Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-01-06
CRUEL DAYS OF SLAVERY.
Confederate Story of Whole
sale Whipping.

I'm the days OF slavery sara ai oiu
soldier 1.-The worst trouble we uSeu ~
bave was in keeping the negroes ~
,or,a Won know in those days ne
80 Was NOT allowed TO leave his mas
80 nIontation without written pass
when this rule was Vlolaleu NV
ofserder was liable to the most seNe.V
nnrisbment This punishment was
administered with long whlp OH 'le
sIaya,s hare back. Fifty lashes was
Tho regulation punishment for slave >
running away nil,
.,rhere Is one incident that wiz
never forget. I was living near reh-
dleton. in this state, and me si',o'
,rcnpd there were thick. Near Ihe
village was Samuel Maverick larsS
nlantation. Maverick, by the way ""s
Tho grandfather of the mayor-eiect vi
Nv York Late one afternoon
hoard that about 100 negroes hao con-
o-ooated near Mr.. Mavericks IN d
dense wood, to hold come kinu Oh III
dipnation meeting. Gatherings Oh INC
,,ind in those DAYS were not frequent
t,or, the fact that the slaves had some
,dea of the punishment that would ac-
crue when they were discovered III
the wood of which | speak was slla'i
one-room cabin. The rumor was ln"'
tho negroes were to meet at the caplh'
"Mv purpose was to get two men 10
ioin me surround the cabin, and Whlp
the slaves Two friends Willingly went
with me and we arrived near the eose
NJ the wood about dark. our horses
were fastened in a clump OF bushes'
and we crept toward the cabin All
tho negoes were in the house. 1'hey
never took the precaution TO place
guard on duty, because they ala noI
believe they could ever be found. we
easily surrounded the house. One man
was sent TO watch the lone window
while the other and ! went to the door
1.-THE negroes were having mgh
old time. They were discussing re-
cent whipping, when one OF ther
friends received a terrible hogging
from a hard taskmaster for very
light offense. Just as the indignation
proceeding was at its highest | showed
open the door and slipped in. My
friend followed TO prevent any OF the
men escaping. Our presence had the
effect of stampeding the entire bunch
of blacks. An angel could not have
surprised them more. One big buck
danced up to me, but | gave him
swing with heavy stick and he fell
t. the flor paralyzed. No other at
tempt was made to raise trouble.
II told the crowd that / had to whip
every man. 1t caused a storm, but the
men had to submit. While my friend
stood at the door with a pistol, took
the slaves out one at a time and gave
each so lashes on the bare back. The
woods echoed with the cries OF pain,
though it made little difference /
was tired out with my part, and AFTER
a spell turned the lash over to the man
AT the door to act as eXecutioner.
Finally the last man was pulled from
the cabin, and when he was whipped
we started home The negroes fled as
fast as they got their punishment, col
lecting in groups later to march nome.
We could still hear their cries as they
stung under the effects of the leather.
The whipping had its good result,
however, and that was the last indig-
nation meeting in that part OF the
country.
"Only one man escaped the whip
ping. as | thought, He was the old
fellow. Jack Burt, who used to play
the fiddle at the dances, and for that
reason I did not want to hurt him.
On making an investigation | found
that he brought his violin along and
rad it carefully hidden near the cabin.
] ordered him to get it out and play
while I whipped This he at first re-
fused TO do. but | told him three hun
bred lashes would result If he refused,
OF course Jack had to play. He drew
his bow through a chunk OF rosin and
made his violin hum while the voices
o the crying darkies kept time weird
". Every man who was whipped
cursed the fiddler. though the fiddler
patted his foot on the grass and seem
ed deaf to the groans. 1t was about
the most peculiar combination that a
man ever saw, but it pleased Jack and
my two friends.
Twenty years later I was driving
along the road near home one day
when I was overtaken by negro on a
mule. He called me by name and
asked II | remembered him. I told
him that | could not place his dusky
face l did not say anything about
the song you hear now about all coons
locking alike, for it was not known
then. The negro told me that he was
in the cabin that night, and that ! did
rot whip him. | could not believe
this He explained the matter. how
ever, by saying that he 'clum up the
Chimley,' and I guess he told the
truth. Anyway, I was glad e 1t. 90
years later. "-Charlesto Is. c. Letter
in New York Sun.