Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-12-05
A PLuckY NEGRO.
Patesstic Story of the Days When Slavery
F1ourished In Missouri.

Flourished In Missouri.
Some queer things used to hap
pen in the old slave days in Nilsson
ri, said Representative John Tars-
ney. 1.-The condition of the slave
was never a very burdensome one in
Missouri. The farm country and the
nearness of the Iowa line prevented
anything like those plantation cruel
ties of which we sometimes read. In
fact, l should judge that some of
the Missouri slaves had as good
time as their masters.
In illustration l might tell
queer story which had its scene in
independence, Mo- Old Banker Saw
yer of Independence carried on the
same Sawyer bank which exists to-
day away back in the fifties, when
Independence, as the eastern end of
the Santa Fe trail, was the great
outfitting point for those daring and
misguided people who meditated a
fight across the plains. Among
other chattels of Banker Sawyer was
big black negro named Dustun.
Dustun was great mechanic and
had vast fame all over the western
country as the maker of that fashion
of wagon known as the prairie
schooner. Sawyer had besides his
bank wagon shop at Independence,
and his negro Dustun ran the wagon
shop. The wagon shop did a good
trade, and Sawyer said to Dustun
one day:
"'You make a lot of money work
ing overtime, Dustun. Why don't
you buy and own yourself? Why do
you continue in slavery? You've
got $500 on 5000 down in my bank
now.
And it was true. Dustun had
laid up quite little sum of money,
and the fact of a slave with money
on deposit in the bank of his master
is of itself illustrative of the lax
condition OF the institution in Mis-
souri,
'What'll you take for me?' asked
Dustun.
Seeing it's you, said Sawyer,
IN sell out cheap. If you want to
buy yourself, I'll take 81, 500, while
you're easily worth $4,000.
''Dustup bought himself, paid
$500 down and took the rest of him
self on credit. Sawyer made out his
freedom papers, and Dustun made
mortgage on himself to Sawyer for
the $1,000 Then he went to
work IN a year he had paid
himself free. In two years more
he bought his wife and little
girl Then he began to make
money. But he hadn't proceeded
far nor laid up much ahead when
one night a fire started, and the
next morning found Dustun S wagon
shop in ashes. Shop, tools, stock
and everything was burned up as
clean as a whistle, and with the
forethought of his race Dustun had
no insurance.
!" 1t was plain, hard, bitter case
of begin again with Dustun. He
thought the situation over and then
went TO his old master, Sawyer.
After fen minutes talk Sawyer lent
Dustun 81, 600 and took q mortgage
on his wife and young one. Dustun
rebuilt his shop and opened up anew.
He kept his old trade and added to it.
1t finally became very unfashion-
able to start across the plains in
anything but one of Dustun prairie
schooners. Within year Dustun
again had clear title to his wife
and family.
Life went easy after that with
the old black wagon maker. He died
about ten years ago at independence
worth fairly $50, 600. The daughter
whom he bought from Sawyer and
then mortgaged and cleared the title
to again was for long time, and is,
/ believe, now a teacher in the color
ed public schools at Kansas City.
Old Dustun's memory in Independ-
ence is to this day highly respect
ed - Washington Star.