THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 ENDOWED BY 
 
 JOHN SPRUNT HILL 
 CLASS OF 1889 
 
 C326.92 
 R78.1 
 
FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTIO 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://archive.org/details/narrativeofadvenOOrope 
 
A NARRATIVE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ADVENTURES AND ESCAPE 
 
 OF 
 
 MOSES ROPER, 
 
 FROM 
 
 AMERICAN SLAVERY; 
 
 WITH A PREFACE, 
 
 BY THE REV. T.PRICE, D.D. 
 
 " By our sufferings, since ye brought us 
 To the man-degrading mart ; 
 
 All sustained by patience, taught us 
 Only by a broken heart." 
 
 it 
 
 NEGRO UNIVERSITIES PRESS 
 NEW YORK 
 
Originally published in 1838 
 
 by Darton, Harvey and Darton, London 
 
 Reprinted from a copy in the collections 
 of the Brooklyn Public Library 
 
 Reprinted 1970 by 
 
 Negro Universities Press 
 
 A Division of Greenwood Press, Inc. 
 
 New York 
 
 SBN 8371-2907-9 
 
 PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 SECOND EDITION, 
 
 The encouragement which the Author 
 of the following "Narrative" has met 
 with, in the sale of the First Edition, for 
 which he desires to express his sincere 
 gratitude, and the urgent calls which are 
 still made from the provincial towns and 
 in the metropolis', for more copies, have 
 induced him to put forth this Second 
 Edition, by the sale of which, he fully 
 anticipates the realization of his object : 
 namely, to create a fund which may en- 
 able him to qualify himself to instruct 
 
IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 the heathen, and to acquaint the English 
 reader with some of the evils of the 
 slavery system in America. 
 
 The Author cannot omit this opportu- 
 nity of stating, with a deep feeling of 
 gratitude, that the publication of the 
 first edition of this work has induced a 
 gentleman of Manchester, previously a 
 stranger to him, most generously to send 
 out the pecuniary means for releasing 
 one of his sisters from slavery, who is 
 mentioned in p. 31. 
 
 London, 
 1st January, 1838. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following; narrative was to have 
 appeared under the auspices of the Rev. 
 Dr* Morison, of Chelsea, whose generous 
 exertions on behalf of Moses Roper have 
 entitled him to the admiration and gra- 
 titude of every philanthropist. But the 
 illness of the doctor having prevented 
 him from reading the manuscript, I 
 have been requested to supply his lack 
 of service. To this request I assent 
 reluctantly, as the narrative would have 
 derived a fuller sanction and wider 
 currency, had circumstances permitted 
 the original purpose to be carried out. 
 Moses Roper was introduced to Dr. 
 Morison, by an eminent American abo- 
 litionist, in a letter, dated November 9th, 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 1835, in which honourable testimony is 
 borne to his general character, and the 
 soundness of his religious profession. " He 
 has spent about ten days in my house," 
 says Dr. Morison's correspondent, " I 
 have watched him attentively, and have no 
 doubt, that he is an excellent young man, 
 that he possesses uncommon intelligence, 
 sincere piety, and a strong desire to 
 preach the Gospel. He can tell you his 
 own story better than any one else, and 
 I believe, that if he should receive an 
 education, he would be able to counteract 
 the false and wicked misrepresentations 
 of American slavery, which are made in 
 your country by our Priests and Levites 
 who visit you." 
 
 Dr. Morison, as might have been an- 
 ticipated from his well-known character, 
 heartily responded to the appeal of his 
 American correspondent. He sent his 
 letter to the Patriot Newspaper, remark- 
 ing in his own communication to the 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 Editor, " I have seen Moses Roper, the 
 fugitive slave. He comes to this country, 
 as you will perceive, well authenticated 
 as to character and religious standing ; 
 and my anxiety is, that the means may 
 forthwith be supplied by some of your 
 generous readers, for placing him in 
 some appropriate seminary for the im- 
 provement of his mind, that he may be 
 trained for future usefulness in the church. 
 His thirst for knowledge is great ; and 
 he may yet become a most important 
 agent in liberating his country from the 
 curse of slavery." 
 
 Moses Roper brought with him to this 
 country several other testimonies, from 
 persons residing in different parts of the 
 States ; but it is unnecessary to extend 
 this Preface by quoting them. They all 
 speak the same language, and bear un- 
 equivocal witness to his sobriety, intelli- 
 gence, and honesty. 
 
 He is now in the land of freedom, and 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 is earnestly desirous of availing himself 
 of the advantages of his position. His 
 great ambition is to be qualified for use- 
 fulness amongst his own people ; and the 
 progress he has already made, justifies 
 the belief, that, if the means of education 
 can be secured for a short time longer, 
 he will be eminently qualified to instruct 
 the children of Africa in the truths of the 
 gospel of Christ. He has drawn up the 
 following narrative, partly with the hope 
 of being assisted in this legitimate object, 
 and partly to engage the sympathies of 
 our countrymen on behalf of his oppressed 
 brethren. I trust that he will not be 
 disappointed in either of these expecta- 
 tions, but that all the friends of humanity 
 and religion among us, will cheerfully 
 render him their aid, by promoting the 
 circulation of his volume. Should this 
 be done to the extent that is quite pos- 
 sible, the difficulties now lying in his 
 way will be removed. 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 Of the narrative itself it is not neces- 
 sary that I should say much. It is his 
 own production, and carries with it inter- 
 nal evidence of truth. Some of its state- 
 ments will probably startle those readers 
 who are unacquainted with the details of 
 the slave system ; but no such feeling 
 will be produced in any who are conver- 
 sant with the practice of slavery, whether 
 in America or our own colonies. There 
 is no vice too loathsome — no passion too 
 cruel or remorseless, to be engendered by 
 this horrid system. It brutalizes all who 
 administer it, and seeks to efface the 
 likeness of God, stamped on the brow of 
 its victims. It makes the former class 
 demons, and reduces the latter to the 
 level of brutes. 
 
 I could easily adduce from the records 
 of our own slave system, as well as from 
 those of America, several instances of 
 equal atrocity to any which Moses Roper 
 has recorded. But this is unnecessary, 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 and I shall, therefore, merely add, the 
 unqualified expression of my own confi- 
 dence in the truth of this narrative, and 
 my strong recommendation of it to the 
 patronage of the British Public. 
 
 THOMAS PRICE. 
 
 Hackn-ey, July 22nd, 1837. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The determination of laying this little narra- 
 tive before the public, did not arise from any 
 desire to make myself conspicuous, but with 
 the view of exposing the cruel system of slavery 
 as will here be laid before my readers ; from the 
 urgent calls of nearly all the friends to whom I 
 had related any part of the story, and also from 
 the recommendation of anti-slavery meetings, 
 which I have attended, through the suggestion of 
 many warm friends of the cause of the oppressed. 
 
 The general narrative, I am aware, may seem 
 to many of my readers, and especially to those, 
 who have not been before put in possession of 
 the actual features of this accursed system, 
 somewhat at variance with the dictates of hu- 
 manity. But the facts related here, do not 
 come before the reader, unsubstantiated by 
 collateral evidence, nor highly coloured to the 
 disadvantage of cruel task -masters. 
 
 My readers may be put in possession of facts 
 respecting this system which equal in cruelty 
 my own narrative, on an authority which may 
 be investigated with the greatest satisfaction. 
 Besides which, this little book will not be con- 
 fined to a small circle of my own friends in Lon- 
 don, or even in England. The slave-holder, 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the colonizationist, and even Mr. Gooch him- 
 self, will be able to obtain this document, and 
 be at liberty to draw from it whatever they are 
 honestly able, in order to set me down as the 
 tool of a party. Yea, even friend Brechenridge, 
 a gentleman known at Glasgow, will be able 
 to possess this, and to draw from it all the 
 forcible arguments on his own side, which in 
 his wisdom, honesty, and candour he may be 
 able to adduce. 
 
 The earnest wish to lay this narrative before 
 my friends as an impartial statement of facts, 
 has led me to develope some part of my con- 
 duct, which I now deeply deplore. The igno- 
 rance in which the poor slaves are kept by their 
 masters, preclude almost the possibility of their 
 being alive to any moral duties. 
 
 With these remarks, I leave the statement 
 before the public. May this little volume be 
 the instrument of opening the eyes of the igno- 
 rant to this system — of convincing the wicked, 
 cruel, and hardened slave-holder — and of be- 
 friending generally the cause of oppressed hu- 
 manity. 
 
 MOSES ROPER. 
 
 London, 
 June 28, 1837. 
 
ESCAPE, &c. 
 
 I was born in North Carolina, in Cas- 
 well County, I am not able to tell in 
 what year or month. What I shall now 
 relate, is, what was told me by my mother 
 and grandmother. A few months be- 
 fore I was born, my father married my 
 mother's young mistress. As soon as my 
 father's wife heard of my birth, she sent 
 one of my mother's sisters to see whether 
 I was white or black, and when my aunt 
 had seen me, she returned back as soon 
 as she could, and told her mistress that 
 I was white, and resembled Mr. Roper 
 very much. Mr. R.'s wife being not 
 pleased with this report, she got a large 
 club stick and knife, and hastened to 
 
Z ROPER S ESCAPE 
 
 the place in which my mother was con- 
 fined. She went into my mother's room 
 with full intention to murder me with 
 her knife and club, but as she was going 
 to stick the knife into me, my grand- 
 mother happening to come in, caught 
 the knife, and saved my life. But as well 
 as I can recollect from what my mother 
 told me, my father sold her and myself 
 soon after her confinement. I cannot 
 recollect, any thing that is worth notice, 
 till I was six or seven years old. My 
 mother being half white, and my father a 
 white man, I was at that time very white. 
 Soon after I was six or seven years of 
 age, my mother's old master died, that is, 
 my father's wife's father. All his slaves 
 had to be divided among the children.* 
 I have mentioned before of my father 
 
 * Slaves are usually a part of the marriage portion, 
 but lent rather than given, to be returned to the estate 
 at his decease of the father, in order that they may be 
 divided equally among his children. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 3 
 
 disposing of me, I am not sure whether 
 he exchanged me and my mother for 
 another slave or not, but think it very 
 likely he did exchange me with one of 
 his wife's brothers or sisters, because I 
 remember when my mother's old master 
 died, I was living with my father's wife's 
 brother-in-law, whose name was Mr. 
 Durham. My mother was drawn with 
 the other slaves. 
 
 The way they divide their slaves is 
 this : they write the names of different 
 slaves on a small piece of paper, and put 
 it into a box and let them all draw. I 
 think that Mr. Durham drew my mother, 
 and Mr. Fowler drew me, so we were 
 separated a considerable distance, I can- 
 not say ihow far. My resembling my 
 father so very much, and being whiter 
 than the other slaves, caused me to be 
 soon sold to what they call a negro trader, 
 who took me to the Southern States of 
 America, several hundred miles from mv 
 
4 ROPER S ESCAPE 
 
 mother. As well as I can recollect, I 
 was then about six years old. The trader, 
 Mr. Mitchell, after travelling several 
 hundred miles, and selling a good many 
 of his slaves, found he could not sell me 
 very well, (as I was so much whiter than 
 the other slaves were) for he had been 
 trying several months — left me with a 
 Mr. Sneed, who kept a large boarding- 
 house, who took me to wait at table, and 
 sell me if he could. I think I stayed 
 with Mr. Sneed about a year, but he 
 could not sell me. When Mr. Mitchell 
 had sold his slaves, he went to the north, 
 and brought np another drove, and re- 
 turned to the south with them, and sent 
 his son-in-law into Washington, in Geor- 
 gia, after me, so he came and took me 
 from Mr. Sneed, and met his father-in- 
 law with me, in a town called Lancaster, 
 with his drove of slaves. We stayed in 
 Lancaster a week, because it was court 
 week, and there were a great many people 
 
FROM SLAVERY. O 
 
 there, and it was a good opportunity for 
 selling the slaves, and there he was ena- 
 bled to sell me to a gentleman, Dr. Jones, 
 who was both a Doctor and a Cotton 
 Planter. He took me into his shop to 
 beat up and to mix medicines, which was 
 not a very hard employment, but I did 
 not keep it long, as the Doctor soon sent 
 me to his Cotton plantation, that I might 
 be burnt darker by the sun. He sent for 
 me to be with a tailor to learn the trade, 
 but all the journeymen being white men, 
 Mr. Bryant, the tailor, did not let me 
 work in the shop ; I cannot say whether 
 it was the prejudice of his journeymen, 
 in not wanting me to sit in the shop with 
 them, or whether Mr. Bryant wanted to 
 keep me about the house to do the do- 
 mestic work, instead of teaching me the 
 trade. After several months, my master 
 came to know how I got on with the 
 trade : I am not able to tell Mr. Bryant's 
 answer, but it was cither that I could not 
 
6 roper's escape 
 
 learn, or that his journeymen were not 
 willing that I should sit in the shop with 
 them. I was only once in the shop all 
 the time I was there, and then only for 
 an hour or two, before his wife called me 
 out to do some other work. So my mas- 
 ter took me home, and as he was going 
 to send a- load of cotton to Camden, about 
 forty miles distance, he sent me with the 
 bales of cotton to be sold with it, where 
 I was soon sold to a gentleman, named 
 Allen, but Mr. Allen soon exchanged me 
 for a female slave, to please his wife. 
 The traders who bought me, were named 
 Cooper and Linsey, who took me for 
 sale, but could not sell me, people ob- 
 jecting to my being rather white. They 
 then took me to the city of Fayetteville, 
 North Carolina, where he swopt me for 
 a boy, that was blacker than me, to Mr. 
 
 Smith, who lived several miles off. 
 
 I was with Mr. Smith nearly a year. 
 
 1 arrived at the first knowledge of my age 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 7 
 
 when I lived with him. I was then be- 
 tween twelve and thirteen years old, it 
 was when President Jackson was elected 
 the first time, and he has been president 
 eight years, so I must be nearly twenty- 
 one years of age. At this time, I was 
 quite a small boy, and was sold to Mr. 
 Hodge, a negro trader. Here I began 
 to enter into hardships. After travelling 
 several hundred miles, Mr. Hodge, sold 
 me to Mr. Gooch the cotton planter, 
 Cashaw County, South Carolina, he pur- 
 chased me at a town called Liberty Hill, 
 about three miles from his home. As 
 soon as he got home, he immediately put 
 me on his cotton plantation to work, and 
 put me under overseers, gave me allow- 
 ance of meat and bread with the other 
 slaves, which was not half enough for me 
 to live upon, and very laborious work ; 
 here my heart was almost broke with 
 grief at leaving my fellow-slaves. Mr. 
 Gooch did not mind my grief, for he 
 
8 roper's escape 
 
 flogged me nearly every day, and very 
 severely. Mr. Gooch bought me for his 
 son-in-law, Mr. Hammans, about five 
 miles from his residence. This man had 
 but two slaves besides myself, he treated 
 me very kindly for a week or two, but in 
 summer when cotton was ready to hoe, 
 he gave me task work, connected with 
 this department, which I could not get 
 done, not having worked on cotton farms 
 before. When I failed in my task he 
 commenced flogging me, and set me to 
 work without any shirt, in the cotton 
 field, in a very hot sun, in the month of 
 July. In August, Mr. Condell, his over- 
 seer, gave me a task at pulling fodder ; 
 having finished my task before night, I 
 left the field, the rain came on which 
 soaked the fodder, on discovering this, he 
 threatened to flog me for not getting in 
 the fodder before the rain came. This 
 was the first time I attempted to run 
 away, knowing that 1 should get a flog- 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 9 
 
 ging. I was then between thirteen and 
 fourteen years of age, I ran away to the 
 woods half naked, I was caught by a 
 slave-holder, who put me in Lancaster 
 Gaol. When they put slaves in gaol, they 
 advertise for their masters to own them ; 
 but if the master does not claim his slave 
 in six months, from the time of imprison- 
 ment, the slave is sold for gaol fees. 
 When the slave runs away, the master 
 always adopts a more rigorous system of 
 flogging, this was the case in the present 
 instance. After this, having determined 
 from my youth to gain my freedom, I 
 made several attempts, was caught, and 
 got a severe flogging of 100 lashes, each 
 time. Mr. Hammans was a very severe 
 and cruel master, and his wife still worse, 
 she used to tie me up and flog me while 
 naked . 
 
 After Mr. Hammans saw that I was 
 determined to die in the woods, and not 
 live with him, he tried to obtain a piece 
 
10 roper's escape 
 
 of land from his father-in-law, Mr. Gooch; 
 not having the means of purchasing it, 
 he exchanged me for the land. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Gooch had possession 
 of me again, knowing that I was averse 
 to going back to him, he chained me by 
 the neck to his chaise. In this manner 
 he took me to his home at Mac Daniel's 
 Ferry, in the County of Chester, a dis- 
 tance of fifteen miles. After which, he 
 put me in a swamp, to cut trees, the 
 heaviest work, which men of twenty-five 
 or thirty years of age have to do, I being 
 but sixteen. Here I was on very short 
 allowance of food, and having heavy 
 work, was too weak to fulfil my tasks. 
 For this I got many severe floggings ; 
 and after I had got my irons off, I made 
 another attempt at running away. He 
 took my irons off in the full anticipation 
 that I could never get across the Catarba 
 River, even when at liberty. On this, I 
 procured a small Indian canoe, which 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 1 1 
 
 was tied to a tree, and ultimately got 
 across the river in it. I then wandered 
 through the wilderness for several days 
 without any food, and but a drop of 
 water to allay my thirst, till I became so 
 starved, that I was obliged to go to a 
 house to beg for something to eat, when 
 I was captured, and again imprisoned. 
 
 Mr. Gooch having heard of me through 
 an advertisement, sent his son after me ; 
 he tied me up and took me back to his 
 father. Mr. Gooch then obtained the 
 assistance of another slave-holder, and 
 tied me up in his blacksmith's shop, 
 and gave me fifty lashes with a cow hide. 
 He then put alog-chain, weighing twenty- 
 five pounds, round my neck, and sent me 
 into a field, into which he followed me 
 with the cow hide, intending to set his 
 slaves to flog me again. Knowing this, 
 and dreading to suffer again in this way, 
 I gave him the slip, and got out of his 
 sight, he having stopped to speak with 
 the other slave-holder. 
 
12 roper's escape 
 
 I got to a canal on the Catarba River, 
 on the banks of which, and near to a 
 lock, I procured a stone and a piece of 
 iron, with which I forced the ring off 
 my chain, and got it off, and then crossed 
 the river, and walked about twenty 
 miles, when I fell in with a slave-holder, 
 named Ballad, who had married the 
 sister of Mr. Hammans. I knew that 
 he was not so cruel as Mr. Gooch, and, 
 therefore, begged of him to buy me. 
 Mr. Ballad, who was one of the best 
 planters in the neighbourhood, said, that 
 he was not able to buy me, and stated, 
 that he was obliged to take me back to 
 my master, on account of the heavy fine 
 attaching to a man harbouring a slave. 
 Mr. Ballad proceeded to take me back ; 
 as we came in sight of Mr. Gooch's, all 
 the treatment that I had met with there, 
 came forcibly upon my mind, the power- 
 ful influence of which is beyond descrip- 
 tion. On my knees, with tears in my 
 eyes, with terror in my countenance, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 13 
 
 and fervency in all my features, I im- 
 plored Mr. Ballad to buy me, but he 
 again refused, and I was taken back to 
 my dreaded and cruel master. Having 
 reached Mr. Gooch's, he proceeded to 
 punish me. This he did by first tying my 
 wrists together and placing them over 
 the knees, he then put a stick through, 
 under my knees and over my arms, and 
 having thus secured my arms, he pro- 
 ceeded to flog me, and gave me 500 lashes 
 on my bare back. This may appear 
 incredible, but the marks which they 
 left, at present remain on my body, a 
 standing testimony to the truth of this 
 statement of his severity. He then 
 chained me down in a log-pen with a 
 40 lbs. chain, and made me lie on the 
 damp earth all night. In the morning, 
 after his breakfast, he came to me, and 
 without giving me any breakfast, tied 
 me to a large heavy harrow, which is 
 usually drawn by a horse, and made me 
 
14 roper's escape 
 
 drag; it to the cotton field for the horse 
 to use in the field. Thus, the reader 
 will see, that it was of no possible use to 
 my master, to make me drag it to the 
 field and not through it ; his cruelty 
 went so far, as actually to make me the 
 slave of his horse, and thus to degrade 
 me. He then flogged me again, and set 
 me to work in the corn field the whole 
 of that day, and at night, chained me 
 down in the log-pen as before. The 
 next morning, he took me to the cotton 
 field, and gave me a third flogging, and 
 set me to hoe cotton. At this time, I was 
 dreadfully sore and weak with the re- 
 peated floggings and harsh treatment I 
 had endured. He put me under a 
 black man, with orders, that if I did not 
 keep my row up in hoeing with this man, 
 he was to flog; me. The reader must re- 
 collect here, that not being used to this 
 kind of work, having been a domestic 
 slave, it was quite impossible for me to' 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 15 
 
 keep up with him, and, therefore, I was 
 repeatedly flogged during the day. 
 
 Mr. Gooch had a female slave about 
 eighteen years old, who also had been a 
 domestic slave, and through not being 
 able to fulfil her task, had run away ; 
 which slave, he was at this time punish- 
 ing for that offence. On the third day, 
 he chained me to this female slave, with 
 a large chain of 40 lbs. # weight round 
 the neck. It was most harrowing to 
 my feelings, thus to be chained to a 
 young female slave, for whom I would 
 rather have suffered 100 lashes, than she 
 should have been thus treated ; he kept 
 me chained to her during the week, and 
 repeatedly flogged us both, while thus 
 chained together, and forced us to keep 
 up with the other slaves, although re- 
 tarded by the heavy weight of the log- 
 chain. 
 
 * This was a shsarj that they used to draw logs with 
 from the woods, when they clear their land. 
 
16 roper's escape 
 
 Here again, words are insufficient to 
 describe the misery which possessed both 
 body and mind, whilst under this treat- 
 ment, and which was most dreadfully 
 increased, by the sympathy which I felt 
 for my poor degraded fellow-sufferer. 
 On the Friday morning, I entreated my 
 master to set me free from my chains, 
 and promised him, to do the task which 
 was given me, and more, if possible, if 
 he would desist from flogging me. This 
 he refused to do, until Saturday night, 
 when he did set me free. This must 
 rather be ascribed to his own interest 
 in preserving me from death, as it was 
 very evident, I could no longer have' sur- 
 vived under such treatment. 
 
 After this, though still determined in 
 my own mind to escape, I stayed with 
 him several months, during which, he 
 frequently flogged roe but not so severely, 
 as before related During -this time, I had 
 opportunity for recovering my health, 
 
FROM SLAVERY, 17 
 
 cind using means to heal my wounds. 
 My master's cruelty was not confined to 
 me, it was his general conduct to all his 
 slaves. I might relate many instances to 
 substantiate this, but will confine myself 
 to one or two. Mr. Gooch, it is proper 
 to observe, was a member of a Bap- 
 tist church, called Black Jack Meeting 
 House, in Cashaw county, which church 
 I attended for several years, but was 
 never inside. This is accounted for, 
 by the fact, that the coloured population 
 are not permitted to mix with the white 
 population. In the Roman Catholic 
 church no distinction is made. Mr. 
 Gooch had a slave named Phil, who was 
 a member of a Methodist church ; this 
 man, was between seventy and eighty 
 years of age ; he was so feeble that he 
 could not accomplish his tasks, for which, 
 his master used to chain him round the 
 neck, and run him down a steep hill ; 
 this treatment, he never relinquished to 
 
18 
 
 ROPER S ESCAPE 
 
 the time of his death. Another case, 
 was that of a slave named Peter, who, 
 for not doing his task, he flogged nearly 
 to death, and afterwards pulled out his 
 pistol to shoot him, but his (Mr. Gooch's) 
 daughter snatched the pistol from his 
 hand. Another mode of punishment 
 which this man adopted was, that of 
 using iron horns, with bells, attached to 
 the back of the slave's neck. The fol- 
 lowing, is the instrument of torture : 
 
 — tr- 
 
 A WOMAN WITH IRON HORNS AND BELLS ON, 
 TO KEEP HER FROM RUNNING AWAY. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 19 
 
 This instrument he used to prevent the 
 negroes running- away, being a very pon- 
 derous machine, several feet in height, 
 and the cross pieces being two feet four, 
 and six feet in length. This custom is ge- 
 nerally adopted among the slave-holders 
 in South Carolina, and some other slave 
 states. One morning, about an hour 
 before day break, I was going on an 
 errand for my master, having proceeded 
 about a quarter of a mile, I came up to 
 a man, named King (Mr. Sumlin's over- 
 seer), who had caught a young girl that 
 had run away with the above machine 
 on her. She had proceeded four miles 
 from her station, with the intention of 
 getting into the hands of a more humane 
 master. She came up with this overseer 
 nearly dead, and could get no farther, 
 he immediately secured her, and took 
 her back to her master, a Mr. Johnston. 
 
 Having been in the habit of going 
 over many slave states with my master, 
 
20 roper's escape 
 
 I had good opportunities of witnessing 
 the harsh treatment which was adopted 
 by masters, towards their slaves. As I 
 have never read nor heard of any thing 
 connected with slavery so cruel as what 
 I have myself witnessed, it will be well 
 to mention a case or two. 
 
 A large farmer, Colonel M'Quiller, in 
 Cashaw County, South Carolina, was in 
 the habit of driving nails into a hogs- 
 head, so as to leave the point of the nail, 
 just protruding in the inside of the cask, 
 into this he used to put his slaves for 
 punishment, and roll them down a very 
 long and steep hill. I have heard from 
 several slaves (though I had no means 
 of ascertaining the truth of the state- 
 ment), that in this way, he killed six or 
 seven of his slaves. This plan was first 
 adopted by a Mr. Perry, who lived on 
 the Catarba River, and has since been 
 adopted by several planters. Another 
 was, that of a young lad, who had been 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 21 
 
 hired by Mr. Bell, a member of a Me- 
 thodist church, to hoe three quarters of 
 an acre of cotton per day. Having been 
 brought up as a domestic slave, he was 
 not able to accomplish the task assigned 
 to him. On the Saturday night, he left 
 three or four rows to do on the Sunday ; 
 on the same night, it rained very hard, 
 by which the master could tell that he 
 had done some of the rows on Sunday. 
 On Monday, his master took and tied 
 him up to a tree in the field, and kept 
 him there the whole of that day, and 
 flogged him at intervals. At night, when 
 he was taken down, he was so weak that 
 he could not get home, having a mile to 
 go. Two white men, who were employed 
 by Mr. Bell, put him on a horse, took 
 him home, and threw him down on the 
 kitchen floor, while they proceeded to 
 their supper. In a little time, they heard 
 some deep groans proceeding from the 
 kitchen, they went to see him die ; he 
 
22 roper's escape 
 
 had groaned his last. Thus, Mr. Bell 
 flogged this poor boy, even to death ; for 
 what? for breaking the Sabbath, when 
 he (his master) had set him a task, on 
 Saturday, which it was not possible for 
 him to do, and which, if he did not do, 
 no mercy would be extended towards 
 him. So much for the regard of this 
 Methodist, for the observance of the 
 Sabbath.* The general custom in this 
 respect is, that if a man kills his own 
 slave, no notice is taken of it by the 
 civil functionaries ; but if a man kills a 
 slave, belonging to another master, he is 
 compelled to pay the worth of the slave. 
 In this case, a jury met, returned a ver- 
 dict of " Wilful Murder" against this 
 man, and ordered him to pay the value. 
 Mr. Bell was unable to do this, but a 
 
 * I am happy to find that the Methodists are quite a 
 different people in England, and I hope that they will 
 do all that they can to enlighten their slave-holding 
 brethren in America. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. "23 
 
 Mr. Cunningham paid the debt, and 
 took this Mr. Bell, with this recom- 
 mendation for cruelty, to be his overseer. 
 It will be observed, that most of the 
 cases here cited, are those in respect to 
 males. Many instances, however, in 
 respect to females, might be mentioned, 
 but are too disgusting to appear in this 
 narrative. The cases here brought for- 
 ward are not rare, but the continued 
 feature of slavery. But I must now fol- 
 low up the narrative, as regards myself, 
 in particular. I stayed with this master 
 for several months, during which time, we 
 went on very well in general. In August, 
 1831, (this was my first acquaintance 
 with any date ;) I happened to hear a 
 man mention this date, and, as it excited 
 my curiosity, I asked what it meant, they 
 told me, it was the number of the year, 
 from the birth of Christ. On this date, 
 August, 1831, some cows broke into a 
 crib where the corn is kept, and ate a 
 
24 roper's escape 
 
 great deal. For this, his slaves were 
 tied up, and received several floggings ; 
 but myself and another man, hearing the 
 groans of those who were being flogged, 
 stayed back in the field, and would not 
 come up. Upon this, I thought to escape 
 punishment. On the Monday morning, 
 however, I heard my master flogging 
 the other man who was in the field, he 
 could not see me, it being a field of 
 Indian corn, which grows to a great 
 height. Being afraid that he would 
 catch me, and dreading a flogging more 
 than many others, I determined to run 
 for it; and, after travelling forty miles, I 
 arrived at the estate of Mr. Crawford, in 
 North Carolina, Mecklinburgh County. 
 Having formerly heard people talk about 
 the Free States, I determined upon going 
 thither, and, if possible, in my way, to 
 find out my poor mother, who was in 
 slavery, several hundred miles from 
 Chester ; but the hope of doing the latter, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 25 
 
 was very faint, and, even if I did, it was 
 not likely that she would know me, 
 having been separated from her, when 
 between five and six years old. 
 
 The first night, I slept in a barn, upon 
 Mr. Crawford's estate, and, having over- 
 slept myself, was awoke by Mr. Craw- 
 ford's overseer, upon which, I was dread- 
 fully frightened ; he asked me, what I 
 was doing there ? I made no reply to 
 him then, and he making sure that he 
 had secured a run-a-way slave, did not 
 press me for an answer. On my way to 
 his house, however, I made up the fol- 
 lowing story, which I told him in the 
 presence of his wife : — I said, that I 
 had been bound to a very cruel master 
 when I was a little boy, and that having 
 been treated very badly, I wanted to get 
 home to see my mother. This statement, 
 may appear to some to be untrue, but as 
 I understood the word bound, I con- 
 sidered it to apply to my case, having 
 
26 
 
 ROPER S ESCAPE 
 
 been sold to him, and thereby bound to 
 serve him; though still I did rather hope 
 that he would understand it, that I was 
 bound, when a boy, till twenty -one 
 years of age. Though I was white at 
 that time, be would not believe my 
 story, on account of my hair being curly 
 and wooly, which led him to conclude, 
 I was possessed of enslaved blood. The 
 overseer's wife, however, who seemed 
 much interested in me, said, she did not 
 think I was of African origin, and that 
 she had seen white men still darker than 
 me, her persuasion prevailed ; and, after 
 the overseer had given me as much 
 butter-milk as I could drink, and some- 
 thing to eat, which was very acceptable, 
 having had nothing for two days, I set 
 off for Charlotte, in North Carolina, the 
 largest town in the county I went on 
 very quickly the whole of that day, fear- 
 ful of being pursued. The trees were 
 very thick on each side of the road, and 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 27 
 
 only a few houses, at the distance of two 
 or three miles apart : as I proceeded, I 
 turned round in all directions, to see if I 
 was pursued, and if I caught a glimpse 
 of any one coming along the road, I 
 immediately rushed into the thickest 
 part of the wood, to elude the grasp, of 
 what I was afraid, might be my master. 
 I went on in this way the whole day, at 
 night, I came up with two waggons, they 
 had been to market, the regular road 
 waggons do not generally put up at inns, 
 but encamp in the roads and fields. 
 When I came to them, I told them the 
 same story I had told Mr. Crawford's 
 overseer, with the assurance, that the 
 statement would meet the same success. 
 After they had heard me, they gave me 
 something to eat, and also a lodging in 
 the camp with them. 
 
 I then went on with them about five 
 miles, and they agreed to take me with 
 them as far as they went, if I would 
 
28 roper's escape 
 
 assist them. This I promised to do. In 
 the morning, however, I was much 
 frightened by one of the men putting 
 several questions to me — we were then 
 about three miles from Charlotte. When 
 within a mile of that town, we stopped 
 at a brook, to water the horses ; while 
 stopping there, I saw the men whisper- 
 ing, and fancying I overheard them say, 
 they would put me in Charlotte gaol, 
 when they got there, I made my escape 
 into the woods, pretending to be looking 
 after something, till I got out of their 
 sight. I then ran on as fast as I could, 
 but did not go through the town of 
 Charlotte as had been my intention ; 
 being a large town, I was fearful it 
 might prove fatal to my escape. Here, I 
 was at a loss how to get on, as houses 
 were not very distant from each other, 
 for nearly 200 miles. 
 
 While thinking what I should do, I 
 observed some waggons before me, which 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 29 
 
 I determined to keep behind, and never 
 go nearer to them than a quarter of a 
 mile — in this way I travelled, till I grot 
 to Salisbury. If I happened to meet any 
 person on the road, I was afraid they 
 would take me up, I asked them, how far 
 the wascs'ons had g-ot on before me ? to 
 make them suppose, I belonged to the 
 waggons. At night, I slept on the ground 
 in the woods, some little distance from 
 the waggons, but not near enough, to be 
 seen by the men belonging to them. All 
 this time, I had but little food, princi- 
 pally fruit, which I found on the road. 
 On Thursday night, I got into Salisbury, 
 having left Chester on the Monday 
 morning preceding. After this, being 
 afraid my master was in pursuit of me, 
 I left the usual line of road, and took 
 another direction, through Huntsville 
 and Salem, principally through fields 
 and woods ; on my way to Caswell Court- 
 House, a distance of nearly 200 miles from 
 
30 llOPEIt's ESCAPE 
 
 Salisbury,* I was stopped by a white man, 
 to whom I told my old story, and again 
 succeeded in my escape. I also came up 
 with a small cart, driven by a poor man, 
 who had been moving into some of the 
 western territories, and was going back to 
 Virginia, to move some more of his lug- 
 gage. On this, I told him, I was going the 
 same way to Hilton, thirteen miles from 
 Caswell Court-House, he took me up in 
 his cart, and we went to the Red House, 
 two miles from Hilton, the place where 
 Mr. Mitchell took me from, when six 
 years old, to go to the Southern States. 
 This was a very providential circum- 
 stance, for it happened, that at the time 
 I had to pass through Caswell Court- 
 House, a fair or election was 2-oiiifr on 
 which caused the place to be much 
 crowded w T ith people, and rendered it 
 more dangerous for me to pa^s through. 
 
 : ~ The distance from Salisbury to Caswell Court- 
 House is not so far, but 1 had to go a round about way. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 31 
 
 At the lied House, I left the cart, and 
 wandered about a long time, not know- 
 ing which way to go to find my mother. 
 After some time, I took the road lead- 
 ing over Ikeo Creek. I shortly came 
 up with a little girl, about six years old, 
 and asked her where she was o'oino;, she 
 said, to her mother's, pointing to a house 
 on a hill, about half a mile off. She had 
 been to the overseer's house, and was 
 returning to her mother. I then felt 
 some emotions arising in my breast, 
 which I cannot describe, but will be 
 fully explained in the sequel. I told 
 her, that I was very thirsty, and would 
 go with her to get something to drink. 
 On our way, I asked her several questions, 
 such, as her name, that of her mother, 
 she said her's was Maria, and her mother's 
 Nancy. 1 inquired, if her mother had 
 any more children? she said, five besides 
 herself, and that they had been told, that 
 one had been sold when a little boy. I 
 
32 roper's escape 
 
 then asked, the name of this child? she 
 said, it was Moses. These answers, as 
 we approached the house, led me nearer 
 and nearer to the finding out the object 
 of my pursuit, and of recognizing in the 
 little girl, the person of my own sister.* 
 At last, I got to my mother's house ! ! 
 my mother was at home, I asked her, if 
 she knew me? she said, no. Her master 
 was having a house built just by, and 
 the men were digging a well, she sup- 
 posed, that I was one of the diggers. I 
 told her, I knew her very well, and 
 thought that if she looked at me a little, 
 
 * Providence has been profuse in its blessings on me. 
 When I wrote the foregoing statement, about my meet- 
 ing with my sister Maria, and when I met with some 
 who regarded this fact as bordering on the " marvellous," 
 I little thought of such a proof of the truth of it, as I 
 have now the pleasure of recording : — A gentleman of 
 great respectability, at Manchester, having read the 
 account in the first edition, has sent to America to pur- 
 chase the freedom of Maria, and I know not, but she 
 may be at this moment free, and is likely to be in this 
 country in a short time. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 33 
 
 she would know me, but this had no 
 effect. I then asked her, if she had any 
 sons ? she said, yes ; but none so large 
 as me. I then waited a few minutes, 
 and narrated some circumstances to her, 
 attending my being sold into slavery, 
 and how she grieved at my loss. Here 
 the mother's feelings on that dire occa- 
 sion, and which, a mother only can 
 know, rushed to her mind : she saw her 
 own son before her, for whom she had so 
 often wept ; and, in an instant, we were 
 clasped in each other's arms, amidst the 
 ardent interchange of caresses and tears 
 of joy. Ten years had elapsed, since 1 had 
 seen my dear mother. My own feelings, 
 and the circumstances attending: mv 
 coming home, have often been brought 
 to mind since, on a perusal of the 42nd, 
 43rd, 44th, and 45th chapters of Genesis. 
 What could picture my feelings so well, 
 as I once more beheld the mother who 
 had brought me into the world, and had 
 
34 roper's escape 
 
 nourished me, not with the anticipation 
 of my being torn from her maternal 
 care, when only six years old, to become 
 the prey of a mercenary and blood- 
 stained slave holder ; I say, what picture 
 so vivid in description of this part of 
 ray tale, as the 7th and 8th verses of 
 the 42nd chapter of Genesis, " And 
 Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew 
 them, but made himself strange unto 
 them. And Joseph knew his brethren, 
 but they knew not him." After the first 
 emotion of the mother, on recognizing 
 her first-born had somewhat subsided, 
 could the reader not fancy the little 
 one> my sister, as she told her simple 
 tale of meeting with me to her mother, 
 how she would say, while the parent 
 listened with intense interest; "The 
 man asked me straitly of our state and 
 of our kindred, saying, is your father 
 yet alive, and ha\>e ye another brother." 
 Or, when at last, T could no longer re- 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 35 
 
 train from making- myself known, I say, 
 I was ready to burst into a frenzy of joy. 
 How applicable the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd 
 verses of the 45th chapter, "Then 
 Joseph could not refrain himself before 
 all them that stood by him, and he wept 
 aloud, and said unto his brethren, I am 
 Joseph, doth my father still live." Then 
 when the mother knew her son, when 
 the brothers and sisters owned their 
 brother; "he kissed all his brethren 
 and wept over them, and after that his 
 brethren talked with him," 15th verse. 
 At night, my mother's husband, a black- 
 smith, belono-ino; to Mr. Jefferson at the 
 Red House, came home, he was surprised 
 to see me with the family, not knowing 
 who I was. He had been married to my 
 mother, when I was a babe, and had 
 always been very fond of me. After the 
 same tale had been told him, and the 
 same emotions filled his soul, he again 
 kissed the object of his early affection. 
 
36 roper's escape 
 
 The next morning, I wanted to go on my 
 journey, in order to make sure of my 
 escape to the Free States. But, as 
 might be expected, my mother, father, 
 brothers, and sisters could ill part Avith 
 their long lost one ; and persuaded me 
 to go into the woods in the day time, 
 and at night come home and sleep there. 
 This I did for about a week : on the 
 next Sunday night, I had laid me down 
 to sleep between my two brothers, on a 
 pallet, which my mother had prepared 
 for me ; about twelve o'clock, I was 
 suddenly awoke, and found my bed sur- 
 rounded by twelve slave holders with 
 pistols in hand, who took me away (not 
 allowing me to bid farewell to those 
 I loved so dearly) to the Red House, 
 where they confined me in a room the 
 rest of the night, and in the morning, 
 lodged me in the gaol of Caswell Court- 
 House. 
 What was the scene at home, what 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 37 
 
 sorrow possessed their hearts, I am un- 
 able to describe, as I never after saw any 
 of them more. I heard, however, that 
 my mother, who was in the family-way, 
 when I went home, was soon after con- 
 fined, and was very long before she 
 recovered the effects of this disaster. I 
 was told afterwards, that some of those 
 men who took me, were professing 
 Christians, but to me, they did not seem 
 to live up to what they professed ; they 
 did not seem, by their practices, at least, 
 to recognize that God as their God, who 
 hath said, " thou shalt not deliver unto 
 his master, the servant which is escaped 
 from his master unto thee, he shall dwell 
 with thee, even among you, in that place 
 which he shall choose, in one of thy gates, 
 where it liketh him best ; thou shalt 
 not oppress him." — Deut. xxiii. 15, 16. 
 
 I was confined here in a dungeon 
 under ground, the grating of which, 
 looked to the door of the gaoler's 
 
38 roper's escape 
 
 house. His wife had a great antipathy 
 to me. She was Mr. Roper's wife's 
 cousin. My grandmother used to come 
 to me nearly every day, and bring me 
 something to eat, besides the regular 
 gaol allowance, by which, my sufferings 
 were somewhat decreased. Whenever 
 the gaoler went out, which he often did, 
 his wife used to come to my dungeon, 
 and shut the wooden door over the grat- 
 ing, by which, I was nearly suffocated, 
 the place being very damp and noisome. 
 My master did not hear of my being in 
 gaol for thirty-one days after I had been 
 placed there. He immediately sent his 
 son, and son-in-law, Mr. Anderson, after 
 me. They came in a horse and chaise, 
 took me from the gaol to a blacksmith's 
 shop, and got an iron collar fitted round 
 my neck, with a heavy chain attached, 
 then tied my hands, and fastened the 
 other end of the chain on another horse, 
 and put me on its back. Just before we 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 39 
 
 started, iny grandmother came to bid 
 me farewell ; I gave her my hand as 
 well as I could, and she having given 
 me two or three presents, we parted. I 
 had felt enough, far too much, for the 
 weak state I was in ; but how shall I 
 describe my feelings, upon parting with 
 the last relative that I ever saw. The 
 reader must judge by what would be 
 his own feelings, under similar circum- 
 stances. We then went on for fiftv 
 miles ; I was very weak, and could 
 hardly sit on the horse. Having been 
 in prison so long, I had lost the southern 
 tan; and, as the people could not see my 
 hair, having my hat on, they thought. 
 I was a white man — a criminal — and 
 asked what crime I had committed. We 
 arrived, late at night, at the house of 
 Mr. Britton. I shall never forget the 
 journey that night. The thunder was 
 one continued roar, and the lightning- 
 blazing all around. I expected every 
 
40 roper's escape 
 
 minute, that my iron collar would attract 
 it, and I should be knocked off the horse, 
 and dragged along the ground. This 
 gentleman, a year or two before, had 
 liberated his slaves, and sent them into 
 Ohio, having joined the Society of 
 Friends, which Society does not allow 
 the holding of slaves. I was, therefore, 
 treated very well there, and they gave 
 me a hearty supper, which did me much 
 good in my weak state. 
 
 They secured me, in the night, by lock- 
 ing me to the post of the bed on which 
 they slept. The next morning, we went on 
 to Salisbury. At that place, we stopped 
 to water the horses ; they chained me to 
 a tree in the yard, by the side of their 
 chaise. On my horse, they had put the 
 saddle bags, which contained the provi- 
 sions. As I was in the yard, a black man 
 came and asked me, what I had been 
 doing ; I told him, I had run away from 
 my master, after which, he told me several 
 
FROM SLAVERY, 41 
 
 tales about the slaves, and among them, 
 he mentioned the case of a Quaker, who 
 was then in prison, waiting to be hung, 
 for giving a free pass to a slave. I had 
 been considering all the way, how I could 
 escape from my horse, and once had an 
 idea of cutting his head off, but thought it 
 too cruel; and, at last, thought of trying 
 to get a rasp, and cut the chain by which 
 I was fastened to the horse. As they often 
 let me get on nearly a quarter of a mile 
 before them, I thought, I should have a 
 good opportunity of doing this without 
 being seen. The black man procured me 
 a rasp, and I put it into the saddle bags 
 which contained the provisions. We 
 then went on our journey, and one of the 
 sons asked me, if I wanted any thing to 
 eat ; I answered, no, though very hungry 
 at the time, as I was afraid of their going 
 to the bags, and discovering the rasp. 
 However, they had not had their own 
 meal at the Inn, as I supposed, and went 
 
42 roper's escape 
 
 to the bags to supply themselves, where 
 they discovered the rasp. Upon this, 
 they fastened my horse beside the horse 
 in their chaise, and kept a stricter watch 
 over me. Nothing remarkable occurred, 
 till we got within eight miles of Mr. 
 Gooch's, where we stopped a short time; 
 and, taking advantage of their absence, I 
 broke a switch from some boughs above 
 my head, lashed my horse, and set off at 
 full speed. I had got about a quarter 
 of a mile, before they could get their 
 horse loose from their chaise ; one, then 
 rode the horse, and the other, ran as fast 
 as he could after me. When I caught 
 sight of them, I turned off the main road 
 into the woods, hoping to escape their 
 sight ; their horse, however, being much 
 swifter than mine, they soon got within 
 a short distance of me. I then came to 
 a rail fence, which I found it very diffi- 
 cult to get over, but breaking several 
 rails away, I effected my object. They 
 
FROM SLAVERY, 
 
 43 
 
 then called upon me to stop, more than 
 three times, and I not doing so, they fired 
 after me, but the pistol only snapped. 
 
 MR. ANDERSON ATTEMPTING TO SHOOT THE 
 AUTHOR, AFTER TELLING HIM TO STOP THREE 
 TIMES, ACCORDING TO THE LAW. 
 
 This is according to law ; after three 
 calls, they may shoot a run-a-way slave. 
 Soon after, the one on the horse came up 
 with me, and, catching hold of the bridle 
 of my horse, pushed the pistol to my side, 
 the other soon came up ; and, breaking 
 off several stout branches from the trees. 
 
I i roper's escape 
 
 they gave me about 100 blows. They did 
 this very near to a planter's house, the 
 gentleman was not at home, but his wife 
 came out, and begged them, not to Mil 
 me so near the house ; they took no 
 notice of this, but kept on beating me. 
 They then fastened me to the axle-tree 
 of their chaise, one of them got into the 
 chaise, the other took my horse, and they 
 run me all the eight miles as fast as they 
 could ; the one on my horse going behind 
 to guard me. In this way, we came to 
 my old master, Mr. Gooch. The first 
 person I saw, was himself, he unchained 
 me from the chaise, and, at first, seemed 
 to treat me very gently, asking me, where 
 I had been. &c. The first thing the sons 
 did, was to show the rasp, which I had 
 got to cut my chain. My master gave 
 me a hearty dinner, the best he ever did 
 give me, but it was to keep me from 
 dying before lie had given me all the 
 (logging he intended. After dinner, he 
 
FROM SLAVERY, 
 
 45 
 
 took me to a log-house, stripped me 
 quite naked, fastened a rail up very high, 
 tied my hands to the rail, fastened my 
 feet together, put a rail between my feet, 
 and stood on one end of it to hold it down ; 
 the two sons then gave me fifty lashes 
 each, the son-in-law another fifty, and 
 Mr. Gooch himself, fifty more. 
 
 MR. GOOCH STRIPPING THE AUTHOR TO FLOG 
 HIM. HIS TWO SONS AND SON-IN-LAW PRESENT. 
 THEY, AT THIS TIME, GAVE HIM FIFTY LASHLS 
 EACH. 
 
46 roper's escape 
 
 While doing this, his wife came out, 
 and begged him not to kill me, the 
 first act of sympathy I ever noticed 
 in her. When I called for water, they 
 brought a pail-full and through it over 
 my back, ploughed up by the lashes. 
 After this, they took me to the black- 
 smith's shop, got two large bars of iron, 
 which they bent round my feet, each bar 
 weighing twenty pounds, and put a heavy 
 log-chain on my neck. This was on 
 Saturday. On the Monday, he chained 
 me to the same female slave as before. 
 As he had to go out that day, he did not 
 give me the punishment which he in- 
 tended to give me every day, but at 
 night when he came home, he made us 
 walk round his estate, and by all the 
 houses of the slaves, for them to taunt 
 us ; when we came home, he told us, we 
 must be up very early in the morning, 
 and go to the fields before the other 
 slaves We were up at day break, but 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 47 
 
 we could not get on fast, on account of 
 the heavy irons on my feet. It may be 
 necessary to state here, that these irons 
 were first made red hot and bent in a 
 circle, so as just to allow of my feet going 
 through ; it having been cooled, and my 
 leg with the iron on lifted up to an anvil, 
 it was made secure round my ancles. 
 When I walked with these irons on, I 
 used to hold them up with my hands by 
 means of a cord. We walked about a mile 
 in two hours, but knowing the punish- 
 ment he was going to inflict on us, we 
 made up our minds to escape into the 
 woods, and secrete ourselves. This we 
 did, and he not being able to find us, 
 sent all his slaves, about forty, and his 
 sons, to find us, which they could not 
 do; and about twelve o'clock, when we 
 thought, they would give up looking for 
 us at that time, we went on, and came to 
 the banks of the Catarba. Here I got a 
 stone, and opening the ring of the chain 
 
48 roper's escape 
 
 on her neck, and got it off; and, as the 
 chain round my neck was only passed 
 through a ring, as soon as I had got 
 her's off, I slipped the chain through my 
 ring, and got it off my own neck.*' — 
 We then went on by the banks of the 
 river for some distance, and found a little 
 canoe about two feet wide. I managed 
 to get in, although the irons on my feet 
 made it very dangerous, for if I had 
 upset the canoe, I could not swim. The 
 female got in after me, and gave me the 
 paddles, by which we got some distance 
 down the river. The current being very 
 strong, it drove us against a small island ; 
 we paddled round the island to the other 
 side, and then made towards the oppo- 
 site bank. Here again we were stopped 
 by the current, and made up to a large 
 
 * It may be well to state here, that the ring which 
 fastened the log chain together around the female's 
 neck, was an open ring, similar to those used at the end 
 of watch chains. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 49 
 
 rock in the river, between the island and 
 the opposite shore. As the weather was 
 very rough, we landed on the rock and 
 secured the canoe, as it was not possible 
 to get back to the island. It was a very 
 dark night and rained tremendously ; and 
 as the water was rising rapidly towards 
 the top of the rock, we gave all up for 
 lost, and sometimes hoped, and some- 
 times feared to hope, that we should 
 never see the morning. But Providence 
 was moving in our favour ; the rain 
 ceased, the water reached the edge of the 
 rock, then receded, and we were out of 
 danger from this cause. We remained 
 all night upon the rock, and in the morn- 
 ing reached the opposite shore, and then 
 made our way through the woods, till we 
 came to a field of Indian corn, where we 
 plucked some of the green ears and eat 
 them, having had nothing for two days 
 and nights. We came to the estate of 
 
50 roper's escape 
 
 , where we met with a coloured 
 
 man who knew me, and having run away 
 himself from a bad master, he gave us 
 some food, and told us, we might sleep 
 in the barn that night. Being very fa- 
 tigued, we overslept ourselves ; the pro- 
 prietor came to the barn, but as I was in 
 one corner under some Indian corn tops, 
 and she in another, he did not perceive 
 us, and we did not leave the barn before 
 night, (Wednesday). We then went out, 
 got something to eat, and strayed about 
 the estate till Sunday. On that day, 1 
 met with some men, one of whom, had 
 had irons on his feet the same as me, he 
 told me, that his master was going out 
 to see his friends, and that he would try 
 and get my feet loose ; for this purpose 
 I parted with this female, fearing, that 
 if she were caught with me, she would 
 be forced to tell who took my irons 
 off. The man tried some time without 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 51 
 
 effect, he then gave me a file and I 
 tried myself, but was disappointed, on 
 account of their thickness. 
 
 On the Monday, I went on towards 
 Lancaster, and got within three miles of 
 it that night ; and went towards the plan- 
 tation of Mr. Crockett, as I knew some 
 of his slaves, and hoped to get some food 
 given me. When I got there, however, 
 the dogs smelt me out and barked ; 
 upon which Mr. Crockett came out, 
 followed me with his rifle, and came up 
 with me. He put me on a horse's back, 
 which put me to extreme pain, from the 
 great weight hanging from my feet. 
 We reached Lancaster gaol that night, 
 and he lodged me there. I was placed 
 in the next dungeon to a man who was 
 going; to be hung-. I shall never forget 
 his cries and groans, as he prayed all 
 night for the mercy of God. Mr. Gooch 
 did not hear of me for several weeks : 
 when he did, he sent his son-in-law, Mr, 
 
52 roper's escape 
 
 Anderson after me. Mr. Gooch himself 
 came within a mile of Lancaster, and 
 waited until Mr. Anderson brought me. 
 At this time, I had but one of the irons 
 on my feet, having got so thin round 
 my ankles, that I had slipped one off 
 while in gaol. His son-in-law tied my 
 hands, and made me walk along till we 
 came to Mr. Gooch. As soon as we 
 arrived at M' Daniel's Ford, two miles 
 above the Ferry, on the Catarba River, 
 they made me wade across, themselves 
 going on horseback. The water was 
 very deep, and having irons on one foot 
 and round my neck, I could not keep 
 a footing. They dragged me along by 
 my chain, on the top of the water. It 
 was as much as they could do to hold 
 me by the chain, the current being very 
 strong. They then took me home, flogged 
 me, put extra irons on my neck and feet, 
 and put me under the driver, with more 
 work than ever I had before. He did 
 
PROM SLAVERY 
 
 Od 
 
 not flog' me so severely as before, but 
 continued it every day. Among the in- 
 struments of torture employed, I here 
 describe one : — 
 
 A COTTON SCREW. 
 
54 roper's escape 
 
 This is a machine used for packing 
 and pressing cotton. By it, he hung me 
 up by the hands at letter a, a horse 
 moving round the screw e* and carrying- 
 it up and down, and pressing the block 
 c into the box d, into which the cotton 
 is put. At this time, he hung me up for 
 a quarter of an hour. I was carried up 
 ten feet from the ground, when Mr. 
 Gooch asked me if I was tired. He 
 then let me rest for five minutes, then 
 carried me round again, after which, he 
 let me down and put me into the box d, 
 and shut me down in it for about ten 
 minutes. After this torture, I stayed 
 with him several months, and did my 
 work very well. It was about the be- 
 ginning of 1832, when he took off my 
 irons, and being in dread of him, he 
 
 * This screw is sometimes moved round by hand, 
 when there is a handle on it. The screw is made with 
 wood, a large tree cut down, and carved in the shaiic 
 of a screw. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. DO 
 
 having' threatened me with more punish- 
 ment, I attempted again to escape from 
 him. At this time, I got into North 
 Carolina : but a reward having been 
 offered for me, a Mr. Robinson caught 
 me, and chained me to a chair, upon 
 which he sat up with me all night, and 
 next day proceeded home with me. This 
 was Saturday. Mr. Gooch had gone to 
 church, several miles from his house. 
 When he came back, the first thing he 
 did was to pour some tar on my head, 
 then rubbed it all over my face, took a 
 torch, with pitch on, and set it on fire; 
 he put it out before it did me very great 
 injury, but the pain which I endured 
 was most excruciating, nearly all m\ 
 hair having; been burnt oft'. On Mon- 
 day, he put irons on me again, weighing 
 nearly fifty pounds. He threatened me 
 again on the Sunday with another flog- 
 ging ; and on the Monday morning, 
 before day -break, I got away again, 
 
56 roper's escape 
 
 with my irons on, and was about three 
 hours, going a distance of two miles.* 
 I had gone a good distance, when I met 
 with a coloured man, who got some 
 wedges and took my irons off. How- 
 ever, I was caught again, and put into 
 prison in Charlotte, where Mr. Gooch 
 came, and took me back to Chester. He 
 asked me, how I got my irons off? They 
 having been got off by a slave, I would 
 not answer his question, for fear of get- 
 ting the man punished. Upon this, he 
 put the fingers of my hands into a 
 vice, and squeezed all my nails off. He 
 then had my feet put on an anvil, and 
 ordered a man to beat my toes, till he 
 smashed some of my nails off. The 
 marks of this treatment still remain 
 upon me, some of my nails never having 
 grown perfect since. He inflicted this 
 
 * It must be recollected, that when a person is two 
 miles from a house, in that part of the country, that he 
 can hide himself in the woods, the trees being- so thick, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 57 
 
 punishment, in order to get out of me 
 how I got my irons off, but never suc- 
 ceeded. After this, he hardly knew what 
 to do with me ; the whole stock of his 
 cruelties seemed to be exhausted. He 
 chained me down in the log- house. 
 Soon after this, he sent a female slave to 
 see if I was safe. Mr. Gooch had not 
 secured me as he thought ; but had 
 only run my chain through the ring, 
 without locking it. This I observed; 
 and while the slave was coming, I was 
 employed in loosening the chain with the 
 hand that was not wounded. As soon 
 as I observed her coining, I drew the 
 chain up tight, and she observing, 
 that I seemed fast, went away and 
 told her master, who was in the field 
 ordering the slaves. When she was 
 gone, I drew the chain through the 
 ring, escaped under the flooring of the 
 log-house, and went on under it, till I 
 came out at the other side, and ran on ; 
 
58 roper's escape 
 
 but, being sore arid weak, I had not got 
 a mile before I was caught, and again 
 carried back. He tied me up to a tree 
 in the woods at night, and made his 
 slaves flog me. I cannot say how many 
 lashes I received ; but it was the worst 
 flogging I ever had, and the last which 
 Mr. Gooch ever gave me. 
 
 There are several circumstances which 
 occurred on this estate while I was there, 
 relative to other slaves, which it may be 
 interesting to mention. Hardly a day 
 ever passed without some one being 
 flogged. To one of his female slaves he 
 bad given a dose of castor oil and salts 
 together, as much as she could take ; 
 he then got a box, about six feet by two 
 and a half, and one and a half feet deep ; 
 he put this slave under the box, and 
 made the men fetch as many logs as they 
 could get, and put them on the top of it : 
 under this she was made to stay all night. 
 \ believe, that if he had given this slave 
 
FROM SLAVERY 59 
 
 one, be had given her three thousand 
 lashes. Mr. Gooch was a member of a 
 Baptist Church. His slaves thinking 
 him a very bad sample of what a profess- 
 ing- Christian ought to be, would not join 
 the connexion he belonged to, thinking, 
 they must be a very bad set of people : 
 there were many of them members of 
 the Methodist Church. On Sunday, the 
 slaves can only go to church at the will 
 of their master, when he gives them a 
 pass for the time they are to be out. If 
 they are found by the patrole after the 
 time to which their pass extends, they 
 are severely Hogged. 
 
 On Sunday nights, a slave, named 
 Allen, used to come to Mr. Goocli's 
 estate for the purpose of exhorting and 
 praying with his brother slaves, by 
 whose instrumentality, many of them 
 had been converted. One evening;, Mr. 
 Gooch caught them all in a room, turned 
 Allen out, and threatened his slaves with 
 
GO roper's escape 
 
 one hundred lashes each, if they ever 
 brought him there again. At one time, 
 Mr. Gooch was ill, and confined to his 
 room ; if any of the slaves had done any 
 thing, which he thought deserving a 
 flogging, he would have them brought 
 into his bed-room, and flogged before 
 his eyes. 
 
 With respect to food, he used to allow 
 us one peck of Indian meal each, per 
 week, which, after being sifted, and the 
 bran taken from it, would not be much 
 more than half a peck. Meat we did not 
 get for sometimes several weeks together ; 
 however, he was proverbial for giving his 
 slaves more food than any other slave- 
 holder. I stayed with Mr. Gooch a year 
 and a half. During that time, the scenes 
 of cruelty I witnessed and experienced, 
 are not at all fitted for these pages. 
 There is much to excite disgust in what 
 has been narrated, but hundreds of other 
 cases might be mentioned. After this, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 61 
 
 Mr. Gooch, seeing that I was determined 
 to get away from him, chained me, and 
 sent me with another female slave, whom 
 he had treated very cruelly, to Mr. 
 Britton, son of the before-mentioned, 
 a slave dealer. We were to have gone 
 to Georgia to be sold ; but a bargain was 
 struck before we arrived there. Mr. 
 Britton had put chains on me to please 
 Mr. Gooch ; but having gone some little 
 distance, we came up with a white man, 
 who begged Mr. Britton to unchain me ; 
 he then took off my handcuffs. We then 
 went on to Union Court House, where 
 we met a drove of slaves ; the driver 
 came to me, and ultimately bought me, 
 and sent me to his drove ; the girl was 
 sold to a planter in the neighbourhood, 
 as bad as Mr. Gooch. In court week, 
 the negro traders and slaves encamp a 
 little way out of the town. The traders 
 here will often sleep with the best look- 
 ing female slaves among them, and they 
 
62 roper's escape 
 
 will often have many children in the 
 year, which are said to be slave holder's 
 children, by which means, through his 
 villany, he will make an immense profit 
 of this intercourse, by selling the babe 
 with its mother. They often keep an im- 
 mense stock of slaves on hand. Many of 
 them will be with the trader a year or 
 more, before they are sold. Mr. Marcus 
 Rowland, the drover who bought me, 
 then returned with his slaves to his 
 brother's house (Mr. John Rowland), 
 where he kept his drove on his way to 
 Virginia. He kept me as a kind of ser- 
 vant. I had to grease the faces of the 
 blacks every morning with sweet oil, to 
 make them shine before they are put up 
 to sell. After he had been round several 
 weeks and sold many slaves, he left me, 
 and some more, at his brother's house, 
 while he went on to Washington, about 
 600 miles, to buy some more slaves, the 
 drove having got very small. We were 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 63 
 
 treated very well while there, having 
 plenty to eat, and little work to do, in 
 order to make us fat. I was brought 
 up more as a domestic slave, as they 
 generally prefer slaves of my colour for 
 that purpose. When Mr. Rowland came 
 back, having been absent about five 
 months, he found all the slaves well, 
 except one female, who had been griev- 
 ing very much at being parted from her 
 parents, and at last, died of grief. He 
 dressed us very nicely, and went on 
 again. I travelled with him for a year, 
 and had to look over the slaves, and see 
 that they were dressed well, had plenty 
 of food, and to oil their faces. During 
 this time, we stopped once at White 
 House Church, a Baptist Association ; a 
 protracted camp meeting was holding- 
 there, on the plan of the revival meet- 
 ings in this country. We got there at 
 the time of the meeting, and sold two 
 female slaves on the Sunday morning, at. 
 
64 roper's escape 
 
 the time the meeting broke up, to a gen- 
 tleman who had been attending the meet- 
 ing the whole of the week. While I 
 was with Mr. Rowland, we were at many 
 such meetings ; and the members of the 
 churches are by this means so well in- 
 fluenced towards their fellow-creatures 
 at these meetings for the worship of 
 God, that it becomes a fruitful season 
 for the drover, who carries on an im- 
 mense traffic with the attendants at these 
 places. This is common to Baptists and 
 Methodists. At the end of the year, he 
 exchanged me to a farmer, Mr. David 
 Goodley, for a female slave, in Green- 
 ville, about fourteen miles from Green- 
 ville Court-House. The gentleman was 
 going to Missouri to settle, and on his way, 
 had to pass through Ohio, a free state. 
 But, having learnt, after he bought me, 
 that I had before tried to get away to 
 the free states, he was afraid to take me 
 with him, and I was again exchanged to 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 65 
 
 a Mr. Marvel Louis. He was in the 
 habit of travelling a great deal, and took 
 me as a domestic slave to wait on him. 
 Mr. Louis boarded me at the house of Mr. 
 Clevelin, a very rich planter at Green- 
 ville, South Carolina. Mr. L. was pay- 
 ing his addresses to the daughter of this 
 gentleman, but was surprised and routed 
 in his approaches by a Colonel Dorkins, 
 of Union Court-House, who ultimately 
 carried her off in triumph. After this, 
 Mr. Louis took to drinking, to drown 
 his recollection of disappointed love. 
 One day, he went to Pendleton Races, 
 and I waited on the road for him ; re- 
 turning intoxicated, he was thrown from 
 his horse into a brook, and was picked 
 up by a gentleman, and taken to an inn, 
 and I went there to take care of him. 
 Next day, he went on to Punkintown 
 with Mr. Warren R. Davis, a member 
 of Congress ; I went with him. This 
 was at the time of the agitation of the 
 
66 roper's escape 
 
 Union and Nullifying party, which was 
 expected to end in a general war. The 
 Nullifying party had a grand dinner on 
 the occasion, after which, they gave their 
 slaves all the refuse, for the purpose of 
 bribing them to fight on the side of their 
 party. The scene on this occasion was 
 humourous, all the slaves scrambling 
 after bare bones and crumbs, as if they 
 had had nothing for months. When Mr. 
 Louis had got over this fit of drunken- 
 ness, we returned to Greenville, where 
 I had little to do, except in the ware- 
 house. There was preaching in the 
 Court-house on the Sunday ; but scarcely 
 had the sweet savour of the worship of 
 God passed away, when, on Monday, a 
 public auction was held for the sale of 
 slaves, cattle, sugar, iron, &c. by Z. 
 Davis, the high constable and others. 
 
 On these days, I was generally very 
 busy in handing out the different articles 
 for inspection, and was employed in this 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 67 
 
 way for several months. After which, 
 Mr. Louis left this place for Pendleton ; 
 but his health getting worse, and fast 
 approaching consumption, he determined 
 to travel. I went with him over Georgia 
 to the Indian springs, and from there to 
 Columbus ; here he left me with Lawyer 
 Kemp, a member of the State Assembly, 
 to take care of his horses and carriage 
 till he came back from Cuba, where he 
 went for the benefit of his health. I 
 travelled round with Mr. Kemp, wait- 
 ing until my master came back. I soon 
 after heard, that Mr. Louis had died at 
 Appalachicola, and had been buried at 
 Tennessee Bluff. I was very much 
 attached to* the neighbourhood of Pen- 
 dleton and Greenville, and feared, from 
 Mr. Louis's death, I should not get back 
 there. 
 
 As soon as this information arrived, 
 Mr. Kemp put me, the carriage and 
 horses, a gold watch, and cigars, up to 
 
68 roper's escape 
 
 auction, on which I was much frightened, 
 knowing there would be some very cruel 
 masters at the sale ; and fearing, I should 
 again be disappointed in my attempt to 
 escape from bondage. Mr. Beveridge, a 
 Scotchman from Appalachicola, bought 
 me, the horses, and cigars. He was not 
 a cruel master ; he had been in America 
 eighteen years, and I believe, I was the 
 first slave he ever bought. Mr. Kemp 
 had no right to sell me, which he did, 
 before he had written to Mr. Louis's 
 brother. 
 
 Shortly after this, Mr. Kemp, having 
 had some altercation with General Wood- 
 fork, it ended in a duel, in which Mr. 
 W. was killed. A few weeks after, as 
 Mr. Kemp, was passing down a street, 
 he was suddenly shot dead by Mr. Mil- 
 ton, a rival lawyer. When I heard this, 
 I considered it a visitation of God on 
 Mr. Kemp for having sold me unjustly, 
 as I did not belong to him. This was 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 69 
 
 soon discovered by ine, Mr. Louis's bro- 
 ther having called at Mackintosh Hotel, 
 Columbus, to claim me, but which he 
 could not effect. After this, I travelled 
 with Mr. Beveridge, through Georgia to 
 the warm springs, and then came back 
 to Columbus, going on to Marianna, his 
 summer house, in Florida. 
 
 Here I met with better treatment 
 
 than I had ever experienced before ; we 
 
 travelled on the whole summer ; at the 
 
 fall, Mr. Beveridge went to Appalachi- 
 
 cola on business. Mr. Beveridge was 
 
 contractor for the mail, from Columbus 
 
 to Appalachicola, and owner of three 
 
 steam boats, the Versailles, Andrew 
 
 Jackson, and Van Buren. He made me 
 
 steward on board the Versailles, the whole 
 
 winter. The river then got so low, that 
 
 the boats could not run. At this time 
 
 Mr. Beveridge went to Mount Vernon, 
 
 On our way, we had to pass through the 
 
 Indian nation. We arrived at Colum- 
 
70 roper's escape 
 
 bus, where I was taken dangerously ill 
 of a fever. After I got well, Mr. Beve- 
 ridge returned to Marianna, through 
 the Indian nation. Having gone about 
 twelve miles, he was taken very ill. I 
 took him out of the carriage to a brook, 
 and washed his hands and face until he 
 got better, when I got him into the car- 
 riage again, and drove off till we came 
 to General Irving's, where he stopped 
 several days, on account of his health. 
 While there, I observed on the floor of 
 the kitchen several children, one about 
 three months old, without any body to 
 take care of her ; I asked, where her 
 mother was, and was told, that Mrs. 
 Irving had given her a very hard task to 
 do at washing, in a brook, about a quarter 
 of a mile distant. We heard after, that 
 not being able to get it down, she had 
 got some cords, tied them round her 
 neck, climbed up a tree, swung off, and 
 hung herself. Being missed, persons 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 71 
 
 were sent after her, who observed several 
 buzzards flying about a particular spot, 
 to which they directed their steps, and 
 found the poor woman nearly eaten up. 
 
 After this, we travelled several months 
 without any thing remarkable taking 
 place. 
 
 In the year 1834, Mr. Beveridge, who 
 was now residing in Appalachicola, a 
 town in West Florida, became a bank- 
 rupt, when all his property was sold, and 
 I fell into the hands of a very cruel 
 master, Mr. Register, a planter in the 
 same state ; of whom, knowing his savage 
 character, I always had a dread. Pre- 
 viously to his purchasing me, he had 
 frequently taunted me, by saying, " You 
 have been a gentleman long enough, 
 and, whatever may be the consequences 
 I intend to buy you." To which, I re- 
 marked, that I would, on no account, 
 
72 roper's escape 
 
 live with him, if I could help it. Never- 
 theless, intent upon his purpose, in the 
 month of July, 1834, he bought me; 
 after which, I was so exasperated, that I 
 cared not whether I lived or died ; in 
 fact, whilst I was on my passage from 
 Appalachicola, I procured a quart bottle 
 of whiskey, for the purpose of so intoxi- 
 cating myself, that I might be able, 
 either to plunge myself into the river, 
 or so to enrage my master, that he 
 should dispatch me forthwith. I was, 
 however, by a kind Providence, pre- 
 vented from committing this horrid deed, 
 by an old slave on board, who, knowing 
 my intention, secretly took the bottle 
 from me; after which, my hands were 
 tied, and I was led into the town of 
 Ochesa, to a warehouse, where my master 
 was asked, by the proprietor of the place, 
 the reason for his confining my hands, 
 in answer to which, Mr. Register said, 
 that he had purchased me. The pro- 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 73 
 
 prietor, however, persuaded him to untie 
 me ; after which, my master being ex- 
 cessively drunk, asked for a cow hide, 
 intending to flog me, from which, the 
 proprietor dissuaded him, saying, that 
 he had known me for some time, and he 
 was sure, that I did not require to be 
 flogged. From this place, we proceeded 
 about mid-day on our way, he placing 
 me on the bare back of a half-starved 
 old horse, which he had purchased, and 
 upon which sharp surface, he kindly in- 
 tended, I should ride about eighty miles, 
 the distance we were then from his 
 home. In this unpleasant situation, I 
 could not help reflecting upon the pros- 
 pects before me, not forgetting, that I 
 had heard, that my new master had 
 been in the habit of stealing cattle, and 
 other property, and among other things, 
 a slave woman, and that I had said, as 
 it afterwards turned out, in the hearing 
 of some one who communicated the say- 
 
74 roper's escape 
 
 ing to my master, that I had been ac- 
 customed to live with a gentleman and 
 not with a rogue ; and, finding that he 
 had been informed of this, I had the 
 additional dread of a few hundred lashes 
 for it, on my arrival at my destination. 
 
 About two hours after we started, it 
 began to rain very heavily, and continued 
 to do so, until we arrived at Marianna, 
 about twelve at night, where we were 
 to rest till morning. My master here 
 questioned me, as to whether I intended 
 to run away or not ; and, I not then 
 knowing the sin of lying, at once told 
 him, that I would not. He then gave 
 me his clothes to dry ; I took them to 
 the kitchen for that purpose, and he 
 retired to bed, taking a bag of clothes 
 belonging to me with him, as a kind of 
 security, I presume, for my safety. In 
 an hour or two afterwards, I took his 
 clothes to him dried, and found him 
 fast asleep. I placed them by his side, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 75 
 
 and said, that I would then take my 
 own to dry too, taking care to speak 
 loud enough, to ascertain whether he 
 was asleep or not, knowing that he had 
 a dirk and a pistol by his side, which he 
 would not have hesitated using against 
 me, if I had attempted secretly to have 
 procured them. I was glad to find, that 
 the effects of his drinking the day before 
 had caused his sleeping very soundly, 
 and I immediately resolved on making 
 my escape ; and without loss of time, 
 started with my few clothes into the 
 woods, which were in the immediate 
 neighbourhood; and, after running many 
 miles, I came to the river Chapoli, 
 which is very deep, and so beset with 
 aligators, that I dared not attempt to 
 swim across. I paced up and down this 
 river, with the hope of finding a con- 
 veyance across, for a whole day, the 
 succeeding night, and till noon the fol- 
 lowing day, which was Saturday. About 
 
76 roper's escape 
 
 twelve o'clock on that day, I discovered 
 an Indian canoe, which had not, from 
 all appearance, been used for some time ; 
 this, of course, I used to convey myself 
 across, and after being obliged to go a 
 little way down the river, by means of a 
 piece of wood, I providentially found in 
 the boat, I landed on the opposite side. 
 Here I found myself surrounded by 
 planters looking for me, in consequence 
 of which, I hid myself in the bushes 
 until night, when I again travelled 
 several miles, to the farm of a Mr. 
 Robinson, a large sugar planter, where 
 I rested till morning in a field. After- 
 wards I set out working my way through 
 the woods, about twenty miles towards 
 the east; this I knew by my knowledge 
 of the position of the sun at its rising. 
 Having reached the Chattahoochee river, 
 which divides Florida from Georgia, I 
 was again puzzled to know how to cross; 
 it was three o'clock in the day, when a 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 77 
 
 number of persons were fishing ; having 
 walked for some hours along the banks, 
 I at last, after dark, procured a ferry- 
 boat, which not being able, from the 
 swiftness of the river, to steer direct 
 across, I was carried many miles down 
 the river, landing on the Georgian side, 
 from whence I proceeded on through 
 the woods two or three miles, and came 
 to a little farm house about twelve at 
 night ; at a short distance from the 
 house, I found an old slave hut, into 
 which I went, and informed the old 
 man, who appeared seventy or eighty 
 years old, that I had had a very bad 
 master, from whom I had run away ; 
 and asked him, if he could give me some- 
 thing to eat, having had no suitable food 
 for three or four days; he told me, he had 
 nothing but a piece of dry Indian bread, 
 which he cheerfully gave me, having 
 eaten it, I went on a short distance from 
 the hut, and laid down in the wood to 
 
78 roper's escape 
 
 rest for an hour or two. All the follow- 
 ing day (Monday), I continued travelling 
 through the woods, was greatly dis- 
 tressed for want of water to quench my 
 thirst, it being a very dry country, till I 
 came to Spring Creek, which is a wide, 
 deep stream, and with some o which, I 
 gladly quenched my thirst. I then pro- 
 ceeded to cross the same, by a bridge 
 close by, and continued my way until 
 dusk. I came to a gentleman's house 
 in the woods, where I inquired how far 
 it was to the next house, taking care to 
 watch an opportunity to ask some in- 
 dividual whom I could master, and get 
 away from, if any interruption to my 
 progress was attempted. I went on for 
 some time, it being a very fine moon- 
 light night, and was presently alarmed 
 by the howling of a wolf very near me ; 
 which I concluded, was calling other 
 wolves to join him in attacking me, 
 having understood that they always as- 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 79 
 
 semble in numbers for such a purpose ; 
 the howling increased, and I was still 
 pursued, and the numbers were evidently 
 increasing fast ; but I was happily rescued 
 from my dreadful fright, by coming to 
 some cattle, which attracted the wolves, 
 and saved my life ; for I could not get 
 up the trees for safety, they being very 
 tall pines, the lowest branches of which, 
 were at least, forty or fifty feet from 
 the ground, and the trunks very large 
 and smooth. 
 
 About two o'clock, I came to the 
 house of a Mr. Cherry, on the borders 
 of the Flint River ; I went up to the 
 house, and called them up to beg some- 
 thing to eat; but having nothing cooked, 
 they kindly allowed me to lie down in 
 the porch, where they made me a bed. 
 In conversation with this Mr. Cherry, I 
 discovered that I had known him before, 
 having been in a steam boat, the Ver- 
 saille, some months previous, which 
 
80 roper's escape 
 
 sunk very near his house, but which I 
 did not at first discern to be the same. 
 I then thought that it would not be pru- 
 dent for me to stop there, and, there- 
 fore, told them, I was in a hurry to get 
 on, and must start very early again, he 
 having no idea who I was ; and I gave 
 his son six cents to take me across the 
 river, which he did when the sun was 
 about half an hour high, and unfortu- 
 nately landed me where there was a man 
 building a boat, who knew me very well, 
 and my former master too, — he, call- 
 ing me by name, asked me where I was 
 going. 
 
 I was very much frightened at being 
 discovered, but summoned up courage, 
 and said, that my master had gone on to 
 Tallyhassa by the coach, and that there 
 was not room for me, and I had to walk 
 round to meet him. I then asked the 
 man to put me in the best road to get 
 there, which, however, I knew as well 
 
FROM SLAVERY. ttl 
 
 as he did, having travelled there before; 
 he directed me the best way, but I of 
 course took the contrary direction, want- 
 ing to get on to Savannah. By this hasty 
 and wicked deception, I saved myself 
 from going to Bainbridge prison, which 
 was close by, and to which, I should 
 surely have been taken had it been known 
 that I was making my escape. 
 
 Leaving Bainbridge, I proceeded about 
 forty miles, travelling all day under a 
 scorching sun, through the woods, in 
 which I saw many deer and serpents, 
 until I reached Thomas Town in the 
 evening. I there inquired the way to 
 Augusta, of a man whom I met, and also 
 asked where I could obtain lodgings, and 
 was told that there was a poor minister 
 about a mile from the place who would 
 give me lodgings. I accordingly went, 
 and found them in a little log-house, 
 where, having awakened the family, I 
 found them all lying on the bare boards, 
 
82 roper's escape 
 
 where I joined them, for the remainder 
 of the night. 
 
 In the morning, the old gentleman 
 prayed for me that I might be preserved 
 on my journey ; he had previously asked 
 me where I was going, and I knowing, 
 that if I told him the right place, any 
 that inquired of him for me would be 
 able to find me, asked the way to Augusta, 
 instead of Savannah, my real destination. 
 I also told him, that I was partly Indian 
 and partly white, but I am also partly 
 African, but this I omitted to tell him, 
 knowing if I did, I should be appre- 
 hended. After I had left this hut, I again 
 inquired for Augusta, for the purpose of 
 misleading my pursuers, but I afterwards 
 took my course through the woods, and 
 came into a road, called the Coffee road, 
 which General Jackson cut down for his 
 troops at the time of the war, between 
 the Americans and Spaniards, in Florida; 
 in which road there are but few houses, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 83 
 
 and which I preferred for the purpose of 
 avoiding detection. 
 
 After several days I left this road, and 
 took a more direct way to Savannah, 
 where I had to wade through two rivers 
 before I came to the Alatamah, which 
 I crossed in a ferry-boat, about a mile be- 
 low the place where the rivers Oconee 
 andOcmulgeeruntogetherintoone river, 
 called the Alatamah. I here met with 
 some cattle drovers, who were collecting 
 cattle to drive to Savannah. On walk- 
 ing on before them, I began to consider 
 in what way I could obtain a passport 
 for Savannah, and determined on the 
 following plan : — 
 
 I called at a cottage, and after I had 
 talked sometime with the wife, who be- 
 gan to feel greatly for me, in consequence 
 of my telling her a little of my history, 
 (her husband being out hunting) I pre- 
 tended to shew her my passport, feeling 
 for it everywhere about my coat and 
 
84 roper's escape 
 
 hat, and not finding it; I went back a 
 little way pretending to look for it, but 
 came back, saying, I was very sorry, but 
 I did not know where it was. At last, the 
 man came home, carrying a deer upon 
 his shoulders, which he brought into the 
 yard and began to dress it. The wife 
 then went out to tell him my situation, 
 and afterlong persuasion, he said he could 
 not write, but that if I could tell his son 
 what was in my passport, he should write 
 me one ; and knowing that I should not 
 be able to pass Savannah without one, and 
 having heard several free coloured men 
 read theirs, I thought, I could tell the 
 lad what to write. The lad sat down and 
 wrote what I told him, nearly filling a 
 large sheet of paper for the passport, and 
 another sheet with recommendations. 
 These being completed, I was invited to 
 partake of some of the fresh venison, 
 which the woman of the house had pre- 
 pared for dinner, and having done so, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 85 
 
 and feeling grateful for their kindness, 
 I proceeded on my way. Going along, 
 I took my papers out of my pocket, and 
 looking at them, although I could not 
 read a word, I perceived that the boy's 
 writing was very unlike other writing 
 that I had seen, and was greatly blotted 
 besides ; consequently, I was afraid that 
 these documents would not answer my 
 purpose, and began to consider what 
 other plan I could pursue to obtain 
 another pass. 
 
 I had now to wade through another 
 river to which I came, and which I had 
 great difficulty in crossing, in conse- 
 quence of the water overflowing the banks 
 of several rivers to the extent of upwards 
 of twenty miles. In the midst of the 
 water, I passed one night upon a small 
 island, and the next day, I went through 
 the remainder of the water. On many 
 occasions, 1 was obliged to walk upon my 
 toes, and consequently, found theadvan- 
 
86 roper's escape 
 
 tage of being six feet two inches high, 
 (I have grown three inches since) and 
 at other times was obliged to swim. In 
 the middle of this extremity, I felt it 
 would be imprudent for me to return; 
 for if my master was in pursuit of me, 
 my safest place from him was in the water, 
 if I could keep my head above the surface. 
 I was, however, dreadfully frightened, 
 and most earnestly prayed that I might 
 be kept from a watery grave, and re- 
 solved, that if again I landed, I would 
 spend my life in the service of God. 
 
 Having, through mercy, again started 
 on my journey, I met with the drovers; 
 and having, whilst in the waters, taken 
 the pass out of my hat, and so dipped it 
 in the water as to spoil it, I showed it to 
 the men, and asked them where I could 
 get another. They told me, that in the 
 neighbourhood, there lived a rich cotton- 
 merchant who would write me one. They 
 took me to him, and gave their word, that 
 they saw the passport before it was wet, 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 87 
 
 (for I bad previously showed it to them,) 
 upon which, the cotton-planter wrote a 
 free pass and a recommendation, to which 
 the cow-drovers affixed their marks. 
 The recommendation was as follows: 
 "John Roper, a very interesting young 
 lad, whom I have seen and travelled with 
 for eighty or ninety miles on his road 
 from Florida, is a free man, descended 
 from Indian and white. I trust, he will 
 be allowed to pass on without interrup- 
 tion, being convinced from what J have 
 seen, that he is free, and though dark, 
 is not an African. I had seen his papers 
 before they were wetted." 
 
 These cow-drovers, who procured me 
 the passport and recommendation from 
 the cotton planter, could not read ; and 
 they were intoxicated when they went 
 with me to him. I am part African, as 
 well as Indian and white, my father, 
 being a white man, Henry Roper, Esq., 
 Caswell County, North Carolina, U. S., 
 
88 roper's escape 
 
 a very wealthy slave-holder, who sold 
 me when quite a child, for the strong 
 resemblance I bore to him. My mother 
 is part Indian, part African ; but I dared 
 not disclose that, or I should have been 
 taken up. I then had eleven miles to 
 go to Savannah, one of the greatest 
 slave-holding cities in America, and 
 where they are always looking out for 
 run-a-way slaves. When at this city, I 
 had travelled about five hundred miles. # 
 It required great courage to pass through 
 this place. I went through the main 
 street with apparent confidence, though 
 much alarmed ; did not stop at any 
 house in the city, but went down imme- 
 diately to the Dock, and inquired for a 
 berth, as a steward to a vessel to New 
 York. I had been in this capacity be- 
 fore on the Appelachecola River. The 
 person whom I asked to procure me a 
 
 * The distance between these two places is much less 
 than five hundred miles; but I was obliged to travel 
 round about, in order to avoid being caught. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 89 
 
 berth, was steward of one of the New 
 York Packets ; he knew Captain Deckay, 
 of the schooner Fox, and got me a 
 situation on board that vessel, in five 
 minutes, after I had been at the Docks. 
 The schooner Fox was a very old vessel, 
 twenty-seven years old, laden with lum- 
 ber and cattle for New York ; she was 
 rotten and could not be insured. The 
 sailors were afraid of her ; but I ven- 
 tured on board, and five minutes after, 
 we dropped from the Docks into the 
 River. My spirits then began to revive, 
 and I thought, I should get to a free 
 country directly. We cast anchor in the 
 stream, to keep the sailors on, as they 
 were so dissatisfied with the vessel, and 
 lay there four days ; during which time, 
 I had to go into the city several times, 
 which exposed me to great danger, as my 
 master was after me, and I dreaded meet- 
 ing with him in the city. 
 
 Fearing the Fox would not sail before I 
 
90 roper's escape 
 
 should be seized, I deserted her, and went 
 on board a brig sailing to Providence, 
 that was towed out by a steam boat, and 
 got thirty miles from Savannah. During 
 this time, I endeavoured to persuade 
 the steward to take me as an assistant, 
 and hoped to have accomplished my 
 purpose ; but the captain had observed 
 me attentively, and thought I was a 
 slave, he therefore ordered me, when 
 the steam boat was sent back, to go on 
 board her to Savannah, as the fine for 
 taking a slave from that city to any of the 
 free states, is five hundred dollars. I re- 
 luctantly went back to Savannah, among 
 slave-holders and slaves. My mind was 
 in a sad state ; and I was under strong 
 temptation to throw myself into the river. 
 I had deserted the schooner Fox, and 
 knew that the captain might put me into 
 prison, till the vessel was ready to sail ; 
 if this had happened, and my master 
 had come to the jail in search of me, I 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 91 
 
 must have gone back to slavery. But 
 when I reached the Docks at Savannah, 
 the first person I met was the captain of 
 the Fox, looking; for another steward in 
 my place. He was a very kind man, 
 belonging to the free states, and inquired 
 if I would go back to his vessel. This 
 usage was very different to what I ex- 
 pected, and I gladly accepted his offer. 
 This captain did not know that I was a 
 slave. In about two days we sailed from 
 Savannah for New York. 
 
 I am (August, 1834) unable to express 
 the joy I now felt I never was at sea 
 before, and, after I had been out about an 
 hour, was taken with sea-sickness, which 
 continued five days. I was scarcely able 
 to stand up, and one of the sailors was 
 obliged to take my place. The captain 
 was very kind to me all this time ; but 
 even after I recovered, I was not suffi- 
 ciently well to do my duty properly, and 
 could not give satisfaction to the sailors, 
 
92 roper's escape 
 
 who swore at me, and asked me why I 
 shipped, as I was not used to the sea ? 
 We had a very quick passage ; and in six 
 days, after leaving Savannah, we were 
 in the harbour at Statten Island, where 
 the vessel was quarantined for two days, 
 six miles from New York. The captain 
 went to the city, but left me aboard with 
 the sailors, who had most of them been 
 brought up in the slave holding states, 
 and were very cruel men. One of the 
 sailors was particularly angry with me, 
 because he had to perform the duties of 
 my place ; and while the captain was in 
 the city, the sailors called me to the fore- 
 hatch, where they said they would treat 
 me. I went, and while I was talking, 
 they threw a rope round my neck, and 
 nearly choaked me. The blood streamed 
 from my nose profusely. They also took 
 up ropes with large knots, and knocked 
 me over the head. They said, I was a 
 negro ; they despised me ; and I ex- 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 93 
 
 pected they would have thrown me into 
 the water. When we arrived at the city, 
 these men, who had so ill treated me, 
 ran away that they might escape the 
 punishment, which would otherwise have 
 been inflicted on them. When I arrived 
 in the city of New York, I thought I 
 was free ; but learned I was not : and 
 could be taken there. I went out into 
 the country several miles, and tried to 
 get employment ; but failed, as I had no 
 recommendation. I then returned to 
 New York ; but finding the same diffi- 
 culty there to get work, as in the coun- 
 try, I went back to the vessel, which was 
 to sail eighty miles up the Hudson River, 
 to Poughkeepsie. When I arrived, I 
 obtained employment at an inn, and 
 after I had been there about two days, 
 was seized with the cholera, which was 
 at that place. The complaint was, with- 
 out doubt, brought on by my having 
 subsisted on fruit only, for several days, 
 
94 roper's escape 
 
 while I was in the slave states. The 
 landlord of the inn came to me when I 
 was in bed, suffering violently from 
 cholera, and told me, he knew I had that 
 complaint, and as it had never been 
 in his house, I could not stop there any 
 longer. No one would enter my room, 
 except a young lady, who appeared very 
 pious and amiable, and had visited per- 
 sons with the cholera. She immediately 
 procured me some medicine at her own 
 expense, and administered it herself; and, 
 whilst I was groaning with agony, the 
 landlord came up and ordered me out of 
 the house directly. Most of the persons 
 in Poughkeepsie had retired for the 
 night, and I lay under a shed on some 
 cotton bales. The medicine relieved me, 
 having been given so promptly ; and next 
 morning I went from the shed, and laid 
 on the banks of the river below the city. 
 Towards evening, I felt much better, and 
 went on in a steam-boat, to the city of 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 95 
 
 Albany, about eighty miles. When I 
 reached there, I went into the country, 
 and tried for three or four days to pro- 
 cure employment, but failed. 
 
 At that time, I had scarcely any 
 money, and lived upon fruit, so I re- 
 turned to Albany, where I could get no 
 work, as I could not show the recom- 
 mendations I possessed, which were only 
 from slave states, and I did not wish any 
 one to know, I came from them. After 
 a time, I went up the western canal, as 
 steward, in one of the boats. When 
 I had gone about 350 miles up the 
 canal, I found I was going too much to- 
 wards the slave states, in consequence of 
 which, I returned to Albany, and went 
 up the northern canal, into one of the 
 New-England States — Vermont. The 
 distance I had travelled, including the 
 350 miles I had to return from the west, 
 and the 100 to Vermont, was 2,300 miles. 
 When I reached Vermont, I found the 
 
96 roper's escape 
 
 people very hospitable and kind, they 
 seemed opposed to slavery, so I told them, 
 I was a run-a-way slave. I hired myself to 
 a firm in Sudbury.* After I had been in 
 Sudbury some time, the neighbouring 
 farmers told me, that I had hired myself 
 for much less money than I ought. I 
 mentioned it to my employers, who were 
 very angry about it ; I was advised to 
 leave by some of the people round, who 
 thought the gentlemen I was with would 
 write to my former master, informing 
 
 * During my stay in this town, I thought of the vow 
 I made in the water, (page 83,) and I became more 
 thoughtful about the salvation of my soul. I attended 
 the Methodist Chapel, where a Mr. Benton preached, 
 and there I began to feel that I was a great sinner. 
 During the latter part of my stay here, I became more 
 anxious about salvation, and I entertained the absurd 
 notion that religion would come to me in some extraor- 
 dinary way. With this impression, I used to go into 
 the woods two hours before day-light to pray, and ex- 
 pected something would take place, and I should become 
 religious. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 97 
 
 him where I was, and obtain the reward 
 fixed upon me. Fearing I should be 
 taken, I immediately left, and went into 
 the town of Ludlow, where I met with a 
 
 kind friend, Mr. , # who sent me to 
 
 school for several weeks. At this time, 
 I was advertised in the papers and was 
 obliged to leave ; I went a little way out 
 of Ludlow to a retired place, and lived two 
 
 weeks with a Mr. , deacon of a 
 
 church at Ludlow; at this place, I could 
 have obtained education, had it been safe 
 to have remained. f From there, I went 
 
 * It would not be proper to mention any names, as a 
 person in any of the States in America, found harbouring 
 a slave, would have to pay a heavy fiue. 
 
 t Whilst in this neighbourhood, I attended the Bap- 
 tist Meeting, and trust the preaching of the gospel was 
 much blessed to my soul. As this was the first time I 
 was ever favoured with any education, I was very intent 
 upon learning to read the Bible, and in a few weeks, I was 
 able, from my own reading, to repeat by heart the whole 
 of the last chapter of Matthew. I also attended the 
 prayer and inquiry meetings, where the attendants used 
 to relate their experience, and I was requested to do the 
 same. I found these meetings a great blessing, and they 
 
98 roper's escape 
 
 to New Hampshire, where I was not safe, 
 so went to Boston, Massachusetts, with 
 the hope of returning to Ludlow, to 
 which place, I was much attached. At 
 Boston, I met with a friend, who kept a 
 shop, and took me to assist him for 
 several weeks. Here I did not consider 
 myself safe, as persons from all parts of 
 the country were continually coming to 
 the shop, and I feared, some might come 
 who knew me. I now had my head 
 shaved, and bought a wig, and engaged 
 myself to a Mr. Perkins, of Brookline, 
 three miles from Boston, where I re- 
 mained about a month. Some of the 
 family discovered that I wore a wig, and 
 said that I was a run-a-way slave ; but 
 the neighbours all round, thought I was 
 a white, to prove which, I have a do- 
 cument in my possession to call me to 
 military duty. The law is, that no slave 
 
 were the -means, under God, of communicating to my 
 mind a more vdear and distinct imowiedge of the way of 
 salvation by Jesus Christ. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 99 
 
 or coloured person performs this, but 
 every other person, in America, of the age 
 of twenty-one, is called upon to perform 
 military duty, once or twice in the year, 
 or pay a fine. 
 
 COPY OF THE DOCUMENT. 
 
 " Mr. Moses Roper, 
 
 " You being duly enrolled as a 
 soldier in the Company, under the com- 
 mand of Captain Benjamin Bradley, are 
 hereby notified and ordered to appear at 
 the Town House, in Brookline, on Friday, 
 28th instant, at 3 o'clock p.m., for the 
 purpose of filling the vacancy in said 
 Company, occasioned by the promotion 
 of Lieut. Nathaniel M. Weeks, and of 
 filling any other vacancy which may then 
 and there occur in said Company, and 
 there wait further orders. 
 
 " By order of the Captain, 
 
 F. P. Wentworth, Clerk." 
 
 ''Brookline, Aug. 14th, 1835."* 
 
 Being very tall, I was taken to be twenty-one, but 
 my correct age, as far as I can tell, is stated in page 6. 
 
100 roper's escape 
 
 I then returned to the city of Boston, 
 to the shop where I was before.* Se- 
 veral weeks after I had returned to my 
 situation, two coloured men informed me, 
 that a gentleman had been inquiring for 
 a person, whom, from the description, I 
 knew to be myself, and offered them a 
 considerable sum if they would disclose 
 my place of abode ; but they being much 
 opposed to slavery, came and told me, 
 upon which information, I secreted my- 
 self till I could get off. I went into the 
 
 * During the first part of my abode in this city, I 
 attended at the coloured church in Bellnap Street ; and 
 I hope, I found both profit and pleasure in attending the 
 means of divine grace. I now saw the wicked part I had 
 taken in using so much deception in making my escape. 
 After a time, I found slave-owners were in the habit of 
 going to this coloured chapel to look for run-a-way slaves. 
 I became alarmed, and afterwards attended the preaching 
 of the Tlev. Dr. Sharp. I waited upon the Doctor to 
 request he would baptize me, and admit me a member of 
 his church ; and after hearing my experience, he wished 
 me to call again. This I did, but he was gone into the 
 country, and I saw him no more. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 101 
 
 Green mountains for several weeks, from 
 thence, to the city of New York, and re- 
 mained in secret several days, till I heard 
 of a ship, the Napoleon, sailing to Eng- 
 land, and on the 11th of November, 1835, 
 I sailed, taking with me letters of recom- 
 mendation, to the Rev. Drs. Morison 
 and Raffles, and the Rev. Alex. Fletcher. 
 The time I first started from slavery, was 
 in July, 1834, so that I was nearly sixteen 
 months in making my escape. 
 
 On the 29th of November, 1835, I 
 reached Liverpool, and my feelings when 
 I first touched the shores of Britain were 
 indescribable, and can only be properly 
 understood by those who have escaped 
 from the cruel bondage of slavery. 
 
 " Tis liberty alone, that gives the flower of fleeting life 
 
 its lustre and perfume ; 
 And we are weeds without it." 
 
 " Slaves cannot breathe in England : 
 
 If their lungs receive our air, that moment they are free. 
 
 They touch our country and their shackles fall." — Cowper. 
 
102 roper's escape 
 
 When I reached Liverpool, I proceeded 
 to Dr. Raffles, and handed my letters of 
 recommendation to him. He received 
 me very kindly, and introduced me to a 
 member of his church, with whom I 
 stayed the night. Here I met with the 
 greatest attention and kindness. The 
 next day, I went on to Manchester, where 
 I met with many kind friends, among 
 others, Mr. Adshead, a Hosier of that 
 town, to whom I desire, through this 
 medium, to return my most sincere 
 thanks for the many great services which 
 he rendered me, adding both to my 
 spiritual and temporal comfort. I would 
 not, however, forget to remember here, 
 Mr Leese, Mr. Giles, Mr. Crewdson, 
 and Mr. Clare, the latter of whom, gave 
 me a letter to Mr. Scoble, the Secretary 
 of the Anti-Slavery Society. I remained 
 here several days, and then proceeded 
 to London, December 12th, 1835, and 
 immediately called on Mr. Scoble, to 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 103 
 
 whom I delivered my letter, this gentle- 
 man procured me a lodging. I then 
 lost no time in delivering my letters to 
 Dr. Morison and the Rev. Alexander 
 Fletcher, who received me with the 
 greatest kindness, and shortly after this, 
 Dr. Morison sent my letter from New 
 York, with another from himself, to the 
 Patriot Newspaper, in which, he kindly 
 implored the sympathy of the public in 
 my behalf. The appeal was read by 
 Mr. Christopherson, a member of Dr. 
 Morison's church, of which gentleman, 
 I express but little of my feelings and 
 gratitude, when I say, that throughout, 
 he has been towards me a parent, and for 
 whose tenderness and sympathy, I desire 
 ever to feel that attachment which I do 
 not know how to express. 
 
 I stayed at his house several weeks, 
 being treated as one of the family. The 
 appeal in the Patriot, referred to getting a 
 suitable academy for me, which the Rev. 
 
104 roper's escape 
 
 Dr. Cox recommended at Hackney, where 
 I remained half a year, going through 
 the rudiments of an English education. 
 At this time, I attended the ministry 
 of Dr. Cox, which I enjoyed very much, 
 and to which, I ascribe the attainment of 
 clearer views of divine grace than I had 
 before. I had attended here several 
 months, when I expressed my wish to 
 Dr. Cox, to become a member of his 
 church, I was proposed, and after stating 
 my experience was admitted, March 31st, 
 1836. Here I feel it a duty to present 
 my tribute of thankfulness, however 
 feebly expressed, to the affectionate and 
 devoted attention of the Rev. Doctor, 
 from whom, under God, I received very 
 much indeed of spiritual advice and 
 consolation, as well as a plentiful admi- 
 nistration to my temporal necessities. I 
 would not forget also to mention the 
 kindness of his church generally, by 
 whom I was received with Christian love 
 
FROM SLAVERY. 105 
 
 and charity. Never, I trust, will be 
 effaced from my memory, the parental 
 care of the Rev. Dr. Morison, from 
 whom I can strictly say, I received the 
 greatest kindness I ever met with, and 
 to whom, as long as God gives me lips to 
 utter, or mind to reflect, I desire to 
 attribute the comfort which I have ex- 
 perienced, since I set my foot upon the 
 happy shores of England. 
 
 Here it is necessary that I should 
 draw this narrative to a close, not that 
 my materials are exhausted, but that I 
 am unwilling to extend it to a size which 
 might preclude many well-wishers from 
 the possession of it. 
 
 But I must remark, that my feelings 
 of happiness at having escaped from 
 cruel bondage, are not unmixed with 
 sorrow of a very touching kind. " The 
 land of the Free" still contains the mother, 
 the brothers, and the sisters of Moses 
 Roper, not enjoying liberty, not the pos- 
 
106 roper's escape 
 
 sessors of like feelings witli me, not hav- 
 ing even a distant glimpse of advancing 
 towards freedom, but still slaves ! This 
 is a weight which hangs heavy on me. 
 As circumstances at present stand, there 
 is not much prospect of ever again seeing 
 those dear ones — that dear mother, from 
 whom, on the Sunday night, I was torn 
 away by armed slave-holders, and car- 
 ried into cruel bondage.* And, nothing 
 would contribute so much to my entire 
 happiness, if the kindness of a gracious 
 Providence should ever place me in such 
 favourable circumstances, as to be able 
 to purchase the freedom of so beloved 
 a parent. But I desire to express my 
 entire resignation to the will of God. 
 Should that Divine Being who made of 
 one flesh all the kindreds of the earth, 
 see fit that I should again clasp them 
 to my breast, and see in them the reality 
 of free men and free women, how shall 
 
 See page 36. 
 
FROM SLAVERY. ] 07 
 
 I, a poor mortal, be enabled to sing a 
 strain of praise sufficiently appropriate to 
 such a boon from heaven. 
 
 But if the all-wise disposer of all things 
 should see fit to keep them still in suf- 
 fering and bondage, it is a mercy to 
 know, that he orders all things well, that 
 he is still the judge of all the earth, and 
 that under such dispensations of his 
 providence, he is working out that which 
 shall be most for the advantage of his 
 creatures. 
 
 Whatever I may have experienced in 
 America, at the hands of cruel task-mas- 
 ters, yet I am unwilling to speak in any 
 but respectful terms of the land of my 
 birth. It is far from my wish to attempt 
 to degrade America in the eyes of Britons. 
 I love her institutions in the free States, 
 her zeal for Christ ; I bear no enmity 
 even to the slave-holders, but regret their 
 delusions, many I am aware are deeply 
 sensible of the fault, but some I regret 
 to say are not, and I could wish to open 
 
108 roper's escape prom slavery. 
 
 their eyes to their sin ; may the period 
 come, when God shall wipe off this deep 
 stain from her constitution, and may 
 America soon be indeed the land of the 
 free. 
 
 In conclusion, I thank my dear friends 
 in England for their affectionate atten- 
 tions, and may God help me to show by 
 my future walk in life, that I am not 
 wanting in my acknowledgments of their 
 kindness. But above all, to the God of 
 all grace, I desire here before his people, 
 to acknowledge that all the way in which 
 he has led me, has been the right way, 
 and as in his mercy and wisdom, he has 
 led me to this country, where 1 am 
 allowed to go free, may all my actions 
 tend to lead me on, through the mercy of 
 God in Christ, in the right way, to a city 
 of habitation.