, 1889-08-15


and Te!i- Il Trua Stary in I':ooC-Tv,
sIcn Who ::I;d,d Ehvi. Muster for Thra.
Years Are Now vTcl!-:o-Do Citizens.
\ few days ago Il gentleman in Haw
kinsviIle, Ga, said:
J 1T Is 4 strange fact, yet it is true, thai
the negroes vino were most persistent i:
THEN efforts to c!ude masters whom thcy
+ hated and WHO were commonly caIipo
runaway UjgZCTS. arc The very best
citizens we HOW have. have watched
many of them, and il has always turned
out that way. Negroes usually did noi
run away from ih,ir masters On account
Of work. but hoc:!use of i'll treatment or
of natural d;s!..:c, and when they once
took an ayc:si2" To their master Ey
might Is well EI'.r Up his mind to sell
them 10 some 1::c whom they liked, or
10 keep 4 paci, ui hounds for The pur-
pose of capturing them every time he
gave them Il chance. - get away
NOT AFRAID OF THE DOGS.
DO you see that Old cOIoroa man in
that buggy driving around the corner?
Wei, that Is old Dempsey Clarke, and
he IS today one OF the richest negroes in
Georgia. He live! for three years il Ike
swaInps of Georgia because he hated his
master, and suffered untold Iiardships
fighting for existence. yet he never did
give himself up until his master, in de-
sp2ir, sold him to 4 ncighbor named
Brown, who was good TO his slaves.
Then Dempsey and his brother came OUT
of the woods and went to work on iIr.
Browns plantation, whore they worked
unit! the war WAS over.
Il remember the day that Dempsey
and his brother I.Tistow were brought
into iIawkinsviIie. There was Il big
sale that day and several thousand
slaves were brought in by the slave
traders. When Dempsey and Bris:ow
Gere put upon the block, they were bid
in by lir. Colay, an old planter who
was rich in land and slaves. When nIr.
COley bid them in, Dempsey said: we
don't lack yer, Dir. Coley, an yer needn't
buy Us, 'kase we amt cr gwiEo ter live
wii ye.
"'Oh, well, bIr. Coley replied. I've
got plenty of dogs, which meant that ii
they ran away he would capture them
with the. keen scented hounds kept for
that purpose.
The trade was con5umnlated ans:
Dempsey and Bristow were sent to 1ir.
Coley's plantation. True to their word,
the third day after their arrival at the
plantation Dempsey and Bristow took TO
the woods. They were captured once,
but before theywere brought back to the
plantation they again made their escape,
and this time for good, Is they syYore
ihat they would die before they would
ever be taken back to Coley's plantation
SOLD IL TIE WOODS.
~ remember on one occasion a party
Of negro hunters struck The trail OF Bri5-
tow and Dempsey and chased them into
The cypress jungle, and among the Ia
5oons Just below Big Creek, near where
the creek runs into the Okmulgce. The
mp was almost impcnetrable, but the
ters followed their dogs and ap-
lched within fifty yards OF the run
y niggers.'
When they were cornered the two
,..., es opened fire upon their pursuers,
and as it was getting late in the evening
there was nothing left for them to do
out to retreat, which they did. After
trying to recapture his slaves for three
years, Mr. Coley finally gave up i'll de
Spair and sold them in the woods to
1 Mr. Brown, of Houston county. Mr
Brown was much liked by his slaves, and
ls soon as it became generally known
hat he had bought Dempsey and Bris-
low tho two slaves made their appear
lnce in the village and gave themselves
up to 4Ir. Brown.
u will never forget how they looked
when they came out Of that swamp.
Their hair and whiszers had not been
sut until they fairly met, and it seemed
o me that nothing was visible Of the
face except two black eyes that looked
wildly ut me. l never saw two men SO
nearly like wild men in my life, and
heir clothing served to strengthen the
impression made by the first glance az
heir faces. Mr. Brown gave them
clothes and cared for them, and in o
short while they were perfectly at home
on his plantation, where they remained
Until after the war.
i do not know where Bristow is, b;It
am told that ne is in Colorado, where
ne went after the war, and that he OWLS
arge mining interests there. He was
very bright negro, and always would
accumulate, even as slave. Dempsey
remained in Houston county after the
war and followed farming for 4 living.
tie has accumulated Il large fortune,
which consists principally in lands and
i've stock. His wife, whom he married
as a slave, is still living, and his daugh-
ters are off at college. As n faithful
slave of the old type, good citizen and
an honest and upright business man,
Dempsey has the respect of all who
know him. Atlanta (Ga) Cor. Globe
Democrat,