Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-01-16
CHR UNCLE
Written for the Toledo Blade
s B u.
Sir. Nasty I'm North CarOIIna--
The AbrOgatfOn of General
SickIe's Order--The Aid he
rendered Col. POdgers.
PosT OFFICE CoNFEDRIT X ROADS,
(Which is in the Staff NV XVI
December 3Ist. 1866.

tunity Nv bein NV service to my friends
and the good cause.
l wuz there ~collectin funds fur the
new College at this pint, to witch l am
devoted heart and sole, and wuz o
maxim my home at Kernel Abslum
Podgers. who resides just back Of Raw
ly, and whose table and cellar, permit
me to say, are unsurpassed in the South.
Kernel Podgers is a gentleman Nv the
old skooi, who lives in luxurious ele-
gance onto a plantashn Nv 1900 akers
and who hea troo piety into him aud
alluz wears a shirt-frill. Afore the war
he owned 200 niggers, and his sole run
min out after EN-, he hez managed,
sence the war, to collect the most Nv
EN-, and get EN- together on the old
place. He hez bin busilY engaged in
subdooin EN- and bringing nv EN- back
to ther normal condishun, but alas :
Their wuz difficulties in the way. The
men niggeIs, with an obstinacy witch l
can't account for, refused to work for
81 per month, and the wimen hevin
bin mostly married to ther husbands
by the chaplin NV a regiment wich wuz
stashened here doorin the war. refused
to resoom their old relations. and
things looked serious. Most men WOOD
hev yielded to Circumstances, and give
up, but Kernel Podgers wuz nos of that
He owed a doo,y to these mis-
guided beins wich he felt he mnst full
fl; and besides, heI Is DESTROYS of build
in a new house next season. ard sendin
two daughters Thy his wife) 10 4 semi
nary next season, and he felt that he
must bring EN- to their senses He sed
that he stood in the relation w afath-
fggeratively speekin, to ali nv EN-,
and wuz he agoin to let EN- 60 on a
tiyin out NV their normal speer? Mo-
any.
The first day l wuz there, a crisis oc-
Cured. John Podgers, his son, insist
ed upon takin away the wife Nv .
mulatto, and the niger, forgettin his
posishen, wuz impudent. John struck
him, and the degraded wretch waded
in and whaled him unmerciful. This
Nv course, Good not be endoored. The
Podgers' blood riz, and that niger wuz
seized and Gated till he died. e. 1
remember right, he expired while
undergoin discipline-it may be he
lived till mornin, but it matters not,
ceptin that 1 like to be accurate.
Itwuz a solemn and impressive scene.
The Kernel he'd the Ethiopian's wife
present doorin the inliction nv the
punishment, and to show her that he
did not perceed without authority, be-
fore commencin he read to her from
Scripter the chapters treatin Nv Ham
and Hsger, and the passage commencip
"~servance obey your masters" and
then Wailoped him with more vigor
than / spozed wuz left in man so old
He pinted to the niger on the ground
after he wuz cut down, and tellin her
that he hoped it wood ne a lesson to
her, babe her go to her quarters. But
the perverse creecher didn't. She ran
away and complained to the officer at
the ueerest post, who instid w sendin
Nv her back under guard, with his
compliments to Kernel Podgers. sctil-
ly forwarded her complaint to General
Sickles, who forthwith struck a blow
at the foundashens Nv the fabric Nv
Southern society, and ordered the
Nv the Kernel who was to-Wunst
in doorance vile.
There wuz eggscitement in the visin-
ity. l run up to Washington and he'd
interview with his Eggslency. the
President. He knowed Kernel Pod
gers-in his younger days he he'd made
him coats,-and ez l totched upon the
old man, immured in a dismal dun
geon, he Wept. But A. johnson hez
decision Nv character. Immejitly he
lsshood a general order for the reEoka-
Nv Sickleses absurd order that
shoodent be whipt, and a
order commandin the officer
who he'd the Kernel in custody, to
turn him over to the Civil Courts to be
tried in accordance with the laws Nv
North Karliny.
Armed with these documents, l few
back, and the mite l arrived / he'd the
satisfackshen Nv taking the Kernel out
Nv Jail, and takin him afore a Justis
Nv the Peace, where he gave bail to ap-
pear afore the Common Pleas to answer
charge Nv nanslaughter, preferred by
the wilder NV the dead Niger.
A day or two after, the case wuz
1 appearin for the Kernel. 1
held that the case be dismissed fur the
reasons:
l. The charge Nv m~anslaughter wuz
for the reason that in the
minds Nv the Southern people there
lez alluz bin the gravest doubts ez to
whether the niger is actilly a man. I
held that the length Nv his heel, the
thickness Nv his skull, the length NV
MS ARM, all showd that he wuz Nv a dis
ink species. IF this is the case, ez a
Nv course the Kernel goes free.
2. The Kernel can't be held, allowin
he Niger to be a man. The laws Nv
he State Nv North Karliny permit the
yhippin Nv niggers, but they don't pre-
icribe the quantity Nv whippin which
nay be inflicted. It's a matter wich is
eft entirely to the discretion Nv the
7hipper. It's a matter with wich- the
yhippee hez nothin to do; neither hez
he State. Ez it permits whippin and
prescribe the quantity, NV course
{ intends the matter TO be left to the |
liscreshen NY the party who hez the
,oTer to whip. Nothin kin be clearer
han that.
Here l rested the case. l showed to
he satisfackshen Nv the Court that the
aw was not only just but humane, and
hat any SIGH absurdity ez punishin the
Kernel for carryin out its provisions
wood be strikin a blow at the frame
york Nv society.
The Court conceded with me, and to-
Tunst discharged the Kernel, amid the
.cclamashuns Nv the crowd.
In the meantime John Podgers he'd
zone afore a Justice NV the Peace and
made complaint Nv Susan THAT is the
Nv the female Rich Wuz the cause
" the difikilty) ez a vsgrant, and she
vas so declared by the Justis and put
lp and sold. Under the circumstances
10 one wood bid sgin John and she
.uz struck off to him at $50, witch the
Iustis under the pecoolyer circumstan-
es Nv the case refoosed to take. 1 saw
Iohn a marchin Nv her home and felt
The Kernels gratitood was boundlis.
"Wat kin 1 do for yoo," sed he
my hand in a fever Nv joy.
''Nothin !" sed l. "nothin. Virchoo
its own reward. But our College is
.nguishin for want Nv means-let yoor
ratitood take that shape"