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i|igf FROM A COLODIOH BY J. DUDMAN SLAVE LIFE IN GEORGIA: A N A R R A T I V K OF THK I. IF I.. StFFERINGS. AND ESCAPE or .IOIIX BROWX, "3 Jfugttibe £Iabe, NOW IN EXOI.A N D. EDITED BY L. A. CHAMEROVZOW, SECRETART or TUS dbitisii and foheion anti-slavkbt society. LONDON : MAY BE HAM O.N APPLICATION TO THE EDITOR, AT No, 27, NEW HUOAM STREET, AMI OF ALL H'lOK^LLLEHS. 1*V>. W. M. Watts, Crown Court, Temple Bar. PREFACE The Editor is conscious that the following Narrative has only its truthfulness to recom mend it to favourable consideration. It is nothing more than it purports to be, namely ; a plain, unvarnished tale of real Slave-life, con veyed as nearly as possible in the language of the subject of it, and written under his dic tation. It would have been easy to fill up the outline of the picture here and then', with dark shadows, and to impart a heightened dramatic colouring to some of the incidents ; but he preferred allowing the narrator to speak for himself, and the various events recorded to tell their own tale. He believes few persons will peruse it unmoved ; or arise from a perusal of it without feeling an increased abhorrence of the inhuman svstem under which, at this 11 hour, in the United States of America alone, three millions and a half of men, women, and " children, are held as chattels personal," by thirty-seven thousand and fifty-five individuals, many of them professing Ministers of the Gos pel, and defenders of "the peculiar institution." In undertaking to prepare this volume for the press, the Editor's object was two-fold, namely ; to advance the anti-slavery cause by the diffusion of information ; and to promote the success of the project John Brown has formed, to advance himself by his own exer tions, and to set an example to others of his " race." If by the little the Editor has done to render the volume interesting, he should secure for it a fair meed of popular favour, these two objects will be certainly accomplished, and his labour will not have been expended in vain. 27, New Broad Street, London, January, 1855. CHAPTER I. MY CHILDHOOD AND FIRST TROUBLES. My name is John Brown. How I came to take it, I will explain in due time. When in Slavery, I was called Fed. Why I was so named, I cannot tell. I never knew myself by any other name, nor always by that ; for it is common for slaves to answer to any name, as it may suit the humour of the master. I do not know how old I am, but think I may be any age between thirty- five and forty. I fancy I must be about thirty- seven or eight ; as nearly as I can guess. I was raised on Betty Moore's estate, in Southampton County, Virginia, about three miles from Jeru salem Court house and the little Nottoway river. Mv mother belonged to Betty Moore. Her name but was called was Nancv ; she Nanny. My fathers name was Joe. He was owned by a planter named Benford, who lived at Northamp ton in the same State. I believe inv father ai.d his tainilv wire bred on Bcnford's plantation. His father hud been stolen tiom Africa. He \\a«. n 2 SLAVE LIFE IN GEORGIA. of the Eboe tribe. I remember seeing him once, when he came to visit my mother. He was very black. I never saw him but that one time, and though I was quite small, I have a distinct recol of him. He lection and my mother were sepa rated, in consequence of his master's going further off", and then my mother was forced to take husband. another She had three children by my father; myself, and a brother and sister, twins. My brother's name was Silas, and my sister'sLucy. My mother's second husband's name was Lamb. He was the property of a neighbouring planter and miller named Collier. By him she had three children ; two boys, Curtis and Cain, and a girl between them called Iraene. We all lived to gether with our mother, in a log cabin, containing two rooms, one of which we occupied ; the other being inhabited by my mother's niece, Annikie and her children. It had a mud floor ; Ijie sides were of wattle and daub, and the roof was thatched over. Our sleeping place was made bv driving a forked stake into the floor, which served to support a cross piece of wood, one end of it resting in the crotch, the other against the shingle that formed the or wall. A plank two across, over the top, completed the bed-room arrange- SLAVE LIFE IN GEORGIA. ,3 ments, with the exception of another plank on which we laid straw or cotton-pickings, and over that a blanket. Our mistress Betty Moore was an old, big woman, about seventy, who wore spectacles and took snuff. I remember her very well, for she used to call us children up to the big house every morning, and give us a dose of garlic and rue " to keep us wholesome," as she said, and make " us grow likely for market." After swallowing our dose, she would make us run round a great sycamore tree in the yard, and if we did not run fast enough to please her, she used to make us nimbler by laying about us with a cow-hide. She always carried this instrument dangling at her side, like ladies in this country wear their scissors. It was painted blue, and we used to call it the " blue lizard." She used to like to see her people constantly employed, and would make us all set to work at our night, after day s labour was over, picking the seed out of cotton. We had a hard time of it with the old lady At this period, my principal occupation was to nurse my little brother whilst my mother worked in the field. Almost all slave children have to do the nursing ; the big taking care of the small, b 2 4 SLAVE LIFE IN GEORGIA. who often come poorly off in consequence. I know this was my little brother's case. I used to lay him in the shade, under a tree, sometimes, and go to play, or curl myself up under a hedge, and take a sleep. He would wake me by his screaming, when I would find him covered with ants, or musquitos, or blistered from the heat of the sun, which having moved round whilst I was asleep, would throw the shadow of the branches in another direction, leaving the poor child quite exposed. The children of both sexes usually run about quite naked, until they are from ten to twelve years of age. I have seen them as old as twelve, going about in this state, or with only an old shirt, which they would put on when they had to go anywhere very particular for their mistress, or up to the great house. The clothing of the men consists of a pair of thin cotton pantaloons, and a shirt of the same material, two of each being allowed them every wear a shirt similar to the year. The women men's, and a cotton petticoat, which is kept on by over their But means of braces passing shoulders. when they are in the field, the shirt is thrown aside. They also have two suits allowed them SLAVE LIFE IN GEORGIA. .j every year. These, however, are not enough. They are made of the lowest quality of material, and get torn in the bush, so that the garments soon become useless, even for purposes of the barest decency. We slaves feel that this is not right, and we grow up with very little sense of shame; but immorality amongst ourselves is not common, for all that. Betty Moore had three daughters. The eldest was married to one Burrell Williams, who acted as Betty's overseer. The second was the wife of one James Davis ; and the third was unmarried, when I first began to notice the persons about us. At last the third got married to one Billy Bell, and then I experienced my first serious tribu lation. According to the will left by old Moore, the slave-property was to be equally divided amongst the mother and the three daughters, when the youngest married. About a month after this event, it began to be talked about that the distri bution was soon going to take place. I remember well the grief this caused us to feel, and how the women and the men used to whisper to one another when thev thought nobodv was bv, and meet at night, or get together in the field when 6 SLAVE LIFE IN GEORGIA. they had an opportunity, to talk about what was coming. They would speculate, too, on the prospects they had of being separated ; to whose lot they and their children were likely to fall, and whether the husbands would go with their wives. The women who had young children cried very much. My mother did, and took to kissing us a good deal oftener. This uneasiness increased as the time wore on, for though we did not know when the great trouble would fall upon us, we all knew it would come, and were looking forward to it with very sorrowful hearts.

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