The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-09


goats. The Redoliffe vineyards yielded
unusual varieties Of grapes. planted and
cared for by white laborers. Four. hun"
dred or more slaves were owned by Senator
Hammond, but these were set at work
that required less skill. For the planting
OF this vineyard forty acres OF land, sub
soiled to a depth OF three feet. were set
apart and the clear, straw colored wine Tor
which the Senator's cellar was famous
came from his own wine presses. On the
plantation was large grist mill from
which every human creature In the vast
family was fed. Here the corn was crushed
between the upper and the neither mill
stones, and so skilful was the miller that
each could have his hominy ground as
coarse or as fine as his fancy dictated.
The miller could neither read nor write,
but he needed no aid to his memory. For
years he had known whose mill bag IT
was that had the red patch in the corner.
He knew each different bag as well as he
knew the negroes faces. Lower down
on the watercourse was the sawmill which
had turned out all the lumber used In the
building OF Radcliffe.
On this representative plantation the
blacksmith was to be found at his forge,
the wheelwright In his shop and the stock
minder guarding the welfare Of his charges.
Measured by the standard that a man
has not lived in vain who makes two blades
OF grass to grow where but one grew be-
fore, Senator Hammond might have been
crowned king Of agricultural enterprise, for
his most productive corn lands, before
he reclaimed them had been impossible
L. al
and put under cultivation their yield was
enormous, no less than eighty bushels OF
corn being the average quantity to the
acre. Moreover there was scarcely cor
ner Of the old stake and-rider' fences In
which Mr. Hammond did not cause to be
planted a peach, or apple, or other fruit
tree. One OF Mrs. Clay's relatives who,
late in the sos, had married the son Of Sena-
tor Hammond and made her home at
Radcliffe, though she had been aocus-
toned to affiuent plantation life, was deeply
impressed by the systematic management
Of the colony Of slaves at Beach Island.
Each marriage and birth and death that
took place among them was carefully regis
tered. The Hammond slaves formed an
exclusive settlement, which was conducted
as II 1t were little republic. They were
happy, orderly, clearly and free from
care, and Mr.. Hammond used TO say, we
are told, that, If the doctrine Of the trans
migration OF souls could be accepted as
we'll founded, he would like to have his
soul come back and inhabit one Of his
darkies. The young daughter-in-law Of
the owner OF Redcliffe recorded that "the
Hammond negro, as l have found HIM
haa IaI rttxr
will offend him more than to have yoH
forget his name. I never saw a more
august Parsonage than Daddy Henry,
an old African, who remembers the glave
ship on which he was brought over and the
name which he had borne In Africa. He
cleans the silver, polishes the floors and
and the brasses In the freplaces,
and claims the use Of the boys guns, as II
by divine right"
Young Mrs. Hammond added in q letter
to Mrs. Clay: Il cannot help recognizing
the wise arrangement OF every part of this
extensive plantation, especially where the
negroes are concerned. The house Of the
overseer Is In tho midst Of . grove Of live
oaks. and in each street are q certain num-
Der OF cabins, each in the midst Of little
garden, which contains q chicken house.
The hospital Is we'll ranged, and there
Ia separate building where the children,
especially the babies, are left to be fed and
cared for while their mothers are at work"
The hospitality Of the owner Of Radcliffe
was memorable. It seems to have been his
custom, whether guests were expected or
not, to send a carriage daily to Augusta to
meet the afternoon train, and any chance
w ioh
would be conveyed to the
plantation. Once a year, like q great
Feudal landlord, he gave a fete to all the
people in the neighborhood, at
which he always contrived to have some
guest present Mrs Clay
Ind her husband happened to be visiting
Mr.. Hammond on such an occasion, when
svery neighbor, poor or rich, for miles
around was present
For his black dependents Senator Ham
nond had built several churches. Once a
month a white preacher came, and all the
slaves gathered to listen to the monthly
sermons. Mr.. Hammond's view OF the
light method to civilise negroes led him to
forbid the presence OF exciting negro
preachers, under whose guidance the black
nan is apt to mingle with religion a good
ieal Of hysteria and superstition. Mrs.
LAY says that .the conversion Of the
,egro by spiritual guides Of their own color
vas bloodcurding process In those days,
or they screamed to heaven. as II the In
iians with their tomahawks were after
hem, or danced, twisting their bodies In !
he most remarkable fashion As their
smotion increased. as they got feelin',
md the moment Of conversion approached,
hey fell, as rule, all in heap, though
n thus comm through the wenchee were
altogether likely to fall into the arms OF
he best looking young brother who hap
,ened to be near At Redclife such relig-
GUS excuses were impossible. and our au-
nor can recall no church service at once
more reverential and more thrilling than
that which she attended at a church on
senator Hammond's plantation. The ne
yroes, clean, thrifty, strong, oil dressed
n their best, WED with each other in their
difference to Marses guests as they en-
cred the church, and they listened quietly |
10 the sermon az the service proceeded. |
The thought that came to Mrs. Clay at that
ime was Would abolitionists, could they |
ook upon that scene, fail to admit the bless
ngs which American slavery had brought !
o the savage black man, thus within a
ew generations at most both civilized |