Smyrna times., 1876-01-05
good for nothing. want no good-for-
nothing articles on this place."
And burned they were.

Orders were then given to have all the
wagons, carts, slides, Lizards, scythes,
cradles, harness and gears brought up, and
after due inspection, the next morning,
large bonfire was made of all those re-
jected, and immediate order issued to have
all the sheep, goats and hogs gathered
| together. On the ensuing morning these
were inspected, and many were found
feeble with age and want of food others
were crippled and injured, and all such, in
spite of the overseer's pleadings, were re-
morselessly knocked on the head and
buried.
All the horses, mules and horned stock
were brought up for the fourth day, and
under Mr.. Randolph's rigid inspection,
many were declared worthless and, though
Mr.. Chumley begged that some of them
might be spared, as they could be fattened
and put to good use, Mr.. Randolph was
unrelenting, and all the condemned, in
Guiding the blind, lame, spawned, fstulated
and wind-broken were mercilessly shot and
buried.
As the weather had been quite cold
during these days of inspection, many of
the negroes, and especially the old, had
continued to "play possum," and had
never turned out of their cabins to aid in
getting together the live stock or farming
utensils. Mr.. Randolph now gave orders
that all the negroes, old and young, should
be brought to the house next day for in.
spection, and in the meantime he had
good many plain coffins of all sizes made,
and suitable graves dug near the chapel.
The news of these fearful preparations
soon penetrated every cabin in the negro
in the mind of Mr.. Cuffee Black. The
i negroes knew that Mr. Randolph was a
member of Congress, and big man in
the country; they knew he was accus-
toned to have his way, and that nobody
attempted to interfere with him, and they
fully believed that he had full power OF
life and death over them. They knew he
was good, kind master, man end neigh
Dor, but they said he had "such quare
ways" that there was no telling what he
would do if the notion took him. They
had seen how he burned up all the dam
: aged farm implements; had caused all the
5. injured and worthless sheep, goats anC
horses to, be knocked in the head, anC
!, how he had shot all the old broken-dowi
.s stock without any pity; and now wha
40 did he mean to do with them, and will
~ all those cofins and graves? This wa
exactly the train of reflection and commen
~ that Mr.. Randolph had calculated upon
n and accordingly, on his arrival on tn
~ ground, he found an anxious, terrific,
crowd of negroes, and not one missing
all were there. He entered, and took hi
~ seat beside the overseer at table. Jubi
!, % his servant, placed on the table befol
= him his duelingcase, open, and contain
~ ing pair of pistols and plenty of ammun
,s ton.
"Are they all here9" asked Mr.. Raj
"a dolph, of the overseer.
"a Up spoke a hundred voices, 40, ye
80 Marse John, we's all hereg' Chumlt
~1e was ordered to call the list containing IL
-. names of all those who had been a
Ia enough to work during the year, but ha
not worked. They were placed in ROY
!, in which soon stood more than half of q
~ the grown negroes.
W The old shirks and sinners were n
ing L. - 80 ho,,, tI,0 IT, hod hoo. - :,
and long before the roll call was end,
"a9 many of them were on their knees /
~ seechingly looking from the stern face
-" tEeir master toward the pistols and q
-" open graves; and many "Lord mer
'ei' on me, Marse John," went up from t
'er- line, but Randolph ordered them to
silent.
When the last had been called,
H. squeaked out, =" You say, Chumley, the
negroes won't work that they are o
:, worthless, and good for nothing; that tn
.ne cannot make enough to eat, and mi
riSE buy bread and meat to feed them"
we're Handing Chumley pair Of pistols,
io"' added:
i"h- "Chumley, begin at the other end
neio the line, and I'll begin at this, and we '
ioe' shoot these worthless negroes"
pos universal shrek went up, and all
y ~ negroes rushed up TO Randolphsand beg
- AZ in the most pitiful terms, for their liz
op declaring that they could work, an
p.e' they would never play possum and lie
!. again.
uay' Randolph finally relented and agr
> '.e to spare them provided they could
pm security among the other negroes that {
ever would work well in the future. No
could have effected such genuine scar
NINA. Randolph did. The negroes knew tina
ano was strange, eccentric man, that the W
9 or people of Charlotte all but worship
'nins him, and they believed implicitly tina
tooA would do what he said he would. He
them not allow any severe punishment upor
lett slaves, but this lesson was sufficient.
near. empty graves were filed up without Q
id IN pants, and the negroes went to work
noes will.
en- or
a pile. Wendell Phillips said in a recent
voice: perance speech " You can't make lie