The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-01-26
Slavery in Georgia

! pentnc farm IN Georgia. His name is
Briddick, or Bird ses. and he represent.
cd the firm of Clay & Bridack, propri-
etors of turpentinc farm. 1t is allcg-
| ed that he promised SIS mouth and
board for good hands, and on the first Of
January 20 staIwart colorcd men left
here for the farm, W hich is situated at
hamlet callod Lothair in Montgomery
county. Ga, .65 miles from Bartow,
which is the nearest railroad station.
Among those who went was Logan
Walker. A week or more ago his broth
CT. Alfred Walker, who is IL respectable
ais intelligent colurcd blacksmith hav-
| ing shop in West 'Grccnvillc, received
telegram from Logan announcing that
he was in danger and trouble ut Bartow,
and imploring aid. Alfred Walker
promptly started on an early train and
few days ago he rc;crncd, bringing his
brother, who was in tlilapidated con-
dition, suffering FROM II severe wound in
the head and thankful enough to get
back here alive.
logan Walker tells strange story.
He says that when the Grecnville
crowd reached Lothair, which is in, a
country o: dense pine forests, swamps
and lakes, they were put to work box
ing pine trees for turpentiae. Instead
Of Tle u month and board they were
| paid IA cents apiece for the boxes and
| required to board themselves. They
| were only able to box from ten to fill
teen trees day, and their wages were,
therefore, from l2l. to 20 cents day.
They were compelled to buy their sup
plies from Clay u Briddick, who charg-
ed 10 cents a pound for meat, for meal
and for flour.
The Greenvile men quickly became
dissatisfied, and nine Of them left for
Barlow, reaching there without money
and being forced to pawn their clothes.
watches and Shoes @ For fi food and lod gsng: Ing;
They were followed by Briadick. who
seized them as violators of contract and
handled some Of them very roughly.
Logan Walker says this man came on.
him as he was sleeping in house and
attacked him with pistol. striking him
Il terrible blow on the head. with the
butt. Two OF the Grcenvillc men es-
CAPPED from Barlow. The other seven
were marched hack to Lotha:r and put
to work, some Of them having been bad
Alfred Walker says when he reached
Barlow he found his brother gone. He
was warned by merchants and other cit
izens of Barlow against going to Lothair.
and told that Brddick was "a rough
man. He pushed on. however, walk
ing over several swamp lakes which
were hard frozen, and when he reached
Lothair found his brother. He saws the
white men treated him very we'll and
made no trouble about letting Logan go,
although they claimed to hold their
hands by contract. The Greenville men
say they signed no contract, and made
none definitely.
If Alfred Walkers information is cor
| rect, and there seems no reason to doubt
it, the men remaining on the turpentine
farm are virtually slaves. He SAYS the
farm is divided by river and that eigh-
| ty or one hundred men are employed
on it. They are paid "a cents per box
for boxing tnrpcntine trees and are re-
quirod to make their boxes measure so
many inches broad and long. The av-
erage hand can box fifteen a day. The
best hand on the farm an old man, could
box from forty to fifty. earning thereby
from 50 TO 62l., cents per day and board
ing himself. This old man, Alfred
Walker says, has been on the place
for three years, and, like the others, is
afraid to leave, because when they do
run away they are sure to be pursued;
caught, beaten and punished, their poor
pay and the high prices for food keep
ing them in debt to the owners and
preventing them from accumulating
enough to leave with. Both the Walk
ers think Logan was allowed to come
because it was feared that he would die.
They say the Grcenville men left on
the farm are praying to get back home,
and that any Of them would be glad to
work six months free For anybody who
will obtain their release and pay their
| wnv tO South rnrolino