The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1847-01-28
J.F. MCCLELLAN, Printer.
From the Boston Daily Mail
Mr.. Henry Bib, the Fugitive
Slave at Faneuil Hall.

last Friday and Saturday evenings. This flu
gitive from the bonds of slavery is apparently
about thirty years of age, a sharp, bright, in
tellectual and eloquent person. He was born
q slave in Kentucky and lived twenty-five
years in bondage, during which period he ac-
CURED quite reputation for running,not how
ever, at any great distance, nor did he stay
away long at time. And although he was
sometimes fogged severely for thus playing
| the truant, yet he thinks, on the whole, he
Jared better for it, and his tasks less severe -
In his younger aay5 he lived with a Mr..
White, lawyer by profession, who treated
him with more mildness than was melted out to
many others.
He married when old enough, and now has
a wife and one child in bondage, whom he
loves as other men love their wives and child
rem. As kentucky is slave-breeding State,
the shareholders encourage marriage among
their slavse that they may increase their stock
for the market as the husbandman Of N, Eng
land manage their cattle and horses, Speak
ing of marriage, he said the nuptial ceremony
was quite different there from what it is here
in New England. The parties to be united,
90 to one of the largest rooms in the Negro
quarters, and join hands, and the slaves and
sometimes their masters attend as witnesses of
the ceremony, Two hold up long broom
before the bride and bridegroom and when
the words are pronounced making them man
and wife, they jump over the broom stick to
show their consent and willingness to be thus
united. 1T is not an uncommon thing for tie
husband and wife to live on different planta-
.tions, several miles apart. The former is al
lowed to visit the latter every Saturday night,
and stay with her until Monday morning; but
they must return home before the rising of the
sun or receive the rawhide whip upon their
naked backs. The slaves prefer living thus
apart because they are not compelled to wit
ness the cruelty inflicted upon them by their
masters and overseers, it being a hard case
for the wife to see her husband scourged with
the whip or the husband, the wife.
Incorporate masters are much more cruel
than those not in the habit Of drinking intox-
icating liquors. In the year 1887, he formed
the resolution of running away and gaining
his liberty. This determination was formed
from the following circumstances. He and
his wife were wedding cabbages in cabbage
patch.
Their master came staggering to the place
where they were at work, being somewhat in
toxicated, and discovered bunch Of grass
among the cabbages which had not been dug
out. In anger, he inquired who left that
DullCn vi 1IdSS L iC wiz JOLu HIIlI SuC HSO3
and begged his pardon, as she did not see it,
He Immediately staggered to the house and
brought back rope and whip. The wife
pleaded for mercy, but pleaded in vain. He
seized her, stripped off her clothes, tied her
hands, threw the rope over the limb of anap-
pie tree which stood near, drew her up, and
scourged her most severely until the blood
trickled down her back and formed pool I'M
der her feet. The husband got down upon
his knees and asked for mercy for his wife and
requested that the lash might be applied to
his own back instead of hers, but this plead
ing was all in vain, fol it only enraged the
master more, and he told the husband to hold
his tongue or he would fog him too AT this
moment the thought entered the heart Of Bibb
that he would take the hoe and murder the in
human master, but second thought deferred
him from the deed, for he knew what his fate
must be if he committed such an act. 1t was
at this time he resolved upon seeking his lib
erty, and he began to save all the money he
could, and the amount he thus accumulated
was $50. Christmas came, and as the slaves
are usually allowed the privilege of working
for themselves a few days, he asked lis master
if he might 90 down to the Ohio river, about
four miles distant and assist in killing hogs,
saying he could get dollar per day for his
labor. His master consented His wife knew
he was going to the river, but he had never
whispered 10 her his intention of going off to
seek his liberty. And yet there was some-
thing in his manner when he bid her farewell
that excited her suspicious but he quoted
them as well as he could, and took his leave.
Previous to this time he had procured quite
genteel suit of clothes, but he said he was I'M
der no particular obligation to tell his audience
L., IL 10 Il,
that he took them from his master in part pay
for his labor. He went to a river just at night
found q skiH' fastened to the shore unloosed
her and padded off across the river. That
night steamboat came along, and, having
dressed himself in his borrowed garments, and
appearing somewhat like a gentleman, he
got on board and was conveyed 100 miles to
Cincinnati. AS good luck would have it, no
one mistrusted him, nor asked him for his
fare.
When the boat arrived at Cincinnati, he
followed several other gentlemen ashore and
went up into the city. Now he was in a
strange place. and frightened at every white
man he saw. He knew not which way to go,
but his great anxiety was to find the road
which led to Canada.
He had heard before that if he could reach
Queen Victoria's dominions he could be free.
After wandering about the city awhile. the.
thought struck him that lie would inquire Of
some boys who were playing marbles in the
street, and trust them So he went up to the
boys, and said, My little fellows, where
does the old man live who saws woods -
The boys did not seem to understand him at
first, but after a little more conversation one
of them replied, 4" o, you mean old Dundyw
" Is old Dundy a negro ?" he inquired. The
boy answered he was. He then told them
Dandy was the man he wished to see. They
pointed out the house to him where old Dun-