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JS'ARRATIVE 
'ESCAPE  FROM  SLAVERY. 


PRICE  TWO  SHILLINGS 


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ROPER'S 

ESCAPE  FKOM  SLAVERY. 


A  NAEEATIVE 

OP   THE 

ADVENTURES  AND  ESCAPE 

OP 

MOSES  ROPER, 

FROM 

AMERICAN  SLAVERY. 


"  By  our  sufferings,  since  ye  brought  us 
To  the  man- degrading  mart ; 

All  sustained  by  patience,  taught  us 
Only  by  a  broken  heart." 


TWENTY-EIGHTH  THOUSAND. 


LONDON: 
PUBLISHED  BY  HARYEY  AXD  DARTON, 

5*,    GRACECHURCH-STREET. 

1844. 


y/h  ff^k^^1 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  determination  of  laying  this  little  narra- 
tive before  the  public,  did  not  arise  from  any 
desire  to  make  myself  conspicuous,  but  with 
the  view  of  exposing  the  cruel  system  of  sla- 
very as  will  here  be  laid  before  my  readers  ; 
from  the  urgent  calls  of  nearly  all  the  friends 
to  whom  I  had  related  any  part  of  my  story, 
and  also  from  the  recommendation  of  anti- 
slavery  meetings,  which  I  have  attended, 
through  the  suggestion  of  many  warm  friends 
of  the  cause  of  the  oppressed. 

The  general  narrative,  I  am  aware,  may 
seem  to  many  of  my  readers,  and  especially  to 
those  who  have  not  been  before  put  in  posses- 
sion of  the  actual  features  of  this  accursed  sys- 
tem, somewhat  at  variance  with  the  dictates 
of  humanity.  But  the  facts  related  here  do 
not  come  before  the  reader  unsubstantiated  by 
collateral  evidence,  nor  highly  coloured  to 
the  disadvantage  of  our  cruel  task  masters. 

My  readers  may  be  put  in  possession  of 
facts  respecting  this  system  which  equal  in 
cruelty  my  own  narrative,  on  an  authority 
which  may   be  invested    with    the  greatest 

A3 


ri.  INTRODUCTION. 

satisfaction.  Besides  which,  this  little  book 
will  not  be  confined  to  a  small  circle  of  my 
own  friends  in  London,  or  even  in  England. 
The  slave-holder,  the  colonizationist.  and  even 
Mr.  Gooch  himself,  will  be  able  to  ol^a:^  this 
document,  and  be  at  *  to  draw  from  it 

whatever  they  are  honestly  able,  in  order  to 
set  me  down  as  the  tool  of  a  party.  Yea, 
i  triend  Brechearidge,  a  gentleman  known 
at  Glrsgow,  will  be  able  to  possess  this,  and 
to  draw  from  it  all  the  forcible  arguments  on 
his  own  side,  which  in  his  wisdom,  honesty, 
and  candour,  he  may  be  able  to  adduce. 

The  earnest  wish  to  lay  this  narrative  be- 
fore my  friends  as  an  impartial  statement  of 
,  has  led  me  to  develope  some  part  of  my 
conduct,  which  I  now  deeply  deplore.  The 
ignorance  in  which  the  poor  slaves  are  kept 
by  their  masters,  preclude  almost  the  po- 
lity of  their  being  alive  to  any  moral  duties. 

With  these  remarks,  I  leave  the  statement 
before  the  public.  May  this  little  volume  be 
the  instrument  of  opening  the  eyes  of  the  ig- 
norant of  the  system— of  convincing  the  wick- 
ed, cruel,  and  hardened  slave-holder — and  of 
befriending  generally  the  cause  of  oppressed 
humanity. 

Moses  Roper. 
London. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth-place  of  the  Author.— The  first  time  he 
was  sold  from  his  mother. — He  passes  through 
several  hands 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Author  is  sold  to  Mr.  J.  Gooch. — The  cruel 
treatment  he  both  received  and  witnessed  on 
that  Estate. — Repeated  attempts  at  running 
away. — Escapes  to  his  mother  after  being  ab- 
sent from  her  about  ten  years. — Meets  with 
his  sister,  whom  he  had  never  seen  before,  on 
the  road,  who  conducted  him  to  his  Mother  •  •     16 

CHAPTER  III. 

An  Account  of  the  Author's  meeting  with  his 
Mother,  who  did  not  know  him ;  but  was  with 
her  a  very  short  time  before  he  was  taken  by 
armed  men,  and  imprisoned  for  thirty-one 
days,  and  then  taken  back  to  his  Master. ...     40 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Author  is  flogged  and  punished  in  various 
ways,  but  still  perseveres  in  his  attempts  to 
escape,  till  he  was  sold  to  Mr.  "Wilson. .....     52 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Author  was  not  long  with  Mr.  "Wilson,  who 
was  a  Negro  trader,  before  he  was  exchanged 
to  Mr.  Rowland,  who  was  also  a  Trader,  for 


riii.  CONTENTS. 

another  slave  and  after  being  with  him  for 
about  a  year,  was  sold  to  Mr.  D.  Goodly,  who 
soon  exchanged  him  again  to  Mr.  Louis. ...      CD 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Travels  with  Mr.  Louis  to  Pendleton  Indian 
Springs,  from  thence  to  Columbus,  where  he 
was  sold  at  Auction  to  Mr.  Beveridge. — His 
Travels  and  History  with  Mr.  B. — Is  sold 
again  to  Mr.  Register  74 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Author's  last  attempt  and  final  escape  from 
Mariannato  Savannah. — From  thence  to  New 
York. — Quarantined  at  Statten  Island  ....     81 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

His  arrival  in  New  York. — On  to  Poughkeepsie. 
— Albany. — Rogester.— Vermont. — Boston, 
and  returned  from  thence  to  New  York,  and 
embarked  for  England 102 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Author  arrives  at  Liverpool,  November  29th, 
1835. — Makes  his  way  for  London Ill 

Lines  written  on  the  occasion  of  the  Escape  to 
England  of  Mr.  Moses  Roper,  late  an  Ameri- 
can Slave,  now  a  Freeman  of  Great  Britain, 
by  Miss  Tuckey 119 

Population  of  the  United  States. — Number  of 
Slaves 121 


ESCAPE, 

&c. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth-place  of  the  Author. — The  first  time  he  \ras 
sold  from  his  Mother,  and  passed  through  several 
other  hands. 

I  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  in  Caswell 
County,  I  am  not  able  to  tell  in  what  month 
or  year.  What  I  shall  now  relate,  is,  what 
was  told  me  by  my  mother  and  grandmother. 
A  few  months  before  I  was  born,  my  father 
married  my  mother's  young  mistress.  As 
soon  as  my  father's  wife  heard  of  my  birth, 
she  sent  one  of  my  mother's  sisters  to  see 


10  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

whether  I  was  white  or  black,  and  when  my 
aunt  had  seen  me,  she  returned  back  as  soon 
as  she  could,  and  told  her  mistress  that  I  was 
white,  and  resembled  Mr.  Roper  very  nuch. 
Mr.  Roper's  wife  not  being  pleased  with  this 
report,  she  got  a  large  club -stick  and  knife, 
and  hastened  to  the  place  in  which  my  mother 
was  confined.  She  went  into  my  mother's 
room  with  a  full  intention  to  murder  me  with 
her  knife  and  club,  but  as  she  was  going  to 
stick  the  knife  into  me,  my  grandmother 
happening  to  come  in,  caught  the  knife  and 
saved  my  life.  But  as  well  as  I  can  recollect 
from  what  my  mother  told  me,  my  father  sold 
her  and  myself,  soon  after  her  confinement. 
I  cannot  recollect  anything  that  is  worth  no- 
tice till  I  was  six  or  seven  years  of  age.  My 
mother  being  half  white,  and  my  father  a 
white  man,  I  was  at  that  time  very  white. 
Soon  after  I  was  six  or  seven  years  of  age, 
my  mother's  old  master  died,  that  is,  my  fa- 
ther's wife's  father.     All  his  slaves  had  to  be 


FROM  SLAVERY.  11 

divided  among  the  children.*  I  have  men- 
tioned before  of  my  father  disposing  of  me,  I 
am  not  sure  whether  he  exchanged  me  and 
my  mother  for  another  slave  or  not,  but  think 
it  very  likely  he  did  exchange  me  with  one  of 
his  wife's  brothers  or  sisters,  because  I  re- 
member when  my  mother's  old  master  died, 
I  was  living  with  my  father's  wife's  brother- 
in-law,  whose  name  was  Mr.  Durham.  My 
mother  was  drawn  with  the  other  slaves. 

The  way  they  divide  their  slaves  is  this : 
they  write  the  names  of  different  slaves  on  a 
small  piece  of  paper,  and  put  it  into  a  box, 
and  let  them  all  draw.  I  think  that  Mr. 
Durham  drew  my  mother,  and  Mr.  Fowler 
drew  me,  so  we  were  separated  a  considerable 
distance,  I  cannot  say  how  far.  My  resem- 
bling my  father  so  much,  and  being  whiter 

*  Slaves  are  usually  a  part  of  the  marriage  por- 
tion, but  lent  rather  than  given,  to  be  returned  to 
the  estate  at  the  decease  of  the  father,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  divided  equally  among  his  children. 


ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

than  the  other  slaves,  caused  me  to  be  soon 
sold  to  what  they  call  a  negro  trader,  who 
took  me  to  the  Southern  States  of  America 
several  hundred  miles  from  my  mother.  As 
well  as  I  can  recollect  I  was  then  about  6ix 
years  old.  The  trader,  Mr.  Mitchell,  after 
travelling  several  hundred  miles,  and  selling  a 
good  many  of  his  slaves,  found  he  could  not 
sell  me  very  well,  (as  I  was  so  much  whiter 
than  other  slaves  were)  for  he  had  been  trying 
several  months— left  me  with  a  Mr.  Sneed, 
who  kept  a  large  boarding-house,  who  took 
me  to  wait  at  table,  and  sell  me  if  he  could. 
I  think  I  stayed  with  Mr.  Sneed  about  a  year, 
but  he  could  not  sell  me.  When  Mr.  Mitch- 
ell had  sold  his  slaves,  he  went  to  the  north, 
and  brought  up  another  drove,  and  returned 
to  the  south  with  them,  and  sent  his  son-in- 
law  into  Washington,  in  Georgia,  after  me,  so 
he  came  and  took  me  from  Mr.  Sneed,  and 
met  his  father-in-law  with  me,  in  a  town  call- 
ed Lancaster,  with  his  drove  of  slaves.     We 


FROM  SLAVERY.  13 

stayed  in  Lancaster  a  week,  because  it  was 
court  week,  and  there  were  a  great  many  peo- 
ple there,  and  it  was  a  good  opportunity  for 
selling  the  slaves,  and  there  he  was  enabled  to 
sell  me  to  a  gentleman,  Dr.  Jones,  who  was 
both  a  Doctor  and  a  Cotton  Planter.  He 
took  me  into  his  shop  to  beat  up  and  mix  me- 
dicines, which  was  not  a  very  hard  employ- 
ment, but  I  did  not  keep  it  long,  as  the  Doc- 
tor soon  sent  me  to  his  cotton  plantation,  that 
I  might  be  burnt  darker  by  the  sun.  He  sent 
me  to  be  with  a  tailor  to  learn  the  trade,  but 
the  journeymen  being  white  men,  Mr.  Bryant, 
the  tailor,  did  not  let  me  work  in  the  shop  ; 
I  cannot  say  whether  it  was  the  prejudice  of 
bis  men  in  not  wanting  me  to  sit  in  the  shop 
with  me,  or  whether  Mr.  Bryant  wanted  to 
keep  me  about  the  house  to  do  the  domes- 
tic work,  instead  of  teaching  me  the  trade. 
After  several  months,  my  master  came  to 
t  know  how  I  got  on  with  the  trade  :  I  am  not 
able  to  tell  Mr.  Bryant's  answer,  but  it  was 
B 


14  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

either  that  I  could  not  learn,  or  that  his  jour- 
neymen were  unwilling  that  I  should  sit  in 
the  shop  with  them.  I  was  only  once  in  the 
shop  all  the  time  I  was  there,  and  them  only 
for  an  hour  or  two,  before  his  wife  called  me 
out  to  do  some  other  work.  So  my  master 
took  me  home,  and  as  he  was  going  to  send 
a  load  of  cotton  to  Camden,  about  forty  miles 
distance,  he  sent  me  with  the  bales  of  cotton 
to  be  sold  with  it,  where  I  was  sold  to  a 
gentleman,  named  Allen,  but  Mr.  Allen  soon 
exchanged  me  for  a  female  slave  to  please 
his  wife.  The  traders  who  bought  me,  were 
named  Cooper  and  Lindsey,  who  took  me 
for  sale>  but  could  not  sell  me,  people  ob- 
jecting to  my  being  rather  white.  They 
then  took  me  to  the  city  of  Fayetteville, 
North  Carolina,  where  he  swopt  me  for  a  boy, 
that  was  blacker  than  me,  to  Mr.  Smith, 
who  lived  several  miles  off. 

I  was  with  Mr.  Smith  nearly  a  year.     I 
arrived  at  the  first  knowledge  of  my   age 


FROM  SLAVERY.  15 

when  I  lived  with  him.  I  was  then  between 
twelve  and  thirteen  years  old,  it  was  when 
President  Jackson  was  elected  the  first  time, 
and  he  has  been  President  eight  years,  so  I 
must  be  nearly  twenty  one  years  of  age.  At 
this  time  I  was  quite  a  small  boy,  and  was 
sold  to  Mr.  Hodge,  a  negro  trader.  Here  I 
began  to  enter  into  hardships. 


16  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Author's  being  sold  to  Mr.  J.  Gooch.— The 
cruel  treatment  he  both  received  and  witnessed 
while  on  his  estate. — Repeated  attempts  at  run- 
ning away. — Escapes  to  his  mother  after  being 
absent  from  her  about  ten  years. — Meets  with  his 
sister,  whom  he  had  never  seen  before,  on  the 
road,  who  conducted  him  to  his  mother. 

After  travelling  several  hundred  miles,  Mr. 
Hodge  sold  me  to  Mr.  Gooch,  the  Cotton 
Planter,  Cashaw  County,  South  Carolina,  he 
purchased  me  at  a  town  called  Liberty  Hill, 
about  three  miles  from  his  home.  As  soon 
as  he  got  home,  he  immediately  put  me  on  his 
cotton  plantation  to  work,  and  put  me  under 
overseers,  gave  me  an  allowance  of  meat  and 
bread  with  the  other  slaves,  which  was  not 
half  enough  for  me  to  live  upon,  and  very  la- 
borious work;   here  my  heart  was    almost 


FROM  SLAVERY.  17 

Ijroke  with  grief  at  leaving  my  fellow-slaves. 
Mr.  Gooch  did  not  mind  my  grief,  for  he  flog- 
ged me  nearly  every  day,  and  very  severely. 
Mr.  Gooch  bought  me  for  his  son-in-law,  Mr. 
Hammans,  about  five  miles  distance  from  his 
residence.  This  man  had  but  two  slaves  be- 
sides myself,  he  treated  me  very  kindly  for  a 
week  or  two,  but  in  summer,  when  cotton  was 
ready  to  hoe,  he  gave  me  task  work,  connect- 
ed with  this  department,  which  I  could  not 
get  done,  not  having  worked  on  cotton  farms 
before.  When  I  failed  in  my  task  he  com- 
menced flogging  me,  and  set  me  to  work 
without  any  shirt,  in  the  cotton  field,  in  a 
very  hot  sun,  in  the  month  of  July.  In 
August,  Mr.  Condell,  his  overseer,  gave  me  a 
task  at  pulling  fodder ;  having  finished  my 
task  before  night,  I  left  the  field,  the  rain 
came  on  which  soaked  the  fodder,  on  dis- 
covering this,  he  threatened  to  flog  me  for 
not  getting  in  the  fodder  before  the  rain  came, 
I  attempted  to  run  away,  knowing  that  I 
B3 


18  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

should  get  a  flogging.  I  was  then  between 
thirteen  and  fourteen  years  of  age,  I  ran  away 
to  the  woods  half  naked,  I  was  caught  by  a 
slave-holder,  who  put  me  in  Lancaster  Gaol. 
When  they  put  slaves  in  gaol,  they  advertise 
for  their  masters  to  own  them  ;  but  if  the 
master  does  not  claim  his  slave  in  six  months, 
from  the  time  of  imprisonment,  the  slave  is 
sold  for  gaol  fees.  When  the  slave  runs 
away,  the  master  always  adopts  a  more  ri- 
gorous system  of  flogging,  this  was  the  case 
in  the  present  instance.  After  this,  having 
determined  from  my  youth  to  gain  my  free- 
dom, I  made  several  attempts,  was  caught, 
and  got  a  severe  flogging  of  one  hundred 
lashes,  each  time.  Mr.  Hammans  was  a 
very  severe  and  cruel  master,  and  his  wife 
still  worse,  she  used  to  tie  me  up  and  flog  me 
while  naked. 

After  Mr.  Hammans  saw  that  I  was  deter- 
mined to  die  in  the  woods,  and  not  live  with 
him,  he  tried  to  obtain  a  piece  of  land  from 


FROM  SLAVERY.  19 

his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Gooch  ;  not  having 
the  means  of  purchasing  it,  he  exchanged  me 
for  the  land. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Gooch  had  possession  of 
me  again,  knowing  that  I  was  averse  to 
going  back  to  him,  he  chained  me  by  the 
neck  to  his  chaise.  In  this  manner  he  took 
me  to  his  home  at  Mac  Daniel's  Ferry,  in  the 
County  of  Chester,  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles. 
After  which,  he  put  me  into  a  swamp,  to  cut 
trees,  the  heaviest  work,  which  men  of  twenty 
five  or  thirty  years  of  age  have  to  do,  I  being 
but  sixteen.  Here  I  was  on  very  short  al- 
lowance of  food,  and  having  heavy  work,  was 
too  weak  to  fulfil  my  tasks.  For  this,  I  got 
many  severe  floggings  :  and,  after  I  had  got 
my  irons  off,  I  made  another  attempt  at  run- 
ning away.  He  took  my  irons  off,  in  the  full 
anticipation  that  I  could  never  get  across  the 
Catarba  River,  even  when  at  liberty.  On 
this,  I  procured  a  small  Indian  canoe,  which 
was  tied  to  a  tree,  and  ultimately  got  across 


20  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

the  river  in  it.  I  then  wandered  through  the 
wilderness  for  several  days  without  any  food, 
and  but  a  drop  of  water  to  allay  my  thirst, 
till  I  became  so  starved,  that  I  was  obliged 
to  go  to  a  house  to  beg  for  something  to  eat, 
when  I  was  captured,  and  again  imprisoned. 

Mr.  Gooch  having  heard  of  me  through  an 
advertisement,  sent  his  6on  after  me ;  he  tied 
me  up,  and  took  me  back  to  his  father.  Mr. 
Gooch  then  obtained  the  assistance  of  another 
slave-holder,  and  tied  me  up  in  his  black- 
smith's shop,  and  gave  me  fifty  lashes  with  a 
cow-hide.  He  then  put  a  log  chain,  weigh- 
ing twenty-five  pounds,  round  my  neck,  and 
sent  me  into  a  field,  into  which  he  followed 
me  with  a  cow-hide,  intending  to  set  his 
slaves  to  flog  me  again.  Knowing  this,  and 
dreading  to  suffer  again  in  this  way,  I  gave 
him  the  slip,  and  got  out  of  his  sight,  he 
having  stopped  to  speak  with  the  other  slave- 
holder. 

I  got  to  a  canal  on  the  Catarba  River,  on 


FROM  SLAVERY.  21 

the  banks  of  which,  and  near  to  a  lock,  I  pro- 
cured a  stone  and  a  piece  of  iron,  with  which 
I  forced  the  ring  off  my  chain,  and  got  it  off, 
and  then  crossed  the  river,  and  walked  about 
twenty  miles,  when  I  fell  in  with  a  slave  hold- 
er, named  Ballad,  who  had  married  the  sis- 
ter of  Mr.  Hammans.  I  knew  that  he  was 
not  so  cruel  as  Mr.  Gooch,  and  therefore,  beg- 
ged of  him  to  buy  me.  Mr.  Ballad,  who  was 
one  of  the  best  planters  in  the  neighbourhood, 
said  that  he  was  not  able  to  buy  me,  and  stat- 
ed, that  he  was  obliged  to  take  me  back  to  my 
master,  on  account  of  the  heavy  fine  attaching 
to  a  man  harbouring  a  slave.  Mr.  Ballad 
proceeded  to  take  me  back  ;  as  we  came  in 
sight  of  Mr.  Gooch's,  all  the  treatment  that  I 
had  met  with  there,  came  forcibly  upon  my 
mind,  the  powerful  influence  of  which  is  beyond 
description.  On  my  knees,  with  tears  in  my 
eyes,  with  terror  in  my  countenance,  and  fer- 
vency in  all  my  features,  I  implored  Mr.  Bal- 
lad to  buy  me,  but  he  again  refused,  and  I  was 


22  ROPEITS  ESCAPE 

taken  back  to  my  dreaded  and  cruel  master. 
Having  reached  Mr.  Gooch's  he  proceeded 
to  punish  me.  This  he  did,  by  first  tying  my 
wrists  together  and  placing  them  over  the 
knees,  he  then  put  a  stick  through,  under  my 
knees  and  over  my  arms,  and  having  thus  se- 
cured my  arms,  he  proceeded  to  flog  me,  and 
gave  me  five  hundred  lashes  on  my  bare  back. 
This  may  appear  incredible,  but  the  marks 
which  they  left,  at  present  remain  on  my  body, 
a  standing  testimony  to  the  truth  of  this  state- 
ment of  his  severity.  He  then  chained  me 
down  in  a  log-pen  with  a  forty  pounds  chain, 
and  made  me  lie  on  the  damp  earth  all  night. 
In  the  mornii  g,  after  his  breakfast,  he  came 
to  me,  and  without  giving  me  any  breakfast, 
tied  me  to  a  large  heavy  arrow,  which  is  usu- 
ally drawn  by  a  horse,  and  made  me  dragx  it 
to  the  cotton  field  for  the  horse  to  use  in  tho 
field.  Thus,  the  reader  will  see,  that  it  was 
of  no  possible  use  to  my  master,  to  make  me 


FROM  SLAVERY.  23 

drag  it  to  the  cotton  field  and  not  through 
it;  his  cruelty  went  so  far,  as  actually  to 
make  me  the  slave  of  his  horse,  and  thus  to 
degrade  me.  He  then  flogged  me  again,  and 
set  me  to  work  in  the  corn  field  the  whole  of 
that  day,  and  at  night,  chained  me  down  in 
the  log-pen  as  before.  The  next  morning, 
he  took  me  to  the  cotton  field,  and  gave  me 
a  third  flogging,  and  sent  me  to  hoe  cotton. 
At  this  time,  I  was  dreadfully  sore  and  weak 
with  the  repeated  floggings  and  cruel  treat- 
ment I  had  endured.  He  put  me  under  a 
black  man,  with  orders,  that  if  I  did  not 
keep  my  row  up  in  hoeing  with  this  man,  he 
was  to  flog  me.  The  reader  must  recollect 
here,  that  not  being  used  to  this  kind  of  work, 
having  been  a  domestic  slave,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  me  to  keep  up  with  him,  and  there- 
fore, I  was  repeatedly  flogged  during  the  day. 
Mr.  Gooch  had  a  female  servant  about 
eighteen  years  old,  who  had  also  been  a  do- 
mestic slave,  and,  through  not  being  able  to 


24  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

fulfil  her  task,  had  run  away  :  which  slave 
he  was  at  this  time  punishing  for  that  of- 
fence. On  the  third  day,  he  chained  me  to 
this  female  slave,  with  a  large  chain  of  forty 
pounds*  weight  round  my  neck.  It  was  most 
harrowing  to  my  feelings  thus  to  be  chained 
to  a  young  female  slave,  for  whom  I  would 
rather  have  suffered  one  hundred  lashes  than 
she  should  have  been  thus  treated  ;  he  kept 
me  chained  to  her  during  the  week,  and  re- 
peatedly flogged  us  both,  while  thus  chained 
together,  and  forced  us  to  keep  up  with  the 
other  slaves,  although  retarded  by  the  heavy 
weight  of  the  log-chain. 

Here  again,  words  cannot  describe  the 
misery  which  possessed  both  body  and  mind 
whilst  under  this  treatment,  and  which  was 
most  dreadfully  increased  by  the  sympathy 
which  I  felt  for  my  poor,  degraded  fellow-suf- 

*  This  was  a  chain  that  they  used  to  draw  logs 
with  from  the  woods,  when  they  clear  their  land. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  25 

ferer.  On  the  Friday  morning,  I  entreated 
my  master  to  set  me  free  from  my  chains,  and 
promised  him  to  do  the  task,  which  was  given 
me,  and  more,  if  possible,  if  he  would  desist 
from  flogging  me.  This  he  refused  to  do  until 
Saturday  night,  when  he  did  set  me  free.— 
This  must  rather  be  ascribed  to  his  own  in- 
terest in  preserving  me  from  death,  as  it  was 
very  evident  I  could  no  longer  have  survived 
under  such  treatment. 

After  this,  though  still  determined  in  my 
own  mind  to  escape,  I  stayed  with  him  some 
months,  during  which,  he  frequently  flogged 
me,  but  not  so  severely  as  before  related. — 
During  this  time,  I  had  opportunity  for  reco- 
vering my  health,  and  using  means  to  heal  my 
wounds.  My  master's  cruelty  was  not  confined 
to  me,  it  was  his  general  conduct  to  all  his 
slaves.  I  might  relate  many  instances  to  sub- 
stantiate this,  but  will  confine  myself  to  one  or 
two.  Mr.  Gooch,  it  is  proper  to  observe,  was 
a  member  of  a  Baptist  Church,  called  Black 
c 


2(i  ROPERVS  ESCAPE 

Jack  Meeting  House,  in  Cashaw  county, 
which  church  I  attended  for  several  years, 
but  was  never  inside.  This  is  accounted  for, 
by  the  fact,  that  the  coloured  population  are 
not  permitted  to  mix  with  the  white  popula- 
tion. In  the  Roman  Catholic  church  no 
distinction  is  made.  Mr.  Gooch  had  a  slave 
named  Phil,  who  was  a  member  of  a  Method- 
ist church  ;  this  man  was  between  seventy 
and  eighty  years  of  age  :  he  was  so  feeble 
that  he  could  not  accomplish  his  tasks,  for 
which  his  master  used  to  chain  him  round 
the  neck,  and  run  him  down  a  steep  hill ; 
this  treatment  he  never  relinquished  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  Another  case,  was  that 
of  a  slave,  named  Peter,  who,  for  not  doing 
his  task,  he  flogged  nearly  to  death,  and  af- 
terwards pulled  out  his  pistol  to  shoot  him, 
but  his,  (Mr.  Gooch's)  daughter  snatched 
the  pistol  from  his  hand.  Another  mode  of 
punishment  which  this  man  adopted,  was 
that  of  using  iron  horns,  with  bells,  attached 


FROM  SLAVERY.  27 

to  the  back  of  the  slave's  neck.     The  follow- 
ing is  the  instrument  of  torture  : 


A  WOMAN  WITH  IRON  HORNS  AND  BELLS 
ON,  TO  KEEP  HER  FROM  RUNNING  AWAY. 

This  instrument  he  used  to  prevent  the  ne- 
groes running  away,  being  a  very  ponderous 
machine,  several  feet  in  height,  and  the  cross 
pieces  being  two  feet  four,  and  six  feet  in 
length.  This  custom  is  generally  adopted 
among  the  slave  holders  in  South  Carolina, 


81  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

and  some  other  slave  States.  One  morning, 
about  an  hour  before  day  break,  I  was  going 
on  an  errand  for  my  master  ;  having  proceed- 
ed about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  I  came  up  to  a 
man  named  King,  (Mr.  Sumlin's  overseer.) 
who  had  caught  a  young  girl  that  had  run 
away  with  the  above  machine  on  her.  She 
had  proceeded  four  miles  from  her  station, 
with  the  intention  of  getting  into  the  hands  of 
a  more  humane  master.  She  came  up  with 
this  overseer  nearly  dead,  and  could  get  no 
farther;  he  immediately  secured  her,  and  took 
her  back  to  her  master,  a  Mr.  Johnson. 

Having  been  in  the  habit  of  going  over 
many  slave  States  with  my  master,  I  had  good 
opportunities  of  witnessing  the  harsh  treat- 
ment which  was  adopted  by  masters  towards 
their  slaves.  As  I  have  never  heard  or  read 
anything  connected  with  slavery,  so  cruel  as 
what  I  have  myself  witnessed,  it  will  be  as 
well  to  mention  a  case  or  two. 

A   large   farmer,    Colonel  M'Quiller,   in 


FROM  SLAVERY.  29 

Cashaw  county,  South  Carolina,  was  in  the 
habit  of  driving  nails  into  a  hogshead,  so  as  to 
leave  the  point  of  the  nail  just  protruding  in 
the  inside  of  the  cask ;  into  this,  he  used  to 
put  his  slaves  for  punishment,  and  roll  them 
down  a  very  long  and  steep  hill.  I  have 
heard  from  several  slaves,  (though  I  had  no 
means  of  ascertaining  the  truth  of  the  state- 
ment,) that  in  this  way  he  had  killed  six  or 
seven  of  his  slaves.  This  plan  was  first  adopt- 
ed by  a  Mr.  Perry,  who  lived  on  the  Catarba 
River,  and  has  since  been  adopted  by  several 
planters.  Another  was,  that  of  a  young  lad, 
who  had  been  hired  by  Mr.  Bell,  a  member 
of  a  holding  church,  to  hoe  three-quarters 
of  an  acre  of  cotton  per  day.  Having  been 
brought  up  as  a  domestic  slave,  be  was  not 
able  to  accomplish  the  task  assigned  to  him. 
On  the  Saturday  night,  he  left  three  or  four 
rows  to  do  on  the  Sunday  ;  on  the  same  night 
it  rained  very  hard,  by  which  the  master  could 
tell  that  he  had  done  some  of  the  rows  ou  the 
C  3 


30  ROPERS  ESCAPE 

Sunday ;  on  Monday,  his  master  took  and 
tied  him  up  to  a  tree  in  the  field,  and  kept 
him  there  the  whole  of  that  day,  and  flogged 
him  at  intervals.  At  night,  w^en  he  was  ta- 
ken down,  he  was  so  weak  that  he  could  not 
get  home,  having  a  mile  to  go.  Two  white 
men  who  were  employed  by  Mr.  Bell,  put 
him  on  a  horse,  took  him  home,  and  threw 
him  down  on  the  kitchen  floor,  while  they 
proceeded  to  their  supper.  In  a  little  time, 
they  heard  some  deep  groans  proceeding  from 
the  kitchen,  they  went  to  see  him  die,  he  had 
groaned  his  last.  Thus,  Mr.  Bell  flogged 
the  poor  boy,  even  to  death  ;  for  what  ?  for 
breaking  the  Sabbath,  when  he  (his  master) 
had  set  him  a  task,  on  Saturday,  which  it  was 
not  possible  for  him  to  do,  and  which,  if  he 
did  not  do  no  mercy  would  be  extended  to- 
wards him  !  The  general  custom  in  this  respect 
is,  that  if  a  man  kills  his  own  slave,  no  notice 
is  taken  of  it  by  the  civil  functionaries  ;  but  if 
a  man  kills  a  slave,  belonging  to  another 


FROM  SLAVERY.  31 

master,  he  is  compelled  to  pay  the  worth  of 
the  slave.  In  this  case,  a  jury  met,  returned 
a  verdict  of  u  Wilful  Murder"  against  this 
man,  and  ordered  him  to  pay  the  value.  Mr. 
Bell  was  unable  to  do  this,  but  a  Mr.  Cun- 
ningham paid  the  debt,  and  took  this  Mr. 
Bell,  with  this  recommendation  for  cruelty,  to 
be  his  overseer. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  most  of  the  cases 
here  cited,  are  those  in  respect  to  males. 
Many  instances,  however,  in  respect  to  fe- 
males, might  be  mentioned,  but  are  too  dis- 
gusting to  appear  in  this  narrative.  The 
cases  here  brought  forward  are  not  rare,  but 
the  continued  feature  of  slavery.  But  I  must 
now  follow  up  the  narrative,  as  regards  my- 
self, in  peculiar.  I  stayed  with  this  master 
for  several  months,  during  which  time  we 
went  on  very  well  in  general.  In  August, 
1831,  (this  was  my  first  acquaintance  with 
any  date;)  I  happened  to  hear  a  man  mention 
this  date,  and,  as  it  excited  my  curiosity,  I 


32  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

asked  what  it  meant,  they  told  me  it  was  tbe 
number  of  the  year  from  the  birth  of  Christ. 
Oq  this  date,  August,  1831,  some  cows  broke 
in  a  crib  where  the  corn  is  kept,  and  ate  a 
great  deal.  For  this,  his  slaves  were  tied  up, 
and  received  several  floggings ;  but  myself 
and  another  man,  hearing  the  groans  of  those 
who  were  being  flogged,  stayed  back  in  the 
field,  and  would  not  come  up.  Upon  this,-  I 
thought  to  escape  punishment.  On  the  Mon- 
day morning,  however,  I  heard  my  master 
flogging  the  other  man  who  was  in  the  field  ; 
he  could  riot  see  me,  it  being  a  field  of  Indian 
corn,  which  grows  to  a  great  height.  Being 
afraid  that  he  would  catch  me,  and  dreading 
a  flogging  more  than  many  other,  I  deter- 
mined to  run  for  it ;  and,  after  travelling  forty 
miles,  I  arrived  at  the  estate  of  Mr.  Craw- 
ford, in  North  Carolina,  Mecklinburgh  coun- 
ty. Having  formerly  heard  people  talk  about 
the  Free  States,  I  determined  upon  going 
thither,  and,  if  possible,  in  my  way  to  find  out 


FROM  SLAVERY.  S3- 


ray  .poor  mother,  who  was  in  slavery,  several 
hundred  miles  from  Chester;  bat  the  hope  o£ 
doing  the  latter,  was  very  faint,  and,  even  if 
I  did,  it  was  not  likely  that  she  would  know 
me,  having  been  separated  from  her  when  be- 
tween five  and  six  years  old. 

The  first  night  I  slept  in  a  barn,  upon  Mr, 
Crawford's  estate,  and,  having  overslept  my- 
self, was  awoke  by  Mr.  Crawford's  overseer, 
upon  which  I  was  dreadfully  frightened  ;  he 
asked  me,  what  I  was  doing  there?  I  made 
no  reply  to  him  then  ;  and  he  making  sure 
that  he  had  secured  a  run-a-way  slave,  did 
not  press  me  for  an  answer.  On  my  way  to 
his  house,  however,  I  made  up  the  following 
story,  which  I  told  him  in  the  presence  of  his 
wife ; — I  said  that  I  had  been  bound  to  a  very 
cruel  master  when  I  was  a  little  boy,  and  thac 
having  been  treated  very  badly,  I  wanted  to 
get  home  to  see  my  mother.  This  statement 
may  appear  to  some  to  be  untrue,  bnt  as  I 
understood  the  wrord  bound,  I  considered  it  to 


ROPER'S  ESC  API: 

to  apply  to  my  case,  having  been  sold  to  him, 
and  thereby  bound  to  serve  him  ;  though  still, 
I  did  rather  hope  that  he  would  understand  it, 
that  I  was  bound  when  a  boy,  till  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  Though  I  was  white  at  that 
time,  he  would  not  believe  my  story,  on  ac- 
count of  my  hair  being  curly  and  woolly, 
which  led  him  to  conclude  I  was  possessed  of 
enslaved  blood.  The  overseer's  wife,  how- 
ever, who  seemed  much  interested  in  me,  said 
she  did  not  think  I  was  of  the  African  origin, 
and  that  she  had  seen  white  men  still  darker 
than  me;  her  persuasion  prevailed;  and  af- 
ter the  overseer  had  given  me  as  much  butter- 
milk as  I  could  drink,  and  something  to  eat, 
which  was  very  acceptable,  having  had  no- 
thing for  two  days,  I  set  off  for  Charlotte,  in 
North  Carolina,  the  largest  town  in  the  coun- 
ty. I  went  on  very  quickly  the  whole  of  that 
day,  fearful  of  being  pursued.  The  trees  were 
very  thick  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  only 
a  few  houses,  at  the  distance  of  two  or  three 


FROM  SLAVERY.  35 

miles  apart ;  as  I  proceeded,  I  turned  round 
in  all  directions  to  see  if  I  was  pursued,  and  if 
I  caught  a  glimpse  of  any  one  coming  along  the 
road,  I  immediately  rushed  into  the  thickest 
part  of  the  wood,  to  elude  the  grasp  of  what, 
I  was  afraid,  might  be  my  master.  I  went 
on  in  this  way  the  whole  day;  at  night,  I 
came  up  with  two  waggons,  they  had  been  to 
market;  the  regular  road  waggons?  do  not  ge- 
nerally put  up  at  inns,  but  encamp  in  the 
roads  and  fields.  When  I  came  to  them,  I 
told  them  the  same  story  I  had  told  Mr. 
Crawford's  overseer,  with  the  assurance  that 
the  statement  would  meet  the  same  success. 
After  they  had  heard  me,  they  gave  me  some- 
thing to  eat,  and  also  a  lodging  in  the  camp 
with  them. 

I  then  went  on  with  them  about  five  miles, 
and  they  agreed  to  take  me  with  them  as  far 
as  they  went,  if  I  would  assist  them.  This  I 
promised  to  do.  In  the  morning,  however,  I 
was  much  frightened  by  one  of  the  men  put 


3«  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

ting  several  questions  to  me — we  were  then 
about  three  miles  from  Charlotte.  When 
in  a  mile  of  the  town,  we  stopped  at  a 
brook  to  water  the  horses;  while  stopping 
there  I  saw  the  men  whispering,  and  fancying 
I  overheard  them  say  they  would  put  me  in 
Charlotte  gacl  when  they  got  there.  I  made 
my  escape  into  the  woods,  pretending  to  be 
looking  nfter  something  till  I  got  out  of  their 
sight.  I  then  ran  on  as  fast  I  could,  but  did 
not  go  through  the  town  of  Charlotte,  as  had 
been  my  intention,  being  a  large  town,  I  was 
fearful  it  might  prove  fatal  to  my  escape. 
Here  I  was  at  a  loss  how  to  get  on,  as  houses 
were  not  very  distant  from  each  other  for 
nearly  two  hundred  miles. 

While  thinking  what  I  should  do,  T  observed 
some  waggons  before  me,  which  I  determined 
to  keep  behind,  and  never  go  nearer  to  them 
than  a  quarter  of  a  mile — in  this  way  I  tra- 
velled till  I  got  to  Salisbury.  If  I  happened 
to  meet  any  person  on  the  road,  I  was  afraid 


FROM  SLAVERY.  37 

they  would  take  me  up,  I  asked  them  how  far 
the  waggons  had  gone  on  before  me  ?  to  make 
them  suppose  I  belonged  to  the  waggons.  At 
night,  I  slept  on  the  ground,  in  the  woods, 
some  little  distance  from  the  waggons,  but  not 
near  enough  to  be  seen  by  the  men  belonging 
to  them.  All  this  time,  I  had  bat  little  food, 
principally  fruit,  which  I  found  on  the  road. 
On  Thursday  night,  I  got  into  Salisbury, 
having  left  Chester  on  the  Monday  morning 
preceding.  After  this,  being  afraid  my  master 
was  in  pursuit  of  me,  I  left  the  usual  line  of 
road,  and  took  another  direction,  through 
Huntsville  and  Salem,  principally  through 
fields  and  woods ;  on  my  way  to  Caswell 
Court-House,  adistance  of  nearly  two  hundred 
miles  from  Salisbury,*  I  was  stopped  by  a 
white  man,  to  whom  I  told  my  old  story,  and 
again  succeeded  in  my  escape.     I  also  came 


*  The  distance  from  Salisbury  to  Caswell  Court- 
house is  not  so  far,  but  I  had  to  go  a  round  about  way, 
D 


38  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

up  with  a  small  cart,  driven  by  a  poor  man, 
who  had  been  moving  into  some  of  the  west- 
ern territories,  and  was  going  back  to  Vir- 
ginia, to  move  some  more  of  his  luggage. 
On  this,  I  told  him  I  was  going  the  same 
way  to  Hilton,  thirteen  miles  from  Caswell 
Court-House,  he  took  me  up  in  his  cart,  and 
went  to  the  Red  House,  two  miles  from  Mil- 
ton, the  place  where  Mr.  Mitchell  took  me 
from,  when  six  years  old,  to  go  to  the  South- 
ern States.  This  was  a  very  providential 
circumstance,  for  it  happened,  that  at  the 
time  I  had  to  pass  through  Caswell  Court- 
House,  a  fair  or  election  was  going  on, 
which  caused  the  place  to  be  much  crowded 
with  people,  and  rendered  it  more  dangerous 
for  me  to  pass  through. 

At  the  Red  Housa  I  left  the  cart,  and 
wandered  about  a  long  time,  not  knowing 
which  way  to  go  and  find  my  mother.  Af- 
ter some  time,  I  took  the  road  leading  over 
Ikeo  Creek.     I  bhortly  came  up  with  a  little 


FROM  SLAVERY.  39 

girl,  about  six  years  old,  and  asked  her  where 
she  was  going,  she  said,  to  her  mother's, 
pointing  to  a  house  on  a  hill,  half  a  mile  off. 
She  had  been  at  the   overseer's  house,  and 
was  returning   to  her  mother.     I  then  felt 
some  emotions  arising  in  my  breast,  which  I 
cannot  describe,  but  will  be  explained  in  the 
sequel.     I  told  her  I  was  very  thirsty,  and 
would  go  with  her  to  get  something  to  drink. 
On  our  way,  I  asked  her  several  questions, 
such  as  her  name,  that  of  her  mother,  she 
said  her's  was  Maria,  and  that  of  her  mother's 
Nancy.     I  inquired,  if  her  mother  had  any 
more  children  ?  she  said,  five  besides  herself, 
and  that  they  had  been  sold,  that  one  had  been 
sold  when  a  little  boy.     I  then  asked  the 
name  of  this  child  ?  she  said  it  was  Moses. 
These  answers  as  we  approached  the  house, 
led  me  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  finding  out 
the  object  of  my  pursuit,  and  of  recognising 
in  the  little  girl,  the  person  ot  my  own  sister. 


40  ROPEBS  ESCAPE 


CHAPTER  III. 

An  account  of  the  Author's  meeting  with  his  mo- 
ther, who  did  not  know  him,  but  was  with  her  a 
very  short  time  before  he  was  taken  by  armed 
men,  and  imprisoned  for  thirty-one  days,  and  then 
taken  back  to  his  master. 

At  last  I  got  to  my  mother's  house  !  my  mo- 
ther was  at  home,  I  asked  her  if  she  knew  me  ? 
she  said,  no.  Her  master  was  having  a  house 
built  close  by,  and  as  the  men  were  digging  a 
well,  she  supposed  that  I  was  one  of  the  dig- 
gers. I  told  her,  I  knew  her  very  well,  and 
thought  that  if  she  looked  at  me  a  little,  she 
would  know  me,  but  this  had  no  effect.  I  then 
asked  her  if  she  had  any  sons  ?  she  said,  yes  ; 
but  none  so  large  as  me.  I  then  waited  a  few 
minutes,  and  narrated  some  circumstances  to 
her,  attending  my  being  sold  into  slavery,  and 
how  she  grieved  at  my  loss.   Here  the  mother's 


FROM  SLAVERY.  41 

feelings  on  that  dire   occasion,  and  -which  a 
mother  only  can  know,  rushed  to  her  mind  : 
she  saw  her  own  son  before  her,  for  whom  she 
had  so  often  wept ;  and,  in  an  instant,  we  were 
clasped  in  each  other's  arms,  amidst  the  ardent 
interchange  of  caresses  and  tears  of  joy.    Ten 
years  had  elapsed  since  I  had  seen  my  dear 
mother.     My  own  feelings,   and  the  circum- 
stances attending  my  coming  home,  have  been 
often  brought  to  mind  since,  on  a  perusal  of 
the  42nd,  43rd,  44th,  and  45th  chapters  of 
Genesis.      What  could  picture  my  feelings  so 
well,  as  I  once  more  beheld  the  mother  who 
had   brought  me  into   the   world,    and  had 
nourished  me,  not  with  the  anticipation   of 
my  being  torn  from  her  maternal  care,  when 
only  six  years  old,  to   become  the  prey  of  a 
mercenary  and  blood-stained  slave  holder:  I 
say,  what  picture  so  vivid  in  description  of  this 
part  of  my  tale,  as  the  7th  and  8th  verses  of 
the  42nd  chapter  of  Genesis.     "  And  Joseph 

saw  his  brethren,  and  he  knew  them,  but  made 
D3 


42  ROPER'S  ESCAPTC 

himself  strange  unto  them.  And  Joseph  knew 
his  brethren,  but  they  knew  not  him."     After 
the  first  emotion  of  the  mother,  on  recognizing 
her  first-born,  had  somewhat  subsided,  could 
the  reader  not  fancy  the  little  one,  my  sister, 
as  she  told  her  simple  tale  of  meeting  with  me 
to  her  mother,  how  she  would  say,  while  the 
parent  listened  with   intense  interest :  iC  The 
man  asked  me  straitly  of  our  state  and  our 
kindred,  saying,  is  your  father  yet  alive,  and 
have  ye  another  brother."    Or,  wh( .\  at  last,  I 
could  no  longer  refrain  from  making  myself 
known,  I  say,   I  was  ready  to  burst  into  a 
frenzy  of  joy.     How  applicable  the  1st,  2nd, 
and  3rd  verses  of  the  45th  chapter,  "  Then 
Joseph  could  not  refrain  himself  before  all  them 
that  stood  by  him,  and  he  wept  aloud,  and  said 
unto  his  brethren,  I  am  Joseph,  doth  my  father 
still  live."     Then  when  the  mother  knew  her 
son,  when  the  brothers  and  sisters  owned  their 
brother ;  "  he  kissed  all  his  brethren  and  wept 
over  them,  and  after  that  his  brethren  talked 


FROM  SLAVERY.  43 

with  him,"  15th  verse.    At  night  my  mother's 
husband,  a  blacksmith,  belonging  to  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson at  the  Red  House,  came  home,  he  was 
surprised  to  see  me  with  the  family,  not  know- 
ing who  I  was.     He  had  been  married  to  my 
mother,  when  I  was  a  babe,  and  had  always 
been  very  fond  of  me.     After  the  same  tale 
had  been  told  him,  and  the  same  emotions  filled 
his  soul,  he  again  kissed  the  object  of  his  early 
affection.     The  next  morning  I  wanted  to  go 
on  my  joarney,  in  order  to  make  sure  of  my 
escape  to  the  Free  States.     But  as  might  be 
expected,  my  mother,  father,  brothers,  and 
sisters,  could  ill  part  with  their  long  lost  one  \ 
and  persuaded  me  to  go  into  the  woods  in  the 
day  time,  and  at  night  come  home  and  sleep 
there.     This  I  did  for  about  a  week ;  on  the 
next  Sunday  night,  I  laid  me  down  to  sleep 
between  my  two  brothers,  on  a  pallet,  which 
my  mother  had  prepared  for  me ;  about  twelve 
o'clock  I  was  suddenly  awoke,  and  found  my 


11  ROFER'S  ESCAPE 

bed  surrounded  by  twelve  slave  holders  with 
pistols  in  hand  who  took  me  away  (not  al- 
lowing me  to  bid  farewell  to  those  1  loved  so 
dearly)  to  the  Red  House,  where  they  con- 
fined me  in  a  room  the  rest  of  the  night,  and 
in  the  morning  lodged  me  in  the  gaol  of  Cas- 
well Court-House. 

What  was  the  scene  at  home,  what  sorrow 
possessed  their  hearts,  lam  unable  to  describe, 
as  I  never  after  saw  any  of  them  more.  I 
heard,  however,  that  my  mother  was,  soon  af- 
ter I  left,  confined,  and  was  very  long  before 
she  recovered  the  effects  of  this  disaster.*  I 
was  told  afterwards,  that  some  of  those  men 
who  took  me  were  professing  Christians,  but, 
to  me,  they  did  not  seem  to  live  up  to  what 
they  professed  ;  they  did  not  seem,  by  their 
practice,  at  least,  to  recognise  that  God  as 
their  God,  who  hath  said,   "  thou  shalt  not 

*  My  mother   had    seven  children  living  when  I 
last  saw  her,  and  the  above  one  was  born  soon  after 
I  left,  made  the  eighth,  and  they  are  now  all  in  slave- 
ixcept  myself. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  45 

deliver  unto  his  master,  the  servant  which  is 
escaped  from  his  master  unto  thee,  he  shall 
dwell  with  thee,  even  among  you,  in  that 
place  which  he  shall  choose,  in  one  of  thy 
gates,  where  it  liketh  him  best ;  thou  shalt 
not  oppress  him. — Deut.  xxiii.  15,  16. 

I  was  confined  here  in  a  dungeon  under 
ground,  the  grating  of  which  looked  to  the 
door  of  the  gaoler's  house.  His  wife  had  a 
great  antipathy  to  me.  She  was  Mr.  Roper's 
wife's  cousin.  My  grandmother  used  to  come 
to  me  nearly  every  day,  and  bring  me  some- 
thing to  eat,  besides  the  regular  gaol  allow- 
ance, by  which,  my  sufferings  were  somewhat 
decreased.  Whenever  the  gaoler  went  out, 
which  he  often  did,  his  wife  used  to  come  to 
my  dungeon,  and  shut  the  wooden  door  over 
the  grating,  by  which  I  was  nearly  suffo- 
cated, the  place  being  very  damp  and  noisome. 
My  master  did  not  hear  of  my  being  in  gaol 
for  thirty-one  days  after  I  had  been  placed 
there.     He  immediately  sent  his  son,  and 


46  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

son-in-law,  Mr.  Anderson,  after  me.  They 
came  in  a  horse  and  chaise,  took  me  from  the 
gaol  to  a  blacksmith's  shop,  and  got  an  iron 
collar  fitted  round  my  neck,  with  a  heavy 
chain  attached,  then  tied  my  hands,  and  fas- 
tened the  other  end  of  the  chain  on  ahorse,  and 
put  me  on  its  back.  Just  before  we  started, 
my  grandmother  came  to  bid  me  farewell ; 
I  gave  her  my  hand  as  well  as  I  could,  and 
she  having  given  me  two  or  three  presents, 
we  parted.  I  had  felt  enough,  far  too  much, 
for  the  weak  state  I  was  in ;  but  how  shall  I 
describe  my  feelings,  upon  parting  with  the 
last  relative  that  1  ever  saw.  The  reader 
must  judge  by  what  would  be  his  own  feel- 
ings, under  similar  circumstances.  We  then 
went  on  for  fifty  miles  ;  I  was  very  weak  and 
could  hardly  sit  on  the  horse.  Having  been 
in  piison  so  long,  I  had  lost  the  southern 
tan  ;  and  as  the  people  could  not  see  my  hair, 
having  my  hat  on,  they  thought  I  was  a 
white  man — a  criminal — and  asked  me  what 


FROM  SLAVERY.  47 

crime  I  had  committed.  We  arrived  late  at 
night,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Brittoa.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  journey  that  night.  The 
thunder  was  one  continued  roar,  and  the 
lightning  blazing  all  around.  I  expected 
every  minute  that  my  iron  collar  would  at- 
tract it,  and  I  should  be  knocked  off  the 
horse,  and  dragged  along  the  ground.  This 
gentleman,  a  year  or  two  before  had  liberated 
his  slaves,  and  sent  them  into  Ohio,  haviug 
joined  the  society  of  Friends,  which  society 
does  not  allow  the  holding  of  slaves.  I  was, 
therefore,  treated  very  well  there,  and  they 
gave  me  a  hearty  supper,  which  did  me  much 
good  in  my  weak  state. 

They  secured  me  in  the  night,  by  locking 
me  to  the  post  of  the  bed  on  which  they  slept. 
The  next  morning,  we  went  on  to  Salisbury. 
At  that  place  we  stopped  to  water  the  horses  ; 
they  chained  me  to  a  tree  in  the  yard,  by  the 
side  of  their  chaise.  On  my  horse  they  put 
the  saddle  bags  which  contained  the  provi- 


48  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

sions.     As  I  was  in  the  yard,  a  black  man 
came  and  asked  me  what  I  had  been  doing,  I 
told  him  that  I  had  run  away  from  my  master, 
after  which  he  told  me  several  tales  about  the 
slaves,   and  among   them  he  mentioned  the 
case  of  a  Quaker,  who  was  then  in  prison, 
waiting  to  be  hung,  for  giving  a  free  passage 
to  a  slave.     I   had  been  considering  all  the 
way,  how  I  could  escape  from  my  horse,  and 
once  had  an  idea  of  cutting  his  head  off,  but 
thought  it  too  cruel ;   and  at  last  thought  of 
trying  to  get  a  rasp   and  cut  the  chain  by 
which  I  was  fastened  to  the  horse.     As  they 
often  let  me  get  on  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before 
them,  I  thought  I   should  have  a  good  op- 
portunity of  doing  this  without  being  seen. 
The  black  man  procured  me  a  rasp,  and  I 
put  it  into  the  saddle  bags  which  contained 
the  provisions.  We  then  went  on  our  journey, 
and  one  of  the  sons  asked  me  if  I  wanted  any 
thing  to  eat ;  I   answered  no,   though  very 
hungry  at  the  time,  as  I  was  afraid  of  their 


FROM  SLAVERY.  49 

going  to  the  bags  and  discovering  the  rasp. 
However,  they  had  not  had  their  own  meal 
at  the  inn  as  I  had  supposed,  and  went  to 
the  bags  to  supply  themselves,  where  they 
found  the  rasp.  Upon  this,  they  fastened  my 
horse  beside  the  horse  in  their  chaise,  and 
kept  a  stricter  watch  over  me.  Nothing  re- 
markable occurred  till  we  got  within  eight 
miles  of  Mr.  Gooch's,  where  we  stopped  a 
short  time ;  and,  taking  advantage  of  their 
absence,  I  broke  a  switch  from  some  boughs 
above  my  head,  lashed  my  horse,  and  set  off 
at  full  speed.  I  had  got  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  before  they  could  get  their  horse  loose 
from  their  chaise  ;  one  then  rode  the  horse, 
and  the  other  ran  as  fast  as  he  could  after  me. 
When  I  caught  sight  of  them,  I  turned  off 
the  main  road  into  the  woods,  hoping  to 
escape  their  sight ;  their  horse,  however,  being 
much  swifter  than  mine,  they  soon  got  within 
a  short  distance  of  me.     I   then  came  to  a 

rail  fence,  which  I  found  it  very  difficult  to 

E 


50 


ROPER'S  ESCAPE 


get  over,  but  breaking  several  rails  away,  I 
effected  my  object.  They  then  called  upon 
me  to  stop  more  than  three  times,  and  I  not 
doing  so  they  fired  after  me,  but  the  pistol 
only  snapped. 


Mb.  ANDERSON  ATTEMPTING  TO  SHOOT  THE 
AUTHOR,  AFTER  TELLING  HIM  TO  STOP  THREE 
TIMES,  ACCORDING  TO  THE  LAW. 

This  is  according  to  law ;  after  three  calls 
they  may  shoot  a  run-away  slave.  Soon  after 
the  one  on  the  horse  came  up  with  me,  and 


FROM  SLAVERY.  51 

catching  hold  of  the  bridle  of  my  horse,  push- 
ed the  pistol  to  my  side,  the  other  soon  came 
up,  and  breaking  off  several  scout  branches 
from  the  trees,  they  gave  me  about  one  hun- 
dred blows.  This  they  did  very  near  to  a 
planter's  house,  the  gentleman  was  not  at 
home,  but  his  wife  came  out  and  begged  them 
not  to  kill  me  so  near  the  house  ;  they  took 
no  notice  of  this,  but  kept  on  beating  me. 
They  then  fastened  me  to  the  axle  tree  of 
their  chaise,  one  of  them  got  into  the  chaise, 
the  other  took  my  horse,  and  they  ran  me  all 
the  eight  miles  as  fast  as  they  could  ;  the  one 
on  my  horse  going  behind  to  guard  me 


KOrER-S  ES< 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Author  is  Flogged  and  Punished  in  various 
ways,  but  still  perseveres  in  his  attempts  to  Es- 
cape, till  he  was  sold  to  Mr.  Wilson. 

In  this  way  we  came  to  my  old  master,  Mr. 
Gooch.  The  first  person  I  saw  was  himself; 
he  unchained  me  from  the  chaise,  and  at  first 
seemed  to  treat  me  very  gently,  asking  me 
where  I  had  been,  &c.  The  first  thing  the 
sods  did  was  to  show  the  rasp  which  I  had 
got  to  cut  my  chain.  My  master  gave  me  a 
hearty  dinner,  the  best  he  ever  did  give  me, 
but  it  was  to  keep  me  from  dying  before  he 
had  given  me  all  the  flogging  he  intended. 
After  dinner  he  took  me  to  a  log-house,  strip- 
ped me  quite  naked,  fastened  a  rail  up  very 
high,  tied  my  hands  to  the  rail,  fastened  my 
feet  together,  put  a  rail  between  my  feet,  and 


FROM  SLAVERY.  .53 

stood  on  one  end  of  it  to  hold  me  down ;  the 
two  sons  then  gave  me  fifcy  lashes  each,  the 
son-in-law  another  fifty,  and  Mr.  Gooch 
himself  fifty  more. 


Mr.   GOOCH  STRIPPING  THE   AUTHOR  TO 
FLOG    HIM,    HIS   TWO    SONS    AND  SON- 
IN-LAW  PRESENT.     THEY  AT  THIS  TIME 
GIVE  HIM  FIFTY  LASHES  EACH. 
E  3 


fi4  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

While  doing  this  his  wife  came  out,  and 
begged  him  not  to  kill  me,  the  first  act  of 
sympathy  I  ever  noticed  in  her.  When  I 
called  for  water,  they  brought  a  pail-full  and 
threw  it  over  my  back,  ploughed  up  by  the 
lashes.  After  this,  they  took  me  to  the 
blacksmith's  shop,  got  two  large  bars  of  iron, 
which  they  bent  round  my  feet,  each  bar 
weighing  twenty  pounds,  and  put  a  heavy  log- 
chain  on  my  neck.  This  was  on  Saturday.  On 
the  Monday,  he  chained  me  to  the  same  fe- 
male slave  as  before.  As  he  had  to  go  out 
that  day,  he  did  not  give  me  the  punishment 
which  he  intended  to  give  me  every  day,  but 
at  night  when  he  came  home,  he  made  us 
walk  round  his  estate,  and  by  all  the  houses 
of  the  slaves,  for  them  to  taunt  us  ;  when  we 
came  home,  he  told  us,  we  must  be  up  very 
early  in  the  morning,  and  go  to  the  field,  be- 
fore the  other  slaves.  We  were  up  at  day- 
break, but  we  could  not  get  on  fast,  on  ac- 
count of  the  heavy  irons  on  my  feet.     It  may 


FROM  SLAVERY.  55 

be  necessary  to  state  here,   that  these  irons 
were  first  made  red  hot  and  bent  in  a  circle, 
so  as  just  to  allow  of  my  feet  going  through  ; 
it  having  been  cooled,  and  my  leg  with  the 
iron  on  lifted  up  to  an  anvil,  it  was  made  se- 
cure round  my  ancles.     When  I  walked  with 
these  irons  on,  I  used  to  hold  them  up  with 
my  hands  by  means  of  a  cord.     We  walked 
about  a  mile  in  two  hours,  but  knowing  the 
punishment  he  was  going  to  inflict  on  us,  we 
made  up  our  minds  to  escape  into  the  woods, 
and  secrete  ourselves.     This  we  did,  and  he 
not  being  able  to  find  us,  which  they  could 
not  do ;  and  about  twelve  o'clock,  when  we 
thought  they  would  give  up  looking  for  us  at 
that  time,  we  went  on,  and  came  to  the  banks 
of  the  Catarba.     Here  I  got  a  stone,  and 
opened  the  ring  of  the  chain  on  her  neck,  and 
got  it  off;  and  as  the  chain  round  my  neck 
was  only  passed  through  a  ring,  as  soon  as  I 
got  hei's  off,  I  slipped  the  chain  through  my 


Z6  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

ring,  and  got  it  off  my  own  neck  *  We  then 
went  on  by  the  banks  of  the  river  for  some  dis- 
tance, and  found  a  little  canoe  about  two  feet 
wide.  I  managed  to  get  in,  although  the 
irons  on  my  feet  made  it  very  dangerous,  for 
if  I  had  upset  the  canoe,  I  could  not  swim. 
The  female  got  in  after  me,  and  gave  me  the 
paddles,  by  which  we  got  some  distance  down 
the  river.  The  current  being  very  strong,  it 
drove  us  against  a  small  island  ;  we  paddled 
round  the  island  to  the  other  side,  and  then 
made  towards  the  opposite  bank.  Here  again 
we  were  stopped  by  the  current,  and  made  up 
to  a  large  rock  in  the  river,  between  the  is- 
land and  the  opposite  shore.  As  the  weather 
was  very  rough  we  landed  on  the  rock  and 
secured  the  canoe,  as  it  was  not  possible  to 
get  back  to  the  island.  It  was  a  very  dark 
night,  and  rained  tremendously;   and,  as  the 

*  It  may  be  well  to  state  here,  that  the  ring  which 
fastened  the  log  chain  together  around  the  female's 
neck,  was  an  open  iron  ring,  similar  to  those  used 
at  the  end  of  a  watch  chain. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  57 

water  was  rising  rapidly  towards  the  top  of 
the  rock,  we  gave  all  up  for  lost,  and  some- 
times hoped,  and  sometimes  feared  to  hope, 
that  we  should  never  see  the  morning.  But 
Providence  was  moving  in  our  favour ;  the 
rain  ceased,  the  water  reached  the  edge  of  the 
rock,  then  receded,  and  we  were  out  of  danger 
from  this  cause.  We  remained  all  night  upon 
the  rock,  and  in  the  morning  reached  the  op- 
posite shore,  and  then  made  our  way  through 
the  woods  till  we  came  to  a  field  of  Indian 
corn,  where  we  plucked  some  of  the  green 
ears  and  eat  them,  having  had  nothing  for 
two  days  and  nights.     We  came  to  the  estate 

0f ^  where  we  met  with  a  coloured 

man  who  knew  me,  and  having  run  away  him- 
self from  a  bad  master,  he  gave  us  some  food, 
and  told  us  we  might  sleep  in  the  barn  that 
night.  Being  very  fatigued,  we  overslept 
ourselves;  the  proprietor  came  to  ihe  barn, 
but  as  I  was  in  one  corner  under  some 
Indian  corn  tops,  and  she  in  another,  he  did 


68  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

not  perceive  us,  and  we  did  not  leave  the  barn 
before  night,  (Wednesday.)  We  then  went 
out,  got  something  to  eat,  and  strayed  about 
the  estate  till  Sunday.  On  that  day,  I  met 
with  some  men,  one  of  whom  had  had  irons 
on  the  same  as  me  ;  he  told  me  that  his  mas- 
ter was  going  out  to  see  his  friends,  and  that 
he  would  try  and  get  my  feet  loose  ;  for  this 
purpose  I  parted  with  this  female,  fearing,  that 
if  she  were  caught  with  me,  she  would  be 
forced  to  tell  who  took  my  irons  off.  The 
man  tried  some  time  without  effect,  he  then 
gave  me  a  file  and  I  tried  myself,  but  was 
disappointed  on  account  of  their  thickness. 

On  the  Monday,  T  went  on  towards  Lan- 
caster, and  got  within  three  miles  of  it  that 
night ;  and  went  towards  the  plantation  of 
Mr.  Crockett,  as  I  knew  some  of  his  slaves, 
and  hoped  to  get  some  food  given  me.  When 
I  got  there,  however  the  dogs  smelt  me  out 
and  barked  ;  upon  which,  Mr.  Crockett  came 
out;  followed  me  with  his  rifle,  and  came  up 


FROM  SLAVERY.  59 

with  me.  He  put  me  on  a  horse's  back, 
which  put  me  to  extreme  pain,  from  the  great 
weight  hanging  from  my  feet.  We  reached 
Lancaster  gaol  that  night,  and  he  lodged  me 
there.  I  was  placed  in  the  next  dungeon  to  a 
man  who  was  going  to  be  hung.  I  shall  never 
forget  his  cries  and  groans,  as  he  prayed  all 
night  for  the  mercy  of  God.  Mr.  Gooch  did 
not  hear  of  me  for  several  weeks  ;  when  he 
did,  he  sent  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Anderson,  af- 
fer  me.  ^Lr.  Gooch  himself  came  within  a 
mile  of  Lancaster,  and  waited  until  Mr.  An- 
derson brought  me.  At  this  time  I  had  but 
one  of  the  irons  on  my  feet,  having  got  so 
thin  round  my  ancles  that  I  had  slipped  one 
off  while  in  gaol.  His  son-in-law  tied  my 
hands,  and  made  me  walk  along  till  we  came 
to  Mr.  Gooch.  As  soon  as  we  arrived  at 
M'Daniel's  Ford,  two  miles  above  the  Ferry, 
on  the  Catarba  river,  they  made  me  wade 
across,  themselves  going  on  horseback.  The 
water  was  very  deep,  and  having  irons  on  one 


CO  KOPEITS  ESCAPE 

and  round  my  neck,  I  could  not  keep  a  foot- 
ing. They  dragged  me  along  by  my  chain 
on  the  top  of  the  water.  It  was  as  much  as 
they  could  do  to  hold  me  by  the  chain,  the 
current  being  very  strong.  They  then  took 
me  home,  flogged  me,  put  extra  irons  on  my 
neck  and  feet,  and  put  me  under  the  driver, 
with  more  work  than  ever  I  had  before.  He 
did  not  flog  me  so  severely  as  before,  but  con- 
tinued it  every  day.  Among  the  instruments 
of  torture  employed,  I  here  describe  one  : — 


FROM  SLAVERY. 


6i 


THE   AUTHOR  HANGING  BY  HIS  HANDS 
TIED  TO  A  COTTON  SCREW. 


*  This  screw  is  sometimes  moved  round  by  hand 

when  there  is  a  person  hanging  on  it.     The  screw  i3 
F 


62  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

This  is  a  machine  used  for  packing  and 
pressing  cotton.  By  it  he  hung  me  up  by  the 
hands  at  letter  a,  ahorse,  and  at  times,  a  man 
moving  round  the  screw  e,  and  carrying  it  up 
and  down,  and  pressing  the  block  c  into  the 
box  d,  into  which  the  cotton  is  put.  At  ihis 
time  he  hung  me  up  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
I  was  carried  up  ten  feet  from  the  ground, 
when  Mr.  Gooch  asked  me  if  I  was  tired  ? 
He  then  let  me  rest  for  five  minutes,  then  car- 
ried me  round  again,  after  which,  he  let  me 
down  and  put  me  in  the  box  d,  and  shut  me 
down  in  it  for  about  ten  minutes.  After  this 
torture,  I  stayed  with  him  several  months,  and 
did  my  work  very  well.  It  was  about  the  be- 
ginning of  1832,  when  he  took  off  my  irons, 
and  being  in  dread  of  him,  he  having  threat- 
ened me  with  more  punishment,  I  attempted 
again  to  escape  from  him.     At  this  time  I  got 


made  with  wood,  a  large  tree  cut  down,  and  carved 
the  shape  of  a  screw. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  63 

into  North  Carolina :  but  a  reward  having 
been  offered  for  me,  a  Mr.  Robinson  caught 
me,  and  chained  me  to  a  chair,  upon  which 
he  sat  up  with  me  all  night,  and  next  day  pro- 
ceeded home  with  me.  This  was  Saturday. 
Mr.  Gooch  had  gone  to  church,  several  miles 
from  his  house.  When  he  came  back,  the 
first  thing  he  did  was  to  pour  some  tar  upon 
my  head,  then  rubbed  it  all  over  my  face,  took 
a  torch  with  pitch  on,  and  set  it  on  fire  ;  he 
put  it  out  before  it  did  me  very  great  injury, 
but  the  pain  which  I  endured  was  most  excru- 
ciating, nearly  all  my  hair  having  been  burnt 
off.  On  Monday,  he  put  irons  on  me  again, 
weighing  nearly  fifty  pounds.  He  threatened 
me  again  on  the  Sunday  with  another  flog- 
ging ;  and  on  the  Monday  morning,  before 
day-break,  I  got  away  again,  with  my  irons 
on,  and  was  about  three  hours,  going  a  dis- 
tance of  two  miles.*     I  had  gone  a  good  dis- 

*  It  must  be  recollected,  that  when  a  person  is  two 


64  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

tance,  when  I  met  with  a  coloured  man,  who 
got  some  wedges,  and  took  my  irons  off. 
However,  I  was  caught  again,  and  put  into 
prison  in  Charlotte,  where  Mr.  Gooch  came, 
and  took  me  back  to  Chester.  He  asked  me 
how  I  got  my  irons  off  ?  They  having  been 
got  off  by  a  slave,  I  would  not  answer  his 
question,  for  fear  of  getting  the  man  punished. 
Upon  this,  he  put  the  fingers  of  my  hands 
into  a  vice,  and  squeezed  all  my  nails  off.  He 
then  had  my  feet  put  on  an  anvil,  and  ordered 
a  man  to  beat  my  toes,  till  he  smashed  some 
of  my  nails  off.  The  marks  of  this  treatment 
still  remain  upon  me,  some  of  my  nails  never 
having  grown  perfect  since.  He  inflicted  this 
punishment,  in  order  to  get  out  of  me  how  I 
got  my  irons  off,  but  never  succeeded.     After 

miles  from  a  house,  in  that  part  of  the  country,  that 
he  can  hide  himself  in  the  woods  for  weeks,  and  I 
knew  a  slave  who  was  hid  for  six  months  without 
discovery,  the  trees  being  so  thick. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  65 

this,  he  hardly  knew  what  to  do  with  me  ; 
the  whole  stock  of  his  cruelties  seemed  to  be 
exhausted.  He  chained  me  down  in  the  log- 
house.  Soon  after  this,  he  sent  a  female  slave 
to  see  if  I  was  safe.  Mr.  Gooch  had  not 
secured  me  as  he  thought ;  but  had  only  run 
my  chain  through  the  ring,  without  locking  it. 
This  I  observed ;  and  while  the  slave  was 
coming,  I  was  employed  in  loosening  the 
chain  with  the  hand  that  was  not  wounded. 
As  soon  as  I  observed  her  coming  I  drew 
the  chain  up  tight,  and  she  observing  that  I 
seemed  fast,  went  away  and  told  her  master, 
who  was  in  the  field  ordering  the  slaves. 
When  she  was  gone,  I  drew  the  chain  through 
the  ring,  escaped  under  the  flooring  of  the 
log-house,  and  went  on  under  it,  till  I  came 
out  at  the  other  side,  and  ran  on  ;  but,  being 
sore  and  weak,  I  had  not  got  a  mile  before  I 
was  caught,  and  again  carried  back.  He  tied 
me  up  to  a  tree  in  the  woods  at  night,  and 

made  his  slaves  flog  me.     I  cannot  say  how 
F3 


66  ROPER'S  ESCArE 

many  lashes  I  received  ;  but  it  was  the  worst 
flogging  I  ever  had,  and  the  last  which  Mr. 
Gooch  ever  gave  me. 

There  are  several  circumstances  which  oc- 
curred on  this  estate  while  I  was  there,  rela- 
tive to  other  slaves,  which  it  may  be  interest- 
ing to  mention.  Hardly  a  day  ever  passed 
without  some  one  being  flogged.  To  one  of 
his  female  slaves  he  had  given  a  dose  of  cas- 
tor oil  and  salts  together,  as  much  as  she 
could  take  ;*  he  then  got  a  box,  about  six  feet 
by  two  and  a  half,  and  one  and  a  half  feet 
deep ;  he  put  this  slave  under  the  box,  and 
made  the  men  fetch  as  many  logs  as  they 
could  get,  and  put  them  on  the  top  of  it ;  un- 
der this  she  was  made  to  stay  all  night.  I 
believe,  that  if  he  had  given  this  slave  one,  he 
had  given  her  three  thousand  lashes.  Mr. 
Gooch  was  a  member  of  a  Baptist  church. 
His  slaves  thinking  him  a  very  bad  sample 

*  The  female  whom  Mr.  Gooch  chained  to  me. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  67 

of  what  a  professing  Christian  ought  to  be, 
would  not  join  the  connexion  he  belonged  to, 
thinking  they  must  be  a  very  bad  set  of  peo- 
ple :  there  were  many  of  them  members  of  the 
Methodist  Church.*  On  Sunday,  the  slaves 
can  only  go  to  church  at  the  will  of  their 
master,  when  he  gives  them  a  pass  for  the 
time  they  are  to  be  out.  If  they  are  found  by 
the  patrole  after  the  time  to  which  their  pass 
extends,  they  are  severely  flogged. 

On  Sunday  nights  a  slave,  named  Allen, 
used  to  come  to  Mr.  Gooch's  estate  for  the 
purpose  of  exhorting  and  praying  with  Us 
brother  slaves,  by  whose  instrumentality  many 
of  them  had  been  converted.  One  evening, 
Mr.  Gooch  caught  them  all  in  a  room,  turned 

*  In  fact,  in  some  of  the  States  nearly  all  of  the 
slaves  are  Methodists ;  and  when  in  the  field  at  work 
they  may  be  often  heard  singing  these  words,  "  I  am 
happy,  I  am  happy,  Lord  pity  poor  me. — Me  never 
know  what  happiness  was,  until  I  joined  de  Metho- 
dists.   I  am  happy,  Lord  pity  poor  me." 


68  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

Allen  oat,  and  threatened  his  slaves  with  one 
hundred  lashes  each,  if  they  ever  brought  him 
there  again.  At  one  time  Mr.  Gooch  was 
ill  and  confined  to  his  room  ;  if  any  of  the 
slaves  had  done  anything  which  he  thought 
deserved  a  flogging,  he  would  have  them 
brought  into  his  bed-room  and  flogged  before 
Lis  eyes. 

With  respect  to  food,  he  used  to  allow  us 
one  peck  of  Indian  meal  per  week,  which, 
after  being  sifted  and  the  bran  taken  from  it, 
would  not  be  much  more  than  half  a  peck. 
Meat  we  did  not  get  for  sometimes  several 
weeks  together  ;  however,  he  was  proverbial 
for  giving  his  slaves  more  food  than  any  other 
slave-holder.  I  stayed  with  Mr.  Gooch  a 
year  and  a  half;  during  that  time  the  scenes 
of  cruelty  I  witnessed  and  experienced,  are 
not  at  all  fitted  for  these  pages.  There  is 
much  to  excite  disgust  in  what  lias  been  nar- 
rated, but  hundreds  of  other  cases  might  be 
mentioned. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  69 


CHAPTER  V. 

I  was  not  long  with  Mr.  Wilson,  who  was  a  Negro 
trader,  before  he  exchanged  me  to  Mr.  Rowland, 
who  was  also  a  trader,  for  another  slave,  and  after 
being  with  him  about  a  year,  was  sold  to  Mr. 
Goodly,  who  exchanged  me  again  to  Mr.  Louis. 

After  this,  Mr.  Gooch  seeing  that  I  was  de- 
termined to  get  away  from  him,  chained  me, 
and  sent  me  with  another  female  slave,  whom 
he  had  treated  very  cruelly,  to  Mr.  Britton, 
son  of  the  before  mentioned,  a  slave-dealer.  We 
were  to  have  gone  to  Georgia  to  be  sold,  but 
a  bargain  was  struck  before  we  arrived  there. 
Mr.  Britton  had  put  chains  on  me  to  please 
Mr.  Gooch,  but  having  gone  some  little  dis- 
tance we  came  up  with  a  white  man,  who 
begged  Mr.  Britton  to  unchain  me  ;  he  then 
took  off  my  handcuffs.  We  then  went  on  to 
Union  Court  House,  where  we  met  a  drove 


70  BOPEB'S  ESCAPE 

of  slaves  belonging  to  Mr.  Wilson,  who  ulti- 
mately bought  me  and  sent  me  to  his  drove ; 
the  girl  was  sold  to  a  planter  in  the  neighbour- 
hood as  bad  as  Mr.  Goocb.*  In  court  week 
the  negro  traders  and  slave  encamp  a  little 
way  out  of  the  town.  The  traders  here  will 
often  sleep  with  the  best  looking  female  slaves 
among  them,  and  they  will  often  have  many 
children  in  the  year,  which  are  said  to  be 
slave  holder's  children,  by  which  means, 
through  his  villainy,  he  will  make  an  immense 
profit  of  this  intercourse,  by  selling  the  babe 
with  its  mother.  They  often  keep  an  im- 
mense stock  of  slaves  on  hand ;  many  of  them 
will  be  with  the  trader  a  year  or  more  before 
they  are  sold.  Mr.  Marcus  Rowland,  the 
drover,  who  brought  me,  then  returned  with 
his  slaves  to  his  brother's  house  (Mr.  John 

*  As  I  am  often  asked  "  What  became  of  the  female 
I  was  chained  to  ?"  The  above  is  the  girl,  whom  I  have 
seen  once  since  she  was  last  sold,  and  from  what  I 
saw  of  her  then,  I  do  not  think  she  can  be  alive  now. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  71 

Rowland),  where  he  kept  his  drove  on  his 
way  to  Virginia.  He  kept  me  as  a  kind  of 
servant.  I  had  to  grease  the  faces  of  the 
blacks  every  morning  with  sweet  oil,  to  make 
them  shine,  before  they  are  put  up  to  sell. 
After  he  had  been  round  several  weeks  and 
sold  many  slaves,  he  left  me  and  some  more  at 
his  brother's  house,  while  he  went  on  to 
Washington,  about  600  miles,  to  buy  some 
more  slaves,  the  drove  having  got  very  small. 
We  were  treated  very  well  while  there,  hav- 
ing plenty  to  eat  and  little  work  to  do,  in  or- 
der to  make  us  fat.  I  was  brought  up  more 
as  a  domestic  slave,  as  they  generally  prefer 
slaves  of  my  colour  for  that  purpose.  When 
Mr.  Rowland  came  back,  having  been  absent 
about  five  months,  he  found  all  the  slaves  well 
except  one  female,  who  had  been  grieving 
very  much  at  being  parted  from  her  parents, 
and  at  last  died  of  grief.  He  dressed  us  very 
nicely  and  went  on  again.  I  travelled  with 
him  for  a  year,  and  had  to  look  over  the 


72  ROPERS  ESCAPE 

slaves  and  see  that  they  were  dressed  well, 
had  plenty  of  food,  and  to  oil  their  faces. 
During  this  time  we  stopped  once  at  White 
House  Church,  a  Baptist  Association ;  a  pro- 
tracted camp  meeting  was  holding  there,  on 
the  plan  of  the  revival  meetings  in  this  coun- 
try. We  got  there  at  the  time  of  the  meet- 
ing, and  sold  two  female  slaves  on  the  Sunday 
morning,  at  the  time  the  meeting  broke  up,  to 
a  gentleman  who  had  been  attending  the  meet- 
ing the  whole  of  the  week.  While  I  was 
with  Mr.  Rowland,  we  were  at  many  such 
meetings ;  and  the  members  of  the  churches 
are  by  this  means  so  well  influenced  towards 
their  fellow  creatures  at  these  meetings  for  the 
worship  of  God,  that  it  becomes  a  fruitful 
season  for  the  drover,  who  carries  on  an  im- 
mense traffic  with  the  attendants  at  these 
places.  This  is  common  to  Baptists  and  Me- 
thodists. At  the  end  of  the  year,  he  exchang- 
ed me  to  a  farmer,  Mr.  David  Goodley,  for  a 
female  slave   in  Greenville,  about  fourteen 


FROM  SLAVERY.  73 

miles  from  Greenville  Court  House.  This 
gentleman  was  going  to  Missouri  to  settle, 
and  on  his  way  had  to  pass  through  Ohio,  a 
free  State.  But  having  learnt  after  he  bought 
me,  that  I  had  before  tried  to  get  away  to  the 
free  States,  he  was  afraid  to  take  me  with 
him,  and  I  was  exchanged  to  a  Mr.  Louis. 


H 


74  EOPER'S  ESCAPE 


CHAPTER   VI. 


Travels  with  Mr.  Louis  to  Pendleton  Indian  Springs, 
from  thence  to  Columbus,  where  I  was  sold  at 
auction  to  Mr.  Beveridge.  Travels  and  history 
with  Mr.  Beveridge. 

Mr.  Marvel  Louis  was  in  the  habit  of  tra- 
velling a  great  deal,  and  took  me  as  a  do- 
mestic slave  to  wait  on  him.  Mr.  Louis 
boarded  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Clevelin,  a 
rich  planter,  at  Greenville,  South  Carolina. 
Mr.  L.  was  paying  his  addresses  to  the 
daughter  of  this  gentleman,  but  was  surpris- 
ed and  routed  in  his  approaches,  by  a  Co- 
lonel Dorkins,  of  Union  Court  House,  who 
ultimately  carried  her  off  in  triumph.  Af- 
ter this,  Mr.  Louis  took  to  drinking,  to 
drown  his  recollection  of  disappointed  love. 

One  day  he  went  to  Pendleton  Races,  and  I 
waited  on  the  road  for  him  ;  returning  intoxi- 
cated he  was  thrown  from  his  horse   into  a 


FROM  SLAVERY.  7* 

brook,  and  was  picked  up  by  a  gentleman, 
and  taken  to  an  inn,  and  I  went  there  to  take 
care  of  him.  Next  day,  he  went  on  to  Pun- 
kintown  with  Mr.  Warren  R.  Davis,  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  ;  I  went  with  him.  This 
was  at  the  time  of  the  agitation  of  the  Union 
and  Nullifying  party,  which  was  expected  to 
end  in  a  general  war.  The  Nullifying  party 
had  a  grand  dinner  on  the  occasion,  after 
which,  they  gave  their  slaves  all  their  refuse, 
for  the  purpose  of  bribing  them  to  fight  on  the 
side  of  their  party.  The  scene  on  this  occa- 
sion was  humorous,  all  the  slaves  scrambling 
after  bare  bones  and  crumbs,  as  if  they  had 
had  nothing  for  weeks.  When  Mr.  Louis 
had  got  over  this  fit  of  drunkenness,  we  re- 
turned to  Greenville,  where  I  had  little  to  do 
except  in  the  warehouse.  There  was  preach- 
ing in  the  Court-house  on  the  Sunday  ;  but 
scarcely  had  the  sweet  savour  of  the  worship 
of  God  passed  away,  when,  on   Monday,  a 


76  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

public  auction  was  held  for  the  sale  of  slaves, 
cattle,  sugar,  iron,  &c.  by  Z.  Davis,  the  high 
constable  and  others. 

On  these  days  I  was  generally  very  busy 
in  handing  out  the  different  articles  for  in- 
spection, and  was  employed  in  this  way  for 
several  months.  After  which,  Mr.  Louis  left 
his  place  for  Pendleton  ;  but  his  health  get- 
ting worse,  and  fast  approaching  consumption, 
he  determined  to  travel.  I  went  with  him 
over  Georgia  to  the  Indian  Springs,  and  from 
there  to  Columbus  ;  here  he  left  me  with 
Lawyer  Kemp,  a  member  of  the  State  As- 
sembly, to  take  care  of  his  horse  and  carriage 
till  he  came  back  from  Cuba,  where  he  went 
for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  I  travelled 
round  with  Mr.  Kemp,  waiting  until  my 
master  came  back.  I  soon  after  heard,  that 
Mr.  Louis  had  died  in  Appalachicola,  and 
had  been  buried  at  Tenessee  Bluff.  I  was 
very  much  attached  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Pendleton  and  Greenville,   and  feared,  from 


FKOM  SLAVERY.  77 

Mr.  Louis's  death,  I   should   not  get  back 
there. 

As  soon  as  this  information  arrived,  Mr. 
Kemp  put  me,  the  carriage  and  horses,  a  gold 
watch,  and  cigars,  up  to  auction,  on  which  I 
was  much  frightened,  knowing  there  would  be 
some  very  cruel  masters  at  the  sale  ;  and  fear- 
ing, I  should  again  be  disappointed  in  my  at- 
tempt to  escape  from  bondage.  A  Mr.  Be- 
veridge,  a  Scotchman,  from  Appalachicola, 
bought  me,  the  horses,  and  cigars.*  He  was 
not  a  cruel  master  ;  he  had  been  in  America 
eighteen  years,  and  I  believe,  I  was  the  first 
slave  he   ever   bought.     Mr.   Kemp  had  no 

*  How  Mr.  Beveridge  ever  became  a  slave-holder* 

I  cannot  account  for,  for  I  believe  him  to  be  the 

only  kind  slave-holder  in  America,  and   not    only 

that,  I  have  been  in  England  many  years,  and  have 

never  met  with  a  kinder  man  than  Mr.  Beveridge, 

and  have  often  prayed  that  God  would  deliver  him 

from  that  one  sin,  a  sin  which  he  was  kept  from 

eighteen  years. 

H  3 


78  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

right  to  sell  me,  which  he  did,  before  he  had 
written  to  Mr.  Louis's  brother 

Shortly  after  this,  Mr.  Kemp,  having  had 
some  altercation  with  General  Woodfork,  it 
ended  in  a  duel,  in  which  Mr.  W.  was  killed. 
A  few  weeks  after,  as  Mr.  Kemp  was  pass- 
ing down  a  street,  he  was  suddenly  shot  dead 
by  Mr.  Milton,  a  rival  lawyer.  When  I 
heard  this,  I  considered  it  a  visitation  of  God 
on  Mr.  Kemp  for  having  sold  me  unjustly, 
as  I  did  not  belong  to  him.  This  was  soon 
discovered  by  me,  Mr.  Louis's  brother  hav- 
ing called  at  Mackintosh  Hotel,  Columbus, 
to  claim  me,  but  which  he  could  not  effect. 
After  this,  I  travelled  with  Mr.  Beveridge, 
through  Georgia,  to  the  warm  springs,  and 
then  back  to  Columbus,  going  on  to  Mari- 
anna,  his  summer-house,  in  Florida. 

Here  I  met  with  better  treatment  than  I 
had  ever  experienced  before  ;  we  travelled  on 
the  whole  summer ;  at  the  fall,  Mr.  Beveridge 
went  to  Appalachicola  on  business.   Mr.  Be- 


FROM  SLAVERY.  79 

veridge  was  contractor  for  the  mail,  from  Co- 
lumbus to  Appalachicola,  and  owner  of  three 
steam-boats,  the  Versailles,   Andrew   Jack- 
son, and  Van  Buren.     He  made  me  steward 
on  board  on  the  Versailles,  the  whole  winter. 
The  river  then   got  so  low  that   the  boats 
could  not  run.     At  this  time  Mr.  Beveridge 
went  to  Mount  Vernon.     On  our  way,  we 
had  to  pass  through  the  Indian  nation.     We 
arrived  at  Columbus,  where  I  was  taken  dan- 
gerously ill  of  a  fever.  After  I  got  well,  Mr. 
Beveridge   returned    to   Marianna,  through 
the  Indian  nation.  Having  gone  about  twelve 
miles,  he  was  taken  very  ill. 

I  took  him  out  of  the  carriage  to  a  brook, 
and  washed  his  hands  and  face  until  he  got 
better,  when  I  got  him  into  the  carriage 
again,  and  drove  off  till  we  came  to  General 
Irving's,  where  he  stopped  several  days  on 
account  of  his  health.  While  there,  1  ob- 
served on  the  floor  of  the  kitchen  several 


60  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

children,  one  about  three  months  old,  without 
my  body  to  take  care  of  her  ;   I  asked  where 
her  mother  was,  and  was  told,  that  Mrs.  Ir- 
ving had  given  her  a  very  hard  task  to  do  at 
washinj,  in   a    brook,   about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  distant.  We  heard  after,  that  not  being 
able  to  get  it  done,  she   got  some  cords,  tied 
them   round  her  neck,   climbed  up    a  tree, 
swung  off,  and  hung  herself.     Being  missed, 
persons  were   sent   after  her,   who  observed 
several  buzzards   flying  about   a  particular 
spot,  to  which  they  directed  their  steps,  and 
found  the  poor  woman  nearly  eaten  up. 

After  this,   we  travelled   several  months 
without  any  thing  remarkable  taking  place. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  81 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Author's  last  Attempt  and  final  Escape  from 
Marianna  to  Savannah,  from  thence  to  New  York  ; 
Quarantined  at  Staten  Island. 

In  the  year  1834?,  Mr.  Beveridge,  who  was 
now  residing  iu  Appalachicola,  a  town  in  West 
Florida,  became  a  bankrupt,  when  all  his  pro- 
perty was  sold,  and  I  fell  into  the  hands  of  a 
very  cruel  master,  Mr.  Register,  a  planter  in 
the  same  State ;  of  whom,  knowing  his  savage 
character,  I  always  had  a  dread.  Previously  to 
his  purchasing  me,  he  had  frequently  taunted 
me,  by  saying,  "  you  have  been  a  gentleman 
long  enough,  and,  whatever  may  be  the  conse- 
quences I  intend  to  buy  you."  To  which  I 
remarked,  that  I  would  on  no  account  live 
with  him  if  I  could  help  it.  Nevertheless, 
intent  upon  his  purpose,  in  the  month  of  July, 
1834,  he  bought  me ;  after  which  I  was  so 


82  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

exasperated,  that  I  cared  not  whether  I  lived 
or  died  ;  in  fact,  whilst  I  was  on  my  passage 
from  Appalachicola,  I  procured  a  quart  bottle* 
of  whiskey,  for  the  purpose  of  so  intoxicating 
myself,  that  I  might  be  able  either  to  plunge 
myself  into  the  river,  or  so  enrage  my  master 
that  he  should  dispatch  me  forthwith.  I  was, 
however,  by  a  kind  Providence,  prevented 
from  committing  this  horrid  deed  by  an  old 
slave  on  board,  who,  knowing  my  intention, 
secretly  took  the  bottle  from  me  ;  after  which 
my  hands  were  tied,  and  I  was  led  into  the 
town  ot  Oehesa,  to  a  warehouse,  where  my 
master  was  asked  by  the  proprietor  of  the 
place,  the  reason  of  his  confining  my  hands  ; 
in  answer  to  which  Mr.  Register  said,  that 
he  had  purchased  me.  The  proprietor,  how- 
ever, persuaded  him  to  untie  me  ;  after  which, 
my  master  being  excessively  drunk,  asked  for 
a  cow-hide,  iutending  to  flog  me,  from  which 


FROM  SLAVERY.  83 

the  proprietor  dissuaded  him,  saying,  that  he 
had  known  me  for  some  time,  and  he  was 
sure  that  I  did  not  require  to  be  flogged. 
From  this  place  we  proceeded  about  mid-day 
on  our  way,  he  p^ced  me  on  the  bare  back  of 
a  half-starved  old  horse,  which  he  had  pur- 
chased, and  upon  which  sharp  surface,  he 
kindly  intended  I  should  ride  about  eighty 
miles,  the  distance  we  were  then  from  his 
home.  In  this  unpleasant  situation  I  could 
not  help  reflecting  upon  the  prospects  before 
me,  not  forgetting  that  I  had  heard  my  new 
master  had  been  in  the  habit  of  stealing  cattle 
and  other  property,  and  among  others  things  a 
slave  woman,  and  that  I  had  said,  as  it  after- 
wards turned  out,  in  the  hearing  of  some  one 
who  communicated  the  saying  to  my  master, 
that  TrhzA  been  accustomed  to  live  with  a  gen- 
tleman and  not  with  a  rogue;  and,  finding 
that  he  had  been  informed  of  this,  I  had  the 


84  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

additional  dread  of  a  few  hundred  lashes  for 
it;  on  my  arrival  at  my  destination. 

About  two  hours  after  we  started  it  began 
to  rain  very  heavily,  and  continued  to  do  so 
until  we  arrived  at  Marianna,  about  twelve  at 
night,  when  we  were  to  rest  till  morning.  My 
master  here  questioned  me  as  to  whether  I  in- 
tended to  run  away  or  not ;  and,  I  not  then 
knowing  the  sin  of  lying,  at  once  told  him  that 
I  would  not.  He  then  gave  me  his  clothes  to 
dry ;  I  took  them  to  the  kitchen  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  he  retired  to  bed,  taking  a  bag  of 
clothes  belonging  to  me  with  him,  as  a  kind  of 
security,  I  presume,  for  my  safety.  In  an 
hour  or  two  afterwards,  I  took  his  clothes  to 
him  dried,  and  found  him  fast  asleep.  1  placed 
them  by  his  side,  and  said  that  I  would  then 
take  my  own  to  dry  too,  taking  care  to  speak 
loud  enough  to  ascertain  whether  he  was  asleep 
or  not,  knowing  that  he  had  a  dirk  and  pistol 
by  his  side,  which  he  would  not  have  hesitated 
using  against  me,  if  I  had  attempted  secretly 


FROM  SLAVERY.  35 

to  have  procured  them.  I  was  glad  to  find 
that  the  effects  of  his  drinking  the  day  before 
had  caused  his  sleeping  very  soundly,  and  I 
immediately  resolved  on  making  my  escape ; 
and  without  loss  of  time  started  with  my  few 
clothes  into  the  woods,  which  were  in  the  im- 
mediate neighbourhood ;  and,  after  running 
many  miles,  I  came  up  to  the  river  Chapoli, 
which  is  very  deep,  and  so  beset  with  alliga- 
tors, that  I  dared  not  attempt  to  swim  across. 
I  paced  up  and  down  this  river,  with  the 
hope  of  finding  a  conveyance  across,  for  a 
whole  day,  the  succeeding  night,  and  till  noon 
on  the  following  day,  which  was  Saturday. 
About  twelve  o'clock  on  that  day  I  discovered 
an  Indian  canoe,  which  had  not  from  all  ap- 
pearance been  used  for  some  time  ;  this  of 
course,  I  used  to  convey  myself  across,  and 
after  being  obliged  to  go  a  little  way  down  the 
river,  by  means  of  a  piece  of  wood  I  provi- 
dentially found  in  the  boat,  I  landed  on  the 

opposite  side.    Here  I  found  myself  surround- 
I 


86  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

ed  by  planters  looking  for  me,  in  consequence 
of  which,   I   hid  myself  in  the  bushes  until 
night,  when  I  again  travelled  several  miles  to 
the  farm  of  a  Mr.  Robinson,  a  large  sugar  and 
cotton  planter,  where  I  rested  till  morning  in 
a  field.     Afterwards  I  set  out,  wrorking  my 
way  through  the  woods,  about  twenty  miles 
towards  the  east  ;   this  I  knew  by  my  know- 
ledge of  the  position  of  the  6iin  at  its  rising. 
Having  reached    the    Chattahoochee    river, 
which  divides  Florida  from  Georgia,  I  was 
again  puzzled  to  know  how  to  cross  ;  it  was 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  day,  when  a  number 
of  persons  were  fishing;  having  walked  for 
some  hours  along  the  banks,  I  at  last,  after 
dark,  procured  a  ferry-boat,  which  not  being 
able,  from  the  swiftness  of  the  river,  to  steer 
direct  across,  I  was  carried  many  miles  down 
the  river,  landing  on  the  Georgian  side,  from 
whence  I  proceeded  on  through  the  woods  two 
or  three  miles,  and  came  to  a  little  farm-house 
about  twelve  o'clock  at  night ;  at  a  short  dis- 


FROM  SLAVERY.  87 

tance  from  the  house  I  found  an  old  slave  hut, 
into  which  I  went,  and  informed  the  old  man 
who  appeared  seventy  or  eighty  years  old,  that 
I  had  had  a  very  bad  master,  from  whom  I 
run  away ;  and  asked  him  if  he  could  give 
me  something  to  eat,  having  had  no  suitable 
food  for  three  or  four  days ;  he  told  me  he 
had  nothing  but  a  piece  of  dry  Indian  bread, 
which  he  cheerfully  gave  me ;  having  eaten  it, 
I  went  on  a  short  distance  from  the  hut,  and 
laid  down  in  the  wood  to  rest  for  an  hour  or 
two.  All  the  following  day  (Monday)  I  con- 
tinued travelling  through  the  woods,  and  was 
greatly  distressed  for  want  of  water  to  quench 
my  thirst,  it  being  a  very  dry  country,  till  I 
came  to  Spring  Creek,  which  is  a  wide,  deep 
stream,  and  with  some  of  which  I  gladly 
quenched  my  thirst.  I  then  proceeded  to 
cross  the  same,  by  a  bridge  close  by,  and  con- 
tinued my  way  until  dusk.  I  came  to  a  gen- 
tleman's house  in  the  woods,  where  I  inquired 
how  far  it  was  to  the  next  house,  taking  care 


88  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

to  watch  an  opportunity  to  ask  some  individ- 
ual whom  I  could  master,  and  get  away  from, 
if  any  interruption  to  my  progress  was  at- 
tempted. I  went  on  for  some  time,  it  being  a 
very  fine  moonlight  night,  and  was  presently 
alarmed  by  the  howling  of  a  wolf  near  me ; 
which,  I  concluded,  was  calling  others  to  join 
him  in  attacking  me,  having  understood  that 
they  always  assemble  in  numbers  for  such  a 
purpose  ;  the  howling  increased,  and  I  was 
still  pursued,  and  the  numbers  were  evidently 
increasing  fast ;  but  I  was  happily  rescued 
from  my  dreadful  fright,  by  coming  to  some 
cattle,  which  attracted  as  I  supposed,  the 
wolves,  and  saved  my  life ;  for  I  could  not 
get  up  the  trees  for  safety  they  being  very  tall 
pines,  the  lowest  branches  of  which  were,  at 
least,  forty  or  fifty  feet  from  the  ground,  and 
the  trunks  very  large  and  smooth. 

About  two  o'clock  I  came  to  the  house  of  a 
Mr.  Cherry,  on  the  borders  of  the  Flint  River, 
I  went  up  to  the  house,  and  called  them  up  to 


FEOM  SLAVERY.  8i> 

beg  something  to  eat ;  but  having  nothing 
cooked,  they  kindly  allowed  me  to  lie  down  in 
the  porch,  where  they  made  me  a  bed.  In 
conversation  with  this  Mr.  Cherry,  I  discover- 
ed that  1  had  known  him  before,  having  been 
in  a  steam-boat,  the  Versailles,  some  months 
previous,  which  sunk  very  near  the  house,  but 
which  I  did  not  at  first  disern  to  be  the  same, 
I  then  thought  it  would  not  be  prudent  for  me 
to  stop  there,  and,  therefore,  told  them,  I  was 
in  a  hurry  to  get  on,  and  must  start  very  early 
again,  he  having  no  idea  who  I  was ;  and  I 
gave  his  son  six  cents  to  take  me  across  the 
river,  which  he  did  when  the  sun  was  about 
half  an  hour  high,  and  unfortunately  landed 
me  where  there  was  a  man  building  a  boat, 
who  knew  me  very  well,  and  my  former  mas- 
ter too, — he  calling  me  by  name,  asked  me 
where  I  was  going. 

I  was  very  much  frightened  at  being  dis- 
covered, but  summoned  up  courage,  and  said, 

that  my  master  had  gone  to  Tallyhassa  by  the 
13 


90  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

coach,  and  that  there  was  not  room  for  me, 
and  I  had  to  walk  round  to  meet  him.  I  then 
asked  the  man  to  put  me  in  the  best  road  to 
get  there,  which,  however,  I  knew  as  well  as 
he  did,  having  travelled  there  before  ;  he  di- 
rected me  the  best  way  ;  but  I,  of  course,  took 
the  contrary  direction,  wanting  to  get  on  to 
Savannah.  By  this  hasty  and  wicked  decep- 
tion, I  saved  myself  from  going  to  Bainbridge 
prison,  which  was  close  by,  and  to  which  I 
should  certainly  have  been  taken  had  it  been 
known  that  I  was  making  my  escape. 

Leaving  Bainbridge,  I  proceeded  about  for- 
ty miles,  travelling  all  day  under  a  scorching 
sun,  through  the  woods  in  which  I  saw  many 
deer  and  serpents,  until  I  reached  Thomas 
Town,  in  the  evening.  1  there  inquired  the 
way  to  Augusta,  of  a  man  whom  1  met,  and 
also  asked  where  I  could  obtain  lodgings,  and 
was  told  there  was  a  poor  minister  about  a 
mile  from  the  place  who  would  give  me  lodg- 
ings.    I  accordingly  went,  and  found  them  in 


FROM  SLAVERY.  $1 

a  little  log-house,  where,  having  awakened 
the  family,  I  found  them  all  lying  on  the  bare 
boards,  where  I  joined  them,  for  the  remain- 
der of  the  night. 

In  the  morning  the  old  gentleman  prayed 
for  me,  that  I  might  be  preserved  on  my  jour- 
ney ;  he  had  previously  asked  me  where  I 
was  going,  and  knowing,  that  if  I  told  him 
the  right  place,  any  that  inquired  of  him  for 
me  would  be  able  to  find  me,  asked  the  way 
to  Augusta,  instead  of  Savannah,  my  real  des- 
tination. I  also  told  him,  that  I  was  partly 
Indian  and  partly  white,  but  I  am  also  partly 
African,  but  this  I  omitted  to  tell  him,  know- 
ing if  I  did  I  shouM  be  apprehended.  After 
I  had  left  this  hut,  I  again  inquired  for  Au- 
gusta, for  the  purpose  of  misleading  my  pur- 
suers, but  I  afterwards  took  my  course  through 
the  woods,  and  came  into  a  road,  called  the 
Coffee  road,  which  General  Jackson  cut  down 
for  his  troops  at  the  time  of  the  war,  between 
the  Americans  and  Spaniards,  in  Florida  ;  in 


92  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

which  road  there  are  but  few  houses,  and 
which  I  preferred  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding 
detection. 

After  several  days  I  left  this  road  and  took 
a  more  direct  way  to  Savannah,  where  I  had 
to  wade  through  two  rivers  before  I  came 
to  the  Alatamah,  which  I  crossed  in  a  ferry- 
boat, about  a  mile  below  the  place  where  the 
rivers  Oconee  and  Ocmulgee  run  together  into 
one  river,  called  the  Alatamah.  I  here  met 
with  some  cattle  drovers,  who  were  collecting 
cattle  to  drive  to  Savannah.  On  walking  on 
before  them,  I  began  to  consider  in  what  way 
I  could  obtain  a  passport  for  Savannah,  and 
determined  on  the  following  plan  : — 

I  called  at  a  cottage,  and  after  I  had  talked 
sometime  with  the  wife,  who  began  to  feel 
greatly  for  me,  in  consequence  of  my  telling 
her  a  little  of  my  history,  (her  husband  being 
out  hunting)  I  pretended  to  show  her  my 
passport,  feeling  for  it  everywhere  about  my 
coat  and  hat,  and  not  finding  it,  I  went  back 


FROM  SLAVERY.  93 

a  little  way,  pretending  to  look  for  it  but 
came  back,  saying,  I  was  very  sorry,  but  I  did 
not  know  where  it  was.  At  last,  the  man 
came  home,  carrying  a  deer  upon  his  shoul- 
ders, which  he  brought  into  the  yard,  and  be- 
gan to  dress  it.  The  wife  then  went  out  to 
tell  him  my  situation,  and  afcer  long  persua- 
sion, he  said  he  could  not  write,  but  that  if  I 
could  tell  his  son  what  was  in  my  passport, 
he  would  write  me  one ;  knowing  that  I  should 
not  be  able  to  pass  through  Savannah  without 
one,  and  having  heard  several  free  coloured 
men  read  theirs,  I  thought  I  could  tell  the  boy 
what  to  write.  The  lad  sat  down  and  wrote 
what  I  told  him,  nearly  filling  a  large  sheet  of 
paper  for  the  passport,  and  another  with  re- 
commendations. These  being  completed,  I 
was  invited  to  partake  of  the  fresh  venison, 
which  the  woman  of  the  house  had  prepared 
for  dinner,  and  having  done  so,  and  feeling 
grateful  for  their  kindness,  I  proceeded  on  my 
way.     Going  along,  1  took  my  papers  out  of 


94  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

my  pocket,  and  looking  at  them,  although  I 
could  not  read  a  word,  I  perceived  that  the 
boy's  wriiing  was  very  unlike  other  writing 
that  I  had  seen,  and  was  greatly  blotted  be- 
sides, consequently,  I  was  afraid  that  these 
documents  would  not  answer  my  purpose,  and 
began  to  consider  what  other  plan  I  could 
pursue  to  obtain  another  pass. 

I  had  now  to  wade  through  another  river 
to  which  I  came,  and  which  I  had  great  dif- 
ficult in  crossing,  in  consequence  of  the 
water  overflowing  the  banks  of  several  rivers 
to  the  extent  of  upwards  of  twenty  miles.  In 
the  midst  of  the  water,  I  passed  one  night 
upon  a  small  island,  and  the  next  day  I  went 
through  the  remainder  of  the  water.  On  many 
occasions,  I  was  obliged  to  walk  upon  my 
toes,  and  consequently,  found  the  advantage  of 
being  six  feet  two  inches  high,  (I  have  grown 
three  inches  since,)  and  at  other  times  was 
obliged  to  swim.  In  the  middle  of  this  ex- 
tremity, I  felt  it  would  be  imprudent  for  me 


FROM  SLAVERY.  95 

to  return ;  for  if  my  master  was  in  pursuit  of 
me,  my  safest  place  from  him  was  in  the  wa- 
ter, it  I  could  keep  my  head  above  the  sur- 
face. I  was,  however,  dreadfully  frightened 
at  the  crocodiles,  and  most  earnesly  prayed 
that  I  might  be  kept  from  a  watery  grave, 
and  resolved,  that  if  again  I  landed,  I  would 
spend  my  life  iu  the  service  of  God. 

Having,  through  mercy,  again  started  on 
my  journey,  I  met  with  the  drovers  ;  and  hav- 
ing, whilst  in  the  waters,  taken  the  pass  out 
of  my  hat,  and  so  dipped  it  in  the  water  as  to 
spoil  it,  I  showed  it  to  the  men,  and  asked 
them  where  I  could  get  another.  They  told 
me,  that  in  the  neighbourhood,  there  lived  a 
rich  cotton  merchant  who  would  write  me  one. 
They  took  me  to  him,  and  gave  their  word 
that  they  saw  the  passport  before  it  was  wet, 
(for  I  had  previously  showed  it  to  them,)  upon 
which,  the  cotton-planter  wrote  a  free  pass 
and  a  recommendation,  to  which  the  cow-dro- 
vers affixed  their  marks. 


96  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

The  recommendation  was  as  follows  : — 
"John  Roper,  a  very  interesting  young  lad, 
whom  I  have  seen  and  travelled  with  for 
eighty  or  ninety  miles  on  his  road  from  Flo- 
rida, is  a  free  man,  descended  from  Indian 
and  white.  I  trust,  he  will  be  allowed  to  pass 
on  without  interruption,  being  convinced  from 
what  I  have  seen,  that  he  is  free,  and  though 
dark,  is  not  an  African.  I  had  seen  his  pa- 
pers before  they  were  wetted." 

These  cow-drovers,  who  procured  me  the 
passport  and  recommendation  from  the  cotton- 
planter,  could  not  read  ;  and  they  were  intox- 
icated, when  they  went  with  me  to  him.  I 
am  part  African,  as  well  as  Indian  and  white, 
my  father,  being  a  white  man,  Henry  Roper, 
Esq.  Caswell  County,  North  Carolina,  U.  S. 
a  very  wealthy  slave-holder,  who  sold  me 
when  quite  a  child,  for  the  strong  resemblance 
I  bore  him.  My  mother  is  part  Indian,  part 
African  ;  but  I  dared  not  disclose  that,  or  I 
should  have  been  taken  up,  I  then  had  eleven 


FROM  SLAVERY.  97 

miles  to  go  to  Savannah,  one  of  the  greatest 
slave-holding  cities  in  America,  and  where 
they  are  always  looking  out  for  run-away 
slaves.  When  at  this  city,  I  had  travelled 
about  five  hundred  miles  *  It  required  great 
courage  to  pass  through  this  place.  I  went 
through  the  main  street  with  apparent  confi- 
dence, though  much  alarmed  ;  did  not  stop  at 
any  house  in  the  city,  but  went  down  immedi- 
ately to  the  docks,  and  inquired  for  a  berth, 
as  a  steward  to  a  vessel  to  New  York.  I  had 
been  in  this  capacity  before  on  the  Apalachi- 
cola  River.  The  person  whom  I  asked  to 
procure  me  a  berth,  was  steward  of  one  of  the 
New  York  Packets  ;  he  knew  Captain  Dec- 
kay,  of  the  schooner  Fox,  and  got  me  a  situ- 
ation on  board  that  vessel  in  five  minutes  after 
I  had  been  at  the  docks.  The  Schooner  Fox 
was  a  very  old  vessel,  twenty- seven  years  old, 

*  The  distance  between  these  two  places  is  much 

less  than  five  hundred  miles ;  but  I  was  obliged  to 

travel  round  about,  in  order  to  avoid  being  caught. 
K 


98  ROPEB'S  ESCAPE 

laden  with  lumber  and  cattle  for  New  York; 
she  was  rotten,  and  could  not  be  insured. 
The  sailors  were  afraid  of  her ;  but  I  ventured 
on  board,  and  five  minuter  after,  we  dropped 
from  the  docks  into  the  river.  My  spirits 
then  began  to  revive,  and  I  thought  I  should 
get  to  a  free  country  directly.  We  cast  an- 
chor in  the  stream,  to  keep  the  sailors  on,  as 
they  were  so  dissatisfied  with  the  vessel,  and 
lay  there  four  days  ;  during  which  time,  I  had 
to  go  into  the  city  several  times,  which  expo- 
sed me  to  great  danger,  as  my  master  was 
after  me,  and  I  dreaded  meeting  him  in  the 
city. 

Fearing  the  Fox  would  not  sail  before  I 
should  be  seized,  I  deserted  her,  and  went  on 
board  a  bring  sailing  to  Providence,  that  was 
towed  out  by  a  steam-boat,*  and   got  thirty 

*  An  iron  boat,  the  first  that  was  ever  buit  in 
America,  belonging  to  Mr.  Lemayor,  and  this  was 
also  the  first  time  she  sailed. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  99 

miles  from  Savannah.  During  this  time  I 
endeavoured  to  persuade  the  steward  to  take 
me  as  an  assistant,  and  hoped  to  have  accom- 
plished my  purpose  ;  but  the  captain  had  ex- 
amined me  attentively,  and  thought  I  was  a 
slave,  he  therefore  ordered  me,  when  the 
steam-boat  was  sent  back,  to  go  on  board  her 
to  Savannah,  as  the  fine  for  taking  a  slave 
from  that  city  to  any  of  the  Free  States,  is 
five  hundred  dollars.  I  reluctantly  went  back 
to  Savannah,  amoDg  slave  holders  and  slaves. 
My  mind  was  in  a  sad  state ;  and  I  was  under 
strong  temptation  to  throw  myself  into  the 
river.  I  had  deserted  the  schooner  Fox,  and 
knew  that  the  captain  might  put  me  into  pri- 
son till  the  vessel  was  ready  to  sail ;  if  this 
happened,  and  my  master  had  come  to  jail  in 
search  of  me,  I  must  have  gone  back  to  sla- 
very. But  when  I  reached  the  docks  at  Sa- 
vannah, the  first  person  I  met  was  the  cap- 
tain of  the  Fox,  looking  for  another  steward 


160  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

in  my  place.  He  was  a  very  kind  man,  be- 
longing to  the  Free  States,  and  inquired  if  I 
would  go  back  to  his  vessel.  This  usage  was 
very  different  to  what  I  expected,  and  I  glad- 
ly accepted  his  offer.  This  captain  did  not 
know  that  I  was  a  slave.  In  about  two  days 
we  sailed  from  Savannah  to  New  York. 

I  am  (August  1834,)  unable  to  express  the 
joy  I  now  felt.     I  never  was  at  sea  before, 
and,  after  I  had  been  out  about  an  hour,  was 
taken  with  sea-sickness,  which  continued  five 
days.     I  was  scarcely  able  to  stand  up,  and 
one  of  the   sailors  was  obliged  to  take  my 
place.     The  captain  was  very  kind  to  me  all 
this  time  ;  but  even  after  I  recovered,  I  was 
not  sufficiently  well  to  do  my  duty  properly, 
and  could  not  give  satisfaction  to  the  sailors, 
who  swore  at  me,  and  asked  my  why  I  ship- 
ped, as  I  was  not  used  to  the  sea  ?     We  had 
a  very  quick  passage ;  and  in  six  days,  after 
leaving  Savannah,  we  were  in  the  harbour  at 
Statten  Island,  where  the  vessel  was  quaran- 


FROM  SLAVERY.  101 

tined  for  two  days,  six  miles  from  New  York. 
The  captain  went  to  the  city,  but  left  me 
aboard  with  the  sailors,  who  had  most  of  them 
been  brought  up  in  the  slave  holding  States, 
and  were  very  cruel  men.     One  of  the  sailors 
was  particularly  angry  with  me,  because  he 
had  to  perform  the  duties  of  my  place ;  and 
while  the  captain  was  in  the  city,  the  sailors 
called  me  to  the  fore-hatch,  where  they  said 
they  would  treat  me.     I  went,   and   while  I 
was  talking,  they  threw  a  rope  round  my  neck 
and  nearly  choked  me.     The  blood  streamed 
from  my  nose  profusely.     They  also  took  up 
ropes  with  large  knots,  and  knocked  me  over 
the  head.     They  said,  I  was  a  negro  ;  they 
despised  me  ;  and  I  expected  they  would  have 
thrown  me  into  the  water.     When  we  arriv- 
ed at  the  city,   these  men,  who  had  so  ill- 
treated  me,  ran  away  that  they  might  escape 
the  punishment  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  inflicted  on  them. 
K  3 


102  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Arrived  in  New  York,  went  on  to  Poughkeepsie, 
Albany,  Vermont,  Boston,  and  return  to  New 
York — Embarked  for  England. 

When  I  arrived  in  the  city  of  New  York,  I 
thought  I  was  free ;  but  learned  I  was  not, 
and  could  be  taken  there.  I  went  out  into 
the  coiintry  several  miles,  and  tried  to  get  em- 
ployment; but  failed,  as  I  had  no  recommen- 
dation. I  then  returned  to  New  York ;  but 
finding  the  same  difficulty  there  to  get  work, 
as  in  the  country,  I  went  back  to  the  vessel, 
which  was  to  sail  eighty  miles  up  the  Hudson 
river,  to  Poughkeepsie.  When  I  arrived,  I 
obtained  employment  at  an  inn,  and  after  I 
had  been  there  about  two  days,  was  seized 
with  the  cholera,  which  was  at  that  place. 
The  complaint  was,  without  doubt,  brought  on 
by  my  having  subsisted  on  fruit  only,  for  sev- 


FROM  SLAVERY.  103 

eral  days,  while  I  was  in  the  slave  States. 
The  landlord  of  the  inn  came  to  me  when  I 
was  in  bed,  suffering  violently  from  cholera, 
and  told  me,  he  knew  I  had  that  complaint, 
and  as  it  had  never  been  in  his  house,  I  could 
not  stop  there  any  longer.  No  one  would  en- 
ter my  room,  except  a  young  lady,  who  ap- 
peared very  pious  and  amiable,  and  had  visit- 
ed persons  with  the  cholera.  She  immediate- 
ly procured  me  some  medicine  at  her  own 
expence,  and  administered  it  herself;  and 
whilst  I  was  groaning  with  agony,  the  land- 
lord came  up  and  ordered  me  out  of  the  house 
directly.  Most, of  the  persons  in  Poughkeep- 
sie  had  retired  for  the  night,  and  I  lay  nnder 
a  shed  on  some  cotton  bales.  The  medicine 
relieved  me,  having  been  given  so  promptly; 
and  next  morning  I  went  from  the  shed,  and 
laid  on  the  banks  of  the  river  below  the  city. 
Towards  evening.  I  felt  much  better,  and  went 
on  in  a  steam-boat,  to  the  city  of  Albany, 
about  eighty  miles.  When  I  reached  there,  I 


104  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

went  into  the  country,  and  tried  for  three  or 
four  days  to  procure  employment,  but  failed. 

At  that  time  I  had  scarcely  any  money,  and 
lived  upon  fruit;  so  I  returned  to  Albany, 
where  I  could  get  no  work,  as  I  could  not 
show  the  recommendations  I  possessed,  which 
were  only  from  slave  States;  and  I  did  not 
wish  any  one  to  know  I  came  from  them. 
After  a  time,  I  went  up  the  western  canal  as 
steward  in  one  of  the  boats.  When  I  had 
gone  about  350  miles  up  the  canal,  I  found  I 
was  going  too  much  towards  the  slave  States, 
in  consequence  of  which,  I  returned  to  Albany, 
and  went  up  the  northern  canal,  into  one  of 
the  New  England  States — Vermont.  The 
distance  I  had  travelled,  including  the  350 
miles  I  had  to  return  from  the  west,  and  the 
100  to  Vermont,  was  2300  miles.  When  I 
reached  Vermont,  I  found  the  people  very 
hospitable  and  kind:  they  seemed  opposed  to 
slavery,  so    I    told   them  I  was  a  run-away 


FROM  SLAVERY.  105 

slave.  I  hired  myself  to  a  firm  in  Sudbury.* 
After  I  had  been  in  Sudbury  some  time,  the 
neighbouring  farmers  told  me,  that  I  had 
hired  myself  for  much  less  money  than  1 
ought.  I  mentioned  it  to  my  employers,  who 
were  very  angry  about  it;  I  was  advised  to 
leave  by  some  of  the  people  round,  who 
thought  the  gentleman  I  was  with  would 
write  to  my  former  master,  informing  him 
where  I  was,  and  obtain  the  reward  fixed 
upon  me.  Fearing  I  should  be  taken,  I  em- 
mediately  left,  and  went  into  the  town  of  Lud- 

*  During  my  stay  in  this  town,  I  thought  of  the  vow 
I  made  in  the  water,  (page  92,)  and  I  became  more 
thoughtful  about  the  salvation  of  my  soul.  I  attended 
the  Methodist  Chapel,  where  a  Mr.  Benton  preached 
and  there  I  began  to  feel  that  I  was  a  great  sinner^ 
During  the  latter  part  of  my  stay  here,  I  became  more 
anxious  about  salvation,  and  I  entertained  the  absurd 
notion  that  religion  would  come  to  me  in  some  extraor- 
dinary way.  With  this  impression,  I  used  to  go  into 
the  woods  two  hours  before  day-light  to  pray,  and  ex- 
pected something  would  take  place,  and  I  should  be- 
come religious. 


10<i  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

low,  where  I  met  with  a  kind  friend,  Mr. — ,* 
who  sent  me  to  school  for  several  weeks.  At 
this  time,  I  was  advertised  in  the  papers,  and 
was  obliged  to  leave.  I  went  a  little  way  out 
of  Ludlow,f  to  a  retired  place,  and  lived  two 

weeks  with  a   Mr. ;  deacon  of  a  Baptist 

church  at  Ludlow :  at  this  place  I  could  have 
obtained  education,    had  it  been  safe  to  have 

*It  would  not  be  proper  to  mention  any  names  as  a 
person  in  any  of  the  States  in  America,  found  harbou- 
ring a  slave,  would  have  to  pay  a  heavy  fine. 

■f  Whilst  in  this  neighbourhood,  I  attended  the  Bap- 
tist Meeting,  and  trust  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  was 
much  blessed  to  my  soul.  As  this  was  the  first  time  I 
was  ever  favoured  with  any  education,  I  was  \ery  in- 
tent upon  learning  to  read  the  Bible,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  I  was  able,  from  my  own  reading,  to  repeat  by 
heart  the  whole  of  the  last  chapter  of  Matthew.  I  also 
attended  the  prayer  and  inquiry  meetings,  where  the 
attendants  used  to  relate  their  experience,  and  I  was 
requested  to  do  the  same.  I  found  these  meetings  a 
great  blessing, and  they  were  the  means,  under  God,  of 
communicating  to  my  mind  a  more  clear  and  distinc 
knowledge  of  the- way  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  107 

remained.  From  there  I  went  to  New 
Hampshire,  where  I  was  not  safe,  so  went  to 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  with  tin  hope  of  re- 
turning to  Ludlow,  a  place  to  which  I  was 
much  attached.  At  Boston,  I  met  with  a 
friend,  who  kept  a  shop,  and  took  me  to  assist 
him  for  several  weeks.  Here  I  did  not  con- 
sider myself  safe,  as  persons  from  all  parts  of 
the  country  were  continually  coming  to  the 
shop,  and  I  fearod  some  might  come  who  knew 
me.  I  now  had  my  head  shaved,  and  bought 
a  wig,  and  engaged  myself  to  a  Mr.  Perkins, 
of  Brookline,  three  miles  from  Boston,  where 
I  remained  about  a  month.  Some  of  the 
family  discovered  that  I  wore  a  wig,  and  said 
that  I  was  a  run-away  slave  ;  bnt  the  neigh- 
bours all  around  thought  I  was  a  white,  to 
prove  which,  I  have  a  document  in  my  pos- 
session to  call  me  to  military  duty.  The  law 
is,  that  no  slave  or  coloured  person  performs 
this,  but  every  other  person  in  America,  of 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  is  called  upon  to  per- 


1&8  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

form  military  duty,  once  or  twice  in  the  year 
or  pay  a  fine. 

COPY    OF    THE    DOCUMENT. 

"  Mr.  Moses  Roper, 

"  You  being  duly  enrolled  as  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Company,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Benjamin  Bradley,  are  hereby  notifi- 
ed and  ordered  to  appear  at  the  Town  House, 
in  Brookline,  on  Friday,  28ih  instant,  at  3 
o'clock,  p.  M  ,  for  the  purpose  of  filling  the 
vacancy  in  the  said  Company,  occasioned  by 
the  promotion  of  Lieut.  Nathaniel  M.  Weeks, 
and  of  filling  any  other  vacancy  which  may 
then  and  there  occur  in  the  said  Company, 
and  then  wait  further  orders. 

"  By  order  of  the  Captain, 

"  F.  P.  Wentworth,  Clerk. 

rt  Broohline^  August,  \4th,  1835.* 

*  Being  very  tall,  I  was  taken  to  be  twenty-one ;  but 
my  correct  age,  as  far  as  I  can  tell,  is  stated  in  page  1 5. 


FROM  SLAVERY.  109 

I  then  returned  to  the  city  of  Boston,  to 
the  shop  where  I  was  before.  Several  weeks 
after  I  had  returned  to  my  situation,  two  co- 
loured men  informed  me,  that  a  gentleman 
had  been  inquiring  for  a  person,  whom,  from 
the  description,  I  knew  to  be  myself,  and  of- 
fered them  a  considerable  sum  if  they  would 
disclose  my  place  of  abode  ;  but  they,  being 
much  opposed  to  slavery,  came  and  told  me  ; 
upon  which  information,  I  secreted  myself  till 
I  could  get  off.  I  went  into  the  Green  moun- 
tains for  several  weeks,  from  thence  to  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  remained  in  secret 
several  days,  till  I  heard  of  a  ship,  the  Na- 
poleon, sailing  to  England,  and  on  the  11th 
of  November,  1835,  I  sailed,  taking  nay 
letters  of  recommendation,  to  the  Drs.  Mor- 
rison and  Raffles,  and  the  Rev.  Alexander 
Fletcher.  The  time  I  first  started  from  sla- 
very, was  in  July,  1834,  so  that  I  was  nearly 

sixteen  months  in  making  my  escape. 
L 


110  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 


CHAPTER  IX 


The  Author  arrives  at  Liverpool,  November  29, 1835 
— Manchester. — London. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1835,  I  reached 
Liverpool ;  and  my  feelings  when  I  first 
touched  the  shores  of  Britain  were  indescrib- 
able, and  can  only  be  properly  understood 
by  those  who  have  escaped  from  the  cruel 
bondage  of  slavery. 

u  'Tis  liberty  alone,  that  gives  the  flower  of  fleeting 

life  its  lustre  and  perfume  ; 
And  we  are  weeds  without  it." 

**  Slaves  cannot  breathe  in  England  : 

If  their  lungs  receive  our  air,  that  moment  they  are 

free 
They  touch  our  country,  and  their  shackles  fall." 

Cow  per. 

When  I  reached  Liverpool,  I  proceeded  to 
Dr.  Raffles,  and  handed  my  letters  of  recom- 
mendation to  him.  Ke  received  me  very 
kindly,  and  introduced  me  to  a  member  of  his 


FROM  SLAVERY.  Ill 

church,  with  whom  I  stayed  the  night. — 
Here  I  met  with  the  greatest  attention  and 
kindness.  The  next  day  I  went  to  Manches- 
ter, where  I  met  with  many  kind  friends  ; 
among  others,  Mr.  Adshead,  of  that  town,  to 
whom  I  desire,  through  this  medium,  to  return 
my  most  sincere  thanks  for  the  many  great 
services  which  he  rendered  me,  adding  both  to 
my  spiritual  and  temporal  comfort.  I  would 
not,  however,  forget  to  remember  here  Mr. 
Leese,  Mr.  Giles,  Mr.  Crewdson,  and  Mr. 
Clare,  the  latter  of  whom,  gave  me  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Scoble,  the  secretary  of  the  Anti-slavery 
Society.  I  remained  here  several  days,  and 
then  proceeded  to  London,  December  12th, 
1835,  and  immediately  called  on  Mr.  Scoble, 
to  whom  I  delivered  my  letter.  This  gentle- 
man procured  me  a  lodging.  I  then  lost  no 
time  in  delivering  my  letters  to  Dr.  Morrison 
and  the  Rev.  Alexander  Fletcher,  who  receiv- 
ed me  with  the  greatest  kindness ;  and  shortly 
after  this,  Dr.  Morrison  sent  my  letter  from 


112  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

New  York,  with  another  from  himself,  to  the 
Patriot  Newspaper,  in  which  he  kindly  im- 
plored the  sympathy  of  the  public  in  my  be- 
half. The  appeal  was  read  by  Mr.  Christo- 
pherson,  a  member  of  Dr.  Morrison's  church, 
of  which  gentleman,  I  express  but  little  of 
my  feelings  and  gratitude,  when  I  say,  that 
throughout  he  has  been  towards  me  a  parent, 
for  whose  tenderness  and  sympathy  I  desire 
ever  to  feel  that  attachment  which  I  do  not 
know  how  to  express. 

I  stayed  at  his  house  several  weeks,  being 
treated  as  one  of  the  family.  The  appeal  in 
the  Patriot,  referred  to  getting  a  suitable 
academy  for  me,  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cox  re- 
commended at  Hackney,  where  I  remained 
half  a  year,  going  through  the  rudiments  of  an 
English  education.  At  this  time,  I  attended 
the  ministry  of  Dr.  Cox,  which  I  enjoyed  very 
much,  and  to  which  I  ascribe  the  attainment 
of  clearer  views  of  divine  grace  than  I  had 
before.     I  had  attended  here  several  months, 


FROM  SLAVERY.  113 

when  I  expressed  my  wish  to  Dr.  Cox,  to 
become  a  member  of  his  church,  I  was  pro- 
posed ;  and  after  stating  my  experience,  was 
admitted,  March  31st,  1836. 

Here  it  is  necessary  that  I  should  draw  this 
narrative  to  a  close,  not  that  my  materials  are 
exhausted,  but  that  I  am  unwilling  to  extend 
it  to  a  size  which  might  preclude  many  well- 
wishers  from  the  possession  of  it. 

But  I  must  remark,  that  my  feelings  of  hap- 
piness at  having  escaped  from  cruel  bondage, 
are  not  unmixed  with  sorrow  of  a  very  touch- 
ing kind.  "  The  Land  of  the  Iree"  still 
contains  the  mother,*  the  brothers,  and  the 
sister  of  Moses  Roper,  not  enjoying  liberty, 

*  About  five  months  ago  the  Author  wrote  to  Dr. 
Gallon,  his  mother's  master,  to  know  what  sum 
would  be  sufficient  to  purchase  her  freedom,  and  he 
has  received  the  following  painful  answer : — 

Milton,  North  Carolina,  Aug.  28*A,  1839. 
"  Your  mother  and  her  family  were  transferred  from 
this  place,  two  or  three  yearsago,toGrunsborough,in 

# 


114  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

not  the  possessors  of  like  feelings  with  me, 
not  having  even  a  distant  glimpse  of  advanc- 
ing towards  freedom,  but  still  slaves  !  This 
is  a  weight  which  hangs  heavy  on  me.  As 
circumstances  at  present  stand,  there  is  not 
much  prospect  o(  ever  again  seeing  those  dear 
ones,  from  whom,  on  the  Sunday  night,  I  was 
torn  away  by  armed  slave  holders,  and  carried 
into  cruel  bondage.*  And  nothing  would 
contribute  so  much  to  my  entire  happiness,  if 
the  kindness  of  gracious  Providence  should 
ever  place  me  in  such  favourable  circum- 
stances, as  to  be  able  to  purchase  their  free- 
dom. But  I  desire  to  express  my  entire  re- 
signation to  the  will  of  God.  Should  that 
Divine  Being  who  made  of  one  flesh   all  the 

the  State  of  Alabama,  and   I  regret  to  inform  you 
that  your  mother  is  since  dead." 
[§|?The  author  has  since  ascertained  that  the  above- 
is  untrue,  and  sent  merely  to  annoy  him. 
April,  1843. 

*See  page  44. 
% 


FROM  SLAVERY.  115 

kindreds  of  the  earth,  see  fit  that  I  should 
again  clasp  them  to  my  breast,  and  see  in 
them  the  reality  of  free  men  and  free  women, 
how  shall  I,  a  poor  mortal,  be  enabled  to 
sing  a  strain  of  praise  sufficiently  appropriate 
to  such  a  boon  from  heaven. 

But  if  the  all-wise  disposer  of  all  things 
should  see  fit  to  keep  them  still  in  suffering 
and  bondage,  it  is  a  mercy  to  know  that  he 
orders  all  things  well,  that  he  is  still  the 
judge  of  all  the  earth,  and  that  under  such 
dispensations  of  his  providence,  he  is  work- 
ing out  that  which  shall  be  most  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  his  creatures. 

Whatever  I  may  have  experienced  in 
America,  at  the  hands  of  cruel  taskmasters, 
yet  I  am  unwilling  to  speak  in  any  but  re- 
spectful terms  of  the  land  of  my  birth.  It  is 
far  from  rny  wish  to  attempt  to  degrade 
America  in  the  eyes  of  Britons.  I  love  her 
Institutions  in  the  Free  States,  her  zeal  for 
Christ ;  I  bear  no  enmity  to  the  slave-holders 


116  ROPER'S  ESCAPE 

but  regret  their  delusions,  many  I  am  aware 
are  deeply  sensible  of  the  fault,  but  some  I 
regret  to  say  are  not,  and  I  could  wish  to 
open  their  eyes  to  their  sin  ;  may  the  period 
come,  when  God  shall  wipe  off  this  deep  stain 
from  her  constitution,  and  may  America  soon 
be  indeed  the  land  of  the  free. 

In  conclusion,  I  thank  my  dear  friends  in 
England  for  their  affectionate  attentions,  and 
may  God  help  me  to  show  by  my  future  walk 
in  life,  that  I  am  not  wanting  in  my  acknow- 
ledgments of  their  kindness.  But  above  all, 
to  the  God  of  all  grace,  I  desire  here  before 
his  people,  that  all  the  way  in  which  he  has 
led  me  has  been  the  right  way,  and  as  in  his 
mercy  and  wisdom,  he  has  led  me  to  this 
country,  where  I  am  allowed  to  go  free,  may 
all  my  actions  tend  to  lead  me  on,  through 
the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ,  in  the  right  way 
to  a  city  of  habitation. 

THE   END. 


J0*