The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-05-20
STORIES TOLD OF BEFO'
DE HAH SLAVE PEN
Plantation Melodies Waited
Ger the Hills.
CHANGE WITH THE WEATHER

oA--AH@ ILLS al CSS AkAG EOEOEl1C ana ElS
busy world Of lawmakers and pleasure
seekers at the Nations Capital lies still in
slumber those be4ated ones who chance
10 pass along dark and little frequente1
street in old Georgetown tell strange
tales OF what they have heard at such
times.
When the night is stillest and the soft
wind sweeps gently across the swiftly
running river there may be heard from
time to time the far-faint sound Of chant
ing of plantation melodies, varied now
Hnd-'then by the feFvid enraptured mur-
muir Of distant shouting OF revival hymns.
The sweet mellow voices are unmistak-
ably those Of the negro race, with :he pa
thetic minor chords threading and lead
ing the melody captive
This when the night is warm and fair.
But when the VIVID blows cold and sweeDs
down from the Virginia hills in keen cut
ting blasts or there is storm IN the air
these sounds change. At such latter times
there is borne upon the ear Of the be-
lated passer-by shrieks and cries and
groans If he be not too frightened to
stop and listen attentively he will detect
-
CT I lash. as II welded by a powerful and
mereiiess hand upon covering heads.
backs, and shoulders of the victims. Then
follow ghostly groaas, meaning and weeD-
Ing prayers, pleadings for mercy. inter
mingled with iTaprecatiors and unuttere6
oaths that cause the listener to quickly
retrace his steps or hurry by anrightedly.
f1auIrfno ~ FLs:-z
Sometimes. strangest of all It's said.
there is borne upon the still night air
the mufled sounds as of the clanking of
many chains, the echo of ponderous iron
balls rolling and striking against each
other in the 3ostling of many dusky forms
huddied together like sheep in all too
confined quarters
These sounds come from a strange old
rough stone building On cne of the crogs-
town streets, near Thirty-seeond Street
a famous old slave pen in antebeIlun
days.
The Story is one well worthy the pep Of
Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe; one of
thrilling intenseness as narrated today by
al old slave. who, in the early SOS
hfd ali too good cause to understand and
feel the depth of suffering that went On
In that stone building now used as z
warehouse for grain and hay by the pres
ebt owners. to whom, through successive
generations. it has DESCENDED from father
to son
Prior to that famous Ed of September.
1852, when Lincoln issued the enamel
patton proclamation the roadways lead
Ing 20 and from Georgetown were in every
sense black with the negroes brought
from far and near to this famous slave
pen, al that time a halfway place be-
tween the even more famous Campbell
slave pen at Baltimore and those of
Georgia and the Carolinas where the traf
hC in human flesh was at its greatest
height IN the South.
Then. from all sections OF MARYLAND
and Virginia the negroes were brought as
quietly as might be, generally in the night
time, to this slave pen IN GEORGETOWN.
Manacled, shackled. handcuned with ball
and chain about their ankles to prevent
any chance of their eIuding the vigilance
of the armed overseer, the poor souls
we're hurried into the pen and huddled to-
gefher as closely as possible without the
least regard to comfort or sanitary con-
ditions.
The Old Slave Pen.
Stretching ~ tAiC west OF the present
structure is a long stone wall which in
those antebellum days had jutting out
from it to the south wooden shed
which. only standing room in height was
used for the further accommodation of the
slaves when they were brought to rest,
to be fed and watered like so much stock
On their weary march to the larger and
more important slave pens IN the South
Il was no rare sight in those days TO
see the slaves, old men and women. young
zen and women. boys, girls, and even H.
fants, put up on the block and sold at
public auction in Georgetown, although
for the most part everything in connection
with the slave pen was kept as secret as
possible At night the poor tired Wretcheg
were brought into Georgetown; at night
their joys and woes were voiced to the
outside world ia singing in groans. aEd
prayers, and at night they were taken
away again to their distant destinations
II is not pleasant memory even 70
those who took part and profted most
in worldly sense by the trafic-not a
pleasant heritage, those ghostIy groaus
and plantation melodies waited out now
at night upon the stiffness of the midnight
air Nearly forty years have passed since
then. The property owners and nearby
residents stoutiy deny that such gruesone
memories attach TO the place. But the
chance pasger-oy IA the stilE hours of the
night and the old slave know best, and
these vouch for the truth OF the stories
clustering about the haunted slave pen.