miss Josephine Slade (daughter of the usher at the White House under Johnson), who afterwards became Mrs. Wormly. She was very beautiful, and being on the arm of a distin- gui.shed English gentleman, the ushers did not detect the color, and so she passed in. Mrs. Lincoln, however, knew the young lad\', as she was sometimes employed as her dress-maker's helper, and she did not fail to scowl upon lur her contempt at the intrusion. This prejudice against color looked very crc than my share ol the papci'. REMINISCENCES. Si Since I came into this family of Truth Seekers we have lost by death very many valuable members. First our martyred editor and publisher, but "his soul has been marching on" through all these years, inspiring his followers to continue the work so well begun by him. Then our loved and highly-talented secretary, T. C. Leland. How much we miss his genial presence and his gifted pen ! And then dear and most excellent Elizur Wright — almost peerless as a helper in all ways ; his intellect was marvelous, his heart full of goodness, and his fearlessness was always active. Is it duty? that question answered in the affirm- ative he never shrank. We have lost others less known — my own sister, Mrs. Raymond, Mrs. Bonnell of Junius, Mr. Mitchell of West Junius and many others. Peace to them all ! I had thought it would be interesting, at least to some of my friends, to give some reminiscences of my experience as a Spirit- ualist, as many very interesting phenomena have come under my observation. I was very well acquainted with Dr. John Bovee Dods, one of the very earliest psychologists in the country, trav- eling in many of the states and exhibiting his wonderful psycho- logical powers. I think he was only second to Dr. Sunderland in that matter. I have seen them both on the platform. Dr. Dods' daughter was an inmate of my family for many months. But so much feeling has been expressed by some of the promi- nent Spiritualists at some things I have published that, for the present, I have abandoned the work. AMY POST. A Paper Read by Lucy N. Colman before the Woman's Political Club of Rochester, N. Y. IADIES: You ask of me a short biographical sketch of your late honored -* friend and member, Mrs. Amy Post. If love and the most sacred friendship are the requisites for success in such an undertaking then I feel that you could not have chosen better. Notwithstanding, I must say I can- not hope to satisfy you all. I belong to a generation that left woman out from the educational privileges which most, if not all, of you who are to- day in middle life enjoy. I trust, however, that the matter that I shall bring to you will atone for any lack in the manner of its presentation. Mrs. Amy Kirby Post was born in 1802 to Jacob and Mary Kirby of Jericho, Long Island, who were honorable members of the Society of Friends ; she was of cheerful tem- perament, enjoying intensely the pleasures of out-door life, so that the restraints which the good mother felt called upon to put upon her child, lest she should be unfaithful to the customs and traditions ot her people, were sometimes irksome and hard to bear; for this daughter of a quiet Quaker home would have liked to have danced and sung, for merry she must be ; her spirits refused to droop, she loved flowers and would so imitate their form and color on canvas. She appreciated beauty everywhere, and I am sure she felt that her own charming presence would have lost nothing if only she were per- mitted to choose her own style of dress rather than be confined to the quaint fashion of the long ago. But none of these things, had they been allowed, would have been essential to her happiness very long, for, with a nature like hers, the more serious duties of life soon claimed attention to the exclusion of lighter fancies. I think Mrs. Post inherited from her parents an active hatred of oppression and persecution. The Friends publications, though not many in the beginning of this century, must have recorded the infamous treatment which these simple and harmless people received, from magistrate and minister alike. Tied to a wagon, not only men but women were whipped naked through tlie streets of Boston, and admonished that if they returned their lives would be forfeited. They did return and paid the penalty. Amy Post was a descendant of these martyrs and surely knew it. She never evaded a duty through fear of con- sequences and always presented a brave front against all oppressions. Our friend was the beloved wife of the late Isaac Post, born into, and 84 REMINISCENCES. member with her, of the Society of Friends. It is great praise, but justly merited, to say that Isaac Post was worthy to be the husband of our lamented friend, and that they walked together to the end of his long and useful life, each leaning upon and helping the other. When the Antislavery agitation put on renewed earnestness in 1842, or thereabouts, they became most earnest workers for the freedom of the blacks. Mrs. Post, in company with " the world's people," left her home for the purpose of holding bazars or fairs to raise funds to carry on the Antislavery work. This was a violation of the Friends discipline. A committee was appointed to reason with Amy, and one of the objects of this visitation was to advise her in regard to her duty towards her family ; also her attitude as working with the "world's people." According to their testimony it was not possible that she could have attended to all her family duties, which led our friend to exhibit the contents of her stocking-bag — the store on hand being sixty-four pairs. Mrs. Post rarely sat idle at social gatherings or public lectures. The only effect these proceedings had was renewed effort in behalf of the down-trodden and oppressed, and finally Isaac and Amy Post withdrew from the Society of Friends. Mrs. Post had no need to discipline herself for her prejudice against color, she had not one bit in her nature, and when at last the infamous Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress, and President Fillmore signed it, the more serious work begun for the Abolitionists. At one time I went to Canada with Mrs. Post to see how those poor fugitive creatures were faring who had sought refuge there — it was said to the number of forty thousand — and I doubt, if in all that number, there were one thousand who were unacquainted with the name of Amy Post ; and from how many of those once manacled hands, now freed, did this brave woman help strike off the chains none will ever know, as her home, the "central depot'" of the underground railroad, was shelter and comforter to the African race for many years. On one ever memorable Sabbath, when ministers of the city were preaching of a Saviour who nearly nineteen hundred years before was a hated, hunted fugitive from the Judea Church, Isaac and Amy Post, believing deeds not words were fittest sermons to His memory, took beneath their roof twelve hunted fugitives, hopefully watching for the curtains of night to close on Monday evening, to speed to freedom these children of the same Father. And when we remember, friends, that even to give a cup of cold water to one of these meant imprisonment for not less than one year, and a fine of one thousand dollars, we can better understand how necessary it then was that all must be done in tlie darkness and silence of the night, if our friends, Isaac and Amy Post, were to be helpful to the slave to the end, and dawn of freedom's morning. Are you not glad, my sisters of the Political Club, that no woman helped to make that law ? O, remember, when you shall help to enact the laws by which you sliall govern and be governed, that tyranny and cruelty be excluded from the law books. I cannot dwell longer here upon the Antislavery work of our beloved friend. She was known in all reforms. "Woman's Rights" was a cause she advocated in its earliest stages. She believed with all her heart in the equality of the sexes and was willing to spend and be spent for tliat cause. It was not easy to bear all the opprobrium REMINISCENCES. 85 that was cast upon these early workers. Not every woman whose heart was in the work had the loving sympathy which dear, good Isaac Post gave to his w:fe. Our friend tried, also, to bring about a better condition for domestic help in our cities. When she first became a resident of Rochester she was visited by women whose business it was to ask her not to give her "help" too many privileges, as it made the girls discontented. " Why ? " asked our friend. "I have been thinking to-day," said she, "what I could do to improve their condition, as it seems to me the workers should fare better than the idlers.^' The women found themselves discomfited and did not continue their work. Mrs. Post felt that it was not well to prepare a more elaborate table than could be well afforded because of guests. A circumstance, in which I was interested, I think I will relate, as in it there is a lesson which has often been useful on similar occasions. I had not had an hour alone with my friend for a long time, and she had sent me word that a strange thing had occurred at her home (36 Sophia street) and she would like to see me and tell me about it. The strange happening was that only the immediate family of Mr. and Mrs. Post had slept under their roof the previous night (the first night for fifteen years), and we anticipated a quiet afternoon together. We went to Mrs. Post's room, but were hardly seated when the bell rung. 1 felt mischievous and pushed her into a large closet, going in and closing the door after me. The girl failed to find us and so reported. The visitors gave their names, saymg they would leave their wraps and go shopping and would be back to supper and spend the night. " What shall I get for supper ? " said the cook. " Thee must get a very nice supper, for these are not our best friends. We have not a hearty welcome for them, so must treat them as well as we can." I have always remembered from that time that true friends need not be feted. Some years since, some of the women of the churches of the city decided to try to close the houses of prostitution and to persuade their poor deluded inmates to lead a different life. A meeting was called in one of the churches to consider the matter. The first important subject which came up was to know where these " fallen women could go." Few of these evangelical women could open their homes and say, " Neither do I condemn thee ; come with me and sin no more." But our friend spoke up and said, " I will take one, and if there is no second place for the other, I will take her, too." My friends, you have just laid this noble woman into the silent grave, but do you not remember of whom it was said, "being dead, yet speaketh ! " Let us listen, my sisters, possibly we may find echo in our own hearts. Mrs. Post was hospitable in an eminent degree. She turned none from her door. The pleasant, " Won't thee come in," was the greeting, but it is ot a higher hospitality I wish now to speak. She was hospitable, yea, reverent to o'lie's ideas, not always adopting them, but gave them audience. She never prejudged, knowing that every step in the world's progress, as few of us can know, had bruised the feet of those who first broke the path, and was, therefore, careful to entertain those stranger thoughts, knowing that she might, by so domg, entertain diviner wisdom. My pen almost refuses to stop until I write of her friendship. You who have enjoyed it know what it was. To me it was sacred ; only in Spiritualism 86 REMINISCENCES. were we not agreed. But I loved her none the less, that to her conscious life was unending. 'Tis not needful, my friends, that we think alike of the Infinite, or of infinite power, only let us use with all diligence what power we have for the good of Humanity to a higher evolution with the same persistence as opportunity offers, as did our friend, Amy Post. With one or two incidents which give much insight into the gentle methods of our friend, and I have done. For some years a little beggar girl came to 36 Sophia street, not being turned away ; oftener coming, became familiar, even to drumming on the piano, some of the family remonstrated, eliciting this reply : " She enjoys it so ; perhaps this is the only pleasant time in her daily life, I do not want her checked." Another; when years ago an Indian came to borrow an ax, to chop out bows and arrows, when the woods were nearer Cornhill than at present, where he went daily for three weeks, borrowing and returning all this time the ax, until the Indian became a familiar visitor, too ; and when sometime after his eyes became diseased, Isaac Post and Friend Frost procured medical treat- ment, trying to prevent, but in vain, his misfortune ot coming blindness. This poor old blind Indian did not cease his yearly visits to our friend. When too dirty and objections became too strong for resistance, for entertaining him in the house, he was still made comfortable in tlie stable, and tliough not being able to look upon the face of his friend for nearly forty years, it is to be hoped when he reaches the " Happy Hunting Ground " blind John may be al)le to see once more tlie kind faces of his friends, Isaac and Amy Post, wlio for so many, many years ministered to his wants so faithfully on earth. I