Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-07-18
THE SLAVE AUCTION.
A Strange Story by the Last of the
Auctioneers.
Plenty OF Queer ExperIences-Girls
from Chocolate Color to Nearly
White - Northerners the
Hardest Masters.
Boston Herald

sentative q the profession-the last maj
| alive i'm the United States who made bust
ness of selling niggers from the auction block
I'm - years old now, and guess my tim
has nearly come" Thus spoke old Jacl
Campbell as be filled his glass for the fourtl
time at q Broad street bar and leaned bacl
against the counter to open up his budget Of
"reminiscences. al went into the slav'
auction business in 1885, and never quit i
until the war broke out / have sold nigger
in Baltimore, Richmond, Charleston, Savan
nah, Louisville, Mobile, New Orleans, Mem
phis, and all along in the other towns Of tn
south. l don't blow my own trumpet-yor
know that on their own merits modest men
are dumb-but can say that Jack Campbell
had the reputation for showing up the good
points Of buck or a 'wench' and drawing
out bids that made him in demand wherever
there was a big sale.
"The niger traders have made me travel
500 miles TO run off lot for them, and they
paid me my own price for my work
How many have so!df was in the bust
ness some twenty-five years, and guess / al
ways handled 500 or 600 year.
1--WE had plenty of queer experiences, as
! you call them" he continued, after he had
wiped his lips with nobby white silk hand
kerchief "Long as You ask about it, | re-
member the biggest money | ever got for q
| niger was 5000 for a pretty quadroon
wench that sold in Louisville about 80 or
81. She was only Is, and was about as
white as you or me, and her two children
ha ikht curly hair. Her master lived down
near Bowling Green, and though he didn't
want 10 part with her, he was SO down in his
luck that ne had t. sell her. heard, too,
that his wife swore that niger must leave
the plantation or she would go home to her
family. Ny instructions were not To take
.,.ss than $1,000 Tor the girl, AMI | was 10 get
"a zig percenta, - on all over that; SO when
they pat her on the block | talked her up for
all Size was worth.
There were more than twenty men bidding
for her, and the fellow that got her for 50 900
was rich and gay young bachelor fronl
Tennessee, who happened to be in the city
on Il spree and was attracted by curiosity 10
the sale H. was "A little drinky AMI wasn't
caring anything for his ducats He was so
set on having the girl, believe he would
have given 81, 900 for her, if anybody had
bill her up that high lie carried her home
that day, and amt going To tell you any
thing more about him than that he made
oS nam" IA '.'e ao"''eih aiHy anu WAS
~ .n1 ''''i VI ms 9o'ioi@
ono VI '"is "oii,,' oni'dien py h"r iirso
'n''a0 iNe' IA u '''s sa.' Town now,
anu i'on 'ii,,h' ihere ISL sign OF
black blood in him"
INV YOU soii many Vi such peopief
ieh'y vi misery S'ris' from chocolate color
ui' w ' 70 nearly mhi,e' ana GOT from sS'ooo TO
So'ooo apiece ior EN-. ihefe Always was
maj No, ioi '''a' Aiiu Vi sOoch. NO. IL
-. " - n 'e'a. p,'oo ~ 'no
Ma''l., Ti 'i, "ne'e rom
900 ~ 80. - :. .'o"'u,'n sen'ie-
Ill ~, :, - 81 - ~
-, tn, $50 o 40 MAJ
- 10. '"po'' o' poop'e' su-
80 P.ol .FN.
~, W men ~ere Tue pc'' ii,'ihelsf
=, o''o'' iI'uiH N'e' 'nariestoh, ana
49, ~ nc aoou' 'iie Siine tih the
'"SS'u o'"oN hoo.'i'hi''s soV " running the
nsse's no' ~ =, lno nueigioui'" railroad.
'.' ~ ""' ii'',o dangerous
60 ,ha Wa,,I,ns ,,a,'II1 80 i,.o1 iiio ,oi
pa,,,'a';, a., a. I'LL '''' oSs ''io
q, -, -. w., pn,. ~.
,v own ac11rr1 I'D 49,, ~ ,ha on.o Oh
,.,,,.nor af En,a a,I ra,,i,,, -. 20, ~ ~.
g. -, r. 49,. ~ ""'s
Tho, ,~o. Tho var,, Ias, nror 90, s. -, a..a
ne ,,u,.a ia, ,,C+ o,.o, int, ponr,,,l.,.,;-.
h,+ tho,, po,,o, could b.,,o do,o :. 81.
s,,naloJ,, bal,o, ,bou, Co., ,bo,, go, -.
e., vnr,b c,roli,, rho,, -, -.
n ,go aniace and ,,as 81 oD0 out ~ ,,ocI,ot
Thoro ,,.as n most of ;pf.rn.l o,al,.,.y ~, .t
nlaca called Christian, in this st,,a ond
they were always lookjn' ont 70 rob a man
Of his honest pronertv
a,,a.tr -. -,
-. 49,, r., al -, - IN 'ii9
80 across no ,iy.,r ga s.,, 49, -
-, ~ r.. - - VI
ID ~ - -, -, -, ''''u =
i'-'' .i -, ~. ' =,
-, - =. Oo'u
- !, - ,io man
IN -. ~, -, :. ON a iooi'
III s.. ,.a,, - ,' 'n oo
80 ,oanse ,bo ,,i1reor - ~ one
Sc, ~ a,s's;I,. 49,, GA p.'s'e"
-i'"''' anu Uooh
i'9 o. ~
ms was III 90 anu III "r ,hat didnt do
any more business on my own riSk SO close
~ .ne ho' III 'as' s"ies were maze IN
baiuiuiore anu Lou'sNtiie IN 1901, but Tor
h'e or BIN yeais Pio'ious We" orleans was
our oes' iiiiihc'
Maybe II am any use telling people so,
but the hardest masters on the slaves were
the Yankees VINO mad settled IN the south or
had come there as overseers never saw
one oil them that wouldn't break up family
when ne wanted 10 sell had TO deliver
two heid hands once ut plantation,
three miles out from Milledgeville.
l was marching theip along the road,
aud one Turned rs quick as a Hash and
knocked me down before ! knew what be
was dong. lhey s'arted to run, but drew
on them ana brought one OF them down with
+" - :, ~. .il, oy "u,'
ou' - So ~ - ~ pi'''''i''on '''e
o''e s,iG - no - r., ~, ., "e1As' anu
S "a, .''e = '.o li'',i 30" oousn' MN
-. ~ N "a us sei
,,.,' ~, -. n,.s ioi MN
mat man vas i"iiAoe Squ"'''i' anu ,heFc
"a a., p,en', - 10 80 80 % nm,
-, ~, -, 'A' ''s'' 's'' Va
''' VI. e. - ,i,;,,. -.
=, 10. g.. ~ 81 49,. 80. ou INC"
'.. Ill, -, a., sou'"e'n
~, 10, ~ "'u ."i "Sh
'''e"' " "a =. !. -, ~, o'''' SeS 7"
: W. - -, ,uo
'rro @ IN custom bonsa as u - a. ht.a,
he pai'''noio '"S'oi'' 'OuSe as o"cc ho,ei'
'' D., o,uam,,s -. -, ,e.i' va.
. In 49,, D. s... 80, ia
~ - - I
;, na IN ,t,, - 60. - 81 .iId
:, ~ . -, -, VI ~, s0u., 'ne
-, a > wa "''' ~ ~ VIC p'''"'o
a,y,,
"Going down the Mississippi from St. Louis