The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-05-04
CURIOUS SPECULATION.
A Free Negro Sold Into slavery Time ans
Again Mt Ills own Request.

oitting At the Grand Hotel one even.
ing. heard one of the strangest ro
mances of modern times-strange be
cause II was true. How do / know II
was trueP Well. the man who told IL /:
one Of Ohio's wealthiest citizens and )
man who does not tell what he is una.
bic To substantiate. But 70 the story
As near as now remember 1t ran a
follows:
In 1917 | was steward on the Golden
Age, one of the finest passenger boats
that piled between Cincinnati and New
Orleans. IL was In the days before rail
roads and telegrams and when slavery
was at its prime. Well. one day n
strapping negro entered my Office, Just
as we were about 10 sail, and asked me
how would like to go into specula-
ton with him that wonld make as n
good deal OF money. was young then
and willing TO do most any thing 10
make money that was honest, and | told
him TO proceed with his proposition.
WELL" he said, sit is as follows: Ian.
as likely negro as can be found in
these parts. ] am free man. What
want TO do is for you to take me 10 New
Orleans and sell me into slavery. / arr
worth 81. 800. You sell me and I'll do
what is right with you" His PROPOSE
so startling.
''Do you want TO go back into sIav-
ery?" / asked. astonished.
mo, indeed. l does not" he an
swered.
''And yet you want to be sold7'
''Sure, sir. but Use likely nigger.
and I'll soon be back ON your hands
again"
| reasoned with the fellow in vain.
He knew of no way OF making money
so easily rs being sold. l hesitated 10
appear in the role OF slave dealer. /
was opposed to slavery. but as thought
ever the subject I concluded there
would be nothing wrong in selling the
man. and at the last moment yielded 10
his wishes and took him with me. Upon
arriving at New Orleans at once pro-
eeeded TO the slave market. which. in
ls47, was one of the principal business
places in the city. l made my object
known, and the next afternoon / was
informed the sale would take place.
gave Charley (that was his first name)
into the custody of the brokers. and
left the market. You can rest assured
that was ON hand early the next day.
and when Charley appeared hardly
knew him. He had been dressed up in
a new plantation suit and had smart
cap on his head His sleeves and
trousers were turned mp. The bidding
was lively. and you can imagine
my feelings. perhaps, as / saw
a human creature sold like horse, and
knowing | was responsible for it. The
auctioneer would run Charley up and
down the street like horse. and the
planters would feel of his arms and
legs and ankles to see if there We're any
blemishes. When 81. 400 was bid the
man was declared soid tuH prominent
planter. who gave me 81 900 in cash
and mortgage for the rest. / can tell
You it was not with the pleasantest feel
.ngs that l started out on the return
trip, after having sold fellow creature
into slavery. Well, to make long
story short, ON the third or fourth trip
after that was awakened one night by
a tap on my state-room door, and was
to find Charley waiting IN
the outside. l took him down the river
with me and again sold him at Nicks-
burg. A month later he turned up
again. and / sold him at private sale
on the boat. Months rolled on. and
had sold Charles at nearly every port
H., 7 -
trade him off and get boot money.
would then tell the slaves j
traded for. or give them their liberty.
whichever they preferred. but as my
slaves were nearly all old men. they
chose to be resold. was doing a thriv-
ing business in the slave line and had
quite name on the river At the end
of the year the mortgages began to fall
due and l collected them with great
l think l sold Charley fifteen
times in all. and we divided $25, 900 or
$50. 900 between us as the result of our
business. As selling an escaped slave
was against the law, and 1 had sold
Charley fifteen times. we had to end our
profitable investment.
"What became of CharleyP" asked his
friend.
.'He went to Canada for awhile, ysls
married and had quite a family. His
name is Charley Fields, and he is now
living in Indiana, and is barber by
What he did with his money
l do not know, but there are no times
now like the old ones. and the speaker
softly chuckled to himself as the story
was ended Cincinnati Commercial Ga
zefke