, 1874-07-12

In the good old conservative, slaveholdinE
l days, it you mentioned 0berlin in the presence
OF Kentuckian. he st once exhibited unmistak
able signs Of hydrophobia- As we'll might on'
expect rabid animal to remain placid In the
presence Of water as for Shareholder to keeE
his temper and remain unmoved when oberl1u
J WAS discussed. All Abolition odiousness, nastl'
) ness. aud utter devilishncss was supposed te
dwell in the character OF an Oberlincr, and the
J sum Of human depravity to be found in that
town. II negro was lost ho went to Oberlin to
live; and if he once reached tho place ne "aa
enfe, for no slave VAS ever returned to bondage
from that town. Trains on the underground
railroad arrived and departed at all hours OF the
day and night, and the most utter defiance Of
the right of property in man vas practiced BY
tho Oberlin Abolitionists.
That no negro might mistake his way. the
tlnger-boards wero removed and ful-sized
Cu1y, running for dear life, Was put on the
cross-roads his arm outstretched and pointing
the way to Obcrlin. The signs before the hotels
near the place were pictures of man one-laf
black and the other half wnte,-tho black side
facing towatd Oberlin. 1p tho village negro
bound in chains, tiger chasing negro. and
crowd Of Oberliners driving off s!aye-hunters
were in some instances the expressive si-ns
that pointed out places Of business aud, as if
sanctonius al this and making 1t a religious du-
ty, "Holinees unto the Lord " was written in
rious places and blazed in golden letters from
the flag hung over the College buildings.
Ccrtninly it was as uninviling o plqco for
Shareholder to enter as. one could lind, and it
was not to bo wondered at that they generally
| halted at tho first negro sgn-board and
| turned back to the next village. TO the
! fugitive, as we'll Us to the pnrsuer, there was
something ine1prersibly touching in the picture
OF crowd Of natives with sticks and stones
driving OF kidnappers, under the motto OF
Holiness unto the Lord"
The more euterprising slave-hunters who
entered the town soon found themselves
t the victims OF misplaced confidence and
tlo dutes OF what they ever afterwards
termod "as designing set Of villains as
lived on tho feco Of the EARTH" No sooner
catchers would receive visit (son1etimes in the
middle of the night) from mysterious person
age, who would propose to give great Informs
tion and bo of the most positive service in recap
turing the escaped slayes. The generous offer
WAS generally accepted By the unsuspecinx ,
southernors, and then followed carnival Of
sport for the Oberlincrs. Riding all night over
rough roads, crawling al day through corn-
patches wadng bw.mps, or scratching their
flesh of in the brembles of tho forests, the
slave-catchers would toll day after day hunting
for their dusky property, and return TO their
hotel at night weary and worn out, only to be |
laughed at in secret by tho tricky Aoolitionsts.
and then encouraged to renew the fruitless |
sea,ch on tho morrow.
Sometimes crowd OF rnischievous students |!
would bluck oua Of their number aud send him to
the swamp; then they wou1I announce to the |
s1aye-hunters they had found the Liding-p1ace of |
the fugitive and, accompanied By the Southcrners,
the search would begin. A shout Of ~ Hero he
goes !" would presently announce the discovery,
mud the race commenced Over bitches, across
fields, through swamps. until tired out, tho fugi-
tive would allow himself to ne captured by his
weary pursuerE, when the thin lips, straight hair
and nose, would announce tho sell and cause the
indignant Southerners to curse horribly. Roar
lowed by the jeers and shouts Of their persecu-
tors.
No man in Ober}in could be trusted on the
slave question. An Did Southerucr once said no
matter how pious or reliable ttoy might be in
other matters, thoy would "lo like horse thieves
when it camo to niger" To betray poor
fugitive would have been to lose the respect of
tho community and insure lasting disgrace and .
odium.
It would 6ll good-eized volume to <elato all
the tales, incidents, and tricks connected with
s1ave-ca:cbing around Oberlin during the ten
years preceding the War. No labor, no expense
or trouble. Was too great to save fugitive from
his pursuer; it was "holiness unto the Lord " to
libcrate slayes, and al did it Whenever they
could. Every night almost trains on tho un-
dergrouud railroad left Oberlin for Clere-
ln,d, Charleston, Huron, or 6andusky,
whore the living freight Tas transferred
to friendly tteamboat-captains, who forwarded
it to Canada, New York. Pennsylvania or the
far West. Sometimes deooy Of BACKED stu
dents or FREQ negroes were started OF to deceive |
the watchers, and, diversion having been eff
fected. the real fugitiyes were sent away in
another direction. One negro, who was very
valuable to his master, watched so closely it
was found impossible to run him of. when at
last student, procuring sde-sadd1o and
horse, attirod Cuffy lady, aud, mounting an
other horse. gallantly escorted his closelyyci!ed
companion in safety to Huron. Tho darkcY was
SO amused ut this novel method OF escape that,
when he found himself safe, he laughed until |
you could have heard him mile, and kept re- |
peating many times over: "'Fore God, master |