Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-05-01
STORY OF TWO SLAVES.
A Southern Mans "reminiscences
Of Ante-Bellum Days
Two COlOred Men Who Ran Wild In the
Woods for Three Years-Their Unex-
pected Return-Noble Specimens OF
Prosperous Africo-Americans.

1t is strange fact" said gentleman in
Hawkinsville, Ga, the other day to st.
Louis Globe-Democrat correspondent, s'yet
it is true, the negroes who were most per-
sistent in their efforts to elude masters
whom they hated and who were commonly
called runaway niggers, are the very best
citizens we now have. / have watched
many of them, and it has always turned out
that way. Negroes usually did not run
away from their masters ON account Of
work, but because Of i'll treatment or of
natural dislike, and when they once took an
aversion to their master he might as well
make up his mind to sell them to some one
whom they liked, or to keep pack of
hounds for the purpose of capturing them
every time he gave them a chance to get
away.
"Do you see that old colored man in that
buggy driving around the cornerl Well, that
is old Dempsey Clarke, and he is to-day one
OF the richest negroes in Georgia. He lived
for three years in the swamps Of Georgia
because he hated his master, and suffered
untold hardships fighting for existence, yet
he never did give himself up until his mas
ter, in despair, sold him to a neighbor
named Brown, who was good to his slaves.
Then Dempsey and his brother came out of
the woods and went to work on Mr..
Browns plantation, where they worked un-
til the war was over
81 remember the day that Dempsey and
his brother Bristow were brought in to
Hawkinsville. There was big sale that
day and several thousand slaves were
brought in by the slave traders. When
Dempsey and Bristow were put upon the
block, they were bid in by Mr.. Coley, an
old planter who was rich in land and slaves
NJ hi g.,
said: We don't lack yer, Mr.. Coley, an
yer needn't buy US, 'kase we amt or gwine
ter lib wild ye.'
"'Oh, well,' Mr.. Coley replied, I've got
plenty Of dogs which meant that if they
ran away he would capture them with the
keen-scented hounds kept for that pur-
pose
'The trade was consumnated and
Dempsey and Bristow were set to Mr.
Coley's plantation. True to their word,
the third day after their arrival at the plan
tation Dempsey and Bristow took to the
woods. They were captured once, but be-
fore they were brought back to the planta-
ton they again made their escape, and this
time for good, as they swore that they
would die before they would ever be taken
back to Coley's plantation.
81 remember on one occasion party of
negro hunters struck the trail of BrIstow
and Dempsey and chased them into the
cypress jungle, and among the lagoons just
below Big Creek near where the creek runs
into the Okmulgee. The swamp was almost
impenetrable, but the hunters followed their
dogs and approached within fifty yards of
the runaway niggers.'
"When they were cornered the two slaves
opened fire upon their pursuers, and as it
was getting late in the evening, there was
nothing left for them to do but to retreat,
which they did. After trying to recapture
his slaves for three years, Mr.. Coley finally
gave up in despair and sold them in the
woods to a Mr.. Brown, of Houston County.
Mr.. Brown was much liked by his slaves,
and as soon as 1T became generally known
that he had bought Dempsey and Bristow,
the two slaves made their appearance in the
village and gave themselves up to Mr..
Brown.
~ will never forget how they looked
when they came out of that swamp. Their
hair and whiskers had not been cut, until
they fairly met and it seemed to me that
nothing was visible of the face except two
black eyes that looked wildly at ma 1
never saw two men so nearly like wild men
in my life, and their clothing served to
strengthen the impression made by the first
glance at their faces. Mr.. Brown gave them
clothes and cared for them, and in a short
while they were perfectly at home on his
plantation, where they remained until after
the war.
"I do not know where Bristow is, but
am told that he is in Colorado, where he
went after the war, and that he owns
large mining interests there. He was a
very bright negro, and always would ac-
cumulate, even as slave. Dempsey re-
mained in Houston County after the war
and followed farming for q living He
has accumulated large fortune, which
consists principally in lands and live stock.
His wife, whom he married as slave, is
still living, and his daughters are of at col
lege. As faithful slave of the old type, a
good citizen and an honest and upright bus
mess man, Dempsey has the respect of all
hO Hr0I him