The institution of human slavery, as it existed in
this country, has long been dead; and, happily for
all the sacred interests which it assailed, there
is for it no resurrection. It may, therefore,
be asked to what purpose is the story which follows,
of the experiences of one person under that dead and
accursed institution? To such question, if it
be asked, it may be answered that the narrator presents
his story in compliance with the suggestion of friends,
and in the hope that it may add something of accurate
information regarding the character and influence
of an institution which for two hundred years dominated
the country—exercising a potent but baneful
influence in the formation of its social, civil and
industrial structures, and which finally plunged it
into the most stupendous civil war which the world
has ever known. As the enlightenment of each
generation depends upon the thoughtful study of the
history of those that have gone before, everything
which tends to fullness and accuracy in that history
is of value, even though it be not presented with
the adjuncts of literary adornment, or thrilling scenic
effects.
CHAPTER I.
Lifeon A cottonplantation.
* * * *
*
Birth—soldin A Richmondslavepen.
I was born in Virginia, in 1832, near Charlottesville,
in the beautiful valley of the Rivanna river.
My father was a white man and my mother a negress,
the slave of one John Martin. I was a mere child,
probably not more than six years of age, as I remember,
when my mother, two brothers and myself were sold
to Dr. Louis, a practicing physician in the village
of Scottsville. We remained with him about five
years, when he died, and, in the settlement of his
estate, I was sold to one Washington Fitzpatrick,
a merchant of the village. He kept me a short
time when he took me to Richmond, by way of canal-boat,
expecting to sell me; but as the market was dull,
he brought me back and kept me some three months longer,
when he told me he had hired me out to work on a canal-boat
running to Richmond, and to go to my mother and get
my clothes ready to start on the trip. I went
to her as directed, and, when she had made ready my
bundle, she bade me good-by with tears in her eyes,
saying: “My son, be a good boy; be polite
to every one, and always behave yourself properly.”
It was sad to her to part with me, though she did not
know that she was never to see me again, for my master
had said nothing to her regarding his purpose and
she only thought, as I did, that I was hired to work
on the canal-boat, and that she should see me occasionally.
But alas! We never met again. I can see her
form still as when she bade me good-bye. That
parting I can never forget. I ran off from her
as quickly as I could after her parting words, for
I did not want her to see me crying. I went to
my master at the store, and he again told me that
he had hired me to work on the canal-boat, and to go
aboard immediately. Of the boat and the trip and
the scenes along the route I remember little—I
only thought of my mother and my leaving her.
