Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1889-06-15
OLD CHANCE CARTER.
THE LIFELONG DEVOTION OF A
BLACK MAN IN GEORGIA.

to His Home but He Held 1t TIN Death.
Chance Carter lived seventy-fve years
a slave and twenty five a free man.
That is, from the best anybody can tell
about il
lie was so old that he had outIived
everybody who might have told anything
about his real age. which spanned the
average life of three or four generations.
Away back in the DAYS when Decatur
was a stage road station and Atlanta was
cross reads village. Mr. William Carter
and his wife came 10 this section, child
less but wealthy. and the poSsessors of
many slaves.
Among these slaves was Chance. who
was more than half free, Il good business
man. but a lover of cock fights and
rough. country sports
Chance was Il man of middle age. and
had a large family when the railroad
reached Atlanta He was practically in
charge of the plantation affairs, his mas
ter relying implicitly on his fidelity and
good judgment in all the affairs con
nected with his estate His faith was
never shaken 10y single dishonest act
on the part of the old negro.
THE HAND OF DEATH.
Along in the '40s Mr. Carter died, and
his wife had his body laid to rest on a lot
in the plantation. where she might re-
pose beside him when the time came~for
her to depart The good old lady had no
one left but Chance and on the honest
negro she relied still more than ever.
The sons and daughters of the slave
grew to manhood and wonanhood, and
the plantation prOspered- The grave OF
the old master was kept green.
In 1857 Mrs. Carter felt the approach
of death She felt that the two lonely
graves would be left unprotected, and
that the stranger would desecrate them
and that possibly the plowshare might
rudcly break away the messy mounds
above their last resting place.
So she called Chance and to him made
deed of gift to thirteen acres Of land,
asking him to remain there and look
after the graves of the master and mis-
tress as long as he lived. The negro
promised to do so, and he kept his word
Nobody thought OF molesting Uncle
Chance
Of course. under the laws existing
prior to the war Il slave could not be
freed, nor could he become freeholder.
But this old man was freedman and
landhol1er, by virtue ,>f the common re-
spect for the sacrcdness of his charge.
and that public sentiment and sympathy
that was not uncommon among the peo-
pie Of the south il such cases.
The rest of the property went to dis
tant relatives, and the inevitable separa-
ton. which was one of the most painful
incidents of slavery. occurred between
the father and his children.
LONG VIGIL
Uncle Chance remained on the little
farm left him by the old mistress Amid
the shock and cOmmotion of war he
never wavered in his devotion, and Lin
coins proclamation fell unheeded on his
ears.
1t could do nothing for n man who
was only a slave so far as his affections
bound him. And they were as fetters of
brass binding him to the memory of
those whom he had loved and served in
life, and from whom, in death, he chose
not to be disunited.
After the war some of the lands passed
into alien hands, and included in the
tract was the home of the old slave. The
new owner set up claim that the thir-
teen acres were held by the old negro
without any legal title, and instituted
suit in the courts for the recovery of the
little farm.
This aroused the old man, who had
kept his vigil SO long and well. and he
consulted a lawyer. The lawyer was
Judge w. l.. Calhoun, who had eaten
Mrs Carriers ginger cakes and listened
to Uncle Chances quaint stories when Ii
little boy.
Although there was really not the
shadow of a title to Chances holding,
the lawyer determined to stand by him
and help to preserve the little legacy and
enable the old man to die by the graves
of those who had loved and trusted him
And tire lawyer won his case by a
speech Of such mastery eloquence that
the crowd in the court room was moved
to tears.
There was something peculiar about
Chance Carter. His mind was of higher
order than was common among unedu-
Gated slaves He was a shrewd trader
and scarcely ever made a mistake in a
bargain.
His fidelity in life and in death to the
interests OF his master and mistress was
something remarkable, and there are
few parall instances of this sort OF de
votiou between man and man.
He Law down and died of sheer old age.
He preserved his faculties up to the very
last moment. and among his dying in
functions to his children were to see that
the graves of the old folks at home were
not left desoiatc.
1t was extremely appropriate that they
should have laid him to rest in the same
quiet spot, which he had guarded so
zealously through all these long years.
And out there, on the old plantation.
among the budding trees and trailing
yines, after a hundred years of such
yicissitudes as seldom fall to the lot of
man. sleeps in undisturbed repose. the
bodies Of the master. the mistress and the
faithful Uncle Chance.-Atlanta Consti-
tuition.
The Matter with Hannah.