Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-04-14

lC1NlNh VI Wv IAhl - hlh NV VI llN SldN~S,
nor BY tie enlreaties and sufli.rings Of a sis.
ter's sen. Let those who call Shareholders
kind, hospiable and humane, mark the course
the STAKEHOLDER pursues with one born free,
whose ancestors fought and he'd for liberty;
and then say, if they can without a blush OF
shame, that he who robs the helpless Of eve
~ rjghf, can be truly kind and hospitablc.
sin a short time after | was put upon the
plantation, there was but little difference be-
tween Inc and the slaves, except being ,chitc,
| ate at the masters table. The slaves were
my companions in misery, and ] well learn
ed their condition, both in the house and field.
Their dwellings are log @uts, from ten to
twelve feet square; often without windows
doors or floors. They have neither chairs,
tables ar bedsteads. These huls are occu-
pied by eight, ten or twelve persons each.-
Their bedding generally consists Of two old
blankets. Many Of them sleep night after
night sitting upon their blocks or stools; 9TH
es sleep in the open air. Our task was mp
pointed, and from lawn till dark all must bend
TO their WORK. Their meals were taken with
out knife or plate, dish or spoon. IT cir food
was corn pOne, prepared in the coarsest man
ner, with a small allowance of meat. Their
meals in the field were taken from the hands
of the carrier, wherever he found them, with
no more ceremony than in the feeding Of
swine. My uncle was his own oyerseer.-
For furnishing in the field, he preferred a
large hickory stick; and We to him whose
work was not done 10 please him, for the
hickory was used upon our heads as remorse-
ly as If we had been mad dogs. ] was often
the ohirct Of his fury, and shall bear the
marks If it on my body till | die. Such was
my suffering and degradation, thatat the end
of five years, | hardly dared TO say | wasCree.
When thinning cotton, we went mostly on
our knees. One day, while thus engaged,
my uncle found my row behind; and, by way
of admonition, gave me a few blows with his
hickory, the marks Of which / carried for
weeks. Often | followed the example ofthe
fugitive slaves, and bctcok myself TO the
mountain s; but hunger and fear drove me
back. TO share with the wretrhed slave in
his toll and stripes. But | have talked e.
nough about my own bondagp; | will now
relate a few facts, showing the condition Of
the slaves generally.
"My uncle wishing to purchase what is
called d good house wench,' a ir0der in hu-
man flesh soon procured a woman, recon-
mending her as highly as ever a jockey did
IA horse. She was purchased, but on trial was
found wanting IN the requisite qualifications.
She then fell a victim TO the disappointed
rage of my uncle; innocent or guilty she suf-
fered greatly from his fury. He used to tie
her to IA peach tree in the yard, and whip her
till there was no sound place to lay another
stroke, and repeat il so often that her back
was kept continually sore. Whipping the
females around the il gs, was a favorite mode
of punishment with him. They must stand
and hold up their clothes, while he piled his
hickory. lie did not, like some Of his neigh
bors, keep a pack of hounds for hunting run
away negroes, but he kept one dog for that
purpose, and when he came up with the run
away, it would have been death TO attempt
to fly. and it was nearly so to stand. Some
times when my uncle attempted to whip the
slaves, the dog would rush upon them and
relieve them of their rags, if not Of their flesh.
l One object of my uncle's special hate was
"Jerry," "A slave of a proud spirit. He de-
fed all the curses, rage and stripes of his ty-
; rant. Though he was often overpowered-
3 for my uncle would frequently wear out his
stick upon his head-yeth he would never sub
/ nit. As he was not expert in picking cot
} ton, he would sometimes run away in the fall,
n to escape abuse. At one time, after an ABB
= sence of some months, he was arrested anc
brought back. As is customary, he was
stripped, tied to a log, and the cow-skin ap
!, piled to his naked body ill his master wa'
exhausted. Then a large log chain was fas
tened around one ankle, passed up his back
over his shoulders, then across his breast, an,
fastened under his arm. In this condition h
was forced to perform his daily task. Al,
to this he was chained each night, and com
# pelled to chop wood each Sabbath, to max
n up lost time. After being thus manacled fc
n some months, he was rcleased-but his sp
l. rit was unsubdued. Soon after, his masle
in a paroXysm of rage, fell upon him, wor
sr out his staff upon his head, loaded him agai
al with chains. and after a month, sold him fail
h. er south. Another slave, by the name
j. Mince, who was a man of great strengt
purloined some bacon on a Christmas eve
is 1t was missed in the morning, and he beir
n absent, was of course suspected. On rein
ming home, my uncle commanded him to con
h, to him, but he refused. Tn master stro'
in vain to lay hands on him; in vain he q
k dered his slaves TO seize him-they dart
a not. At length the master hurled a stoI
b. at his head sufficient TO have felled a bullo'
of but he did not heed il. Al that instant n
10 aunt sprang forward, and presenting the q
to my uncle, exclaimed, Shoot him! she
ne him!' He made the attempt. but the q
,re missed FIRE, and Mince fled. He was tax,
to eight or ten months after that, crossing I
IN Ohio. When brought back, the master, a
III an overseer on another plantation, took h
| 10 the mountain and punished him to tn
er, own satisfaction in secrets; after which
ms was loaded with chains and sent to his tai
re- ~ have spent nearly all my life in the nit
a Of slavery. From being The son of a sla'
en- holder, ! descended to the condition Of sla'
ia. and from that condition | rose (if you ple'
OF to call it so,) to the station Of a 'drirer.'
der have lived in Alabama, Tennessee, and X,
IlIe lucky; and ! know the condition of the slav
- to be that of unmixed Indebtedness and
'ot- graduation. And on the part of slavehclde
~, there is cruelty un!sia. The labor ofihe sla1
But is constant toll, wrung out by fear. Tn
IN food is scanty, and taken without comfort
nee Their clothes answer the purposes nett