Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-12-14
4 SLAVES SUFFERING.
John Higgins Meets Son, Twenty -four
Years Old, Whom He Has
Never Seen Before.
A Husband's Life D.."lat"d ny til" Cruelty
of Hi, Ma,trr-Hi- il. and Child
Torn from His Bed-Iguorant
Of Their Whereabouts,
lie Marrie> Again

Last Tuesday night was a happy one for
John Higgins. a cOlored teaInst"r. residing
at No. 30 Clark street. when his son.
stalwart. good-looking young fellow, lwrn-
ty-four wears old. came Ia his h"uS" and
identified himself. Father and son had
never before set eyes upon each other and
the meeting was very joyous one. ms
morning reporter stumbled upon III"
father and learned the whole story oi
his life, which. though il contains
suffering enough for three "r
four ordinary lives, is only on"
Of the thousands Of eases of like nature
caused by the inhuman treatment oi the
slave owners Of the South.
Like all other old slaves. he doesn't
know his age, but thinks he is a wears old.
He was free born. his mother residing III
Cincinnati. When he was a boy about 10
wears old he was kidnapped in the streets
of G cinnat by preacher and carried
about - miles into Kentucky. in Scott coun-
". where he was sold to wealthy planter
named Washington ". Samuel. There he
was one among many slaves and was treated
with hardly as much consideration as the
horses or cattle that he took care of. He
mated with young wench owned by Al
fred ID. Oxford. who owned the adjoining
plantation. He and his wife lived together
in the same hut with her mother and three
h,l
ing another child in the near future when
they We're cruelty separated.
just before the beginning of the war
when emancipation talk was growing hot
all over the South. and it was evident "a
the dullest that the contest between the free
doni-lOving b0nrge0isie of the North and
the SlaVocracy of the South could be no
longer averted. the planters of Kentucky
and the other border states became alarmed
for the safety Of their human property. and
began 10 either sell their slaves or run them
further south until the Yankees could be
thrashed and all should be- serene again.
orford had brother al Pine Bluffs. Ar
kansas and hither he determined To send
palt VI SAWS SiA' A'AA' 'hh''i
should blow over.
The slaves, of course, knew nothing Uf
this intention, and it was entirely without
forewarning that he entered Higgins
hut one night. with IA slave-oriNci
at his heels. and pulled his wife and child
from the very bed in which they Were sleep
ing. The whole family was r"ughl!
aroused from Slumher and commanded I"
march. The husband and wife clung Ia
each other frantically. but the heart of the
master was untouched and a blow from the
drivers whip separated them. Shivering
and half dressed the woman and child wcrr
driven out and started on their long Journey
to Arkansas. while the husband with every
eartly tie thus rudeiy sundcrcd. was left
without even the consolation of knowing
whittier they had been taken.
Though an ignorant slave. he had the
impulses and affections of humanity. and
the hcartle>> separation gTirvcd him 80
deeply that he attempted t" commit suicide.
but was prevented. lie remained on the
plantation until 1865. when he lied t"
Camp Nelson. where he enli>ted in the
union army and Was attached Ia the Twelfth
Kentucky Artillery He suffered all the
life. and al the close of the war returned to
his old home in Scott county. Here he
tried for over a year to find some trace /
of his lost wife, but could hear
nothing whatever of her. Finally he Went
to Covington where he served as porter in
wholesale grocery.
Finally. desparing of ever again finding .
his lost wife, he married again and removed .
to this city in 1869, where he has served in .
the capacities of stable man. porter. &c. .
until he has succeeded in making for him .
self and wifea comfortable home and good .
living.
One day. three years ago. he got word of .
his lost family purely by accident \ col .
On the corner of Center and Main
streets: and one day lie fell
nto conversation with several Of the minis
ers a. they were walking up Market street.
In the course of this conversation he
earned that one of them came from George
own, Ky. his old home. From him he
earned that a member OF his wife,> family
rad returned from little town in Texas.
whittier they had been sent when the Union
Orces overTun Arkansas. Communication
" letter was opened. and he learned of the
intense suffering she had undergone III the
png overland marches while she was with
hid. and of her subsequent i'll treatment.
Iowever. time had healed her grief. amd
he had married again. The son that rt.-
Irned last week was the one still unborn
the time of the separation. He will
enceforward make his home here.