Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1890-04-11
THE STORY OF BIP.

'blp story Is well known In the
Cumberland valley, where he lived for
many years, and died not long ago."
said Samuel Logan of Franklin county,
Penn, sand it is one Of the most re-
markable narr atives of slavery times
ever related. have heard the old man
tell the story with tears in his eyes many
and many time, and no one who ever
knew him could have the slightest
doubt of its truth. Bp was born in
Africa, where, as he believed, he was
the son of king or chief, for he re-
membered that his father and mother
lived in a bark hut surrounded by
smaller ones, which were occupied by
many women and children, his fathers
hut always being approached by others
in a most deferential manner. His
mother wore immense gold or brass
hoops in her ears and bands of metal
on her arms. His father wore q big
yellow ring in his nose. When Bip was
about years old, as he aftcrward cal
culated, his fathers household and
many of the tribe were overpow cred by
a horde of strange blacks aud taken
captive. They were bound together
and driven for days until they came to
the seashore. There they were por-
toned among a number of white men,
the first Bip had ever seen. The cap
tives were taken away in boats. Bip
never saw his father again. He and his
mother were packed with hundreds of
others on board vessel, and they were
many days on the water. The vessel at
last landed and the negroes that were
still alive were taken ashore, and Bip
and his mother werc selected from
the lot by white man and taken away.
1t was not until after years that Bip
knew and appreciated the fact that he
and his parents and their tribe had
fallen victims to the African slave trad
ers, and that he and his mother had
been sold into slavery to a Cuban
planter
''At the age of Is Bip, which name
had been given him by his Cuban
owner, was sold, with lot of other
young negroes of both sexes, to slave
trader. Bip's mother was at work in
the sugar field when he was sold and
taken away. He never saw or heard of
her again. The herd of young negroes
was taken to New Orleans, where Bip
was sold on the auction block. He was
put to work in the sugar fields, but
when he was 20 years old he became
the property of an Arkansas cotton
planter. He was taken to the Arkansas
plantation, which was not far from Lit
tie Rock. His new master proved to
be kind one, but Bip felt that he was
not born to be slave, and he was de-
termined to escape from bondage, even
III tliO ilSh VI lis illC Lulu Out uiQ III
in the fall of 1921 he made break for
liberty. He never knew exactly the
route he took, but he turned his face as
near northward as he could calculate
and blindly followed that course. He
Travelled all night, swimming rivers
and founderlng through swamps.
In the daytime he hid
among the dense brakes, and satisfied
his hunger by digging turtles from the
mud and eating their raw meat. He
travelled in that way for three nights,
and just before dayb.eak on the morn
ing of the third he came suddenly upon
a clearing. He saw at once that it was
the home of a ''face camper" In
those days that part of Arkansas was
wild and sparssly inhabited, and settlers