The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-08-19
LAST GREAT SLAVE SALE.
Nearly a Thousand Negroes Belong.
ing to Fanny Kemble's Husband.
From the PhiladelphIa Press.l

lFrom the Philadelphia Press.l
The death of gentleman in this city
three weeks since has recalled the last
great slave auction in the south in 1853.
This gentleman was the clerk of the sale,
and he wrote as a mementC an elaborate
and circumstantial account of the two
days proceedings, and this he did secret
ly so intense was the desire of the man
ayers to prevent any report getting to
the papers of the north.
The sale was held at the race track,
near Savannah, and the negroes were the
property of Mr.. Pierce Butler, of Phfla-
delphia. His family name was Mease, but,
inherting a fortune in land and slaves
from his grandfather, Major Pierce But
! Ter, of South Carolina, he changed his
name. He very generously shared the
fortune with his brother John, who,
after service in the Mexican war, died
about 1850. Mr. Butler was an inveterate
and most unlucky card player, and spent
much of his time in Joe Halls rooms,
Eighth, above SAMSON, then the most
fashionable and exclusive card saloon in
| this city. Hall was, DESPITE his profess
sion, much respected and liked. Ha died
a few years ago, poor Methodist min
lister on the eastern shore. 1t was in
Halls place that MIR. Butler made the
losses that forced him to sell his slaves.
1t is said that on one occasion he held
four deuces and proceeded to bet in
fashion that led Hall to demonstrate but
the game was called and Hall held four
kings.
Butler inherited the beautiful old man
sion now the site of the Sharpless build
ing, Eighth and Chestnut, and this he
was forced to sell, and, in 1859, his credi-
tors began to press for their money and
his agent, Charles Munhead, conveyancer.
of this city, went to Georgia to arrange
the sale of his slaves. 1t was a cheerless
dry IN October, 1859, when there came
trooping into the race ground 9SS negroes,
divided into groups representing families.
AT the head of that sad procession was
Withered man and woman, bent al
most double by toll leaning on sticks,
and with them giant negro, their only
son and we'll known blacksmith. All
were marched under the sheds, and, ne
gro like, at once commenced to gather
sticks for fire. About half of them
came from the rice fields of Darien.
These were pure Congo, and in many in
stances retained their uEcouth African
language. The rest were far more intel
hgent in appearance, and were from st.
Simon island. a cotton plantation. Here
and there scattered among them were
strange negroes with banjoS, hired by
the management to stimulate cheer1ul-
ness and gayety that was not however,
realized. The various groups sat silent
and apathetic, some of the women
mourning with heads resting on their
knees.
The white crowd was a typical south, &&
one, partly negro traders, flashing in dia-
mond shirt pins and gaudy chains. and
DULLES from the swamps and ruff1anly
overseers, many of them northerners;
All of these were heavily armed and
made an ostentatiouS show of their Wea-
pons, and their loudly expressed wish
was Ito ketch be Gawd, sab, any
Yankee newspapah sneak that might ven
There were, in fact, Thompson
"DoestIcks,'' for the New York Tribune,
and a Buckeye named Pike from the
Toledo Blade. The Tribune man was in
a state of pronounced funk from the first.
and his report was poor enough, while
Pike was persuaded to leave the grounds
early, as he showed a strong disposition
to proclaim his identity and fight every
thing in sight. There was not a single
representative of the old planter families
from the vicinity, as they were Disguised
of their traditions that they had never
sold negro born on their plantations,
except for persistent misconduct, and
after the sale Butler found himself
stranger among his former associates.
And now the bell in the grand stand
rung and the crowd gathered around the
portly "Majah" Stone, who in a speech
fluent with adjectives praised the crowd,
the 'niggahs" and our beloved Georgia,
first among the States-arN that was
business in those halcyon days. There
ranged from $3.50 up to $2,10O-ths last for
first rate blacksmith, bought for an
estate in the neighborhood. Ten years
later the slave was in the legislature, and
the masters family lived on his bounty.
The professional traders were the larg-
est buyers, Colonel Pate, of Vicksburg,
taking 220. 1t was announced from the
first that no division of families would
be permitted, and this made the sale less
profitable, as many of the members were
old or infirm, and to get the good ones
purchasers had to take others less de-
sirable. 1t took two days to make a fin
ish, and the proceeds amounted to $685.
$50. The second day brought in a wind
from the sea and cold fog that swept In
huddled about the fires, cooking their
bacon and hoe-coke, and here Mr.. But