The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1917-06-22
By RICHARD MARKLY

oouLhcIn ocIlitfeb EequlI1lB mDOTeIb W
work ON their tobacco plantations, were
importing large carsoes Of African ne
groea who were held as slaves II, is
of back, with large pillars in front,
and, considering its age, is In re-
variable state Of preservation This
is because,a recent owner has put 1t
IN repair, 2G;;s. 3 q.
Like other houses Of rs kind dating
back to the seventeenth century, II
was built out Of the proceeds OF ne
groes captured IN Africa and sold as
slaves In America But the slave trade
and its twin brother, piracy, were
not In that day deprecated as they are,
or, rather, would be, today. He who
built the house referred to became one
Of the most prominent men of his time.
Richard Granville was not his name,
but In bringing out the antecedents Of
his descendants II Is a far safer name
to nse than his'own He began life as
sailor, visiting every country where
there was trading to be done, and
few Of his older slaves, who were
house servants and thus enabled the
more readily to become conversant
with bis secrets, handed down tradt
tion that their master started his for
tune In piracy.
Be this as It may, UP 30 the middle
Of the last century his descendants did
not deny that much of his money had
been made In the slave trade. In his
old age his conscience troubled him.
and those who were nearest him said
that he desired 10 make some repara-
tion for his misdeeds BE had statue
of himself made Of bronze and set It
up on pedestal In q bay window fof
his library. The left hand rests on an
anchor, and the right holds sextant-
not mock sextant; a real one, though
not Of brass, but OF the same material
as the statue he left orders that no
headstone should mark his grave and
1t was supposed that he intended the
statue as a substitute for one AT any
rate, no one now knows where he Is
buried.
Different generations Of his descend
ants discussed the statue and wonder
ed at the within which led their progen-
itor TO erect It One thing about 1t e1-
cited special attention. Every morn
ing the sun. shining In upon II, strikes
the. eyepiece of the sextant and, pass
ing through the tube. casts a solar
image on the opposite WALL The track
OF this round spot Of light changes
with the season, traversing slightly
different path each day. There is an
other thing that puzzled the owners of
the Granville estate The only In
scription on the statue, or, rather, its
pedestal Is the date OF Richard Gran
ville's birth. And not only is the date
given, but the,hour and minute, i,
or all topics connected with the
statue probably the giving Of this MI
mute information was most discussed.
No one who saw Il could remember
having seen any memorial giving either
the hour and minute OF birth or the
hour and minute of death But one
generation AFTER another passed away,
and no plausible reason for either the
statue or its singular inscription was
suggested
During Che civil war Elwood Gran
vile, the owner OF the estate at that
time, fought for the maintenance Of
the system In the introduction OF which
his progenitor took 20 important part.
Colonel Granville was a religious man
and one OF those who traced authority
for slavery from the Bible After the
war he returned to his plantation and
began TO run 1t anew under the system
that had been born during the struggle
A few papers that had belonged to
the original Granville were handed
down through his descendants They
had been preserved time and again by
different persons, but appeared TO con-
tain nothing TO throw any light on the
puzzles connected with the writer or
receiver. One day Colonel Granville.
while amusing himself with these doc
uments, read letter from the founder
of his house TO a clergyman, In which
the former said that he would like to
leave at his death fund for the bene-
fit Of the negro race in America, but
the time would not como for perhaps
one or two centuries when such be-
quest could be utilized
Probably the statement had been |
read hundred times by Richard Gran |
yille's descendants without making any
marked impression. But Colonel Gran
vile read 1t at time when the negro |
slave had been Just emancipated and !
called, In all the ignorance induced by
his condition, to citizenship. The
of the statement THE time
would not come for perhaps one or two
was plain TO him. dMore J
than one century had passed 1and
brought the changed conditions. prhis
led Colonel Granville who was eager
to help the negro, now that he had be-
come freeman, onward and upward,
to think OF the benefits that would ac-
rrue from such a bequest as wasrnen-
Toned in the letter
Then suddenly two connected ideas
entered Colonel Granvillo's brain. Tho