Volume III Part 60 (1/2)
From the ”Charleston Courier,” Nov. 28.
”Ranaway from the subscriber, about twelve months since, his negro man Paulladore. His complexion is dark--about 50 years old. I understand Gen. R.Y. Hayne has purchased his wife and children from H.L.
Pinckney, Esq. and has them now on his plantation, at Goose Creek, where, no doubt, the fellow is frequently lurking. Thomas Davis.”
It is hardly necessary to say, that the GENERAL R.Y. HAYNE, and H.L.
PINCKNEY, Esq. named in the advertis.e.m.e.nt, are Ex-Governor Hayne, formerly U.S. Senator from South Carolina, and Hon. Henry L.
Pinckney, late member of Congress from Charleston District, and now Intendant (mayor) of that city.
It is no difficult matter to get at the 'public opinion' of a community, when _ladies_ 'of property and standing' publish, under their own names, such advertis.e.m.e.nts as the following.
Mrs. ELIZABETH L. CARTER, of Groveton, Prince William county, Virginia, thus advertises her negro man Moses:
”Ranaway from the subscriber, a negro man named Moses, aged about 40 years, about six feet high, well made, and possessing a good address, and HAS LOST A PART ON ONE OF HIS EARS.”
Mrs. B. NEWMAN, of the same place, and in the same paper, advertises--
”Penny, the wife of Moses, aged about 30 years, brown complexion, tall and likely, _no particular marks of person recollected._”
Both of the above advertis.e.m.e.nts appear in the National Intelligencer, (Was.h.i.+ngton city,) June 10, 1837.
In the Mobile Mercantile Advertiser, of Feb. 13, 1838, is an advertis.e.m.e.nt Signed SARAH WALSH, of which the following is an extract:
”Twenty-five dollars reward will be paid to any one who may apprehend and deliver to me, or confine in any jail, so that, I can get him, my man Isaac, who ranaway sometime in September last. He is 26 years of age, 5 feet 10 inches high, has a _scar on his forehead, caused by a blow_, and one on his back, MADE BY A SHOT FROM A PISTOL.”
In the ”New Orleans Bee,” Dec. 21, 1838, Mrs. BURVANT, whose residence is at the corner of Chartres and Toulouse streets, advertises a woman as follows:
”Ranaway, a negro woman named Rachel--_has lost all her toes except the large one_.”
From the ”Huntsville (Ala.) Democrat,” June 16, 1838:
”TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Ranaway from the subscriber, a negro woman named Sally, about 21 years of age, taking along her two children--one three years, and the other seven months old. These negroes were PURCHASED BY ME at the sale of George Mason's negroes, on the first Monday in May, and left _a few days_ thereafter. Any person delivering them to the jailor in Huntsville, or to me, at my plantation, five miles above Triana, on the Tennessee river, shall receive the above reward.
CHARITY COOPER”
From the ”Mississippian,” May 13, 1838:
”TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Ranaway from the subscriber, a man named Aaron, yellow complexion, blue eyes, &c. I have no doubt he is lurking about Jackson and its vicinity, probably harbored by some of the negroes sold as the property of _my late husband_, Harry Long, deceased. Some of them are about Richland, in Madison co. I will give the above reward when brought to me, about six miles north-west of Jackson, or put IN JAIL, _so that I can get him_. LUCY LONG.”
If the reader, after perusing the preceding facts, testimony, and arguments, still insists that the 'public opinion' of the slave states protects the slave from outrages, and alleges, as proof of it, that _cruel_ masters are frowned upon and shunned by the community generally, and regarded as monsters, we reply by presenting the following facts and testimony.
”Col. MEANS, of Manchester, Ohio, says, that when he resided in South Carolina, _his neighbor_, a physician, became enraged with his slave, and sentenced him to receive two hundred lashes. After having received one hundred and forty, he fainted. After inflicting the full number of lashes, the cords with which he was bound were loosed. When he revived, he staggered to the house, and sat down in the sun. Being faint and thirsty, he _begged_ for some water to drink. The master went to the well, and procured some water but instead of giving him to drink, he threw the whole bucket-full in his face. Nature could not stand the shock--he sunk to rise no more. For this crime, the physician was bound over to Court, and tried, and _acquitted_--and THE NEXT YEAR HE WAS ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE!”
Testimony of Hon. JOHN RANDOLPH, of Virginia
”In one of his Congressional speeches, Mr. R. says: Avarice alone can drive, as it does drive, this _infernal_ traffic, and the wretched victims of it, like so many post horses, _whipped to death_ in a mail coach. Ambition has its cover-s.l.u.ts in the pride, pomp, and circ.u.mstance of glorious war; but where are the trophies of avarice?
The hand cuff, the manacle, the blood-stained cowhide! WHAT MAN IS WORSE RECEIVED IN SOCIETY FOR BEING A HARD MASTER? WHO DENIES THE HAND OF A SISTER OR DAUGHTER TO SUCH MONSTERS?”
Mr. GEORGE A. AVERY, of Rochester, New York, who resided four years in Virginia, testifies as follows:
”I know a local Methodist minister, a man of talents, and popular as a preacher, who took his negro girl into his barn, in order to whip her--and _she was brought out a corpse_! His friends seemed to think this of _so little importance to his ministerial standing_, that although I lived near him about three years, I do not recollect to have heard them apologize for the deed, though I recollect having heard ONE of his neighbors allege this fact as a reason why he did not wish to hear him preach.”