The Missouri Republican, April 30, 1838, gives the particulars of the deliberate murder of a negro man named Tom, a cook on board the steamboat p.a.w.nee, on her pa.s.sage up from New Orleans to St. Louis.
Some of the facts stated by the Republican are the following:
"On Friday night, about 10 o"clock, a deaf and dumb German girl was found in the storeroom with Tom. The door was locked, and at first Tom denied she was there. The girl"s father came. Tom unlocked the door, and the girl was found secreted in the room behind a barrel. The next morning some four or five of the deck pa.s.sengers spoke to the captain about it. This was about breakfast time. Immediately after he left the deck, a number of the deck pa.s.sengers rushed upon the negro, bound his arms behind his back and carried him forward to the bow of the boat. A voice cried out "throw him overboard," and was responded to from every quarter of the deck--and in an instant he was plunged into the river.
The whole scene of tying him and throwing him overboard scarcely occupied _ten minutes_, and was so precipitate that the officers were unable to interfere in time to save him.
"There were between two hundred and fifty and three hundred pa.s.sengers on board."
The whole process of seizing Tom, dragging him upon deck, binding his arms behind his back, forcing him to the bow of the boat, and throwing him overboard, occupied, the editor informs us, about TEN MINUTES, and of the two hundred and fifty or three hundred deck pa.s.sengers, with perhaps as many cabin pa.s.sengers, it does not appear that _a single individual raised a finger to prevent this deliberate murder_; and the cry "throw him overboard," was it seems, "responded to from every quarter of the deck!"
Rev. JAMES A. THOME, of Augusta, Ky., son of Arthur Thome, Esq., till recently a slaveholder, published five years since the following description of a scene witnessed by him in New Orleans:
"In December of 1833, I landed at New Orleans, in the steamer W----.
It was after night, dark and rainy. The pa.s.sengers were called out of the cabin, from the enjoyment of a fire, which the cold, damp atmosphere rendered very comfortable, by a sudden shout of, "catch him--catch him--catch the negro." The cry was answered by a hundred voices--"Catch him--_kill_ him," and a rush from every direction toward our boat, indicated that the object of pursuit was near. The next moment we heard a man plunge into the river, a few paces above us. A crowd gathered upon the sh.o.r.e, with lamps and stones, and clubs, still crying, "catch him--kill him--catch him--shoot him."
"I soon discovered the poor man. He had taken refuge under the prow of another boat, and was standing in the water up to his waist. The angry vociferation of his pursuers, did not intimidate him. He defied them all. "Don"t you _dare_ to come near me, or I will sink you in the river." He was armed with despair. For a moment the mob was palsied by the energy of his threatenings. They were afraid to go to him with a skiff, but a number of them went on to the boat and tried to seize him. They threw a noose rope down repeatedly, _that they might pull him up by the neck_! but he planted his hand firmly against the boat and dashed the rope away with his arms. One of them took a long bar of wood, and leaning over the prow, endeavored to strike him on the head, The blow must have shattered the skull, but it did not reach low enough. The monster raised up the heavy club again and said, "Come out now, you old rascal, or die." "Strike," said the negro; "strike--shiver my brains _now_; I want to die;" and down went the club again, without striking. This was repeated several times. The mob, seeing their efforts fruitless, became more enraged and threatened to stone him, if he did not surrender himself into their hands. He again defied them, and declared that he would drown himself in the river, before they should have him. They then resorted to persuasion, and promised they would not hurt him. "I"ll die first;"
was his only reply. Even the furious mob was awed, and for a while stood dumb.
"After standing in the cold water for an hour, the miserable being began to fail. We observed him gradually sinking--his voice grew weak and tremulous--yet he continued to _curse_! In the midst of his oaths he uttered broken sentences--"I did"nt steal the meat--I did"nt steal--my master lives--master--master lives up the river--(his voice began to gurgle in his throat, and he was so chilled that his teeth chattered audibly)--I did"nt--steal--I did"nt steal--my--my master--my--I want to see my master--I didn"t--no--my mas--you want--you want to kill me--I didn"t steal the"--His last words could just be heard as be sunk under the water.
"During this indescribable scene, _not one of the hundred that stood around made any effort to save the man until he was apparently drowned_. He was then dragged out and stretched on the bow of the boat, and soon sufficient means were used for his recovery. The brutal captain ordered him to be taken off his boat--declaring, with an oath, that he would throw him into the river again, if he was not immediately removed. I withdrew, sick and horrified with this appalling exhibition of wickedness.
"Upon inquiry, I learned that the colored man lived some fifty miles up the Mississippi; that he had been charged with stealing some article from the wharf; was fired upon with a pistol, and pursued by the mob.
"In reflecting upon this unmingled cruelty--this insensibility to suffering and disregard of life--I exclaimed,
"Is there no flesh in man"s obdurate heart?"
"One poor man, chased like a wolf by a hundred blood hounds, yelling, howling, and gnashing their teeth upon him--plunges into the cold river to seek protection! A crowd of spectators witness the scene, with all the composure with which a Roman populace would look upon a gladiatorial show. Not a voice heard in the sufferer"s behalf. At length the powers of nature give way; the blood flows back to the heart--the teeth chatter--the voice trembles and dies, while the victim drops down into his grave.
"What an atrocious system is that which leaves two millions of souls, friendless and powerless--hunted and chased--afflicted and tortured and driven to death, without the means of redress.--Yet such is the system of slavery."
The "public opinion" of slaveholders is ill.u.s.trated by scores of announcements in southern papers, like the following, from the Raleigh, (N.C.) Register, August 20, 1838. Joseph Gale and Son, editors and proprietors--the father and brother of the editor of the National Intelligence, Washington city, D.C.
"On Sat.u.r.day night, Mr. George Holmes, of this county, and some of his friends, were in pursuit of a runaway slave (the property of Mr.
Holmes) and fell in with him in attempting to make his escape. Mr. H.
discharged a gun at his legs, for the purpose of disabling him; but unfortunately, the slave stumbled, and the shot struck him near the small of the back, of which wound he died in a short time. The slave continued to run some distance after he was shot, until overtaken by one of the party. We are satisfied, from all that we can learn, that Mr. H. had no intention of inflicting a mortal wound."
Oh! the _gentleman_, it seems, only shot at his legs, merely to "disable"--and it must be expected that every _gentleman_ will amuse himself in shooting at his own property whenever the notion takes him, and if he should happen to hit a little higher and go through the small of the back instead of the legs, why every body says it is "unfortunate," and the whole of the editorial corps, instead of branding him as a barbarous wretch for shooting at his slave, whatever part be aimed at, join with the oldest editor in North Carolina, in complacently exonerating Mr. Holmes by saying, "We are satisfied that Mr. H. had no intention of inflicting a mortal wound." And so "public opinion" wraps it up!
The Franklin (La.) Republican, August 19, 1837, has the following:
"NEGROES TAKEN.--Four gentlemen of this vicinity, went out yesterday for the purpose of finding the camp of some noted runaways, supposed to be near this place; the camp was discovered about 11 o"clock, the negroes four in number, three men and one woman, finding they were discovered, tried to make their escape through the cane; two of them were fired on, one of which made his escape; the other one fell after running a short distance, his wounds are not supposed to be dangerous; the other man was taken without any hurt; the woman also made her escape."
Thus terminated the mornings amus.e.m.e.nt of the "_four gentlemen_,"
whose exploits are so complacently chronicled by the editor of the Franklin Republican. The three men and one woman were all fired upon, it seems, though only one of them was shot down. The half famished runaways made not the least resistance, they merely rushed in panic among the canes, at the sight of their pursuers, and the bullets whistled after them and brought to the ground one poor fellow, who was carried back by his captors as a trophy of the "public opinion" among slaveholders.
In the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph, Nov. 27, 1838, we find the following account of a runaway"s den, and of the good luck of a "Mr. Adams," in running down one of them "with his excellent dogs:"
"A runaway"s den was discovered on Sunday near the Washington Spring, in a little patch of woods, where it had been for several months, so artfully concealed under ground, that it was detected only by accident, though in sight of two or three houses, and near the road and fields where there has been constant daily pa.s.sing. The entrance was concealed by a pile of pine straw, representing a hog bed--which being removed, discovered a trap door and steps that led to a room about six feet square, comfortably ceiled with plank, containing a small fire-place the flue of which was ingeniously conducted above ground and concealed by the straw. The inmates took the alarm and made their escape; but Mr. Adams and his excellent dogs being put upon the trail, soon run down and secured one of them, which proved to be a negro fellow who had been out about a year. He stated that the other occupant was a woman, who had been a runaway a still longer time. In the den was found a quant.i.ty of meal, bacon, corn, potatoes, &c., and various cooking utensils and wearing apparel."
Yes, Mr. Adams" "EXCELLENT DOGS" did the work! They were well trained, swift, fresh, keen-scented, "excellent" men-hunters, and though the poor fugitive in his frenzied rush for liberty, strained every muscle, yet they gained upon him, and after dashing through fens, brier-beds, and the tangled undergrowth till faint and torn, he sinks, and the blood-hounds are upon him. What blood-vessels the poor struggler burst in his desperate push for life--how much he was bruised and lacerated in his plunge through the forest, or how much the dogs tore him, the Macon editor has not chronicled--they are matters of no moment--but his heart is touched with the merits of Mr. Adams" "EXCELLENT DOGS,"
that "soon _run down_ and _secured_" a guiltless and trembling human creature!
The Georgia Const.i.tutionalist, of Jan. 1837, contains the following letter from the coroner of Barnwell District, South Carolina, dated Aiken, S.C. Dec. 20, 1836.
"_To the Editor of the Const.i.tutionalist:_
"I have just returned from an inquest I held over the body of a negro man, a runaway, that was shot near the South Edisto, in this District, (Barnwell,) on Sat.u.r.day last. He came to his death by his own recklessness. He refused to be taken alive--and said that other attempts to take him had been made, and he was determined that he would not be taken. He was at first, (when those in pursuit of him found it absolutely necessary,) shot at with small shot, with the intention of merely crippling him. He was shot at several times, and at last he was so disabled as to be compelled to surrender. He kept in the run of a creek in a very dense swamp all the time that the neighbors were in pursuit of him. As soon as the negro was taken, the best medical aid was procured, but he died on the same evening. One of the witnesses at the Inquisition, stated that the negro boy said he was from Mississippi, and belonged to so many persons, that he did not know who his master was, but again he said his master"s name was Brown. He said his name was Sam, and when asked by another witness, who his master was, he muttered something like Augusta or Augustine.
The boy was apparently above thirty-five or forty years of age, about six feet high, slightly yellow in the face, very long beard or whiskers, and very stout built, and a stern countenance; and appeared to have been a runaway for a long time.
WILLIAM H. PRITCHARD, _Coroner (Ex-officio,) Barnwell Dist. S.C._"
The Norfolk (Va.) Herald, of Feb. 1837, has the following:
"Three negroes in a ship"s yawl, came on sh.o.r.e yesterday evening, near New Point Comfort, and were soon after apprehended and lodged in jail.
Their story is, that they belonged to a brig from New York bound to Havana, which was cast away to the southward of Cape Henry, some day last week; that the brig was called the Maria, Captain Whittemore. I have no doubt they are deserters from some vessel in the bay, as their statements are very confused and inconsistent. One of these fellows is a mulatto, and calls himself Isaac Turner; the other two are quite black, the one pa.s.sing by the name of James Jones and the other John Murray. They have all their clothing with them, and are dressed in sea-faring apparel. They attempted to make their escape, and _it was not till a musket was fired at them, and one of them slightly wounded_, that they surrendered. They will be kept in jail till something further is discovered respecting them."
The "St. Francisville (La.) Chronicle," of Feb. 1, 1839. Gives the following account of a "negro hunt," in that Parish.
"Two or three days since a gentleman of this parish, in _hunting runaway negroes_, came upon a camp of them in the swamp on Cat Island.
He succeeded in arresting two of them, but the third made fight; and upon _being shot in the shoulder_, fled to a sluice, where the _dogs succeeded_ in drowning him before a.s.sistance could arrive."
""The dogs _succeeded_ in drowning him"! Poor fellow! He tried hard for his life, plunged into the sluice, and, with a bullet in his shoulder, and the blood hounds unfleshing his bones, he bore up for a moment with feeble stroke as best he might, but "public opinion,"
"_succeeded_ in drowning him," and the same "public opinion," calls the man who fired and crippled him, and cheered on the dogs, "a gentleman," and the editor who celebrates the exploit is a "gentleman"
also!"
A large number of extracts similar to the above, might here be inserted from Southern newspapers in our possession, but the foregoing are more than sufficient for our purpose, and we bring to a close the testimony on this point, with the following. Extract of a letter, from the Rev. Samuel J. May, of South Scituate, Ma.s.s. dated Dec. 20, 1838.
"You doubtless recollect the narrative given in the Oasis, of a slave in Georgia, who having ranaway from his master, (accounted a very hospitable and even humane gentleman,) was hunted by his master and his retainers with horses, dogs, and rifles, and having been driven into a tree by the hounds, was shot down by his more cruel pursuers.
All the facts there given, and some others equally shocking, connected with the same case, were first communicated to me in 1833, by Mr. W.
Russell, a highly respectable teacher of youth in Boston. He is doubtless ready to vouch for them. The same gentleman informed me that he was keeping school on or near the plantation of the monster who perpetrated the above outrage upon humanity, that he was even invited by him to join in the hunt, and when he expressed abhorrence at the thought, the planter holding up the rifle which he had in his hand said with an oath, "d.a.m.n that rascal, this is the third time he has runaway, and he shall never run again. I"d rather put a ball into his side, than into the best buck in the land.""
Mr. Russell, in the account given by him of this tragedy in the "Oasis," page 267, thus describes the slaveholder who made the above expression, and was the leader of the "hunt," and in whose family he resided at the time as an instructor he says of him--he was "an opulent planter, in whose family the evils of slaveholding were palliated by every expedient that a humane and generous disposition could suggest. He was a man of n.o.ble and elevated character, and distinguished for his generosity, and kindness of heart."
In a letter to Mr. May, dated Feb. 3, 1839, Mr. Russell, speaking of the hunting of runaways with dogs and guns, says: "Occurrences of a nature similar to the one related in the "Oasis," were not unfrequent in the interior of Georgia and South Carolina twenty years ago.
_Several_ such fell under my notice within the s.p.a.ce of fifteen months. In two such "hunts," I was solicited to join."
The following was written by a sister-in-law of Gerrit Smith, Esq., Peterboro. She is married to the son of a North Carolinian.
"In North Carolina, some years ago, several slaves were arrested for committing serious crimes and depredations, in the neighborhood of Wilmington, among other things, burning houses, and, in one or more instances, murder.
"It happened that the wife of one of these slaves resided in one of the most respectable families in W. in the capacity of nurse. Mr. J.
_the first lawyer in the place_, came into the room, where the lady of the house, was sitting, with the nurse, who held a child in her arms, and, addressing the nurse, said, Hannah! would you know your husband if you should see him?--Oh, yes, sir, she replied--When HE DREW FROM BENEATH HIS CLOAK THE HEAD OF THE SLAVE, at the sight of which the poor woman immediately fainted. The heads of the others were placed upon poles, in some part of the town, afterwards known as "Negro Head Point.""
We have just received the above testimony, enclosed in a letter from Mr. Smith, in which he says, "that the fact stated by my sister-in-law, actually occurred, there can be no doubt."