Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1907-09-14
SLAVE TWELVE YEARS.
Strange Story of Girl Who Fled
From Virginia Woods.
SOLD FOR SIS AND A HORSE.

Ignorant of Her Percentage, She ToiIed
For Her Purchaser and Never Knew
That There Was Anything Else In
Life
Twelve years a white slave, ignorant
that there was a world beyond the
dark woodlands of Chesterfield coun-
ty, Va, or a sphere in life above the
pillow and oxen and COWS, there has
lived within an hours ride of the CAPT
toll in Richmond girl-woman whose
history, just revealed, is the most
amazing Virginia has ever heard.
EleanOra is the only name the young
woman has ever had. Despite the life
she has been forced to live she is still
attractive. She has big brown eyes
and heavy mass of dark hair. Under
other circumstances she might have
been beautiful. But she is as ignorant
as a savage. She never saw a school,
if she ever heard of one. She did not
know what the word meant.
The twelve years of Eleanora's slav.
cry have held nothing but hard, bitter
work. In rough clothing, sometimes
mans trousers and boots, she was
obliged to fell trees with an ak, to
guide the OK team that drew the
pillow across the hard, stony fields, to
dig bitches and dam streams and to
care for the farm animals.
She received no reward. She was
permitted no pleasure. A shakedown
bed on an attic floor and a scant al
lowance Of food were all she got out of
her years of labor.
Eleanora since her arrival in Rich
mond not long ago has been working
to support herself, while her friends
are investigating her history. She
laughed like a child when she received
her first wages. She seldom saw any
money and had never had a cent of her
own before.
There came to Richmond a commit
tee of farmers from the Virginia hills
in Chesterfield, and they told the story
to J. Kent Rawley, an attorney. He
iourneyed out into the country and in
vestigated. From what he saw and
heard he became convinced of the truth
of the tale Then the farmers and
neighbors who knew of Eleanora's suf-
ferings contributed from their small
savings enough to retain Mr.. Rawley.
He is soon to bring suit against Flea
nora's late master.
=, was on the farm Of J. j. CaWley, .
dairyman, that Eleanora spent her lite,
and against Cawley the suit will be
brought, alleging he bought her when
peonage ever since.
From information and rumOr picked
up from various sources Lawyer Raw
ley has pieced together a story some
thing like this:
Twenty-one years ago man and a
woman lived in an old house near the
hut of old PalmOre the hermit of Ches-
terfeId county A child was born to
them, a little girl, who was called
Eleanora. The fathers name was Gull
der or Gulden. The mother was Lizzie
Murrin or MOrrell. Within a month
dlIeE lIle ulIll VI lIlC C1lllu TIC lClLICA
disappeared. Soon afterward the moth
er vanished, too and in some fashion
the baby was cared for by the hermit.
Nine years later PalmOre retired still
farther into the woods But before he
went, the story has it, he offered the
child to Cawley for So and an old
broken down horse that the dairyman
had turned out to die.
Cawley, it is said, bought the girl,
gave the hermit the money and horse,
and there is a story of a signed and
sealed paper passing between the men
over the bargain.
At all events EleanOra has been on
the Cawley place ever since. She learn
ed that she was not the Cawleys' child
and asked them who her parents were,
but they never told her. Neither would
Palmore, whom she saw occasionally.
Long ago she ceased trying to learn
her identity and became hopeless,
spiritless slave She did not even have
ambition enough to escape. She did
not know there were cities and towns
near Chesterfield county.