My
betrayal
by traitors, 43.
Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written
But thanks be to God, I am now free from the hand of
the cruel oppressor, no more to be plundered of my dearest rights; the
wife of my bosom, and my poor unoffending offspring. Of Malinda I
will only add a word in conclusion. The relation once subsisting
between us, to which I clung, hoping against hope, for years, after we
were torn assunder, not having been sanctioned by any loyal power,
cannot be cancelled by a legal process. Voluntarily assumed without
law mutually, it was by her relinquished years ago without my
knowledge, as before named; during which time I was making every
effort to secure her restoration. And it was not until after living
alone in the world for more than eight years without a companion known
in law or morals, that I changed my condition.
CHAPTER XIX.
_Comments on S. Gatewood's letter about slaves stealing. --Their
conduct vindicated. --Comments on W. Gatewood's letter. _
But it seems that I am not now beyond the reach of the foul slander of
slaveholders. They are not satisfied with selling and banishing me
from my native State. As soon as they got news of my being in the free
North, exposing their peculiar Institution, a libelous letter was
written by Silas Gatewood of Kentucky, a son of one of my former
owners, to a Northern Committee, for publication, which he thought
would destroy my influence and character. This letter will be found in
the introduction.
He has charged me with the awful crime of taking from my keeper and
oppressor, some of the fruits of my own labor for the benefit of
myself and family.
But while writing this letter he seems to have overlooked the
disgraceful fact that he was guilty himself of what would here be
regarded highway robbery, in his conduct to me as narrated on page 60
of this narrative.
A word in reply to Silas Gatewood's letter. I am willing to admit all
that is true, but shall deny that which is so basely false. In the
first place, he puts words in my mouth that I never used. He says that
I represented that "my mother belonged to James Bibb. " I deny ever
having said so in private or public. He says that I stated that Bibb's
daughter married a Sibley. I deny it. He also says that the first time
that I left Kentucky for my liberty, I was gone about two years,
before I went back to rescue my family. I deny it. I was gone from
Dec. 25th, 1837, to May, or June, 1838. He says that I went back the
second time for the purpose of taking off my family, and eight or ten
more slaves to Canada. This I will not pretend to deny. He says I was
guilty of disposing of articles from the farm for my own use, and
pocketing the money, and that his father caught me stealing a sack
full of wheat. I admit the fact. I acknowledge the wheat.
And who had a better right to eat of the fruits of my own hard
earnings than myself? Many a long summer's day have I toiled with my
wife and other slaves, cultivating his father's fields, and gathering
in his harvest, under the scorching rays of the sun, without half
enough to eat, or clothes to wear, and at the same time his meat-house
was filled with bacon and bread stuff; his dairy with butter and
cheese; his barn with grain, husbanded by the unrequited toil of the
slaves. And yet if a slave presumed to take a little from the
abundance which he had made by his own sweat and toil, to supply the
demands of nature, to quiet the craving appetite which is sometimes
almost irresistible, it is called stealing by slaveholders.
But I did not regard it as stealing then, I do not regard it as such
now. I hold that a slave has a moral right to eat drink and wear all
that he needs, and that it would be a sin on his part to suffer and
starve in a country where there is a plenty to eat and wear within his
reach. I consider that I had a just right to what I took, because it
was the labor of my own hands. Should I take from a neighbor as a
freeman, in a free country, I should consider myself guilty of doing
wrong before God and man. But was I the slave of Wm. Gatewood to-day,
or any other slaveholder, working without wages, and suffering with
hunger or for clothing, I should not stop to inquire whether my master
would approve of my helping myself to what I needed to eat or wear.
For while the slave is regarded as property, how can he steal from his
master? It is contrary to the very nature of the relation existing
between master and slave, from the fact that there is no law to punish
a slave for theft, but lynch law; and the way they avoid that is to
hide well. For illustration, a slave from the State of Virginia, for
cruel treatment left the State between daylight and dark, being borne
off by one of his master's finest horses, and finally landed in
Canada, where the British laws recognise no such thing as property in
a human being. He was pursued by his owners, who expected to take
advantage of the British law by claiming him as a fugitive from
justice, and as such he was arrested and brought before the court of
Queen's Bench. They swore that he was, at a certain time, the slave of
Mr. A. , and that he ran away at such a time and stole and brought off
a horse. They enquired who the horse belonged to, and it was
ascertained that the slave and horse both belonged to the same
person. The court therefore decided that the horse and the man were
both recognised, in the State of Virginia, alike, as articles of
property, belonging to the same person--therefore, if there was theft
committed on either side, the former must have stolen off the
latter--the horse brought away the man, and not the man the horse. So
the man was discharged and pronounced free according to the laws of
Canada. There are several other letters published in this work upon
the same subject, from slaveholders, which it is hardly necessary for
me to notice. However, I feel thankful to the writers for the
endorsement and confirmation which they have given to my story. No
matter what their motives were, they have done me and the anti-slavery
cause good service in writing those letters--but more especially the
Gatewood's. Silas Gatewood has done more for me than all the rest. He
has labored so hard in his long communication in trying to expose me,
that he has proved every thing that I could have asked of him; and for
which I intend to reward him by forwarding him one of my books, hoping
that it may be the means of converting him from a slaveholder to an
honest man, and an advocate of liberty for all mankind.
The reader will see in the introduction that Wm. Gatewood writes a
more cautious letter upon the subject than his son Silas. "It is not a
very easy matter to catch old birds with chaff," and I presume if
Silas had the writing of his letter over again, he would not be so
free in telling all he knew, and even more, for the sake of making out
a strong case. The object of his writing such a letter will doubtless
be understood by the reader. It was to destroy public confidence in
the victims of slavery, that the system might not be exposed--it was
to gag a poor fugitive who had undertaken to plead his own cause and
that of his enslaved brethren. It was a feeble attempt to suppress the
voice of universal freedom which is now thundering on every gale. But
thank God it is too late in the day.
Go stop the mighty thunder's roar,
Go hush the ocean's sound,
Or upward like the eagle soar
To skies' remotest bound.
And when thou hast the thunder stopped,
And hushed the ocean's waves,
Then, freedom's spirit bind in chains,
And ever hold us slaves.
And when the eagle's boldest fest,
Thou canst perform with skill,
Then, think to stop proud freedom's march,
And hold the bondman still.
CHAPTER XX.
_Review of my narrative. --Licentiousness a prop of slavery. --A case of
mild slavery given. --Its revolting features. --Times of my purchase and
sale by professed Christians. --Concluding remarks. _
I now conclude my narrative, by reviewing briefly what I have written.
This little work has been written without any personal aid or a
knowledge of the English grammer, which must in part be my apology for
many of its imperfections.
I find in several places, where I have spoken out the deep feelings of
my soul, in trying to describe the horrid treatment which I have so
often received at the hands of slaveholding professors of religion,
that I might possibly make a wrong impression on the minds of some
northern freemen, who are unacquainted theoretically or practically
with the customs and treatment of American slaveholders to their
slaves. I hope that it may not be supposed by any, that I have
exaggerated in the least, for the purpose of making out the system of
slavery worse than it really is, for, to exaggerate upon the cruelties
of this system, would be almost impossible; and to write herein the
most horrid features of it would not be in good taste for my book.
I have long thought from what has fallen under my own observation
while a slave, that the strongest reason why southerners stick with
such tenacity to their "peculiar institution," is because licentious
white men could not carry out their wicked purposes among the
defenceless colored population as they now do, without being exposed
and punished by law, if slavery was abolished. Female virtue could not
be trampled under foot with impunity, and marriage among the people of
color kept in utter obscurity.
On the other hand, lest it should be said by slaveholders and their
apologists, that I have not done them the justice to give a sketch of
the best side of slavery, if there can be any best side to it;
therefore in conclusion, they may have the benefit of the following
case, that fell under the observation of the writer. And I challenge
America to show a milder state of slavery than this. I once knew a
Methodist in the state of Ky. , by the name of Young, who was the owner
of a large number of slaves, many of whom belonged to the same church
with their master. They worshipped together in the same church.
Mr. Young never was known to flog one of his slaves or sell one. He
fed and clothed them well, and never over-worked them. He allowed each
family a small house to themselves with a little garden spot, whereon
to raise their own vegetables; and a part of the day on Saturdays was
allowed them to cultivate it.
In process of time he became deeply involved in debt by endorsing
notes, and his property was all advertised to be sold by the sheriff
at public auction. It consisted in slaves, many of whom were his
brothers and sisters in the church.
On the day of sale there were slave traders and speculators on the
ground to buy. The slaves were offered on the auction block one after
another, until they were all sold before their old master's face. The
first man offered on the block was an old gray-headed slave by the
name of Richard. His wife followed him up to the block, and when they
had bid him up to seventy or eighty dollars one of the bidders asked
Mr. Young what he could do, as he looked very old and infirm? Mr.
Young replied by saying, "he is not able to accomplish much manual
labor, from his extreme age and hard labor in early life. Yet I would
rather have him than many of those who are young and vigorous; who are
able to perform twice as much labor--because I know him to be faithful
and trustworthy, a Christian in good standing in my church. I can
trust him anywhere with confidence. He has toiled many long years on
my plantation and I have always found him faithful. "
This giving him a good Christian character caused them to run him up
to near two hundred dollars. His poor old companion stood by weeping
and pleading that they might not be separated. But the marriage
relation was soon dissolved by the sale, and they were separated never
to meet again.
Another man was called up whose wife followed him with her infant in
her arms, beseeching to be sold with her husband, which proved to be
all in vain. After the men were all sold they then sold the women and
children. They ordered the first woman to lay down her child and
mount the auction block; she refused to give up her little one and
clung to it as long as she could, while the cruel lash was applied to
her back for disobedience. She pleaded for mercy in the name of God.
But the child was torn from the arms of its mother amid the most
heart-rending shrieks from the mother and child on the one hand, and
bitter oaths and cruel lashes from the tyrants on the other. Finally
the poor little child was torn from the mother while she was
sacrificed to the highest bidder. In this way the sale was carried on
from beginning to end.
There was each speculator with his hand-cuffs to bind his victims
after the sale; and while they were doing their writings, the
Christian portion of the slaves asked permission to kneel in prayer on
the ground before they separated, which was granted. And while bathing
each other with tears of sorrow on the verge of their final
separation, their eloquent appeals in prayer to the Most High seemed
to cause an unpleasant sensation upon the ears of their tyrants, who
ordered them to rise and make ready their limbs for the caffles. And
as they happened not to bound at the first sound, they were soon
raised from their knees by the sound of the lash, and the rattle of
the chains, in which they were soon taken off by their respective
masters,--husbands from wives, and children from parents, never
expecting to meet until the judgment of the great day. Then Christ
shall say to the slaveholding professors of religion, "Inasmuch as ye
did it unto one of the least of these little ones, my brethren, ye did
it unto me. "
Having thus tried to show the best side of slavery that I can conceive
of, the reader can exercise his own judgment in deciding whether a man
can be a Bible Christian, and yet hold his Christian brethren as
property, so that they may be sold at any time in market, as sheep or
oxen, to pay his debts.
During my life in slavery I have been sold by professors of religion
several times. In 1836 "Bro. " Albert G. Sibley, of Bedford, Kentucky,
sold me for $850 to "Bro. " John Sibley; and in the same year he sold
me to "Bro. " Wm. Gatewood of Bedford, for $850. In 1839 "Bro. "
Gatewood sold me to Madison Garrison, a slave trader, of Louisville,
Kentucky, with my wife and child--at a depreciated price because I was
a runaway. In the same year he sold me with my family to "Bro. "
Whitfield, in the city of New Orleans, for $1200. In 1841 "Bro. "
Whitfield sold me from my family to Thomas Wilson and Co. , blacklegs.
In the same year they sold me to a "Bro. " in the Indian Territory. I
think he was a member of the Presbyterian Church. F. E. Whitfield was a
deacon in regular standing in the Baptist Church. A. Sibley was a
Methodist exhorter of the M. E. Church in good standing. J. Sibley was
a class-leader in the same church; and Wm. Gatewood was also an
acceptable member of the same church.
Is this Christianity? Is it honest or right? Is it doing as we would
be done by? Is it in accordance with the principles of humanity or
justice?
I believe slaveholding to be a sin against God and man under all
circumstances. I have no sympathy with the person or persons who
tolerate and support the system willingly and knowingly, morally,
religiously or politically.
Prayerfully and earnestly relying on the power of truth, and the aid
of the divine providence, I trust that this little volume will bear
some humble part in lighting up the path of freedom and
revolutionizing public opinion upon this great subject. And I here
pledge myself, God being my helper, ever to contend for the natural
equality of the human family, without regard to color, which is but
fading _matter_, while _mind_ makes the man.
NEW YORK CITY, _May 1, 1849_.
HENRY BIBB.
INDEX.
Introduction. 1
Author's Preface. 12
Chap. I. --
Sketch of my Parentage, 15.
Early separation from my Mother, 15.
Hard Fare, 16.
First Experiments at running away, 16.
Earnest longing for Freedom, 17.
Abhorrent nature of Slavery, 18.
Chap. II. --
A fruitless effort for education, 19.
The Sabbath among Slaves, 19.
Degrading amusements, 19.
Why religion is rejected, 20.
Condition of poor white people, 20.
Superstition among slaves, 21.
Education forbidden, 25.
Chap. III. --
My Courtship and Marriage, 26.
Change of owner, 31.
My first born, 32.
Its sufferings, 32.
My wife abused, 33.
My own anguish, 33.
Chap. IV. --
My first adventure for liberty, 34.
Parting Scene, 34.
Journey up the river, 35.
Safe arrival in Cincinnati, 36.
Journey to Canada, 37.
Suffering from cold and hunger, 38.
Denied food and shelter by some, 38.
One noble exception, 38.
Subsequent success, 39.
Arrival at Perrysburgh, 39.
Obtain employment through the winter, 39.
My return to Kentucky to get my family, 40.
Chap. V--
My safe arrival at Kentucky, 41.
Surprise and delight to find my family, 41.
Plan for their escape, projected, 42.
Return to Cincinnati, 43.
My betrayal by traitors, 43.
Imprisonment in Covington, Kentucky, 45.
Return to slavery, 46.
Infamous proposal of the slave catchers, 47.
My reply, 47.
Chap. VI. --
Arrival at Louisville, Kentucky, 50.
Efforts to sell me, 50.
Fortunate escape from the man-stealers in the public street, 51.
I return to Bedford, Ky. , 55.
The rescue of my family again attempted, 55.
I started alone expecting them to follow, 2.
After waiting some months I resolve to go back again to Kentucky, 57.
Chap. VII. --
My safe return to Kentucky, 58.
The perils I encountered there, 59.
Again betrayed, and taken by a mob, ironed and imprisoned, 60.
Narrow escape from death, 62.
Life in a slave prison, 63.
Chap. VIII. --
Character of my prison companions, 65.
Jail breaking contemplated, 66.
Defeat of our plan, 67.
My wife and child removed, 67.
Disgraceful proposal to her, and cruel punishment, 67.
Our departure in a coffle for New Orleans, 68.
Events of our journey, 69.
Chap. IX. --
Our arrival and examination at Vicksburg, 70.
An account of slave sales, 71.
Cruel punishment with the paddle, 71.
Attempts to sell myself by Garrison's direction, 72.
Amusing interview with a slave buyer, 73.
Deacon Whitfield's examination, 74.
He purchases the family, 75.
Character of the Deacon, 75.
Chap. X. --
Cruel treatment on Whitfield's farm, 77.
Exposure of the children, 77.
Mode of extorting extra labor, 78.
Neglect of the sick, 80.
Strange medicine used, 80.
Death of our second child, 81.
Chap. XI. --
I attend a prayer meeting, 82.
Punishment therefor threatened, 82.
I attempt to escape alone, 82.
My return to take my family, 84.
Our sufferings, 85.
Dreadful attack of wolves, 85.
Our recapture, 88.
Chap. XII. --
My sad condition before Whitfield, 89.
My terrible punishment, 89.
Incidents of a former attempt to escape, 91.
Jack at a farm house, 92.
Six pigs and a turkey, 93.
Our surprise and arrest, 94.
Chap. XIII. --
I am sold to gamblers, 96.
They try to purchase my family, 97.
Our parting scene, 98.
My good usage, 99.
I am sold to an Indian, 100.
His confidence in my integrity manifested, 100.
Chap. XIV--
Character of my Indian Master, 101.
Slavery among the Indians less cruel, 101.
Indian carousal, 102.
Enfeebled health of my Indian Master, 102.
His death, 102.
My escape, 103.
Adventure in a wigwam, 103.
Successful progress toward liberty, 104.
Chap. XV
Adventure on the Prairie, 106.
I borrow a horse without leave, 108.
Rapid traveling one whole night, 108.
Apology for using other men's horses, 109.
My manner of living on the road, 109.
Chap. XVI.
Stratagem to get on board the steamer, 111.
My Irish friends, 112.
My success in reaching the Ohio, 113.
Reflections on again seeing Kentucky, 113.
I get employment in a hotel, 113.
My fright at seeing the gambler who sold me, 114.
I leave Ohio with Mr. Smith, 115.
His letter, 115.
My education, 116.
Chap. XVII.
Letter from W. H. Gatewood, 117.
My reply, 118.
My efforts as a public lecturer, 119.
Singular incident in Steubenville, 119.
Meeting with a friend of Whitfield in Michigan, 121.
Outrage on a canal packet, 122.
Fruitless efforts to find my wife, 124.
Chap. XVIII.
My last effort to recover my family, 126.
Sad tidings of my wife, 126.
Her degradation, 126.
I am compelled to regard our relation as dissolved for ever, 127.
Chap. XIX.
Comments on S. Gatewood's letter about slaves stealing, 130.
Their conduct vindicated, 131.
Comments on W. Gatewood's letter, 132.
Chap. XX.
Review of my narrative, 134.
Licentiousness a prop of Slavery, 134.
A case of mild slavery given, 135.
Its revolting features, 135.
Times of my purchase and sale by professed Christians, 136.
Concluding remarks, 137.
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the cruel oppressor, no more to be plundered of my dearest rights; the
wife of my bosom, and my poor unoffending offspring. Of Malinda I
will only add a word in conclusion. The relation once subsisting
between us, to which I clung, hoping against hope, for years, after we
were torn assunder, not having been sanctioned by any loyal power,
cannot be cancelled by a legal process. Voluntarily assumed without
law mutually, it was by her relinquished years ago without my
knowledge, as before named; during which time I was making every
effort to secure her restoration. And it was not until after living
alone in the world for more than eight years without a companion known
in law or morals, that I changed my condition.
CHAPTER XIX.
_Comments on S. Gatewood's letter about slaves stealing. --Their
conduct vindicated. --Comments on W. Gatewood's letter. _
But it seems that I am not now beyond the reach of the foul slander of
slaveholders. They are not satisfied with selling and banishing me
from my native State. As soon as they got news of my being in the free
North, exposing their peculiar Institution, a libelous letter was
written by Silas Gatewood of Kentucky, a son of one of my former
owners, to a Northern Committee, for publication, which he thought
would destroy my influence and character. This letter will be found in
the introduction.
He has charged me with the awful crime of taking from my keeper and
oppressor, some of the fruits of my own labor for the benefit of
myself and family.
But while writing this letter he seems to have overlooked the
disgraceful fact that he was guilty himself of what would here be
regarded highway robbery, in his conduct to me as narrated on page 60
of this narrative.
A word in reply to Silas Gatewood's letter. I am willing to admit all
that is true, but shall deny that which is so basely false. In the
first place, he puts words in my mouth that I never used. He says that
I represented that "my mother belonged to James Bibb. " I deny ever
having said so in private or public. He says that I stated that Bibb's
daughter married a Sibley. I deny it. He also says that the first time
that I left Kentucky for my liberty, I was gone about two years,
before I went back to rescue my family. I deny it. I was gone from
Dec. 25th, 1837, to May, or June, 1838. He says that I went back the
second time for the purpose of taking off my family, and eight or ten
more slaves to Canada. This I will not pretend to deny. He says I was
guilty of disposing of articles from the farm for my own use, and
pocketing the money, and that his father caught me stealing a sack
full of wheat. I admit the fact. I acknowledge the wheat.
And who had a better right to eat of the fruits of my own hard
earnings than myself? Many a long summer's day have I toiled with my
wife and other slaves, cultivating his father's fields, and gathering
in his harvest, under the scorching rays of the sun, without half
enough to eat, or clothes to wear, and at the same time his meat-house
was filled with bacon and bread stuff; his dairy with butter and
cheese; his barn with grain, husbanded by the unrequited toil of the
slaves. And yet if a slave presumed to take a little from the
abundance which he had made by his own sweat and toil, to supply the
demands of nature, to quiet the craving appetite which is sometimes
almost irresistible, it is called stealing by slaveholders.
But I did not regard it as stealing then, I do not regard it as such
now. I hold that a slave has a moral right to eat drink and wear all
that he needs, and that it would be a sin on his part to suffer and
starve in a country where there is a plenty to eat and wear within his
reach. I consider that I had a just right to what I took, because it
was the labor of my own hands. Should I take from a neighbor as a
freeman, in a free country, I should consider myself guilty of doing
wrong before God and man. But was I the slave of Wm. Gatewood to-day,
or any other slaveholder, working without wages, and suffering with
hunger or for clothing, I should not stop to inquire whether my master
would approve of my helping myself to what I needed to eat or wear.
For while the slave is regarded as property, how can he steal from his
master? It is contrary to the very nature of the relation existing
between master and slave, from the fact that there is no law to punish
a slave for theft, but lynch law; and the way they avoid that is to
hide well. For illustration, a slave from the State of Virginia, for
cruel treatment left the State between daylight and dark, being borne
off by one of his master's finest horses, and finally landed in
Canada, where the British laws recognise no such thing as property in
a human being. He was pursued by his owners, who expected to take
advantage of the British law by claiming him as a fugitive from
justice, and as such he was arrested and brought before the court of
Queen's Bench. They swore that he was, at a certain time, the slave of
Mr. A. , and that he ran away at such a time and stole and brought off
a horse. They enquired who the horse belonged to, and it was
ascertained that the slave and horse both belonged to the same
person. The court therefore decided that the horse and the man were
both recognised, in the State of Virginia, alike, as articles of
property, belonging to the same person--therefore, if there was theft
committed on either side, the former must have stolen off the
latter--the horse brought away the man, and not the man the horse. So
the man was discharged and pronounced free according to the laws of
Canada. There are several other letters published in this work upon
the same subject, from slaveholders, which it is hardly necessary for
me to notice. However, I feel thankful to the writers for the
endorsement and confirmation which they have given to my story. No
matter what their motives were, they have done me and the anti-slavery
cause good service in writing those letters--but more especially the
Gatewood's. Silas Gatewood has done more for me than all the rest. He
has labored so hard in his long communication in trying to expose me,
that he has proved every thing that I could have asked of him; and for
which I intend to reward him by forwarding him one of my books, hoping
that it may be the means of converting him from a slaveholder to an
honest man, and an advocate of liberty for all mankind.
The reader will see in the introduction that Wm. Gatewood writes a
more cautious letter upon the subject than his son Silas. "It is not a
very easy matter to catch old birds with chaff," and I presume if
Silas had the writing of his letter over again, he would not be so
free in telling all he knew, and even more, for the sake of making out
a strong case. The object of his writing such a letter will doubtless
be understood by the reader. It was to destroy public confidence in
the victims of slavery, that the system might not be exposed--it was
to gag a poor fugitive who had undertaken to plead his own cause and
that of his enslaved brethren. It was a feeble attempt to suppress the
voice of universal freedom which is now thundering on every gale. But
thank God it is too late in the day.
Go stop the mighty thunder's roar,
Go hush the ocean's sound,
Or upward like the eagle soar
To skies' remotest bound.
And when thou hast the thunder stopped,
And hushed the ocean's waves,
Then, freedom's spirit bind in chains,
And ever hold us slaves.
And when the eagle's boldest fest,
Thou canst perform with skill,
Then, think to stop proud freedom's march,
And hold the bondman still.
CHAPTER XX.
_Review of my narrative. --Licentiousness a prop of slavery. --A case of
mild slavery given. --Its revolting features. --Times of my purchase and
sale by professed Christians. --Concluding remarks. _
I now conclude my narrative, by reviewing briefly what I have written.
This little work has been written without any personal aid or a
knowledge of the English grammer, which must in part be my apology for
many of its imperfections.
I find in several places, where I have spoken out the deep feelings of
my soul, in trying to describe the horrid treatment which I have so
often received at the hands of slaveholding professors of religion,
that I might possibly make a wrong impression on the minds of some
northern freemen, who are unacquainted theoretically or practically
with the customs and treatment of American slaveholders to their
slaves. I hope that it may not be supposed by any, that I have
exaggerated in the least, for the purpose of making out the system of
slavery worse than it really is, for, to exaggerate upon the cruelties
of this system, would be almost impossible; and to write herein the
most horrid features of it would not be in good taste for my book.
I have long thought from what has fallen under my own observation
while a slave, that the strongest reason why southerners stick with
such tenacity to their "peculiar institution," is because licentious
white men could not carry out their wicked purposes among the
defenceless colored population as they now do, without being exposed
and punished by law, if slavery was abolished. Female virtue could not
be trampled under foot with impunity, and marriage among the people of
color kept in utter obscurity.
On the other hand, lest it should be said by slaveholders and their
apologists, that I have not done them the justice to give a sketch of
the best side of slavery, if there can be any best side to it;
therefore in conclusion, they may have the benefit of the following
case, that fell under the observation of the writer. And I challenge
America to show a milder state of slavery than this. I once knew a
Methodist in the state of Ky. , by the name of Young, who was the owner
of a large number of slaves, many of whom belonged to the same church
with their master. They worshipped together in the same church.
Mr. Young never was known to flog one of his slaves or sell one. He
fed and clothed them well, and never over-worked them. He allowed each
family a small house to themselves with a little garden spot, whereon
to raise their own vegetables; and a part of the day on Saturdays was
allowed them to cultivate it.
In process of time he became deeply involved in debt by endorsing
notes, and his property was all advertised to be sold by the sheriff
at public auction. It consisted in slaves, many of whom were his
brothers and sisters in the church.
On the day of sale there were slave traders and speculators on the
ground to buy. The slaves were offered on the auction block one after
another, until they were all sold before their old master's face. The
first man offered on the block was an old gray-headed slave by the
name of Richard. His wife followed him up to the block, and when they
had bid him up to seventy or eighty dollars one of the bidders asked
Mr. Young what he could do, as he looked very old and infirm? Mr.
Young replied by saying, "he is not able to accomplish much manual
labor, from his extreme age and hard labor in early life. Yet I would
rather have him than many of those who are young and vigorous; who are
able to perform twice as much labor--because I know him to be faithful
and trustworthy, a Christian in good standing in my church. I can
trust him anywhere with confidence. He has toiled many long years on
my plantation and I have always found him faithful. "
This giving him a good Christian character caused them to run him up
to near two hundred dollars. His poor old companion stood by weeping
and pleading that they might not be separated. But the marriage
relation was soon dissolved by the sale, and they were separated never
to meet again.
Another man was called up whose wife followed him with her infant in
her arms, beseeching to be sold with her husband, which proved to be
all in vain. After the men were all sold they then sold the women and
children. They ordered the first woman to lay down her child and
mount the auction block; she refused to give up her little one and
clung to it as long as she could, while the cruel lash was applied to
her back for disobedience. She pleaded for mercy in the name of God.
But the child was torn from the arms of its mother amid the most
heart-rending shrieks from the mother and child on the one hand, and
bitter oaths and cruel lashes from the tyrants on the other. Finally
the poor little child was torn from the mother while she was
sacrificed to the highest bidder. In this way the sale was carried on
from beginning to end.
There was each speculator with his hand-cuffs to bind his victims
after the sale; and while they were doing their writings, the
Christian portion of the slaves asked permission to kneel in prayer on
the ground before they separated, which was granted. And while bathing
each other with tears of sorrow on the verge of their final
separation, their eloquent appeals in prayer to the Most High seemed
to cause an unpleasant sensation upon the ears of their tyrants, who
ordered them to rise and make ready their limbs for the caffles. And
as they happened not to bound at the first sound, they were soon
raised from their knees by the sound of the lash, and the rattle of
the chains, in which they were soon taken off by their respective
masters,--husbands from wives, and children from parents, never
expecting to meet until the judgment of the great day. Then Christ
shall say to the slaveholding professors of religion, "Inasmuch as ye
did it unto one of the least of these little ones, my brethren, ye did
it unto me. "
Having thus tried to show the best side of slavery that I can conceive
of, the reader can exercise his own judgment in deciding whether a man
can be a Bible Christian, and yet hold his Christian brethren as
property, so that they may be sold at any time in market, as sheep or
oxen, to pay his debts.
During my life in slavery I have been sold by professors of religion
several times. In 1836 "Bro. " Albert G. Sibley, of Bedford, Kentucky,
sold me for $850 to "Bro. " John Sibley; and in the same year he sold
me to "Bro. " Wm. Gatewood of Bedford, for $850. In 1839 "Bro. "
Gatewood sold me to Madison Garrison, a slave trader, of Louisville,
Kentucky, with my wife and child--at a depreciated price because I was
a runaway. In the same year he sold me with my family to "Bro. "
Whitfield, in the city of New Orleans, for $1200. In 1841 "Bro. "
Whitfield sold me from my family to Thomas Wilson and Co. , blacklegs.
In the same year they sold me to a "Bro. " in the Indian Territory. I
think he was a member of the Presbyterian Church. F. E. Whitfield was a
deacon in regular standing in the Baptist Church. A. Sibley was a
Methodist exhorter of the M. E. Church in good standing. J. Sibley was
a class-leader in the same church; and Wm. Gatewood was also an
acceptable member of the same church.
Is this Christianity? Is it honest or right? Is it doing as we would
be done by? Is it in accordance with the principles of humanity or
justice?
I believe slaveholding to be a sin against God and man under all
circumstances. I have no sympathy with the person or persons who
tolerate and support the system willingly and knowingly, morally,
religiously or politically.
Prayerfully and earnestly relying on the power of truth, and the aid
of the divine providence, I trust that this little volume will bear
some humble part in lighting up the path of freedom and
revolutionizing public opinion upon this great subject. And I here
pledge myself, God being my helper, ever to contend for the natural
equality of the human family, without regard to color, which is but
fading _matter_, while _mind_ makes the man.
NEW YORK CITY, _May 1, 1849_.
HENRY BIBB.
INDEX.
Introduction. 1
Author's Preface. 12
Chap. I. --
Sketch of my Parentage, 15.
Early separation from my Mother, 15.
Hard Fare, 16.
First Experiments at running away, 16.
Earnest longing for Freedom, 17.
Abhorrent nature of Slavery, 18.
Chap. II. --
A fruitless effort for education, 19.
The Sabbath among Slaves, 19.
Degrading amusements, 19.
Why religion is rejected, 20.
Condition of poor white people, 20.
Superstition among slaves, 21.
Education forbidden, 25.
Chap. III. --
My Courtship and Marriage, 26.
Change of owner, 31.
My first born, 32.
Its sufferings, 32.
My wife abused, 33.
My own anguish, 33.
Chap. IV. --
My first adventure for liberty, 34.
Parting Scene, 34.
Journey up the river, 35.
Safe arrival in Cincinnati, 36.
Journey to Canada, 37.
Suffering from cold and hunger, 38.
Denied food and shelter by some, 38.
One noble exception, 38.
Subsequent success, 39.
Arrival at Perrysburgh, 39.
Obtain employment through the winter, 39.
My return to Kentucky to get my family, 40.
Chap. V--
My safe arrival at Kentucky, 41.
Surprise and delight to find my family, 41.
Plan for their escape, projected, 42.
Return to Cincinnati, 43.
My betrayal by traitors, 43.
Imprisonment in Covington, Kentucky, 45.
Return to slavery, 46.
Infamous proposal of the slave catchers, 47.
My reply, 47.
Chap. VI. --
Arrival at Louisville, Kentucky, 50.
Efforts to sell me, 50.
Fortunate escape from the man-stealers in the public street, 51.
I return to Bedford, Ky. , 55.
The rescue of my family again attempted, 55.
I started alone expecting them to follow, 2.
After waiting some months I resolve to go back again to Kentucky, 57.
Chap. VII. --
My safe return to Kentucky, 58.
The perils I encountered there, 59.
Again betrayed, and taken by a mob, ironed and imprisoned, 60.
Narrow escape from death, 62.
Life in a slave prison, 63.
Chap. VIII. --
Character of my prison companions, 65.
Jail breaking contemplated, 66.
Defeat of our plan, 67.
My wife and child removed, 67.
Disgraceful proposal to her, and cruel punishment, 67.
Our departure in a coffle for New Orleans, 68.
Events of our journey, 69.
Chap. IX. --
Our arrival and examination at Vicksburg, 70.
An account of slave sales, 71.
Cruel punishment with the paddle, 71.
Attempts to sell myself by Garrison's direction, 72.
Amusing interview with a slave buyer, 73.
Deacon Whitfield's examination, 74.
He purchases the family, 75.
Character of the Deacon, 75.
Chap. X. --
Cruel treatment on Whitfield's farm, 77.
Exposure of the children, 77.
Mode of extorting extra labor, 78.
Neglect of the sick, 80.
Strange medicine used, 80.
Death of our second child, 81.
Chap. XI. --
I attend a prayer meeting, 82.
Punishment therefor threatened, 82.
I attempt to escape alone, 82.
My return to take my family, 84.
Our sufferings, 85.
Dreadful attack of wolves, 85.
Our recapture, 88.
Chap. XII. --
My sad condition before Whitfield, 89.
My terrible punishment, 89.
Incidents of a former attempt to escape, 91.
Jack at a farm house, 92.
Six pigs and a turkey, 93.
Our surprise and arrest, 94.
Chap. XIII. --
I am sold to gamblers, 96.
They try to purchase my family, 97.
Our parting scene, 98.
My good usage, 99.
I am sold to an Indian, 100.
His confidence in my integrity manifested, 100.
Chap. XIV--
Character of my Indian Master, 101.
Slavery among the Indians less cruel, 101.
Indian carousal, 102.
Enfeebled health of my Indian Master, 102.
His death, 102.
My escape, 103.
Adventure in a wigwam, 103.
Successful progress toward liberty, 104.
Chap. XV
Adventure on the Prairie, 106.
I borrow a horse without leave, 108.
Rapid traveling one whole night, 108.
Apology for using other men's horses, 109.
My manner of living on the road, 109.
Chap. XVI.
Stratagem to get on board the steamer, 111.
My Irish friends, 112.
My success in reaching the Ohio, 113.
Reflections on again seeing Kentucky, 113.
I get employment in a hotel, 113.
My fright at seeing the gambler who sold me, 114.
I leave Ohio with Mr. Smith, 115.
His letter, 115.
My education, 116.
Chap. XVII.
Letter from W. H. Gatewood, 117.
My reply, 118.
My efforts as a public lecturer, 119.
Singular incident in Steubenville, 119.
Meeting with a friend of Whitfield in Michigan, 121.
Outrage on a canal packet, 122.
Fruitless efforts to find my wife, 124.
Chap. XVIII.
My last effort to recover my family, 126.
Sad tidings of my wife, 126.
Her degradation, 126.
I am compelled to regard our relation as dissolved for ever, 127.
Chap. XIX.
Comments on S. Gatewood's letter about slaves stealing, 130.
Their conduct vindicated, 131.
Comments on W. Gatewood's letter, 132.
Chap. XX.
Review of my narrative, 134.
Licentiousness a prop of Slavery, 134.
A case of mild slavery given, 135.
Its revolting features, 135.
Times of my purchase and sale by professed Christians, 136.
Concluding remarks, 137.
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