Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1845-09-04
FoerrspoN6rvcr or rnE rnnNix
Nlw onLrlss, June, 81, 1915

Tbiis civ Of strange sights. One can VIII
-. ,..,,,Lcene, here which are not to be witnessed
= -. ch Maintain State. In the street which
,,o, ,b, ksion line between the first and The thnd
,,n,.;,ae- slaves nttired in their best are daily ex-
oosed tn lvate sale The chain gang as II Is calico,
rov also IL seen day after day laborng in some part
If The ets One very hot day | saw this gang at
sork vii their spades excavang ditches IN one o he
s,,eets n the civ There were about hllecn mates
and Gy,rmaes all at work, except the dfvef' WIN
LONG bn, g SPADES Each Of the men wore large
iron chil on one Of his legs fastened around Inc an
Gle ADD the knee, and TO the waist. Inc women
we're ul loaded with chains. One OF The gang a
LARGE. hot man, with whip in bis hand, gave dlrec-
lions aIo the manner Of doing the work, and his com
mands bpeared to be implicitly obeyed Near by sat or
ourpeh white man who, supposed, was the ovefSeer
of the ihoe This gang are kept in prison al night
and unemployed by the city during the day. lhey
are s,ss who had ron away from their masters, or
FIR sote other crime had beei taken up and confined
Todd have attended an austion of slaves at Banks
Areaj near the middle Of The city, and the centre Of
busol.. Twenty slaves wee advertised Tor sale, IN
the phc papers, Of which however only siS, think,
wereI,truek of These, tire men and three WON
en- DIRE sold at prices from ninety TO four hundred
and Iah,y dollars. Several Of those who were for
kyere sent from soul Carolina, mostly from
cb,Iestop; bot rs nothing lot the title Of property in
Incl was guaranteed, no onebid upon them, and they
rmtned unsold. In regard to the rest, the lite to
potefty in them was not lny warranted, but their
ale, character qualities, cnditon and accomplish
ucnts were proclaimed. Ole of the men was very
much emncialed and sickly boxing, be was sold or
inety dollars, age think fifty or whereabouts. An
dher was a young man, wlp bad been brought up 10
he cigar making business, Ind brought Tour hundred
ind eighty dollars. He wal a bright, intelligent, good
mixing Young man, and wa q runaway from his mas
Ter. He was represented ! having always sustained
good character ill he runIfom his owner His only
f,nt il seems was desin to be free Another, also
ayoung man, offered lof sale by the Union banh
New Orleans, having leen taken for debt He
vas Represented as an excellent man, man Of unex-
teptionable character, and as evidence Of Il, sup
nose he was said by the ariioneer TO have perfectly
smooth back: !. e. he had eyer been whipped. Three
women were also sold, two them were quite young,
and the other about thirty Their character qualities
and condition were oil mile known. The youngest
was sold for four hundred lad fly dollars. The next,
whose peculiar condition ias publicly cried, brought
little less, and the other hsng weakness n her back,
her only defect, was sold of less still. Two women
with infants ia their ans were brought upon the
stand and offered for sat- bu, as they were from
Charleston and nothing SD about their character
qualifications no bid was hade for them and they were
ordered off,
The auction was held il a large public room, the
back part Of which there accommodations for
ing and drinking, which operations were going on |
believe, at the time of he sale. There was large
crowd OF men standing iround, there puehas-
ers, and some like mysef as spectators. A stand OF
platform three or four Eei high erected on one
side Of the room, which clerk, who noted down
the particulars Of the sale, and on which stood the
auctoneer and the SLAVE who was to be sold. The
aueioneer was middle aged man, well dressed, aud
had the outward appearance Of what is generally term.
ed gentleman He did not think it necessary how.
ever TO refrain from the OF prolane language. Per
haps he considered il the mark Of gentleman. He
cried the slaves, proclaimed their good qualities, age
defects, &c with the same nonchaance and indifer
enre mat an auet'Onvet la vermont would describe
horse or pair Of oxen which he was about 10 sell to the
highest bidder The slaves showed various emotion,
more or less intense. Those who were sent from
Charleston for sale wore very sad eountenances. One
OF the young men who was sold, perceived eyed his
purchaser very closely. Some Of them did not appear
TO care much about being sold others looked exceed
ingy detected. The crowd looked on very calmly as
the sale proceeded. When the unfortunate man who
was sold for ninety dollars struck of, plous Bap-
list deacon standing by my side very coolly remarked
that man would be worth more than that 10 me- The
whole TO me Notwithstanding beyond deserp-
ton. | will not undertake TO describe the thoughts
and feelings which excited in my mind, for ii would
be impossible. And oil this in Christian land!
Yours truly, A. BROWN.