Part 1 (2/2)

I went home with my master, Mr Gibson, as a farmer, and hom I lived three years Soon after I cairl of color naentlehborhood I was at the house of Mr Symmes every week; and became as well acquainted with him and his family, as I ith my master

Mr Symmes also married a wife about the time I did The lady whom he married lived near Philadelphia, and when she first came to Maryland, she refused to be served by a black chahter of a poor man, who lived near The lady was reported to be very wealthy, and brought a large trunk full of plate and other valuable articles This trunk was so heavy that I could scarcely carry it, and it ireat riches in the owner, at that time After some time Mrs Symmes dismissed her white chaarded as a fortunate circuood suit of clothes

The Symmes' family was one of thetirounds had been laid out, and all the improvenificence, according to the custoinia

Appendant to the doreat distance from the house, was a family vault, built of brick, in which reposed the occupants of the estate, who had lived there for enerations This vault had not been opened or entered for fifteen years previous to the time of which I speak; but it so happened, that at this period, a youngrequested on his death-bed, that heplace When I ca to see my wife and child, Mr Symmes desired me, as I was older than any of his black o and open the vault, which I accordingly did, by cutting away thea few bricks fro; but I could not reed, by the horrid effluvia which issued at the aperture, to retire It was thescent that I have ever smelled, and I could not return to complete the work until after the sun had risen the next day, when I pulled down so much of one of the side walls, as to perht I then went in alone, and examined this house of the dead, and surely no picture could ly and vividly depict the eness of huments of more than twenty human skeletons, each in the place where it had been deposited by the idle tenderness of surviving friends In soer bones, whilst in several the for in their proper places One coffin, the sides of which were yet standing, the lid only having decayed and partly fallen in, so as to disclose the contents of this narrow cell, presented a peculiarly e silver plate, and the head and foot were adorned with silver stars--The nails which had united the parts of the coffin had also silver heads Within lay the skeletons of a mother and her infant child, in slumbers only to be broken by the peal of the last trumpet The bones of the infant lay upon the breast of the mother, where the hands of affection had shrouded them The ribs of the parent had fallen down, and rested on the back bone Many gold rings were about the bones of the fingers Brilliant ear-rings lay beneath where the ears had been; and a glittering gold chain encircled the ghastly and haggard vertebrae of a once beautiful neck The shroud and flesh had disappeared, but the hair of theand fresh Even the silken locks of the infant were still preserved Behold the end of youth and beauty, and of all that is lovely in life! The coffin was so much decayed that it could not be re embodied from the roof and walls of this charnel house, in appearance somewhat like a mass of dark cobwebs; but which was impalpable to the touch, and when stirred by the hand vanished away On the second day we deposited with his kindred, the corpse of the young ain carefully closed up the breach which I had -place of the dead

CHAPTER II

Some short time after my wife becae masters once more Levin Ballard, who, as before stated, had purchased me of the children of my former master, Jack cox, was successful in his law suit with Mr Gibson, the object of which was to deterht of property in me; and one day, whilst I was at work in the corn-field, Mr Ballard ca o with hied to him I knew Iat hoo with Mr Ballard

I accordingly ith hi to serve him obediently and faithfully I remained in his service almost three years, and as he lived near the residence of my wife's ed, by this change of ho visits with the fae planters, both in Calvert and the neighboring counties; and through my wife, I became acquainted with the private family history of many of the principal persons in Maryland

There was a great proprietor, who resided in another county, ned several hundred slaves; and who perentle to the custom of the time, kept what they called open house: that is, his house was free to all persons of genteel appearance, who chose to visit it The young ladies were supposed to be the greatest fortunes in the country, were reputed beautiful, and consequently were greatly adirls, desirous of a in society they supposed to be beneath theirs, to go with them to the manor, as it was called

When there, they endeavored to make him an object of ridicule, in presence of the ladies; but he so well acquitted himself, and manifested such superior wit and talents, that one of the young ladies fell in love with him, and soon after wrote hie His two pretended friends were never afterwards countenanced by the faed hi the thee of fashi+onable people, who always attended a entlemen, who had been thusfor another, were so rined at the issue of the adventure, that one soon left Maryland; and the other became a coe of masters realized all the evil apprehensions which I had entertained I found Mr Ballard sullen and crabbed in his temper, and always prone to find fault with my conduct--no matter how hard I had labored, or how careful I was to fulfil all his orders, and obey his most unreasonable commands Yet, it so happened, that he never beat ood character, for industry, sobriety and huhborhood I think he was ashaood opinion of the public; for he often fell into the ainst e He did not give h to keep me warm in winter, and compelled round, by which I suffered very much I had determined at last to speak to hiht still be near my wife and children--but a different fate awaited e on the bank of the Patuxent river, called B----, although he resided at so he rose early, and orderedho he would follow e soon after I did, and took his breakfast with his store-keeper He then told etin the kitchen, I observed hier near the kitchen door I soon after went out, and hitched my oxen to the cart, and was about to drive off, when several er who withI was his property, and ia At the sound of these words, the thoughts of my wife and children rushed across my mind, and my heart beat aithin me I saw and knew that my case was hopeless, and that resistance was vain, as there were near twenty persons present, all of ere ready to assist theor speaking, and in hed loudly My purchaser ordered me to crosscord; and he then told me that we must set out that very day for the South I asked if I could not be allowed to go to see my wife and children, or if this could not be perht not have leave to coet another wife in Georgia

My new master, whose name I did not hear, took me that same day across the Patuxent, where I joined fifty-one other slaves, whoht in Maryland Thirty-two of these were ether with a rope, about the size of a bed-cord, which was tied like a halter round the neck of each; but the est, were very differently caparisoned A strong iron collar was closely fitted by means of a padlock round each of our necks A chain of iron, about a hundred feet in length, was passed through the hasp of each padlock, except at the two ends, where the hasps of the padlock passed through a link of the chain In addition to this, ere handcuffed in pairs, with iron staples and bolts, with a short chain, about a foot long, uniting the handcuffs and their wearers in pairs In this ht and left hand; and the poor man to whom I was thus ironed, wept like an infant when the blacksmith, with his heavy hammer, fastened the ends of the bolts that kept the staples fro from our arms For my own part, I felt indifferent to my fate

It appeared to e of fortune could harether, we sat down upon the ground; and here reflecting upon the sad reverse of fortune that had so suddenly overtaken me, I became weary of life, and bitterly execrated the day I was born It seemed that I was destined by fate to drink the cup of sorrow to the very dregs, and that I should find no respite froed to die, and escape froe of destroying myself was denied me, for I could not shake off my chains, norin silence upon s could not become worse--and as the life of es, they must, of necessity, take a turn in ue and indefinite hope, and e received orders to go on board the scohich was to transport us over the Patuxent, I marched down to the water with a firmness of purpose of which I did not believe myself capable, a few minutes before

We were soon on the south side of the river, and taking up our line of , and stopped for the night at one of those miserable public houses, so frequent in the lower parts of Maryland and Virginia, called ”_ordinaries_”

Our master ordered a pot ofwhich we all lay down on the naked floor to sleep in our handcuffs and chains The women, my fellow-slaves, lay on one side of the room; and the men ere chained with ht, which I passed in thinking of my wife and little children, whorandfather, and of the long nights I had passed with hih which he had passed in Africa I at length fell asleep, but was distressed by painful drea and la my master on their knees, not to carry o and leave hiht, with his little hands to break the fetters that bound ony and cursed my existence I could not pray, for the measure of my woes seemed to be full, and I felt as if there was no mercy in heaven, nor compassion on earth, for a th came, and with the dae resu the road, I saw the slaves at work in the corn and tobacco fields I knew they toiled hard and lacked food; but they were not, like ed in chains from their wives, children and friends Compared with me, they were the happiest of mortals I alht we crossed the Potoht we stopped at the house of a poor gentleman, at least he appeared to wish entle his claim to poverty He lived at the side, of the road, in a framed house, which had never been plastered within--the weather-boards being the only wall He had about fifty acres of land enclosed by a fence, the remains of a farm which had once covered two or three hundred acres; but the cedar bushes had encroached upon all sides, until the cultivation had been confined to its present limits The land was the picture of sterility, and there was neither barn nor stable on the place The oas ragged, and his wife and children were in a siht It ith difficulty that we obtained a bushel of corn, which our master ordered us to parch at a fire made in the yard, and to eat for our supper Even this miserable family possessed two slaves, half-starved, half-naked wretches, whose appearance bespoke theer, and victi which they had not known--they had not been chained and driven from their parents or children, into hopeless exile

We left this place early in the , and directed our course toward the south-west; ourour ement, and sometimes by threats of punishment The women took their place in the rear of our line We halted about nine o'clock for breakfast, and received as ether with a plate of boiled herrings, and about three pounds of pork ast us Before we left this place, I was removed from near the middle of the chain, and placed at the front end of it; so that I now became the leader of the file, and held this post of honor until our irons were taken from us, near the town of Colu the high road between the Potomac and Rappahannock; and I saw each of those rivers several tiave us no dinner to-day, but we halted and got as much corn-rew ht

From this time we all slept promiscuously, men and women on the floors of such houses as we chanced to stop at We passed on through Bowling Green, a quiet village

Time did not reconcile me to my chains, but it made me familiar with theree of calht be able to devise some means of escape My master placed a particular value upon me, for I heard hiet eight hundred dollars for ht me for his brother, and believed he should not sell ed his mind, however I carefully examined every part of our chain, but found no place where it could be separated

We all had as much corn-bread as we could eat, procured of our owner at the places we stopped at for the night In addition to this we usually had a salt herring every day On Sunday we had a quarter of a pound of bacon each