Part 1 (1/2)

The Grimke Sisters

by Catherine H Birney

PREFACE

It ith great diffidence, froed to write the biography which I now present to the public But the diaries and letters placed in htened the work of composition, and it has been a labor of affection as well as of duty to pay what tribute I ht to the memory of two of the noblest wo a residence of nearly two years under the same roof, and who, to the end of their lives, honored ton City, Sept, 1885

THE SISTERS GRIMKe

CHAPTER I

Sarah and Angelina Grimke were born in Charleston, South Carolina; Sarah, Nov 26, 1792; Angelina, Feb 20, 1805 They were the daughters of the Hon John Fauchereau Grie of the Supreme Court of South Carolina His ancestors were German on the father's side, French on theleft France in consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685

Froe Grih order, but an abiding consciousness of his right to think for himself, a spirit of hostility to the Roman Catholic priesthood and church, and faith in the Calvinistic theology

Though he exhibited, during the course of his life, a freedo people of his class at Charleston, he seems to have never wavered in his adhesion to the tenets of his forefathers That they were ever questioned in his household is not probable

From a diary kept by hiht forout and transcribing the opinions of various authors on this subject

His family ealthy and influential, and he received all the advantages which such circu people of iate course, and, after being graduated at Oxford, he studied law and practised for a while in London, having his rooms in the Teenerous allowance, he became a favorite in the fashi+onable and aristocratic society of Great Britain; nevertheless, he did not hesitate to quit the pleasant life he was leading and return home as soon as his native country seemed to need him He speedily raised a company of cavalry in Charleston, and cast his lot with the patriots whoainst the mother-country

We have no record of his deeds, but we know that he distinguished his and at Yorktohere he was attached to Lafayette's brigade

When the as over, Col Grian the practice of law in Charleston, and rose in a few years to the front rank at the bar He held various honorable offices before he was appointed judge of the Supree Grilish-Puritan stock She was the great granddaughter of the second Landgrave of South Carolina, and descended on her er Moore, of Kildare, ould have stormed Dublin Castle with his handful of allant eand story Fourteen children were born to this couple, all of ere more or less remarkable for the traits which would naturally be expected frouenot-Puritan infusion colored every mental and moral quality This was especially notable in Sarah Moore Grimke, the sixth child, who even in her childhood continually surprised her family by her independence, her sturdy love of truth, and her clear sense of justice Her conscientiousness was such that she never sought to conceal or even excuse anything wrong she did, but accepted submissively whatever punishment or reprimand was inflicted upon her

Between Sarah and her brother Thomas, six years her senior, an early friendshi+p was forratification to both, and which continued without a break until his death To the influence of his high, strong nature she attributed to a great extent her early tendency to think and reason upon subjects reat deal of her tiht, active e which in those days was considered food too strong for the intellect of a girl She begged hard to be peran to do so in private, but her parents, and even her brother, discouraged this, and she reluctantly gave it up

Judge Gri the leaders of the very exclusive society of Charleston His children were accustomed to luxury and display, to the service of slaves, and to the indulgence of every selfish whih the father's practical coainst the habits to which such indulgences naturally led He was necessarily reat pleasure was teaching his children and discussing various topics with them To Sarah he paid particular attention, her superiorhis admiration and pride He is said to have frequently declared that if she had been of the other sex she would have reatest jurist in the land

In his own habits, Judge Griularly econos, endeavored to instil lessons of simplicity into his children An extract fro in 1863 to her early life, she thus writes to a friend:--

”Father was pre-eminently avirtues I suppose I inherited some of the latter quality, for fro be lost, so that it was quite a coive it to Sally; she'll find use for it,' when anything was to be throay Only once within my memory did I depart from this law of my nature I went to our country residence to pass the summer with father He had deposited a number of useful odds and ends in a drawer Now littleinstalled as housekeeper to papa, and for the first ti queen--at least so she fancied--of all she surveyed, went to work searching every cranny, and prying into every drawer, and woe betide anything which did not co When I chanced across the drawer of scraps I at once condemned them to the flames Such a place of disorder could not be tolerated in ency of papa's shi+rts, etc, wanting ht, however, did not prevent the natural catastrophe of clothes wearing out, and one day papa broughtit carelessly aside, 'that hole is too big to darn'

”'Certainly, my dear,' he replied, 'but you can put a piece in Look in such a drawer, and you will find plenty to patch with'

”But behold the draas e to that of distribution to the slaves, one of whoarment ten tio unwhipped of justice for that misdemeanor, and perhaps that was the lesson which burnt into my soul My story doesn't sound Southerny, does it? Well, here is soht to spin and weave negro cloth Don't suppose I ever did anything worth while; only it was one of hiswhat is useful If you never need the knowledge, it will be no burden to have it; and if you should, you will be thankful to have it' So I had to use ers now and then to shell corn, a process which sometimes blistered them, and was sent into the field to pick cotton occasionally Perhaps I a detestation of slavery, as it brought me in close contact with these unpaid toilers”

Doubtless she had many a talk with these ”unpaid toilers,” and learned fros of a systeht her to view as fair and merciful

Children are born without prejudice, and the young children of Southern planters never felt or made any difference between their white and colored playnation when first infor singular in the fact that Sarah Grimke, to use her oords, early felt such an abhorrence of the whole institution of slavery, that she was sure it was born in her Several of her brothers and sisters felt the same But she differed from other children in the respect that her sensibilities were so acute, her heart so tender, that she rieved that she could neither share nor ate them So deeply did she feel for the, after one of the slaves had been punished She remembered that once, when she was not more than four or five years old, she accidentally witnessed the terrible whipping of a servant woman As soon as she could escape fro, and half an hour afterwards her nurse found her on the wharf, begging a sea captain to take her away to sos were not done