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S^arbarl) (TollEgf ILittraro 



SAMUEL iBBOTT GEEEN, M.D. 
OF BOSTON 
(CiMi of 1S31) 



IX 



-f3«0:sr»- 



*^ LIFE AND NARRATIVE 

WILLIAM jrANDERSON, 




S4 "H"BA-E.S A. SriA."^B , 

^7/' Sold SliBtat Times WMppad Three Hundred Times, ia Jail Sixty' 
Times, H&ndouffed Fifty Times ; 



• THE IlEI mm OF IIEEICAI 8LAYE1T EETElim 

\ Oontoiniag Seriptuial Views of the Orisio of the Blao^ Man 
) and the White Han ; also, a Simple and Baay Finn to ' 

Abolish Slavery in the United States ; together with 
some Account of the Serrices of Colored Hen 
? in the BeTolutionnry War, Day and ' 

.\ Date, and Interesting Facts. j 



WMTTElf AMD SOLD BY HIMSELP. 



K 



daHiT TBiBVaM BOOK Am JOB Omok. ' 
18B7. 



* 



I)' 



LIFE AND NARRATIVE 



OF 

.-■^ 



WILLIAM J, ANDERSON, 

T^ATenty-fonr Years a Slave; 

SOLD EIGHT TIMES ! IN JAIL SIXTT TIMES ! ! WHIPPED l^^REE 

HUNDRED TIMES ! ! ! 



OB THE 



Jark Jieirs of ^mtrra §Mtq '^tkiMi. 

CONTAINING SCRIPTURAL VIEWS OF THE ORIGIN OF THE BLACK 
AND OF THE WHITE MAN. ALSO, A SIMPLE AN(? 

EASY PLAN TO ABOLISH SLAVERY 

IN THE UNITED STATES, 

TOGBTIIER WITH 

&«) 8tccoi|i()f of fi|e Sel^bte of 6oioi*eS ?ljex/ 

IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR— DAY AND DATE, 
AND INTERESTING FACTS. 



"»>♦•»■ 



-•-♦-♦" 



O H I O -A. O O : 

DAILY TRIBUNE BOOK AND JOB PRINTING OFFICE. 

1857. 



^ f^G6. tU^, /'Jr. 



/. 



\ 



s 



^7 'i.£i2^S» 

1 f; - V - 



MML JUN 6 1911 



PREFACE. 



^•^ 



After praying to God and asking His blessing to rest upon me and 
my book, I enter into the task, because I have the blacks and some 
of the whites to contend with. The blacks I know will be preju- 
diced against me because I cease to labor as they do, as a general 
thing — and some few of the prejudiced whites think that all colored 
men ought to work with the plough and the hoe. But as I know all 
kinds of wicked lies will be raised by my own race, I have engaged 
the arm of Almighty God to help me. The truth is, very few ever 
have been through what I have. 

I have been sold, or changed hands about eight or nine times ; I 
hi^e been in jail about sixty times ; I had on irons or handcuffs fifty 
times ; I have been whipped about three or four hundred tim^. Any 
persons who do not believe what I say, if they are very desirous of 
knowing the fact, can see the receipts by paying the stipulated sum 
of five dollars. 

Many persons can easily say they do not believe thus and so, 
but the truth is, few say this that have been through the mill of 
slavery. I will tell who say a great many things wrong, the slave^ 
holders in heart and dough-faces of the North, where I came expecting 
to find all firee in heart. 



LIFE AND NARRATIVE 



OF 



WILLIAM J. ANDERSON. 



-♦"♦-♦- 



CHAPTER I. 



MT BIBTH AND PABENTAeE—SEBYITUBB— COMFORTS, ETC. 

^ I was born June 2d, 1811, of a free mother, in Hanover ^ 

obanty, Ya., her name was Susan. My father's name was 

Lewis Anderson, who was himself a soldier slave, belonging 

to a Mr. Shelton. After the war of '76, his master told him 

to go home — ^he wonld do something for him. But he died 

i • a slave. M j mother, new a widow, and being indigent and 

t^^needy, bound me out to a Mr. Vance, a slaveholder, some ten 

I miles from where she lived. Being young and inexperienced, 

^ poor and penniless, I was thrown among the slaves and had 

, to fare just as hard as they did ; under slave iDfluence I had 

to live and suffer, and was brought up. But the truth is, I 

had no bringing up ; I was whipped up, starved up, kicked 

I up and clubbed up. I had no schooling except what I stole 

by fire and moon light, with a little Sabbath light. . 



6 LirS AND NARBATIYS OF 

Slaveholders' laws are positiyely opposed to the slave's 
learning anything more than to handle the axe, plough and 
hoe. Often have I been whipped for trying to learn my 
book or read my bible; still I was permitted to visit my 
mother's cabin, and attend preaching meetings sometimes^ 
with a written passport. 

So matters and things moved on with me tolerable peaeea* 
bly. I lived at a place where I could see some of the horroni 
of slavery exhibited to a great extent; it was a lai^ tavern^ 
situated at the crossing of roads, where hundreds of slaves 
pass by for the Southern market, chained and handcuffed 
together by fifties — wives taken from husbands and husbands 
from wives, never to see each other again — small and large 
children separated from their parents. They were driven 
away to Georgia, and Louisiana, and other Southern Stater 
to be disposed of. 

0, I have seen them and heard them howl like dogs o 
wolves, when being under the painful obligation of parting t 
meet no more. Many of them have to leave their children i: 
tibe cradle, or ashes, to suffer or die for the want of attentiv 
oare or food, or, both. 

Had X the ability of language and learning, I would try t 
portray the condition of the slave. To be a slave — a huma 
one of God's creatures — reduced to chattelism — bought an 
sold like goods or merchandise, oxen or horses! He > 
nothing he can call his own — not even his wife, or child 
or his own body.^ If the master could take the soul, he w 
take it ; but I believe the lord takes care of that* 

T he slaves are kept entirely ignorant, cowed down by 
lash and hard work, in Virginia, by the legislature and po' 
or patrol — nothing is neglected that is calculated to keep 
slaves cowed down. In this condition I grew up thrc 
much trouble. 



WILLIAM J. ANDERSON. 7 

I wish here to remark that there are some exceptions to 
the general rule of slaveholding — some are more cruelly 
treated than others. While I lived in old Virginia I fared 
tolerably well^ considering mj condition^ which was equal to 
that of a slave. The Sabbath was observed where I lived ; 
but my master was a hard worker and sometimes whipped 
hard ; but my mother thinking all things were right^ did not 
give herself any uneasiness about me^ thinking him such a 
good mnxk, who had promised such righteous and good things 
for me. But slaveholding is deception any way you take it ; 
it undoubtedly is the greatest evil beneath the sun^ moon or 
stars ; intemperance or Indian barbarities do not compare with 
it; and 1 think it will be proved^ as the sequel will show> 
that it is the worst institution this side of hell or heaven. 



8 Line AND MAERATITS OF 



CHAPTER II. 



JIT EARLY STUDIES OF R ELIGION AND LEARNING-OPPOSITION, ETC. 

When I waa a small boy I desired two things ; one was to 
be a good Christian^ and the other was to learn my book well. 
I often stole away in private or secret to pray. I often stole 
away to prayer meetings and preachings. Early^ as in ^ood 
ground; was the precious seed of grace sown in my heart ; 
but like many others^ hard trials^ whippings^ slavery and bad 
company drew off considerable from these precious feelings ; 
yet; I thank Go^hat I retained them and thought on them^ 
for they hardly left me night or day, until I arrived in the 
State of Indiana ; there I shortly after made a profession of 
the love of God being shed abroad in my heart, and joined 
the church. I think we as a race ought to try and get to 
Heaven, where there is no slavery, or whipping, or selling for 
gold. 0, that God would keep me faithful till death. 

When I got *o Mississippi, where they work, curse, swear 
and dance on Sunday, I felt awfully ; no preaching or Bible 
to read, or anything to give consolation, but the whip and 
hard work; no one called on God for a blessing, but a curse. 
But I thank God it was no worse with me than it was, for 
many fared worse than I did. 

In getting the learning I obtained, I had to buy my book 
and keep it very secretly. Though very young, say about 
eight or nine years old; I often carried my book in my hat or 



WILLIAM J. ANDJBRSON. 



# 



pocket; for fear of detection^ and hid it in the leaves or earth 
for fear of the lash or detection, for it was against all the 
Laws of Virginia £or slaves or hlacks to be taught to read or 
write ; but by hard study and labor^ and much secrecy, and 
the assistance of some little white boys and girls, I managed to 
gain some information. While the slave boys would be play- 
ing marbles, my attention would be on my book ; often, when 
I would be looking on my book, the approach or sight of a 
white man made me put it aside. In this situation, how I 
have mourned for a little instruction. 

Finally, after Providence had smiled on me, and I could 
read a little^ I then desired to learn to write. My copies 
were old scraps of writing that I could pick up at times. 
Then, after my day's work was over, by fire-light I would 
practice upon my lessons in writing. In passing on during 
bhe day, when I had an opportunity I would stoop down and 
practice a little in the sand, but when the old 4&veholdier saw 
it, he would tell me that I was studying philosophy, and that 
he would whip it out of me, etc., etc. 

Thus, I thank Grod, I made such advancement that I could 
read and write considerable. There being many in my con- 
dition who wanted to learn very badly, they persuaded me to 
beach them a little on Sundays ; so we went on teaching and 
(earning a few Sundays before the white people found it out, 
!ind gave us our orders never to meet for insfhictions any 
^re, on the peril of the lash'; and our little school was 
bipken up forever. 

Then I was watched closely the balance of the time I staid 
in Virginia, so the reader may account for my imperfections 
in my simple narrative and tale. But here, Christian reader, 
my heart runs out in thanks to God for his great blessings 
toward me, who, I must acknowledge, as David said, ^' The 
liord is my sheperd, I shall not want; surely goodness and 



10 Un AMD NABRATIYB OF 

mercy have followed me all the days of my life and I will 
dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Yes, reader, I can 
look back and see the goodness of God in all the train of mj 
distress, and if they are faithful, I think many poor slavef 
will get to Heaven, where there is no slavery, or whipping,or 
selling Christian slaves for gold. 

I have often thought it would be a good and great thing if 
all the slaves and free persons would unite and pray for d^ 
liverance ; I believe God would graciously deliver them oM 
of their Southern bondage ; I believe the time would shortly 
oome when God would aid them from Heaven. 0,.when God 
works, moves, and thunders, and shakes the earth, man tremfi 
bles, shakes, quakes and fears. As the poet says : • 



" Qod moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform ; 
He plants his footsteps on the sea 
And rides upon the stonn." 



? 



Deep and unfathomable is the power and wisdom of GtnL^ 
0, that we all would trust the Lord for his goodness, wbidf 
endure(^ forever. 



i 



k] 



WILLUM J. AND£RSON. 11 



CHAPTER in. 



Kn>NAPPE]>-80LD INTO TENNESSEE— SUFFERINa ON THE WAT, ETO. 

Mj master was considered one of those cunning; fox-like 
daveholders ; bis craving for gold was almost insatiable ; be 
kidnapped me bynigbt; wben all things were as silent as 
death, handcuffed and chained me securely, while I was ten 
miles from my mother, and young and inexperienced, helpless 
and ignorant of the geography of the country. The horrors 
of leaving my native land I cannot express. I was hurried 
off, and not permitted to get my clothes or bid my friends 
farewell. 

We arrived early next day in the city of Richmond, the 
capital of the State. The slave-market space was very much 
crowded; so he sold me privately, for three hundred and 
seventy-five dollars. A southern trader bought me ; be asked 
me if I ever run, I told him I had. He asked me if I could 
run fast ; I told him I could. He asked once more if I ever 
S5i away ; as I always stood much upon truth, I told him I 
had, once only, and stayed away one day. So he put me in 
jail, there to remain until he made up his drove of slaves, 
which was a very few days. But I, a free boy, locked up in 
jail ! It was a bad and horrible feeling. 

In a few days he made up his drove, to the number of some 
ttxty-five or seventy. Myself and several men, say twenty 
or more, were chained together, two and two, with a chain 



f 



16 UFE AND KABAATIYE 07 



..f 



CHAPTER V. 

" \ 

I 

ARRIYINa ON THE COTTON FAHM— RUNNING AWAY— GETTING INTO 
JAIL— AWFUL WHIPPING— LABOR, FOOD, CLOTHING— HARD TIMS& 

When I arriyed on the farm^ and beheld the way they we/m 
fed; worked, clothed, whipped and driven, my poor heaflte 
faltered within me, to see men and women reduced to Ha^ 
hardships of cattleism. Yes, yes ! I sat down by the lAm^ 
sissippi Eiver and wept 0, 1 wept when I saw the holy 
Sabbath desecrated. The only money I possessed was om^ 
dollar. With this I purchased a Bible, but it was takan 
from me and torn up, and I was whipped for reading it. We 
had no preaching or meeting -at all — nothing but whipping 
and driving both night and day — sometimes nearly all day 
Sunday. 

Possibly the reader may imagine my feeling, I cannot d^^ 
scribe them, when I remembered old Virginia, the place ofl 
my birth, my mother's house, the cabin, the grove, the spring^^ 
the associates, the Sabbath enjoyments. I felt that I wa/ 
like the children of Israel when they were taken down in 
Babylonian captivity. They desired of me an old Virgin: 
song, but how could I sing a song in a strange land. O, 
would sit alone and weep, cry, mourn and pray. Far, fi 
away, I was once free — now kidnapped and sold into a s^*^ 



WILUAM J. ANDIBBON. 17 

land, and never expecting to be released nntil death should 
set me free again. 

I made np my mind to run away, and set about making pre- 
>^krations. My plan was to steal a skiff, as I lived twenty 
miles above Yicksbui^, on the west bank of the Mississippi 
river, whioh was deep, wide and rapid, and make off down 
the liver until I got to Yicksbnrg, or get on a steamboat 
going up the river. But, being ignorant of important facts, 
my plan did not work at all, for I did not get as far as Yicks- 
hwrg before a parcel of '' Northern men with Southern prin- 
ciples'' assisted me to town and put me in jail ; they were 
Indianians. 

In a few days my master eame down, put irons on my 

^hands and feet, and laughed in anger at my calamity. He 

took me back upon the cotton farm,*where he with three or 

four others, stripped me stark naked/ or divested me of all 

my iqyparel^ drove down four stakes, about nine feet apart, 

then l^r I was tied hard and fast to the cold ground) with a 

lavge ox whip, laid on me (he said) five hundred lashes, till 

the Mood ran freely^pon the cold ground and mother earth 

dfank it freely in. I begged, mourned, and cried, and prayed; 

but all my lamentations were only sport for him; he was a 

stxmnger to mercy. (My pen would fail here to describe my 

agonizing feeelings and I must leave the reader again to 

imagine my suffering condition.) At the close of this brutal 

l^-pishment he called for some salt brine(, of the strongest 

loSd/ and had me washed down in it (u), that, with the 

whipping, was another hell to undei^^ He at last let me 

up in my chains, and put me to work at hard labor, on com 

and water. 

Now, hear what our food was. We were called up on 

Sunday evening, and had a peck of com measured to us, 

shelled, or enough ears to make a good peck, two or three 
I 2* 

I 

'I 



16 UVE AND KABAATIYE 07 






II' 



.^ 



I 

I 



CHAPTER V. 

ARRIYINa ON THE COTTON FARM— RUNNING AWAY— GETTING INTO 
JAIL— AWFUL WHIPPING— LABOR, FOOD, CLOTHING- HARD TIMSft., 

When I arriyed on the farm; and beheld the way they. w< 
fed, worked; clothed; whipped and driven; my poor headft' 
faltered within me, to see men and women reduced to tbib 
hardships of cattleism. YeS; yes ! I sat down by the JAJm 
sissippi Eiyer and wept 0; I wept when I saw the hoi^ 
Sabbath desecrated. The only money I possessed was oqk 
dollar. With this I purchased a BiblC; but it was tajkitt' 
from me and torn up; and I was whipped for reading it. We 
had no preaching or meeting -at all — nothing but whipping 
and driving both night and day — ^sometimes nearly all day I 
Sunday. 

Possibly the reader may imagine my feeling; I cannot d€^ 
scribe them, when I remembered old Virginia; the place oU 
my birth; my mother's housC; the cabiu; the grove, the springi« 
the associates, the Sabbath enjoyments. I felt that I wa«9 
like the children of Israel when they were taken down into4 
Babylonian captivity. They desired of me an old Virginia 
song; but how could I sing a song in a strange land. O, 
would sit alone and weep, cry, mourn and pray. Far; ft 
away, I was once free — now kidnapped and sold into a sf''^ 



WILUAM J. ANDIBBON. 17 

Land, and Beyer expecting to be released until death Bhould 
set me free again. 

I made np my mind to run away, and set about making pre- 
^ktrations. My plan was to steal a skiff, as I lived twenty 
miles abore Yicksbui^, on the west bank of the Mississippi 
rirer, whioh was deep, wide and rapid, and make off down 
the nyet until I got to Yieksburg, or get on a steamboat 
going up the riyer. But, being ignorant of important fEusts, 
my plan did not work at all, for I did not get as far as Yicks- 
haxg before a parcel of '^ Northern men with Southern prin- 
eiples'' assisted me to town and put me in jail ; ihey were 
Indianiana. 

In a few days my master came down, put irons on my 

^hands and feet, and laughed in anger at my calamity. He 

took me back upon the cotton farm,*where he with three or 

foQr others, stripped me stark naked/ or divested me of all 

my' apparelMrove down four stakes, about nine feet apart, 

thai lifter I was tied hard and fast to the cold ground) with a 

lavge ox whip, laid on me (he said) five hundred lashes, till 

the blood ran freely ^pon the cold ground and mother earth 

dfank it freely in. I begged, mourned, and cried, and prayed; 

but all my lamentations were only sport for him; he was a 

stxmnger to mercy. (My pen would fail here to describe my 

agonising feeelings and I must leave the reader again to 

imagine my suffering condition.) At the close of this brutal 

^-pishment he called for some salt brine), of the strongest 

Icffid^ and had me washed down in it vO, that, with the 

whipping, was another hell to undei^^ He at last let me 

up in my chains, and put me to work at hard labor, on com 

and water. 

■ 

Now, hear what our food was. We were called up on 
Sunday evening, and had a peck of com measured to us, 

dielled, or enough ears to make a good peck, two or three 

2* 






18 LHV ANB NABBATIVa Ol* 

ponnds of pork or beef. This waa our allowance for a week ; 
but to continue the punishment for my running away he 
would not allow me any meat for several weeks^ and kept me 
in chains some two months^ this was to cow me down in deg- 
radation like the rest of the slaves^ which was hard to do. 

On this farm they had a large coffee mill on which we might 
grind our oom^ or beat, boil or parch it This had to be done 
between two days, or we must go without eating the next day. 
Here I wish to remark, that I worked hard on my allowanoe 
of com or dry bread for several weeks. There being a large 
lot of chickens on the farm, I detennined to kill and cook 
one, to eat with my bread and make it go down better. I 
had eatep only a part of the fowl when my master was told 
by some of the other servants that I was '^ eating, up all the 
chickens on the place ! '' * My master seized me and dragged 
me out of the cabin, tied me down to the same stakes which 
had witnessed my agony on a former occasion, and gave me 
one hundred lashes — ^he said. I have no recollection of eat- 
ing any more chickens while I lived in the State of Missia- 
sippi. But my appetite for such food was not destroyed \fj 
my master's cruelty to me, and I have enjoyed many a meal 
of such innocent fowls since I left there. 

It should be remembered that slaves are sometimes great . 
enemies to each other, telling tales, lying, catching fugitives^ 
and the like. All this is perpetuated by ignorance, oppres- 
sion and d^radation. 

We were, obliged to work exceedingly hard, and were M 
permitted to talk or laugh with each other while working ii 
the field. We were not allowed to speak to a neighbor slavi 
who chanced to pass along the road. I have often beea 
whipped for leaving patches of grass, and not working fast^ 
or for even looking at my master. How great my sufferings 
were the reader cannot conceivct 1 was frequently knookel 



WILLIAM J. ANDSB60N. 28 



CHAPTEK Vn. 



MT BXTUBlf ntOM MXW ORLEANS— WHIPPINQ— WORKING— CONDITIOIT 
OF A SLAVE SOLI>— HARD If ASTER, ETC. 

I remained in New Orleans about three months^ when my 
long-looked-for master arrived. I was very glad ol^ this^ for I 
wished to change my location^ let the consequences be what 
ihey would. He saw the calaboose was so well arranged for 
whipping that he paid and had me whipped^ in the room and 
on the ladder where the blood of hundreds had flown like 
water. ! that whipping. It was equal^ in severity^ to any 
I had received in former days. Sore^ distressed and in ironS; 
he again brought me home. He would not give me anything 
to eat on the boat ; but; bless the Lord; I fared very well. 
After arriving home I wore those irons many monthS; but on 
taking them off he treated me a little better. In process of 
time; however; we had many serious difficulties. He whipped 
me again and again ; kept a pair of handcuffl for my poor 
^limbs; which soon became as conmion as a pair of gloves on a 
frosty morning. My lifC; I must truly say; was a terror to 
me. Many a day have I worked without food enough to 
sustain my feeble body. I can show scars which cannot fail 
to convince the most sceptical; of the ill-treatment of the 
colored man in the South. Finally I was sold by Mr. Books 
to Mr. G. B. BogerS; for seven hundred dollars. He ap- 
peared at first to be a kind hearted; friendly and religious 
maU; of the Baptist creed. His wife and her family were 



24 UVS AND KA1>B.ATT7S Ol* 

Bapti^. We moyed on an- oUilj I'ni a .' . r *«r 
deyilment began to show itself in Mm. H. =>• ?) 
and driye all around him at a monstrow • . 
words and deeds all left him ; his humane feeliju^ 
absorbed in his avaricious pursuit of wealth. He 
close watch oyer his slaves by night to keep them 
I wished at times to visit other families^ and we ha< 
falling out about that; he jailed me; handcuffed m( 
ped and abused me. Surelj; he had more regard 
Sabbath than others I had been with ; he also gave i 
food and more of it at first; but he had some awful b 
in his character. 1 have known him to make four m 
their wives for nothing, and would not let them com( 
them any more on the peril of being shot down lil 
he then made the women marry other men against tl 
Oh; see what it is to be a slave ! A man, like the 
driven; whipped; sold; comes and goes at his master's 
After the lapse of about five years this gentleman 
to«Mr. Hudmon for a thousand dollars on credit, 
me to a Mr. Shephard; who kept me about two mon 
then sold me to a Mr. Hamlin. Mr. H. was a great { 
and I never knew when I was safe. I would often 
when I laid down, for fear I would have to change 
morning. Sure as I livC; one morning when I was a 
I was sold to a young Mr, Hammond. He in turn 
to a widow lady, Mrs. Hampton. Two or three of tl 
mentioned men were very good to me ; they had not] 
me to do that was very hard. The old widow was tl 
old lady I ever saw. She whipped severely; or had 
by her overseer. She worked us very hard; and mi 
follow us close all day with whip in hand. 



WILIiIAM J. ANDJUtiOIf. 25 



CHAPTER Vm. 



PUNISHBfENT, SUFFBRINaS AND DEATH Of SLAVES— ADVENTURES, ETC. 

I 

I now wish to state some of the dark deeds and wonderful 

* 

workings of Slavery in the State of Mississippi^ which will 
introduce some important incidents of my past life in a man- 
ner which may be found of interest to the reader. 

I once knew a colored man by the name of Branum Harris ; 
his wife's name was Amy^ and his overseer's name was 
Showers. Although they came in late at night from their 
labor; and were of course weary, they had to prepare their 
provisions for the next day ere they slept, or go without. 
The overseer was not to furnish them with cabins. One night 
their child was taken very ill, in consequence of which they 
were delayed a little after the rest of the hands had gone to 
work. As they (Harris, his wife and wife's sister) were 
passing the overseer's house, the overseer said to the women : 

" Stop ! 1 will give you two a whipping this morning for 
being so late." 

This was just after daylight. 

" 0," says Branum, " our child has been sick all night. 
0, do not whip her this time." 

*' Stop, sir !" said Mr. Showers, " I will give you a flog- 
ging this morning." 

He did not stop, and the overseer leveled his gun and shot 

him down. . He then whipped the two women awfully. 

This same man run a slave into a gin house full of cotton, 
3 



20 LIVB ANB NARBATIYS Ol* 

wbich caught on fire and burnt down with the slaye in it. 
ThiB nnfortanate victim was buried in the same grave with 
Brannm.- This occurred on Dr. Harris's farm, not far from 
Yioksburg; Mississippi, and this overseer was a Baptist deacon* 

Another overseer on the same farm, a religious man, shot 
a colored man by the name of Enoch because he worked his 
garden patch on Sunday. This overseer's name waa Mr, 
Knox. 

I knew another colored man by the name of Oivens, on the 
same farm, who was shot by a white man. 

These acts, heinous as they are in the sight of God and 
man, were considered right, and therefore nothing was said; 
not even in the church to which they belonged. It seeniBi 
truly, as though there was nothing too bad for some slave- 
holders to do. 

I saw Mr. Hudmon, an overseer, whip a very nice colored 
man one hundred or more lashes, and until the blood flowed 
down to the ground ; he then asked him if he was mad. He, 
in pain, was slow to answer. He again commenced, and 
whipped him until he made him laugh. The reader n^y 
imagine what kind of a laugh it was. 

Chrbtian reader, I ask you to look at these facts^ and 
answer before God the question of right and wrong. Then, 
if your conscience tells you that human bondage is a great 
sin, and I think it must, why will you not turn and plead for 
the suffering millions of your fellow creatures in the Southem^ 
States ? 

It is almost impossible for slaves to escape from that part 
of the South, to the Northern States. There are a great 
many things to encounter in escaping, viz : large and small 
nvers, lakes, panthers, bears, snakes, alligators, white and 
black men, blood hounds, guns, and, above all, the dangers of 
starvation. 



WILLIAM Ji ANDKB80N. 27 

Tliere was a poor slave by the name of PHill Sharp^ who 
ran away from his master, Mr. Beacher, who resided near 
Ticksburg. His master had bought him of a trader from 
Tennessee. Sharp had left a wife there whom he dearly 
loved. His master continued to flog, drive and starve him, 
and he made up his mind to escape, and, if possible,, see his 
wife once more in this life. Saturday night, the time he had 
fixed upon for leaving, arrived, and although the rivers were 
high and the weather warm, he concluded to travel by night 
and lay by in the day time, in the swamps, which are very 
dismal. After swimming rivers and passing through many 
difficulties, he arrived at a small lake about a quarter of a 
mile wide. He plunged iu, and when nearly across he saw a 
large panther, on the opposite bank, awaiting his arrival. He 
paused a moment, but on looking back he saw a large alligatoTi 
with his mouth wide open, pursuing him. Here was a horrid 
dilemma. What to do he did not know, but there was no 
time to be lost. He swam on across, for he thought he could 
do more on land than he could in the water. Just as he got 
near the shore the panther made a spring at him, but missed 
his prize and lit on the back of the alligator. '^ Then," said 
he, ^^ the two had an awful fight, but I did not wait to see 
which came off best." 

He was espied and chased by dogs a long distance out of 
his way. One night he discovered a horse at large, and be- 
lieving it no sin to take such means to escape, captured the 
beast, made and put on him a bridle of bark, and then took 
passage on horseback. He proceeded on his way until a very 
late hour, when he dropped into a sweet sleep. He knew not 
how loDg he slept, but when he awoke and became conscious 
of his situation, judge of his surprise at finding that the 
wicked old horse had turned around and come back to the 
same bars that he had taken him from. It being broad day- 



Lin AND MABaATIVI Of 



light sad near a snudl town, he had to make hute to release 
him. He had to la; all da; oader some large slabs of baric 




near by, without food or water. Some hunlsmen sat down on 
the bark to rest, and remarked that the school bojv had a 
very nice little house made of them. He thought they might 
have heard his heart beat if they had listened. When night 
came on again he thought be would try his feet, bo he traveled 
on a short distance and stopped at a farm house to get somft- 
thing to eat, being by this time very hungry and mooh 
fatigued. It was raining quite hard at the time, and very 
dark. He called at a place where the house was ou a little 
rise of ground, and had a low fence enclosing the dwelling 
and kitchen separate. At the door of the kitchen he met 
the cook — a colored woman — and asked her to give him some' 
thing to eat; stating at the same time that he was a runaway 
slave and moBt starved. She said she would supply him if 
he would wait her return. Just as she got to the hoiise she 
said, " Master, master, here is a runaway at the kitchen." 
The master sprang up, called his dc^ and set them after him. 
He broke for the woods, but in looking back for the approach 
of the dogs he forgot the low fence that surrounded the place 
and run against it, and down it came with a crash. He suc- 
ceeded in loosing the dogs and made his escape. This is the 



ynhUAU J. AKDBBSOir. 29 

•wj ihe poor oolcMred people are taught to betray each other 
for a good namei or a Httle tobacco, or a few pounds of meat. 
He traveled on that night and was finally successful in obtain- 
ing something to eat. A few days previous to his crossing 
the line into Tennessee, he met two white men, both of whom 
had loaded guns, and ordered him to stop. He knocked them 
both down, and proceeded on his way with a trembling heart. 
Eventually he had the good fortune to see his wife once more, 
then passed on through Indiana into Ohio. This poor man 
is one that came through safe ; but few there are who are so 
successful. 

But to proceed with my narrative. It was as common for 
the widow Hampton to have her men and women stripped by 
the overseers before her eyes and whipped naked, as it was 
to eat She had eight or ten runaways in the woods con- 
stantly. She gave us very little to eat, and we had often to 
steal or take what we had. We were compelled to work 
nearly all day every Sunday. A great deal of whipping had 
to be done on Sunday, for offences committed during the week. 
She owned hundreds and hundreds of acres of land, and 
about one hundred and seventy slaves. She allowed no 
preaching nor bibles on her plantation, and prohibited all 
communication between other plantations and her own. She 
always had her negro cabins well watched, and left nothing 
undon^e where devilment was on hand. 

I saw that my doom of distress was fixed. My life was 
indeed a burden to me ; I knew not what to do. When I 
thought of my previous life in old Virginia, my mother and 
friends, my poor heart would sink within me, and I couid but 
exolaim, with Paul, '^ 0, wretched man that I am ; who shall 
deliver me from this body of death.'' I have often wept in 
solitude over my condition, finding no comfort or encourage- 
ment save in my pleadings with God. I had a confidence in 
8* 



30 LIVE ANi> KARRATITB OT 

the All wise Disposer, but I was prone to inqxdre of Him why 
I was thus left to suffer and endure such awful torment 

Every Christian who has passed through affliction, has been 
inclined, I doubt not, to inquire of his God the reason of all 
his torments, and I know that some have exclaimed, "O God, 
why forsakest thou me?" 

But there is most precious consolation in the memory of all 
His blessings and deliverances, and the hope which is built 
up in our bosoms Dy His promises. We must remember that 



II 



He doeth all thing;^ well." 



I again made up my mind to run away, let the consequences 
be what they would. Patrick Henry's words became my 
motto, viz: "Give me liberty or give me death." I set 
about making my arrangements for the journey. I was some 
fifty miles off from the Mississippi river, in a thickly settled 
country, and surrounded by the worst of white and colored 
people. My plan was to write myself a pass, for which I 
knew I would be often asked. How to do this was the point* 
I had no pen, ink or paper, and in a place where I dare not 
ask for it, for fear of detection. No one knew that I eomld 
either read or write ; this was very fortunate for me. 



WILCJAM J. ANDXBSON. 31 



CHAPTER IX. 



RUNNINa AWAY FROM MRS. HAMPTON— PERIL ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIYER. 

Being now fully resolved to put my trust in God, fear no 
danger, and travel from the South to the North in search of 
light and liberty, I ventured to ask a house servant by the 
name of Dick for the necessary material, with which I wrote 
myself a pass to Yicksburg, where I thought I might obtain 
a boat. I knew the widow had a numbe): of men in the 
woods in search of runaways, and she would not make much 
fuss after me ; probably thinking I would come back in due 
time to receive my whipping and go to work ; but she has 
died much deceived. I was very well known in Vicksburg, 
for I had been in jail there seven or eight times, and as many 
knew I could both read and write, my case would be very 
critical. But as nothing ventured nothing gained, I was de- 
termined to try. I also knew that for a colored man to make 
an application for a passage up the river on a boat without 
the voice of some white man, would be looked upon with 
astonishment, and a close examination would follow. 

July 2d, 1836, was the day I had appointed, and just 
before daylight I started. I arrived at the ferry — eight miles 
from home — passed my examination and went on my way. I 
met a number of white men, with a trembling heart, who, 
after examining my false pass, permitted me to go on, although 
they said they thought it was a forgery. I arrived at the 



82 Un iJTD MAKBATITS OV 

iiTer after seeing MYeral old oolorad frieada, I was ubtd, 
hj some of the whites, wbkt my busineas wu in thoeeyaita. 
I told them I was a-going to oook a 4th of July diAner. I 
asked at the boat for a passage up the Mieaiflsippi to Loois- 
▼ille, Kentnoky. The mate told me to show my pass to the 
olerk before leaving the port I told him I woold; the reader 




maj imagine my feelings. I never spoke to the clerk as Gtod 
would have it It must have been the wonderful vrorkinga of 
Providence that brought about everything for my good and 
His own glorification, I saw no one that knew inej although 
I had resided within three miles of the town for about five 
years. I saw on the boat about siity or seventy siavea, who 
were going up the river with their master to the State of 
Arkansas, to open a farm. I sat dowu In their midst; the 
boat raised steam and pushed out from shore. 0, how glad 
I was to see her fast mnniug out of sight of the town and 
the old jail that 1 had often been locked up in. When the 
old town had been lost in the distance, and ihe grim shadows 
of fear had partially vaoished, my heart overflowed with joy, 
that thus far I had proceeded on my journey without moles- 
tation. I thus passed on peaceably from day to day. 

I had made a oonfident of the steward, « colored man, who 



-i 



WILLIAM J. ANDERBON. 38 

mm true to his trust When the boftt had ran about eighteen 
hundred miles up the river^ the master with his slaves got off, 
and I eould no longer pass under their protection ; but waa 
left to devise and seek some other plan to elude detection bj 
the ever suspicious persons who journeyed with me. My 
peril began now to be more imminent^ but with a heart borne 
up by the blessed hope of deliverance from cruel^ life-torturing 
bondage^ I trusted in the Great Father above^ and could but 
pursue my way. 

In two or three days after these slaves had left; the Captain 
came to me and said he thought I belonged to that gang of 
slaves. I told him no'r He then asked me who I belonged 
to. I told him I belonged to Mr. Crawford^ of Louisville, 
Kentucky. 

^^ Have you any pass ?'' said he. 

" Yes, sir/' I answered. 

" Show it to me." 

He looked it all over/ and throwing it down he said : 

'^ You are a runaway, sir; that pass is forged. Have yon 
any more papers, sir ? " says he. 

"Yes, sir; I have a letter to my master." 

" Qo get it, quick, sir." 

I handed him the papers, with a trembling heart. He 
took it and looked it over carefully, then throwing them 
down, he said : 

'^ You scoundrel I these papers are all forged. How dare 
you get on my boat ? " You are running away, sir. I will 
put you in jail as soon as I arrive in Louisville." . 

Think, friendly reader, how I felt about this time. The 
thoughts of being returned into slavery, with the chains upon 
my limbs and the whip flourished with mad vengeance over 
my head — the cries of agony, wrung from tortured victims, 
ringing in my ears — oh, Hwere worse than death. 



34 Un AKD HA&BATITB Or 

Two men were placed to watch me night and day. I waa 
not permitted to carry wood as usual from the shore. Thus 
I traveled on up the Ohio river^ trembling and spirit-worn. ^ 

The night previous to their landing at Louisville — where I 
was to be imprisoned and again sent back to slavery — ^my 
watchers kept a sharp lookout at every landings to see that I 
did not escape. While they watched me^ I also kept an eye 
to business. 

I had procured a large knife previous to my starting, 
knowing it to be an indispensable article to a man in my sit- 
uation. The captain said to me, several times, that if he 
thought I had any notion of giving him the slip, he would 
iron me; but I made all manner of fair promises^ and in that 
way kept my limbs free. 

It grew late ; the cocks began to crow at the approach of 
morn. Indiana was on one side and Kentucky on the other. 
Here was freedom, and the time had come that to get free, as 
I wanted to, I would have to make another bold strike. How 
to manage it successfully was a question hard for me to solve. 
The Ohio river was quite high, the night dark, and the boat 
runniDg at her highest speed. How I was to get to the shore 
of Indiana had been my daily study for several days. I could 
not swim, neither could I fly, nor walk on the water. 0, 
what shall I do ? was the constant, unanswered query of my 
poor heart. A thousand thoughts would flash across my mind " 
in a moment, for my time was now getting very short. 

I have, in my lectures, of late years, asked a thousand 
people at once how I got off that boat, or watery prison, but 
none could tell me. Now, gentle reader, I will tell you how 

got off. Just before day, the mate — one of the noble 
watchmen — came to the after part of the boat and said : 

'^ Where is that runaway ?" 

Then I snored as loud as a hog in frosty weather. In a 



WILLIAM J. AMDBEUSON. 86 

m(nnent lie turned tnd went towird the bow or fore pert of 
the boet, when I qnickljr threw my little bundle of olothing 
into the yawl boat, and jumped after them. With my knife 
I out the rope that secured the yawl, and as quick as thought 
I was fiust gliding astern. The boat continued on her couise, 
while I, unobserved; turned my craft for the Indiana shore, 
where I landed in about ten minutes from the time I left the 
old floating prison house. The splendid boats which navigate 
that beautiful river are often styled '^ floating palaces/' but 
thisy to mC; was more like a dungeon. 

O, then I had a time of rejoicing. I laughed and cried. 
I tried to pray and return thanks to the Lord for His goodness 
to poor me. I am not able to express my feelings then or 
now. When I remembered that just a few days ago I was 
down in a slave state, under the lash ; that only a few moments 
ago I was a slave on yonder boat, but now free ! free forever ! 
0, I was like the Indian who went out and painted himself, 
and, returning to camp, his own dog bit him ; he said, ^' Sure 
this is not me.'' Those were my feelings, truly. 0, reader, 
I can never forget that morning. 

I took up my little bundle of clothing and traveled on. 
In the State of Indiana I felt light and comfortable; the 
small obstacles I had to encounter I did not fear. 

I arrived in Madison City, Indiana, on the I5th of July, 
1836, weaiy in mind and body, but joying in my escape from 
tyranny and persecution. My funds in pocket amounted to 
one dollar, which I advanced for my board. I sought em- 
ployment immediately, and soon engaged to work for Messrs. 
F. Thompson and E. D. Luck, carrying the hod for a dollar 
a day. This, of course, was new and rather severe labor for 
me at this time ; but it was far better than toiling in the 
cotton or corn field, for a reward of a scanty meal of com 
and the lash. My freed spirit could now sing a new song, 



20 £urs AND NARRATiyx or 

ivliioli caught on fire and bornt down with the slave in it. 
This unfortunate viotim was buried in the same grave with 
l^ranum.- This occurred on Dr. Harris's farm^ not far from 
Yioksburg; Mississippi^ and this overseer was a Baptist deacon. 

Another overseer on the same £arm^ a religious man, shot 
a colored man by the name of Enoch because he worked his 
garden patch on Sunday. This overseer's name was Mr. 
Knox. 

I knew another colored man by the name of Givens, on the 
same farm; who was shot by a white man. 

These actS; heinous as they are in the sight of Ood and 
mau; were considered right; and therefore nothing was said; 
not even in the church to which they belonged. It seems, 
truly; as though there was nothing too bad for some slave- 
holders to do. 

I saw Mr. HudmoU; An overseer; whip a very nice colored 
man one hundred or more lasheS; and until the blood flowed 
down to the ground ; he then asked him if he was mad. He; 
in paiu; was slow to answer. He again commenced; and 
whipped him until he made him laugh. The reader mttj 
imagine what kind of a laugh it was. 

Christian reader; I ask jou to look at these factS; and 
answer before God the question of right and wrong. TheU; 
if your conscience tells you that human bondage is a great 
siu; and I think it must; why will you not turn and plead for 
the suffering millions of your fellow creatures in the Southern 
States? 

It is almost impossible for slaves to escape from that part 
of the South; to the Northern States. There are a great 
many things to encounter in escaping; viz : large and small 
nverS; lakeS; pantherS; bearS; snakeS; alligators; white and 
black meu; blood houndS; gunS; and; above all; the dangers of 
starvation. 



WIIiLUJf Ji AMDIBSON. 27 

There was a poor slave by tlie name of Pliill Sharp^ who 
ran away from his master^ Mr. Beacher^ who resided near 
Yicksburg. His master had bought him of a trader firom 
Tennessee. Sharp had left a wife there whom he dearly 
loved. His master continued to flog^ drive and starve him, 
and he made up his mind to escape, and, if possible,, see his 
wife once more in this life. Saturday night, the time he had 
fixed upon for leaving, arrived, and although the rivers were 
high and the weather warm, he concluded to travel by night 
and lay by in the day time, in the swamps, which are very 
dismal. After swimming rivers and passing through many 
difficulties, he arrived at a small lake about a quarter of a 
mile wide. He plunged in, and when nearly across he saw a 
large panther, on the opposite bank, awaiting his arrival, fit 
paused a moment, but on looking back he saw a large alligator, 
with his mouth wide open, pursuing him. Here was a horrid 
dilemma. What to do he did not know, but there was no 
time to be lost. He swam on across, for he thought he could 
do more on land than he could in the water. Just as he got 
near the shore the panther made a spring at him, but missed 
his prize and lit on the back of the alligator. ^^ Then," said 
he, '^ the two had an awful fight, but I did not wait to see 
which came off best." 

He was espied and chased by dogs a long distance out of 
"his way. One night he discovered a horse at large, and be- 
lieving it no sin to take such means to escape, captured the 
beast, made and put on him a bridle of bark, and then took 
passage on horseback. He proceeded on his way until a very 
late hour, when he dropped into a sweet sleep. He knew not 
how long he slept, but when he awoke and became conscious 
of his situation, judge of his surprise at finding that the 
wicked old horse had turned around and come back to the 
same bars that he had taken him from. It being broad day- 



88 LITE AND NARBATIYX OF 

nearly two thonsand dollars. Even a tliird farm was soon 
added to my estate^ which I improved and cnltiyated. 

Thus 1 prospered most wondeifully in earthly acquirementSi 
and while favors were heaped upon me in my temporal affiurs^ 
I felt that my spiritual progress was onward and upward, I 
was promoted to the office of class-leader in the churchy and 
head steward. Two years after this, I procured a license to 
exhort^ and in two years more I had permission to preach the 
gospel of Christ On all occasions I betook myself to prayer 
and diligent study of the Scriptures. Fifty dollars was in- 
vested in valuable works on the Bible^ which made my library 
superior to any that belonged to my classmates. In two years 
more I was duly elected to the charge of the Walnut Street 
Church in our town, which 1 endeavored to serve with 
Christian fear, always keeping in view the glory of God^ and 
Christ; my guiding star. 

Those who favored the " peculiar institution '' sought to 
make me promise to assist no more fugitives in their flight, 
as they should chance to pass that way. But their attempts 
were vain, for how could I do this and be a consistent follower 
of the instructions found in my Bible ? In the good book 
we are commanded to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, 
and no mention is made of color or condition. Besides, I 
had learned by sad experience how the poor hound-driven 
slave pants for freedoin from such inhuman bondage — ^how 
the heart is made to leap with joy when a friend indeed offers 
the protection sought. No, my whole duty must include this 
kindness to my unfortunate fellow beings. And while I live 
I hope to work in the glorious cause of charity and beneficence 
toward God's afflicted children. 

My two wagons, and carriage, and five horses were always 
at the command of the liberty-seeking fugitive. Many times 
have my teams conveyed loads of fugitive slaves away while 



WILLIAM J« ANDERSON. 39 

the Hnnters were close upon their track. ]^haye carried them 
away in broad daylight, and in the grim shades of night. I 
have scouted through the woods with the fleeing slave while 
the barbarous hunters pursued as if chasing wolves, panthers 
or bears. 

That old town has known many a bloodthirsty chase, and 
has been the home of numerous negro-catchers, both white 
and black. But many of them have gone to their long 
home — ^the *' bourne from whence no traveler returna" I 
knew them well, and their names I might disclose ; but I 
forbear. Surely they will all meet their reward in the great 
day. ^ 

Fifteen years ago some men in Kentucky had a great 
desire to catch me within the limits of their State, as they 
averred that I had been guilty of assisting negroes to escape 
from their masters. But I kept out of their way until De- 
eember 12th, 1856. 

For the information of certain people who may feel inter- 
ested, I will here state, that although 1 have assisted a 
hundred colored people within the State of Indiana, I have 
never helped one to get across the Ohio river from Kentucky. 
They have only been aided by me when they were in Indiana, 
and in such manner as giving them food and instruction in 
the course to pursue, &c. 

I am sorry to state that now the colored people are rewarding 
me by evil treatment, discrediting my statements and perse- 
euting me in various ways. I could inform the reader of 
several instances of persecution while pursuing my good 
intentions, but fear I may be deemed guilty of a bad return 
myself. 

I will still put my trust in Ood, nor allow the threats and 
wicked acts of my fellow men to deter me from deeds of 
virtue. For if God be for me who can be against me ? 



40 LIFE AND NABBATITE OT 

I could mention many instances of narrow risks of life and 
limb wHich I Have run^ with names of persons and plftces^ 
bnt I know I should not be deemed a forgiving creatore. 

With much praying and faithfulness I continued the allot- 
ted time to discharge my duty to the best of my ability^ at 
the Walnut street church. My successor was Rev. B. Marie 
Smith. 

My time was now pretty fully employed in drawing wood 
with two teamS; besides other services of a like character; 
and these famished a fair amount of money necessary for the 
maintenance of our family^ My credit had grown to a most 
gratifying condition^ the bankers being ready and willimg at 
any time to lend me money. 

At length I came to the conclusion to withdraw from the 
Methodist Episcopal Society of whites^ and join what is now 
the African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The charge of a circuit was immediately given me^ and I 
again went forward in the work of the ministry. My labors 
seemed to be blessed of the Lord; for many were added to 
the churcli and many induced to follow the meek and lowly 
Jesus. Great happiness was my portion; my heart would 
leap with joy^ and ofttimes have I been ready to exclaim^ 
Glory to God ! as I thought on His goodness and loving 
kindness. 

I arranged and directed Sabbath Schools; as they were ap- 
pointed; and the fruits of my labors were made apparent in 
the good conduct of the precious pupils who listened to and 
honored me. The support afforded me through my circuit 
was meagrC; though the range was quite extensive. 

I labored diligently; nor spared any trouble; as I sought to 
benefit immortal souls. 

A camp meeting; at which I officiated; was held at Yemou; 
Indiana; and was the closing scene of this eventful year. 



WILLIAM J. ANDERSON. 41 

:heii I have not liad charge of any congregation, thongli 
not neglected to senre that being wko givetli every 
ad perfect gift. 

e Has been a changeable life — a pilgrimage of soffering, 
id then brightened by a ray of joy and earthly happi- 
at generally clouded with terrible feelings. But yon 
now more of scenes in my pathway. 



4* 



42 £m AND NABRATITB OT 



CHAPTER X. 



BUnjOING CHURCHES, ETC. 

At the time I became connected with the A. M. £. Churchy 
the congregation had a church building of their own to ; 
worship in. I had built a parsonage house for the Walnut 
Street Church with my own means^ and I now decided to 
erect a building for this society to worship in^ and rent it to 
them. The object was easily accomplished. The congrega- 
tion made many efforts to build a church for themselves, but 
failed. At last they agreed to accept my direction in the 
matter^ and the house was soon erected^ which is now the 
Fifth Street, or the Brick Church. The building was not 
entirely completed until during the administration of Rev. 

¥ 

E. Weaver. j 

At the close of the term of my ministry^ I determined to .1 
give up farming and to turn my attention to the business c^ |. 
grocery keeping, huckstering, &c., in which I engaged for a I 
time. But this soon proved a ruinous move for me. My 
native benevolence would not permit nSe to treat my custo- 
mers as if there was a possibility of their cheating me out of- 
my dues, and I was always too willing to trust to iheir 
honesty. Patrons were not few, and I served them readily, 
until there was a necessity for collecting the straggling debts 
among the numerous delinquents. This proved to be the 



WILLIAM J. ANDXB80N. 43 

most difficult part o£ my busmeesy for, wUle flome had already 
left the town for parts to me unknown, many still -remained 
who. pleaded poverty and inability to pay. I am sorry that I 
am oUiged to record dishonesty of my brethren, bat certain 
it is that their acts convicted many of violating the laws of 
duty. I was obliged to yield to the necessity of dosing np 
my trading business. Some of those who had been only too 
glad to be served with things for the honsehold, and allowed 
to wait until I was nearly involved in debt, were the most 
unkind to me. when the time came for settlement. There 
were debts of fifty to seventy dollars, the demand for the 
payment of which was the cause of many hard, words from 
the debtors, who would often even manifest a disposition to 
fight me. 

I am well aware that daring those trials I was guilty of 
some evil thoughts and misdeeds, and for which I have been 
truly repentant since. But it was a severe struggle to over- 
eon^e the excitement caused by such treatment and ill success. 
I hope that I may be forgiven, at least by my Heavenly 
Father, if not by my fellow men. 

When I review the scenes of my life, and bring to mind 
the services I have rendered my colored brethren — even 
risked my life for them — ^the remembrance of their unmanly 
treatment of me, stirs up the sorrow of my hearts O Otod, 
wilt thou instruct and lead them from the evil of their ways, 
and keep me still within thy arms ? 

I eventually removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, where I 
engaged in business for a time. An agency was entrusted to' 
me here to raise money for building a church in Louisville, 
Kentucky. When one hundred dollars had been obtained 
and handed over I found that the demand was too great for 
me to supply, and declined the agency. Since that experi- 
ence I have been simply agent for myself, and found ample 



44 Un AND NABRATIYS OT 

employment for labor and money. My trade now was in 
bookS; to some extent, and very sueeessfnl toa 

For about i&fteen yean I Have preached and leetnred, and 
I can but acknowledge the goodness <ii the Great Shepherd 
to-day — that He is with me still. As I pen these lines the 
day is breaking. O that God would cause the daylight of 
religion to break upon many souls. I feel that I am too much 
like Peter, who chose to follow his Lord afar off. But still I 
can say, with the Psalmist, 

'^ The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want ; He maketh 
me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still 
waters. Yes, He restoreth my soul ; He leadeth me in the 
paths of righteousness, for His own name's sake. Yea, though 
I walk through the yalley of the shadow of death, I sludl 
fear no eyil, for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me. Yes, thou anointeth my head with oil; thou 
spreadeth a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies. 
Surely goodness and mercy haye followed me all the days of 
my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord foreyer. I 
once was young, but now I am old, and I neyer haye seen the 
righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. The earth 
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.'' 

Therefore I will trust in Him, as did Job, Peter, Paul and 
all the Apostles of old. O, like Jonah, I can almost say '< I 
haye cried to God out of the belly of hell," for some of these 
jails resemble a hell, and I haye been in many of them in the 
United States ; for where the slayeholders did not put me in, 
these mean Northerners or Free State men, both black and 
white, would concoct plans to imprison me. But, bless the 
Lord, the old man Anderson still liyes, while many of them 
are falling to rise no more. Yes, glory to God, I expect to 
shout Victory when the world is on fire. 

When I look back upon my past life I can see where I 



WILLIAM J. ANBERSOir. 46 

conid liave lived a better man^ and it grieves me to think that 
I am not a better man than I am to-day; but I glorify and 
bless Qod it is no worse with me than it is. YeS; I feel happy 
to-day that my face is Zionward; and that my treasures are 
laid up in heavt!ff. I can cheerfully pray for my persecutors, 
and thereby do good for evil. Tes, my soul feels happy to- 
day. Often when I think what I have passed through; and 
how I now enjoy myself, I can truly sing — 

"How happy are they 

Who theh: Sayioor obey, 
And have lidd up th«tr treagoret abore. 

Tongue caxmot express 

The sweet comfort and peace 
Of a soul fai its earliest love.** 



Or this— 



** God moves In a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform ; 

• He plants His footsteps in the sea^ 
And rides upon the storm." 



TeS; bless the Lord, He has always stood by poor, unworthy 
me in all my distress. After I found that everybody appeared 
to be inclined to cheat me out of what I was worth, I con- 
cluded to travel over the Northern States and sell books. It 
would undoubtedly be astonishing to the reader to hear how 
many places I have preached and lectured — ^frequently to 
very large crowds. I have spoken some one thousand timea 
So I assure the reader I am not just scared up like a rabbit 



46 LIIB AND NABRATIYE OF 



i 



i 



CHAPTER XI. 



MORE SCENES OF SUFFERmO AND TORTURE. 

I may again ask the reader to listen to sorrowfnl tales^ and 
notes of scenes which have been only too familiar to my own 
eyes. Some sketches I give from persons are reliable, and 
the sympathetic or the horror-stricken may not turn away dis- 
gusted and doubting the truth of the narrative. 

I once knew a man in old Virginia by the name of Thorn- 
ton, who had an old pious slave. I knew them both. This 
wicked tyrant practiced his cruelty in various ways. 'Some- 
times he would strip the old slave, turn him loose in his bam 
and train him with a whip as if he were a dog. He would 
order him in words like these : 

" Pass by me, you d — d rascal !" 

Then as the poor slave obeyed him, Thornton lashed his 
naked body with the hickories. Thus he would continue his 
hellish sport till the poor creature had received as many as 
three hundred cuts. 

Sam, the pious old slave, was one of the most obedient^ 
ignorant creatures, and there was no necessity for such 
inhuman treatment. But, tortured thus till despair seized 
him, he sometimes ran away. But after he had been missing 
two or three days, his master would go to the edge of the 
woods and, with vengeance in his tone, bawl out — 

"You, Sam!" 



WILLIAM J. ANDE&SOH. 47 

Poor Sam^ frightened into obedience^ would yield^ answer, 
and then return to the clutches of his wrathful master. 

But, long ago, Thornton went to his reward in the regions 
below, and we trust his faithful slave has exchanged this 
earthly existence for one of bliss, singing praises unceasingly 
with the host above. 

In the family of another well known hard-hearted slave 
owner, who whipped and drove his slaves like dogs or cattle, 
for about sixty or seventy years, there lived a colored man by 
the name of Joe. 

One day the master was taken sick and nigh unto death. 
His preacher or spiritual adviser was sent for, and while 
attending there the old master died. 

The preacher took it upon himself to give Joe some good 
advice on the occasion. 

^^Come here, my good boy," said the pious man. Joe 
obeyed, when his reverence began : 

^^ Your master is dead and gone to heaven. Your mistress 
is left a widow. Now, Joe, you must stay at home and take 
care of your mistress. Don't rob the smoke house, nor pig 
pen^ nor hen roost, nor potato patch ; and when you die you 
will go to heaven, where your master is gone.'' 

"Whar?" asked Joe. 

" To heaven," replied the minister. 

" Aint God dar ?" 
^ <' Yes, Joe." 

" Don't He know ebery ting ?" 

"Yes, Joe." 

" And He gwine to let massa come dar after he been beatin' 
and whippin' me for fifty years ? If I go dar, and massa is 
dar, I'll put on my old hat and come straight out of dar.' I 
won't stay in no such a heaven, where they let such a man as 
massa stay dar.^ 



;; 



48 UI'E AND NABRATIYE 07 

So persiBted the honest old slave; and rather puzzled the ^ 
wise head of the reverend advisei; 

Another savage specimen of a slaveholder^ who drank 
liquor too freely for his own good, and whipped and drove hi^r 
poor slaves in a desperate manner^ I once knew of in the State 
of Mississippi. This monster in human shape was an outlaw 
who feared not God^ nor regarded human beings with any 
degree of kindness. 

One of his slaves was in the habit of running awiay as 
often as an opportunity was presented. His master tried ^ 
every stratagem of cruelty to make this poor creature fear 
him and stay at home^ but with poor success. One day the 
old tyrant took his truant slave to the woodS; tied him to. a 
treC; and left him to die by inches. Insects drank his bloody * 
and he yielded at last to this horrid death. 

This same fiend of a slaveholder had another slave who 
loved liberty better than bondage and the lash. His master '" 
hunted and caught him with bloodhounds^ and allowed the ^ 
dogs to kill him. Then he cut his body up and fed the 
fragments to the hounds. J 

These same dogs once attacked some children returning 
from school; and killed one or more. 

It is no uncommon thing for slaveholders to keep such / 
savage dogS; trained to hunt and follow the track of the poor ^ 
colored fugitive, day and night, till they catch him. Men 
who do not own such hunters hire them for the purpose ^ \ 
running down God's unfortunate creatures, whose great sin ^ 
among the whites is the darkness of their skin. I do think 
that the hearts of the masters must be isx blacker than the i 
negro's skin. 

Driven to the woods or swamp, the slave is obliged too 
often to yield and be torn by the savage dogs who gratify the 
vengeful dispositions of the masters. 



WILLrAM J. ANDKBSOW. 49 

As J fehearse these soul-tortunDg, harrowing facts — these 
aoenes of blood and butcheiy — my heart sickens and my 
blood runs cold^ and I finally drop my pen while the tears of 
aorrow and sympathy flow. It is surely a hard question to 
.answer — ^Why does the Lord thus suffer us to be afflicted^ 
beaten, dragged and torn with anguish unspeakable; in this 
glorious ''free" country ? His ways are past finding out 

A man by the name of Paddy^ who was once employed as 
oyerseer of slaves in the State of Louisiana, related to me 
some of his experiences — a portion of which story I may 
here publish. On a sugar plantation, while employed in 
boiling sugar, he kept an old slave up every night, according 
to his master's orders, to serve him in the operations. Con- 
stant taxing of the old slave's faculties, finally used up his 
powers of keeping awake, and one night the old man fell 
asleep and tumbled into the kettle of boiling hot sugar. 
When found he was cooked through and through — emphati- 
cally "done brown." 

The master also owned several other slaves, some of whom 
would escape as they found opportunity to do so. One was 
caught and brought home to him, when the master took him 
to a wood pile and chopped off one of the poor slave's legs. 
A physician was sent for, and the stump of a limb was done 
up, while the victim of su^sh vengeful deeds was left to suffer. 

Another truant slave, when brought home, was forced to 
'^ have one of his eyes punched out, as a penalty for his mis- 
conduct. 

Others who dared to use their God-given rights, were 
branded with hot irons or had their ears cropped. 

As for whipping, Mr. Paddy said his employer had so much 

of it to do that ho was forced to leave him. Mr. P. said 

those slaves were beaten and worked hard, and given poor 

food and poor clothes. Cattle seldom receive such treatment 

5 



60 LirS AND NABBATITS OT 

M did these saffering slaves. Oh; the horrors of Ameiioan 
Slavery I I wonder if the devil can fathom the institutioiL 

In my hoyish days^ in old Virginia^ there lived a very ricli 
man by the name of Garland^ in Hanover oountyi the place 
of my birth. He owned a large number of slaves. His 
overseer's name was King, who was an awful tyrant — a mon- 
ster among the negro race — whipping and driving both men 
and women, and cohabiting among the women, both married 
and single. 

So Mr. King flourished for a time ; but his cup. of iniquity 
got full; and one day while he was counting rails in the woods, 
two brother slaves, named Humphrey and Thornton, knocked 
him down with their axes and killed him. Just befoiie he 
expired, some little black thing or devil made his appearance 
and said, ^< If he is not dead don't kill him.'' They did, 
however, kill him and placed him on the road side. This tifr. 
King, they supposed, d^alt with the devil, and this was his 
black brother, who came to relieve him. But the slaves were 
too strong for the devil. 

For this deed the slaves were both swung off from one 
gallows. I saw them myself. 

This King would hang his coat up in the field, and tell the 
slaves he would be back shortly. They would work hard 
while looking at his coat, although he would sometimes be 
twelve miles distant 

Now I wish to speak of an awful occurrence that transpired^ 
on the Ohio river. It will be remembered by early settlers 
of Kentucky that one Ned Stone was a great negro trader. 
His cruel mind did not recognize it as being a horrid orime 
to separate husband and wife, parents and children, etc. 

This Ned Stone, after trading in slaves some fifteen yearn, 
making himself rich from the income, undertook to make a 
large trade in slaves. He bought a lot in Maryland, some in - 



WILLIAM J. ANDSRSOir. 51 

Virginia^ some in Kentucky^ etc., and stole some; as he usually 
did. He then proceeded down the river, on two flat boats, 
with his prizes — men, women and children — amounting to the 
Dumber of one hundred and seventy-five. He passed Cin- 
oinnati; Madison, Indiana; and Louisville, Kentucky. On 
down he went, treating his slaves in a very cruel manneri 
until he got opposite Home, Indiana. 

Now I will give the statement of the colored men them- 
selves, for I lived with them five years in slavery and hard 
servitude. Those colored men said they concocted a plan to 
murder all the whites, and then leave the boats and pass for 
free men in Indiana. There were about seventy-five colored 
men and only five whites, to wit : Ned Stone, a Mr. Davis, a 
Mr. Cobb, and two others. They murdered all the white men 
about nine o'clock. The colored men then cut their chains 
ofi^, put them on the white men and sunk them in the river, 
and landed in Indiana that same night. In a few days they 
were nearly all captured and taken over to Kentucky. The 
white men were dragged from the bottom of the river, and 
the irons taken off them and again put on the colored men. 
Five of the blacks, who were deemed most guilty, were hung; 
the rest were sold for a compensation down in Mississippi. 

It seemed that the judgments of God followed those poor, 
unfortunate creatures. 

Of my sufferings in this narrative I have only mentioned 
one thing out of a thousand, and of the other poor slaves, 
only one in ten thousand that have come under my own ob- 
servation. The reader will pardon my short narrative, as my 
recollection and time will not permit me to extend this little 
sketch at present. I say again, the half has not been told of 
my knowledge of Slavery in the United States. 

I must now pass over a few years of my life while enjoying 
comparative peace and some, at least, of the comforts of 



S2 



Lin AMD HABRATIVl OT 



freedom. The iooidentB duriog tliis period might oot prora 
of interest to the readers of thia narrative, aad I will not 
detain them with details of familiar scenes. Suffice it to say, 
my heart grew not thankless to Him who had been mj Pre- 
server, and the blessings of freedom nourished a love for all 
- things good. 




WILLIAM J. ANDKBSOir. 51 

Virginia; some in Kentucky^ etc.; and stole some; as he usually 
did. He then proceeded down the riyer; on two flat boatSy 
with his prizes — men; women and children — amounting to the 
Domber of one hundred and seventy-five. He passed Cin- 
cinnati; MadisoU; Indiana; and Louisville; Kentucky. On 
down he went; treating his slaves in a very cruel manner; 
until he got opposite Home; Indiana. 

Now I will give the statement of the colored men them- 
selves; for I lived with them five years in slavery and hard 
servitude. Those colored men said they concocted a plan to 
murder all the whiteS; and then leave the boats and pass for 
free men in Indiana. There were about seventy-five colored 
men and only five whiteS; to wit : Ned StonC; a Mr. Davis, a 
Mr. Cobb, and two others. They murdered all the white men 
about nine o'clock. The colored men then cut their chains 
off; put them on the white men and sunk them in the river; 
and landed in Indiana that same night. In a few days they 
were nearly all captured and taken over to Kentucky. The 
white men were dragged from the bottom of the river; and 
the irons taken off them and again put on the colored men. 
Five of the blacks; who were deemed most guilty, were hung; 
the rest were sold for a compensation down in Mississippi. 

It seemed that the judgments of God followed those poor, 
unfortunate creatures. 

Of my sufferings in this narrative I have only mentioned 
one thing out of a thousand, and of the other poor slaveS; 
only one in ten thousand that have come under my own ob- 
servation. The reader will pardon my short narrative; as my 
recollection and time will not permit me to extend this little 
sketch at present. I say agaiu; the half has not been told of 
my knowledge of Slavery in the United States. 

I must now pass over a few years of my life while enjoying 
comparative peace and somC; at least, of the comforts of 



44 Lin AND NABRATIYS OT 

t 

employment for labor and money. My trade now was in 
booki; to some extent, and very sueeessfnl toa 

For about i&fteen yean I Have preached and leotored, and 
I can but acknowledge the goodness <ii the Great Shepherd 
to-day — that He is with me still. As I pen tibese lines the 
day is breaking. O that God would cause the daylight of 
religion to break upon many souls. I feel that I am too much 
like Peter^ who chose to follow his Lord afar off. But still I 
can say, with the Psalmist; 

'^ The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want ; He maketh 
me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still 
waters. Yes, He restoreth my soul ; He leadeth me in the 
paths of righteousness, for His own name's sake. Yea, though 
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shidl 
fear no evil, for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me. Yes, thou anointeth my head with oil; thou 
spreadeth a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies. 
Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of 
my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord foreyer. I 
once was young, but now I am old, and I neyer have seen the 
righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. The earth 
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.'' 

Therefore I will trust in Him, as did Job, Peter, Paul and 
all the Apostles of old. O, like Jonah, I can almost say ^' I 
have cried to God out of the belly of hell," for some of these 
jails resemble a hell, and I have been in many of them in the 
United States ; for where the slaveholders did not put me in, 
these mean Northerners or Free State men, both black and 
white, would concoct plans to imprison me. But, bless the 
Lord, the old man Anderson still lives, while many of them 
are falling to rise no more. Yes, glory to God, I expect to 
shout Victory when the world is on fire. 

When I look back upon my past life I can see where I 



WILLIAM J. ANBERSOir. 46 

conid have lived a better man^ and it grieves me to think that 
I am not a better man than I am to-day ; but I glorify and 
bless Qod it is no worse with me than it is. YeS; I feel happy 
to-day that my faoe is Zionward; and that my treasures are 
laid up in heavt!ff. I can oheerfuily pray for my persecutors; 
and thereby do good for evil. Tes, my soul feels happy to- 
day. Often when I think what I have passed through, and 
how I now enjoy myself, I can truly sing — 

*'How happy are they 

Who their Sayioor obey, 
And have laid up th«tr treafiir«t abore. 

Tongue cannot express 

The sweet comfort and peace 
Of a soul in its earliest lore.** 

Or this— 

" God moves in a mysterious way, 

His wonders to perform ; 
- He plants His footsteps in the sea^ 

And rides upon the storm." 

Tes, bless the Lord, He has always stood by poor, unworthy 
me in all my distress. After I found that everybody appeared 
to be inclined to cheat me out of what I was worth, I con- 
cluded to travel over the Northern States and sell books. It 
would undoubtedly be astonishing to the reader to hear how 
many places I have preached and lectured — ^frequently to 
very large crowds. I have spoken some one thousand timea 
So I assure the reader I am not just seared up like a rabbit 



51 LIFB AMD If AEBATITX OT 

came near to me, venturing sarcastical remarks^ as, " Here 
comes the committee/' &c., &c. Oh, the horrible feelingi I 
was here obliged to endure no tongue can teU. In the midai 
of the agony produced by the thought of bondage being again 
thrown upon me, I was taunted, and my heart was wrong 
anew. They had taken all my money from me, as they 
thought, (about one hundred and twenty dollars in gold and 
silver.) 

As I passed^ Madison I begged the guard to let me send 
twenty dollars up to my poor wife, whom I knew was greatiy 
in need of it ; but he refused me four or five times. Another 
man came to watch me, and I named it to him. He said he 
would send the money to her if I had any about me. Well, 
as God would have it, in their search they did not find ail I 
had. I had fifty dollars in paper about me still, and oat pi 
this I gave him twenty to send to her ; but, sad to relate, this 
man has never sent it to her yet; at least she never has 
received it. I did not know what they might do with me 
when they should get me to GarroUton. Qrim forebodings 
haunted me. Dreadful deeds were no doubt being planned 
for my subjugation to the yoke of slavery. My heart was in 
my mouth, it seemed, all the way. I did not know what 
untruths they might swear to in order to convict me. I did *^ 
not know but that they might lynch me without judge or 
jury. 

• But we landed safely, and they conveyed me to the jail 
without molestation. I laid there some five days and nights, 
ana 1 assure you I did not sleep or eat much during that 
tiu:e, but prayed without ceasing, and I believe the Lord 
heard my prayers. 1 continued to pray and ask the Lord to 
h)esa mo and open the way for my deliverance. 
Mjr hwjer, Mr. Yanatta, came from 'Wu!^wti•^\v%^^'^\!^S^. 
another lawyer, of Carrollton, Mr. 'Windrow, qqhi^mi^a^ V!b% 



WILLIAM J. ANBERSOH. 47 

Poor Sam^ frightened into obedience^ would jield^ answer^ 
and then return to the clutches of his wrathful master. 

But^ long agO; Thornton went to his reward in the regions 
beloW; and we trust his faithful slave has exchanged this 
earthly existence for one of bliss^ singing praises unceasingly 
with the host above. 

In the family of another well known hard-hearted slave 
owner^ who whipped and drove his slaves like dogs or cattle^ 
for about sixty or seventy yearS; there lived a colored man by 
the name of Joe. 

One day the master was taken sick and nigh unto death. 
His preacher or spiritual adviser was sent for^ and while 
attending there the old master died. 

The preacher took it upon himself to give Joe some good 
advice on the occasion. 

*<Come here, my good boy/' said the pious man. Joe 
obeyed, when his reverence began : 

" Tour master is dead and gone to heaven. Your mistress 
is left a widow. Now, Joe, you must stay at home and take 
care of your mistress. Don't rob the smoke house, nor pig 
pen, nor hen roost, nor potato patch ; and when you die you 
will go to heaven, where your master is gone." 

"Whar?" asked Joe. 

" To heaven,'' replied the minister. 

" Aint God dar ?" 
: "Yes, Joe." 

'^ Don't He know ebery ting ?" 

« Yes, Joe." 

" And He gwine to let massa come dar after he been beatin' 
and whippin' me for fifty years ? If I go dar, and massa is 
dar, I'll put on my old hat and come straight out of dar.' I 
won't stay in no such a heaven, where they let such a man as 
massa stay dar." 



66 LirS AND NAKBATIYX OT* 

abovtf Madiflon, on the Indiana shore^ at the getting of ilM ^ 
Bon. 

Now, reader, I have given but a short sketch of thia awful 
transaction, and among all the scenes of this troublesome life, 
this seemed to be one of the hardest trials. It coat me all 
the money I could raise, and jeopardized my only piece of 
property, and has left me penniless and destitute. But still 
I hope the Lord will remember me in my affliction, as he did 
Job, although I have not been as fjEdthfol as he waa. I was 
treated as well as I could possibly expect, while in jail at 
Garrollton, and the trial was fair and impartial. 

In justice to myself I will here state that I have been 
accused by the friends of Mr. Elijah Anderson, and also by 
my personal enemies, of making statements during my con- 
finement (to ameliorate my condition) which led to his arrest. 
This is decidedly false. Even if I had been so wickedly 
disposed, I had no chanco whatever to do anything to injure 
him. True it is, that on the same day I was acquitted he 
was arrested on a boat in the river, and if I had been guilty 
of these statements, would I not have been detained aa a 
witness against him ? The reader can easily satisfy hia own 
mind as to my guilt or innocence. Mr. Elijah Anderson is 
not a relative of mine — merely an acquaintance. "^ 

I have been a great friend to colored strangers for yean, 
and because of my efforts in their behalf I have been aocused 
of helping off slaves. But what could I do — a poor colored 
man, of very limited power and liberty ? 

While I am penning these lines my heart is weeping and 

bleeding with sorrow ; all my worldly goods are gone, but I 

feel thankful to God it is no worse. Like David, I can saj 

that *'' In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard 

me and saved me out of my troubVea. T\x^ eAxV\kv&\2bj^ljwd'« 



WILLIAM J. ANDEKaON. 57 

and the fullness thereof If I am faithful He will restore to 
me four fold." 

I have given this sbort history of my life and trials, bat I 
k*Tc failed to espress my feelings; In justice to the slave- 
holders I vould state that I believe they gave me a fair trial, 
and although I vss sinfully and wrongfully arrested and 
detained, I will oontinue to pray for my persecutors, and do 
good for evil. 







r *^ 




AFPXNBIX. 60 



APPENDIX 



CHAPTEE L 

▲ SIMPLE PLAN FOR ABOLISHING SLATEBY IN THI UNITED STATES. 

My j^n is simply this : Let Congress set apart a territory 
0<nfiew1iere in the United States for the colored people, open 
to the choice of free and slaves to emigrate to, as they may 
tiiink proper. Then let Congreiss appropriate several millions 
of dollars in lands or otherwise^ to he paid to the holders of 
slaves for them, say a stipulated sum on each. Upon the 
pigment of this kt the slaveholders give the slaves their 
liberty. As most of the slave labor will be needed; let their 
present masters, or others, hire them as they choose, for a 
small compensation. At the same time let them have the 
advantages of education. By this arrangement the masters 
would get three times the work done, and on the whole the 
master and slave would prove a blessing to each other. 

1. Congress is able to donate to Eailroad Companies large 
tracts of land to aid them in the construction of their lines. 

2, The United States, with her glorious institutions, rich 
and plenteous soil, invites all nations to her friendly protec- 
tion ; while at the same time they discourage, or will not set 
apart a place for colored people, which surely ought to be 



60 LIFE AND NABBATiyS Ol* 

S8 did these suffering slayes. Oh, the horrors of Amerioan 
Bkyerf I I wonder if the devil can fathom the institation. 

In my hoyish days, in old Virginia, there lived a very rioli 
man hy the name of Garland, in Hanover ooiuDty, the plaoe 
of my hirth. He owned a large nnmher of slaves. His 
overseer's name was Eling, who was an awful tyrant — a mon- 
ster among the negro race — ^whipping and driving both men 
and women, and cohabiting among the women, both married 
and single. 

So Mr. King flourished for a time; but his cup of iniquity 
got full, and one day while he was counting rails in the woods, 
two brother slaves, named Humphrey and Thornton, knocked 
him down with their axes and killed him. Just before he 
expired, some little black thing or devil made his appearance 
and said, '' If he is not dead don't kill him.^' They did, 
however, kill him and placed him on the road side. This Mr. 
King, they supposed, d^alt with the devil, and this was his 
black brother, who came to relieve him. But the slaves were 
too strong for the devil. 

For this deed the slaves were both swung off from one 
gallows. I saw them myself. 

This King would hang his coat up in the field, and tell the 
slaves he would be back shortly. They would work hard 
while looking at his coat, although he would sometimes be 
twelve miles distant 

Now I wish to speak of an awful occurrence that transpired 
on the Ohio river. It will be remembered by early settlers 
of Kentucky that one Ned Stone was a great negro trader. 
His cruel mind did not recognize it as being a horrid crime 
to separate husband and wife, parents and children, eta 

This Ned Stone, after trading in slaves some fifteen years, 
making himself rich from the income, undertook to make a 
large toide in slaves. He bought a lot in Maiyland, some in - 



WILLIAM J. ANDERSON. 51 

Virginia, some in Kentncky, etc., and stole some, as he usually 
did. He then proceeded down the river, on two flat boats, 
with his prizes — men, women and children — amounting to the 
Dumber of one hundred and seventj-fiye. He passed Cin- 
dnnati; Madison, Indiana; and Louisville, Kentucky. On 
down he went, treating his slaves in a very cruel manner, 
until he got opposite Home, Indiana. 

Now I will give the statement of the colored men them- 
selves, for I lived with them five years in slavery and hard 
servitude. Those colored men said they concocted a plan to 
murder all the whites, and then leave the boats and pass for 
free men in Indiana. There were about seventy-five colored 
men and only five whites, to wit : Ned Stone, a Mr. Davis, a 
Mr. Cobb, and two others. They murdered all the white men 
about nine o'clock. The colored men then cut their chains 
off, put them on the white men and sunk them in the river, 
and landed in Indiana that same night. In a few days they 
were nearly all captured and taken over to Kentucky, The 
white men were dragged from the bottom of the river, and 
the irons taken off them and again put on the colored men. 
Five of the blacks, who were deemed most guilty, were hung; 
the rest were sold for a compensation down in Mississippi. 

It seemed that the judgments of God followed those poor, 
unfortunate creatures. 

Of my sufferings in this narrative I have only mentioned 
one thing out of a thousand, and of the other poor slaves, 
only one in ten thousand that have come under my own ob- 
servation. The reader will pardon my short narrative, as my 
recollection and time will not permit me to extend this little 
sketch at present. I say again, the half has not been told of 
my knowledge of Slavery in the United States. 

I must now pass over a few years of my life while enjoying 
comparative peace and some, at least, of the comforts of 



62 



Un AMD HAKHATITS OF 



freedom. The iooidents dnriog this period might uot prore 
of intercHt to the readers of this narrative, and I will not 
det&in them with detuls of lamiliar scenes. Suffice it to say, 
my heart grew not thankless to Him who had been my Pre- 
server, and the blessings of freedom nourished a love for all 
' things good. 




APPENDIX. 63 



CHAPTER III. 



SEBYICES OF COLORED HEN IN THE REYOLUTIONABT WAB. 

A great many of tbe whites say that colored people never 
done aDything in the wars of this country; therefore they 
wish us away. Some say let them go to Liberia, while others 
aay let them go to the Hocky Mountains. This is our native 
country; here we were born; here we have lived, and are 
acclimated ; and now I will show that we performed no unim- 
portant part in the Bevolutionary struggle. 



^•^ 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



On the fifth of March, 1851, a petition was presented to 
the Massachusetts Legislature, aaking an appropriation of 
$1,500 for erecting a monument to the memory of Crispus 
Attucks, the first martyr in the Boston Massacre of March 
5th, 1770. The matter was referred to the Committee on 
Military Affidrs, who granted a hearing of the petitioners, in 
whose behalf appeared Wendell Phillips, Esq., and Wm. 0. 
Nell, but finally submitted an adverse report on the ground 
that a boy, Christopher Snyder, was previously killed. Ad- 
mitting this fact, (which was the result of a very different 
scene from that in which Attucks fell,) does not offset the 



64 APPENDIX. 

claims of AttuckS; and those who made the 5th of March 
famous in our annals — the day which history selects as the 
dawn of the American Revolution. 



^ I ^ 



RHODE ISLAND. 

• 

The Hon. Tristam Burgess^ of Rhode Island; in a speech 
in Congress^ first month^ 1828^ said : ''At the commencement 
of the Revolutionary War, Rhode Island had a number of 
slaves. A regiment of them were enlisted into the Conti- 
nental service, and no braver men met the enemy in battle ; 
but not one of them was permitted to be a soldier until he 
had first been made a free man.'^ 

''In Rhode Island/^ says Governor Eustis, in his able 
speech against Slavery in Missouri, 12th of twelfth monih, 
1820, "the blacks formed an entire regiment, and they dis- 
charged their duty vnth zeal and fidelity. The gallant defence 
of Red Bank, in which the black regiment bore a part^ is 
among the proofs of their valor/^ In this contest, it will be 
recollected, four hundred men met and repulsed, after a ter- 
rible and sanguinary struggle, fifteen hundred Hessian troops, 
headed by Count Donop. The gloiy of the defence of Red 
Bank, which has been pronounced one of the most heroic 
actions of the War, belongs in reality to black men ; yet who 
now hears them spoken of in connection with it ? Among 
the traits which distinguished the black regiment, was deyo- 
tion to their officers. In the attack made upon the American 
lines, near Croton river, on the 18th of fifth month, 1781, 
Colonel Greene, the commander of the regiment, was cut 
down and mortally wounded ; but the sabres of the enemy 
only reached him through the bodies of his faithful guard of 
blacks, who hovered over him to protect him ; every one of 
whom was killed. 



APPENDIX 66 

CONNECTICUT. 

Hod. Calvin Goddard; of ConDecticut, states that in the 
little circle of his residence^ be was instrumental in securing, 
under the act of 1818^ the pensions of nineteen colored sol- 
diers. '^ I cannot/' he says, ^' refrain from mentioning one 
aged black man, Primus Babcock, who proudly presented to 
me an honorable discharge from service during the war, dated 
at the close of it, wholly in the handwriting of George Waab- 
ington. Nor can I forget the expression of his feelings when 
informed, after his discharge had been sent to the War De- 
partment, that it could not be returned. At his request it 
was written for, as he seemed inclined to spurn the pension 
and reclaim the discharge. '^ 

During the Revolutionary War, alid after the sufferings of 
a protracted contest had rendered it difficult to procure 
recruits for the army, the (Jolony of Connecticut adopted the 
expedient of forming a corps of colored soldiers. A battalion 
of blacks was soon enlisted, and throughout the war conducted 
themselves with fidelity and efficiency. ' The late General 
Humphreys, then a captain, commanded a company of this 
corps. It is said that some objections were made, on the part 
of officers, to accepting the command of the colored troops. 
In this exigency. Captain Humphreys, who was attached to 
the family of General Washington, volunteered his services. 

The following extract, furnished by t])harles Lenox Remond, 
from the pay rolls of the second company, fourth regiment of 
the Connecticut line of the revolutionary army, may rescue 
many gallant names from oblivion : 

Captain, David Humphbets. 
Privates, 

Jack Arabus, Jo Otis, Prince Johnson, 

John Cleveland; James Dinah, Alexander Judd, 

6* 



66 



APPINPIX. 



Phineas Strong, 
Ned Fields, 
Isaao HigginS; 
Lewis Martin, 
Csesar Chapman, 
Brister Baker, 
CaDsar Bagdon, 
Gameliel Terry, 
Lent Munson, 
Heman Rogers, 
Job Caesar, 
John Kogers, 
John Ball, 
John McLean, 
Jesse Vose, 
Daniel Bradley, 
Sharp Camp, 



Peter Mix, 
Philo Freeman, 
Hector Williams, 
Juba Freeman, 
Cato Eobinson, 
Prince George, 
Prince Crosbee, 
Shubael Johnson, 
Tim Caesar, 
Jack Little, 
Bill Sowers, 
Dick Violet, 
Nei Freedom, 
Ezekiel Tupham, 
Tom Freeman, 
Congo Zado, 



Pomp Liberty, 
Cuff Liberty, 
Pomp Cyrus, 
Harry Williams, 
Sharp Rogers, 
Solomon Sowtice, 
Peter Freeman, 
Cato Wilbrow, 
Cuff Freeman, 
Juba Dyer, 
Andrew Jack, 
Peter Morando, 
Peter Lion, 
Sampson Cuff, 
Dick Freedom, 
Pomp McCuff. 



Peter Gibbs, 

The names of the two brave men of color who fell, with 
Ledyard, at the storming of Fort Griswold, were Sambo 
Latham and Jordan Freeman. 

Ebenezer Hills died at Vienna, N. Y., August, 1849, aged 
110. He was born a slave in Stonington, Conn., and became 
free when twenty-eight years of age/ He served through iho 
Revolutionary War, and was at the battles of Saratoga and 
Stillwater, and was present at the siirrender of Burgoyne. 

The colored inhabitants of Connecticut assembled in Con- 
vention in 1849, to devise means for their elective franchise, 
which is yet denied to seven thousand of their number. A 
gentleman present reports the following extract : — " A young 
man, Mr. West, of Bridgeport, spoke with a great deal of 
energy, and with a clear and pleasant tone of voice, which 
many a lawyer, statesman or clergyman might covet, nobly 
vindicating the rights of the brethren. He said that the 



APPENDIX. 67 

bones <tf the colored man had bleached on ereatj battle-field 
irhere American valor had contended for national indepen- 
dence. Side by side with the white man, the black man 
stood and struggled to the last for the inheritance which the 
white men now enjoy but deny to us. His father was a 
soldier-slave, and his master said to him, when the liberty of 
the country was achieved, ' Stephen, we will do something 
for you.^ But what have they ever done for Stephen, or for 
Stephen's posterity?" 



i^"*^ 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

The Rev. Dr. Harris, of Portsmouth, N. H., a revolution* 
ary veteran, stated in a speech at Francestown, N. H., some 
years ago, that on one occasion the regiment to which he was 
attached was commanded to defend an important position 
which the enemy thrice assailed, and from which they were 
as ofben repulsed. ^^ There was," said the venerable speaker^ 
'' a regiment of blacks in the same situation — a regiment of 
negroes fighting for our liberty and independence, not a white 
man among them but the officers — in the same dangerous and 
responsible position. Had they been unfaithful, or given 
away before the enemy, all would have been lost. Three 
times in succession were they attacked with most desperate 
fury by well-disciplined and veteran troops, and three times 
did they successfully repel the assault, and thus preserve an 
army. They fought thus through the war. They were brave 
and hardy troops. 



^^^ 



V VERMONT. 

August 16th, 1777, the Green Mountain Boys, aided by 
troops from New Hampshire, and some few from Berkshire 



68 APPCNmx. 

county, Massachusetts, under the command of Gen. Starlas, 
captured the left wing of the British Army near Bennington. 
Not haying rope enough to tie all the prisoners, Gen. Starks 
called for more. Mrs. Hohinson^ wife of Hon. Moses Robin- 
son, told the General that she would take down the last bed- 
stead in the house and present him with the rope, on condition 
that he would permit her negro man to harness up an old 
mare, and hitch the rope to the whiffletree, mount the mare, 
and conduct the prisoners out of town. The General accepted 
the proposition, and thus was the left wing of the British 
army marched out of town. 

Gen. Schuyler writes from Saratoga, July 23, 1777, to the 
President of Massachusetts Bay, ** That of the few Conti- 
nental troops we have had to the Northward, one-third part 
is composed of men too far advanced in' years for field servioe, 
of boys, or rather children, and, mortifying barely to mention, 
of negroes." 

The General also addressed a similar letter to John Han- 
cock, and again to the Provincial Congress, that the foregoing 
were facts which were altogether uncontrovertible. 



NEW YORK. 

I am indebted to Rev. Theodore Parker, of Boston, for the 
following Historical Sketch of New York Soldiery: 

'^ Not long ago, while the excavations for the vaults of the 
great retail dry goods store of New York were going on in 
1851, a gentleman from Boston noticed a large quantity of 
human bones thrown up by the workmen. Everybody knows 
the African countenance : the skulls also bore unmistakable 
marks of the race they belonged to. They were shoveled up 
with the earth in which they had rested, carted o£f and 



APPENDIX. 69 

emptied into the sea to fill up a ohasm and make the founda- 
tion of a warehouse. 

" On inquiry, the /Bostonian learned that these were the 
Ixmes of colored American soldiers who fell in the disastrous 
battles of Long Island, in 1776, and of such as died of the 
wounds then received. At that day, as at this, spite of the 
declaration that 'all men are created equal,' the prejudice 
against the colored man was intensely strong. The black and 
white had fought against the same enemy, under the same 
banner, contending for the same ' inalienable right * to life> 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The same shot, with 
promiscuous slaughter, had mowed down Africans and Amer- 
icans. But in the grave they must be divided. On the 
battle field the blacks and whites had mixed their bravery 
and their blood, but their ashes must not mingle in the bosom 
of their common mother. The white Saxon, exclusive and 
haughty even in his burial, must have his place of rest 
proudly apart &om the grave of the African he had once 
enslaved.^' 



^■•^ 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

The late James Forten, of Philadelphia, well known as a 
colored man of wealtb, intelligence and philanthropy, relates 
£^ that he remembered well when Lord Cornwallis was over- 
running the South, when thick gloom clouded the prospect. 
Then Washington hastily gathered what forces he was able^ 
and hurried to oppose him. And I remember,'' said he, ''for 
I saw them, when the regiments from Rhode Island, Connec-* 
ticut and Massachusetts marched through Philadelphia, that 
one or two companies of colored men were attached to each. 
The vessels of war of that period were all, to a greater or less 



70 APPENDIX. 

extent, manned with colored men. On board the 'Rojal 
Louis/ of twenty-six guns, commanded by Captain Stephen 
Decatur, senior, there were twenty colored seanien. I 
myself enlisted in this vessel, and on the second oroise W£ 
taken prisoner, and shortly after was confined on board tlw 
old Jersey Prison Ship, where I remained a prisoner for seTen 
months. The Alliance, of thirty-six guns, commanded bj 
Commodore Barry ; the Trumbull, of thirty-two guns, com- 
manded by Captain Nicholson ; and the ships South Carolina, 
Confederacy, and EAndolph, each were manned in part hj 
colored men." 



in 



^•^ 



1 

5 



I 



■■^l 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



Even in the Slaveholding States did colored people mag- 
nanimously '^ brave the battle field,^' developing a heroiiB 
indeed as though their own liberty was to be a recompeoMi 
But we found no proof that the boasted chivalry of the "Pi- 
metto State extended the boon demanded by simple justioa 

The celebrated Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, in 
his speech on the Missouri question, and in defiance of the I 
Slave representation of the South, made the foUowing I 
admission : 

'^ They (the colored people) were, in numerous instanca} 
the pioneers, and, in all, the laborers of our armies. To their 
hands were owing the greatest part of the fortifications raised 
for the protection of the country. Fort Moultrie gave, at aa 
early period of the inexperience and untried, v&lor of our 
citizens, immortality to the American arms.'^ 



APPENDIX. 71 

VIRGINIA. 

The Last of Braddock's Defeat. — ^Tbe Lancaster (O.) 
QaiettO; Febnuurj, 1849; announces the death; at that place^ 
of Samuel Jenkins^ a colored man^ aged 115 years. He was 
B slave of Captain Breadwater^ in Fairfax county, Virginia, 
in 1771; and participated in the memorable campaign of 
G^n. Braddock. 

Testimony of Hon. Robert C. Winthrop. — From his 
speech in Congress, on the Imprisonment of Colored Seamen^ 
September; 1850 : 

*^ I have an impression; however; that not indeed in these 
piping times of peace, but in the time of war; when quite a 
boy, I have seen black soldiers enlisted; who did faithful and 
excdlent service. But however it may have been in the 
Northern States, I can tell the Senator what happened in the 
Southern States at this period. I believe that I shall be 
borne out in saying that no regiments which were organized 
under the direction of General Jackson himself; after a most 
glorious appea 1 to the patriotism and honor of the people of 
oolor of that region, and which; after they came out of the 
war, received the thanks of Gen. JacksoU; in a proclamation 
which has been thought worthy of being inscribed on the 
pages of history.'^ 



A 



-y^ 



m^^ 



LOUISIANA. 



In 1814; when New Orleans was in danger; and the proud 
and criminal distinctions of caste were again demolished by 
one of those emergencies in which nature puts to silence for 
the moment the base partialities of art; the free colored people 
were called into the field in common with the whiteS; and 



i 



72 APPENDIX. 2 

the importaDce of their services was thus acknowledged by 
GcDcral Jackson : 

" Head Quabtebs, Seventh Military Distriot, ) ? 

MOBILE; September 21, 1814, ) 

*' To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louuiana : 

^^ Through a mistaken policy^ you have heretofore been 
deprived of a participation in the glorious struggle for 
national rights^ in which our country is engaged. This no 
longer shall exist. 

''As Sons of Freedom; you are now called upon to defend 
our most inestimable blessings. As Americans, your country 
looks with confidence to her adopted children^ for a valoroiis 
support; as a faithful return for the advantages enjoyed under 
her mild and equitable government. As fathers; husbands^ 
and brothers, you are summoned to rally around the standard 
of the eaglC; to defend all which is dear in existence. 

" Your country; although calling for your assistance, does 
not wish you to engage in her cause without remunerating 
you for the services rendered Your intelligent minds are 
not to be led away by false representations — ^your love of 
honor would cause you to despise the man who should attempt 
to deceive you. With the sincerity of a soldier; and in the 
language of truth; I address you. 

'^ To every noble hearted free man of color; volunteering to 
serve during the present contest with Great Britain, and no 
longer; there will be paid the same bounty in money and 
lands now received by the white soldiers of the United States, 
namely : one hundred and twenty dollars in money and one 
hundred and sixty acres of land. The non-commissioned 
officers and privates will also' be entitled to the same monthly 
pay, daily rations and clothes furnished to any American 
soldier. 

'< On enrolling yourselves in companies the Major Oeneral 



'4-". ■ • 



APPENDIX, ' 78 

eommandiiig will select officers; for your govemment, from 
your wbite fellow citizens. Your non-commissioned officers 
will be appointed from among yourselves. 

'' Due regard will be paid to tbe feelings of freemen and 
soldiera You will not; by being associated witb wbite men 
in tbe same corps^ be exposed to improper comparisons or 
unjust sarcasm. As a distinct^ independent battalion or 
regiment; pursuing tbe patb of glory, you will, undivided, 
receive tbe applause and gratitude of your countrymen. 

" To assure you of tbe sincerity of my intentions, and my 
anxiety to engage your invaluable services to our country, I 
bave communicated my wisbes to tbe Governor of Louisiana, 
11^ is fully informed as to tbe manner of enrollments, and 
'win give you every information on tbe subject of tbis address. 

"Andrew Jackson, 

Major General Commanding.'^ 



«^^ 



Joseph Davis, a Colored Soldier. — Tbere lives an old 
man in Madison, Ind., wbo was in tbe battle of yew Orleans. 
He says a colored man told Jackson bow to pi i tbe cotton 
bales for protection, and says tbere were 3,000 c. ^red soldiers 
in tbe battle, and tbey fougbt like beroes. Wh>n tbe armies 
met, it was like beaven and eartb bad come togetber. I 
jumped over tbe fort, and took up a rifle and a gold watcb, 
and jumped back again, wbile tbe balls were flying like bail- 
stone& He was divested of all bis apparel, nearly, but no 
blood was drawn by tbis operation, and be still lives to tell 
tbe tale tbat tbe colored men bave labored for tbis country. 

Theodore Parker says tbe first cannon tbe United 
States ever bad, a colored man stole from tbe Britisb line& 

After tbe wars of '76, Jobn Bandolpb presented a flag^ 
7 



74 ' APPEITDIX. 

with his insoription on it to a company of colored men called 
the "Bucks of America." 

Capt FoBD^ of Madison^ Ind.^ says three of the best men 
he had in his company in Mexico were colored men^ who 
4fere obedient and did good service. 

The half will never be told of what the colored men have 
done^ and how they have bled and died for this country ; on 
nearly every battle field; on sea and land^ and on the ice^ has 
the black man spilt his blood freely. But; now the battle is 
over and the victory is won, what do we receive in return ? 
Here is what we get : knocked down^ shot down^ branded^ 
burned; run down by hounds, starved, and worked witho^ 
compensation, sold from our wives and children for gold. ^, 
when I dwell or speak on these subjects in my lectures, some 
think I am cras^ or filled with wine ; so they said of the 
Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost When I talk about 
what I have been through, it makes me tremble and quake 
like the jailor did before Peter. 

If it was not for Slavery, what a great and good country we 
should have in the South. Oh I if the Christians all would 
act against Slavery, it could not stand ; but in the South the 
preacher sells the preacher from his family and friends for 
gold ; the sister beats the sister over the head with a stick or 
anything she gets her hands on ; but I hope the time will 
come when all the Christian Church, North and South, will 
pray and act against Slavery, till liberty and freedom shall 
cover over our land, as the waters do the great deep, and the 
master and slave shall worship God together. 

I have added some poetry suitable to the slave-selling 
Christians, " Come Saints and Sinners ;" also, one suitable to 
the slave's feelings when a tyrant master dies, and tliey collect 
to rejoice together, *^Come all my brethren,*' &c.; one, my 



; APPENDIX. 76 

feelingB when rnutiiDg away from the South, "Away to 
Canada," &c, and one my feelings when aold South, " Fare- 
well ye children of the Lord," &c. Thia poetry is jnst snit- 
kble to these oases. 




SONGS OF FREEDOM. 



Away to Canada. 

I am on my way to Canada, 

The free and bappy land. 
The direful effects of slavery 

I can no longer stand. 
My soul is vexed within me sO; 

To think that I'm a slave ; 
I'm now resolved to strike the blow, 

For freedom or the grave. 
! righteous Father, wilt thou not pity me. 
And aid me on to Canada, where colored men are free? 

I've served my master all my days 

Without a dime's reward, 
And now I'm forced to run away 

To flee the lash abhorred. 
The hounds are baying on my track, 

The master 's just behind, 
Kesolved that he will bring me back. 
Before I cross the line. 
Oh ! old master, don't you come after me, 
I'm doing all I can to reach the land of liberty. 

I heard old master pray last night, 

1 heard him pray for me. 
That God would come, and in his might. 

From Satan set me free. 

7* 



78 

As I from Satan would escape^ 
And flee tlie wrath to come ; 
If there 's a fiend in human shape-;. 
Old master must be one. 
Oh ! old master, why do you pray for me ? 
I'm doing all I can to reach the land of liberty. 

Ohio's not the place for me, 

^or I was much surprised 
To see so many of her sons 

In garments of disguise. 
Her name has gone out through the land. 

Free labor, soil, and men. 
But slaves had better far be hurled 

Into the lion's den. 
Fare ye well, Ohio, I am not safe in thee ; 
I'll travel on to Canada, where colored men are free. 



The Slave's Song when the Tyrant Master die& 

Come all my brethren and let us take a rest. 

While the moon shines so bright and so clear ; 
Old master has died, and left us all at last. 
He has gone to the bar to appear. 
Chorus : — Brethren, hang up the shovel and the hoe, 

Take down the fiddle and the bow ; 
Old master 's gone to the slaveholder's rest. 
He 's gone where they all ought to go. 

He will no more trample on the neck of the slave. 

His back he'll no longer score;' 
Old master is dead and he'« laying in his grave, 
• -He is gone where they all' ought' to go. 
Chorus :— Brethren, &c. " 



79 

I heard the old doctcnr tty, the other nighty 
As he passed by the dining room door, 
*' Perhaps the old gentleman may live thro' the night. 
But I think he will die about four," 
Chorus : — Brethren, &c. 

Then old mistress sent me, at the peril of my life, 
For the pastorate come down to pray; 
'^ For," says she, " old master is now abont to die ;" 
And I says, " Gh)d speed him on his way." 
Chorus : — Brethren, &o. 

At four o'clock this morning the family were called 

Around the old man's dying bed, 
And I tell you now I laughed to myself when I was told 

That the old man's spirit had fled. 
Chorus : — Brethren, &c. 

The children all did grieve, and so did I pretend ; 

The old mistress nearly went mad 3 
And the old parson groaned so that the heavens fairly rend, 

But I tell you now I felt mighty glad. 
Chorus : — Brethren, &c. 



Composed by a Methodist Minister. 

Come saints and sinners, hear me tell 
How pious priest whipped Jack and Nell, 
And women buy and children sell. 
And preach all sinners down to hell. 

And sing of heavenly union. 

They'll church you if you sip a dram. 
And damn you if -you st^l a lamb. 
Yet, rob old Fattny, DbllAikd Siaiii, - ' 
Of human rights, and brt^d^ astdham^^ ' 
Kidiiiq>i>eib' heav'enly union. 



80 

They loadly preach of. Ghiut's reward, 
And bind his image with a cord. 
And score and swing the lash abhorred^ 
And sell their brother in the Lord^ 

And hand-ca£F heavenly union. 

They'll raise tobacco^ corn and rye^ 
And drivC; and thieyc; andjcheat and lie^ 
And lay up treasures in the sky^ . 
By making switch and cow-skin fly, 

In hope of heavenly union. 

They'll crack old Tommy on the skull; 
And preach and roar like a Russian bull; 
Or braying horsC; of mischief full, 
Then seize old Jacob by the wool, 

And pull for heavenly union. 

Love not the world; the preacher said; 
He winked his eye and shook his head; 
He seized on Tom, and Dick; and Ned; 
Cut short their meat; and clotheS; and bread; 
In hope of heavenly union. 

Another preacher; WinanS; spoke 
Of one whose heart for sinners brokC; 
He tied old Nannie to an oak; 
He drew the blood at every stroke, 

In hope of heavenly union. 



The Poor Slave's own Song. 

Farewell, ye children of the Lord, 
To you I am bound in the cords of love. 
We are torn away to Georgia; 
Come and go along with me. 

Go and sound the jubilee, &o. 



81 

To see the wives and husbands part. 
The children scream, they grieve my heart; 
We are sold to Louisiana; 
Come und go along with me. 

Go and sound; &c. 

Oh ! Lord; when shall slavery ceasO; 
And these poor souls enjoy their peace? 
Lord; break the slavish power ! 
Come; go along with me. 

Clo an4 sound; &c. 

Oh ! Lord; we are going to a distant land; 
To be starved and worked both night and day ; 
0; may the Lord go with us ; 
Come and go aloog with me. 

Gro and sound; &c. 



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