Narrative of Henry Watson, a fugitive slave

by Henry Watson

At length, a man made his appearance; the very man of all others I had ever seen, from whom I should shrink, and be afraid. He was dark-complexioned, had sharp, grey eyes, a peaked nose, and compressed lips; indeed, he was a very bad-looking man. I never wish to look upon his face again. His name was Alexander McNeill, a member of the firm of McNeill, Fiske & Co. He said he wanted a boy to bring up to suit himself. He took a great fancy to me, and after some discussion about the price, agreed at last to give five hundred dollars for me. I quit my old quarters, and went with my new master to his store. He told me my duty for the future would be, to wait upon him,—"to jump when I was spoken to, run when sent upon errands, and if I did not mind my P's and Q's, I should be flogged like h—l."

As I did not like my new master's appearance, I at once concluded to please him in all things. But it was all in vain; for the first morning I was severely flogged for not placing his clothes in the proper position on the chair. The second morning I received another severe flogging for not giving his boots as good a polish as he thought they had been accustomed to. Thus he went on in cruelty, and met every new effort of mine to please him with fresh blows from his cowhide, which he kept hung up in his room for that purpose. In a few days he made arrangements for a journey, on which I was to accompany him. The object of his journey was made known to me by some of his servants; and, as that journey turned out to be of great importance to me, I will give it to the world, as I got it from my author. My master was a married man. Although I had never seen my mistress, as she was living with her mother, sixty miles from the city,—she having found out, while living with her husband in the city, that he had made a wife of one of his slaves, had left him, and had gone to her mother; and the object of his journey was to induce her to come back and live with him. I accompanied him on this journey; and, although he made every effort on his part to induce her to return, she refused to do so. He returned to Natchez, enraged at his ill success, and determined never to make another attempt at reconciliation. He concluded to leave the city, and he purchased a farm near Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River, upon which he settled. My master always was a cruel man; but ever since his unsuccessful effort at reconciliation with his wife, he became a perfect tyrant, lashing his slaves without mercy. This shows one of the many ways in which the licentious slaveholder inflicts pain on poor slaves; robbing them, by force, of their virtue, then lacerating their backs for having allowed themselves thus to be forced. He had not been long on his farm before he took another of his slave-women to wife, by whom he had two children. These children were not treated any better than any other slave's; the mother being out in the field all the day, and in his room at night. Upon this farm were one hundred field-hands, and two house servants, the cook and myself. For the accommodation of the field-hands there were twenty-seven cabins, one hospital, one jail, one gin-house; at which house, as in the jail, there are two pair of stocks, for the torture of slaves. As the stocks on farms are different in their construction from those commonly used in cities, I will give a description of them. They consisted of two rough logs, generally about twelve feet in length, one of them laid upon the ground, with notches cut in it to fit the neck and arms; the other log, which was cut with corresponding notches, was placed upon the victim to keep him in his position. They were fastened at one end by a massive hinge; and when the sufferer was in them, the other end was secured by a large padlock. There were other modes of punishing; but these were used for extreme cases, such as running away, or stealing, &c. On the occasions of whipping by the stocks, it was my duty to be present; and at the end of each hundred, to apply salt to the bleeding back of the sufferer till the blood was stanched, when the whipping was renewed, until the delinquent had received four or five hundred lashes. These cruelties were principally inflicted by the overseer, who was a drunken, quarrelsome person, whom it was impossible to please; and when he was in liquor he took very great delight in inflicting punishment on the slaves. Beside the overseer there was a driver, one of the slaves, named Harry. He had a wife and children, whom, in case of their being slightly in fault, he would have to lash with an unflinching hand; there being no sympathy allowed to be shown, between even man and wife. I will relate a circumstance, which made a very great impression on my mind at that time. There was a slave on the farm by the name of Jo. The overseer had threatened to put him in the stocks, for some trivial offence. Jo, dreading the severity of the punishment, ran away, which fact was soon brought to my master's knowledge, who ordered the overseer to shoot him the first time he saw him. The overseer, being a blood-thirsty fiend, like my master, kept strict watch for Jo; and the second night, he saw him but a short distance from his cabin, where he was probably going for the purpose of seeing his wife, and getting something to eat; but he never saw those eyes light up with pleasure,—never heard the sweet music of their voices, or felt their warm embrace,—for the incarnate fiend's aim was too sure; he was stretched dead in an instant. Yes; this man was hurried into the presence of his Maker, without the power of speaking one word of prayer. On the master being informed that his brutal order had been obeyed, he gave orders that his body should not be removed from the spot where he fell, as he wished it to serve as an example to the rest of us; and there it remained, the vultures rioting and feasting on the remains of a man, whose only fault was a black skin.

Never shall I forget the horrible sensation that passed through my veins as I gazed upon the mutilated body of this poor man; but alas! I could do nothing; I was myself a slave. My heart grew sad; I dropped a tear to his memory and departed, cherishing a hope, that at no distant day, I would be free. Although these facts were known to the neighbors, yet no one asked even a question about it. He was a slave; no one cared for him. I say no one—I am wrong; where was the slave's wife? where were the slave's children?—had they no tears to shed? Ah! yes, many; not tears from physical pain; but tears, scalding tears of pure grief. The husband and father, shot like a dog before them; his bleeding form, writhing in agony, and the sightless eyeballs glaring upon them; and they dare not approach to straighten his stiffening limbs, or close his sightless eyes. Ah! was there not grief? And even this would have been denied them, had they shown it before this savage monster.

I will not pain my readers with further details of my master's cruelty; but will give them a few of the monster's laws. They were as follows: In the morning, half an hour before daylight, the first horn was blown, at which the slaves arose and prepared themselves for work. At daylight another horn was blown, at which they all started in a run for the field, with the driver after them, carrying their provisions for the day in buckets. In a few moments the overseer would make his appearance, and give his orders to the driver, who gave them to the hands. They then went to work, and worked until such time as the driver thought proper, when he would crack his whip two or three times, and they would eat their breakfasts, which consisted of strong, rancid pork, coarse corn bread, and water, which was brought to them by small children, who were not able to handle the hoe. As soon as Harry, the driver, has finished his breakfast, they finish likewise, and hang up their buckets on the fence or trees, and to work they go, without one moment's intermission until noon, when they take their dinner in the same manner as their breakfast; which done, they go again to work, continuing till dark. They then return to their cabins, and have a half hour to prepare their food for the next day, when the horn is again blown for bed. If any are found out of their cabins after this time, they are put in jail and kept till morning, when they generally receive twenty-five or thirty lashes for their misdemeanor. So it continues through the week until Sunday, when the women take their tubs and blankets and start for the brooks, where they dismantle and robe themselves in their blanket, wash and dry their clothes, put them on again, and are ready to be at the house at four o'clock to receive their weekly allowance, which is weighed out to them by the overseer. The men give their shirts to the women to wash, and take their baskets or hoes and start for the field. They are generally paid for this extra work; if they do not work, they are set down as lazy persons, and are whipped because they will not work for themselves. Thus is the Sabbath passed. That day of rest and prayer is as other days to the poor slave. For six years whilst I was on this farm, there was never such a thing as a slave going to meeting, or hearing the word of God in any form.

Much has been said about the marriage rites of slaves; but there exists no legal form,—every slaveholder having a form of his own. Permit me, then, to give to my readers the manner in which my master performed the ceremony. Whenever a vacancy occurred in any of the cabins of either sex, of marriageable age, it was immediately filled up by my master purchasing another slave, either man or woman, as the case might be, and presenting them to the remaining inmates of the cabin, with the following words: "Kitty, stand out in the floor; I have bought this boy to-day for your husband, and I shall expect you to take good care of him, by washing and mending his clothes. You know my orders to the overseer; if either of you go to the field on Monday morning without your clothes being washed, you are to be whipped. You will also take care of his provisions, which will be weighed out with yours. Have it cooked and ready in his bucket in time for him to go to the field every morning. You understand what I have said to you;" which the slave must answer with a low bow, and replying, "I do, sir." Then he will give the man the following charge: "Tom, you will take care of this girl for your wife, by bringing her wood, making her fire, bringing water. Should your wife or self want anything, you can get it by working on Sunday, for which I will allow you fifty cents a day, out of the store." He would then ask them both if they understood his orders. They would answer as before, by a low bow and courtesy, replying that they did. He would then pronounce them man and wife, and say to them, "If you fail to perform any of the duties I have mentioned, you will be flogged severely."

To give a sketch of all the cruelties that I witnessed on Mr. McNeill's place, would occupy more space in this little book than I desire. I will give a description of the manner in which the dead slaves are disposed of. On the death of a slave, I was sent by my master to the overseer, requesting him to send two boys to the house. On their arrival, he would order them to the hospital, or sick-house, as it is generally called, and they would take the body, fasten it in the blanket on which he died, put it on the hand-barrow, and carry it to its place of burial. This was generally done very hastily, on account of the climate. Thus are they bundled into the earth, without minister or coffin, or permitting the husband, or wife, or mother, to see the last disposal of that which has been dear to them on earth.

I was on this farm about six years, five of which I was employed as house servant; and it is probable that I should have remained in the house, had I not refused to give him some information respecting a pig, which two of the men had stolen. This disobedience caused me much suffering. In the first place, I was severely whipped with a cowskin, the scars of which punishment I have to this day, and then I was sent to the field to work,—the place I dreaded mostly. From morning till night could the whip be heard, accompanied with the cries and groans of the sufferers, whilst I was employed at the house. I was not under the direction of the cruel overseer, and consequently escaped his cruelty. A day seldom passed without witnessing several hundred lashes inflicted upon the slaves; each individual having a stated number of pounds of cotton to pick, the deficit of which was made up by as many lashes being applied to the poor slave's back as he was so unlucky as to fall short in the number of pounds of cotton which he was to have picked.

As I had not been accustomed to field-work, I found it impossible to keep up with the others. The overseer, seeing this, came up to me and asked me if I knew where I was; I said, I did; he then replied, that I had been at the house so long that I had got the devil in me; and if I did not keep my row up with the rest, he would give me a hundred lashes, and that d——d quick. To this I did not reply, but toiled on to the best of my knowledge, hoping to escape punishment; but all in vain; frequently was I whipped without any just cause. I do now think that he made me his particular victim on account of my having been out of his power so long a time. I am incapable of describing the great difference between house and field labor. I have, since my settling in the North, heard many persons, in speaking of slavery as they have seen it in cities, towns, &c., where it exists in its mildest form, apologizing for it, holding it forth to the world as a great benefit to the black man. They say the slaves are nicely fed, clothed, and taken care of in a very comfortable manner. But, step back in the interior of slave States, on the plantations, where you see one hundred slaves in charge of a drunken overseer, thinly clad, and scantily fed; driven forth to labor from daylight till dark; where a slave for the most trivial offence may be whipped to death, for in case of death arising from whipping the overseer is indifferent,—he knows the master cannot use the word of his slave against him,—he will not acknowledge it himself. Thus there is nothing to restrain him from using the most unnatural and inhuman cruelty to the poor slaves.

Towards the end of the year that I was in the field, my suffering increased to that degree that it caused me to lift my voice to Almighty God, and pray fervently for a termination of my sufferings in death; though, at that time, I was ignorant of the blessings of religion. I have thought that the God of the oppressed heard my prayer and came to my relief, by changing my situation, under the following circumstances. About that time, his younger brother, William, visited the farm, with his wife, and had been at the house some two or three weeks before I saw him. A few days before he left I was sent for to come to the house, by the servant whom my master had bought to take my place when I was put in the field. On my approaching the house, I observed my master, his brother, and wife, standing in the door looking at me. Mr. William McNeill spoke to me, and told me that he had bought me. He then ordered me into the kitchen to wash, and sent me out a pair of pantaloons and a shirt, in which I appeared much better than in the ragged covering which I had cast off. I was then sent to the house, and there he made me acquainted with my duties as a body servant, which, as they were similar to those of my former master, it would be useless to describe. As I was delighted with this change, and there was something so pleasing in the manner of my new master, so different from that of my old one, I entered into my duties with pleasure. In a few days I started with my master and mistress for Louisiana to visit her father's plantation, who was a sugar planter, and a more cruel one I do not think was to be found in that neighborhood. We remained a few weeks there, when my master made arrangements to visit Kentucky, leaving his wife behind. We went up the Mississippi as far as Memphis, there leaving the boat and taking the stage for Nashville, Tennessee; and from thence to Lexington, Kentucky. A few days after our arrival, my master made me acquainted with the object of his visit, which was to purchase slaves, intending to take them to Mississippi, where he was going to farming; and he instructed me to tell all slaves who should inquire of me if he was a good master, that he was, to which I readily assented; and, as he did not wish to purchase any that were not willing to go with him, he would frequently send them to me, and I gave them satisfactory proofs of his kindness. He soon got a sufficient number, and started for the Mississippi by land. They all started willingly on their journey, and arrived at its end without any difficulty. This is to be wondered at, as none of the gang were ironed or shackled in any way.

My master had purchased a farm about one hundred and eighty miles from his brother's, my former master; at which we arrived, as I before stated, without any difficulty. My master remained on the farm until everything was put in order, when he gave the farm up to the overseer, and started for his wife, whom he had not seen for six months. When we arrived at her father's plantation, I was kindly received by my mistress, and I had begun to hope that master and mistress were both kind people. But I was soon disappointed; for my mistress had been brought up in Louisiana, and had witnessed punishment all her life, and had become hardened to it. On the other hand, my master had spent a number of years in the State of York, completing his education, and was unused to such cruelty as yet. As soon as everything was arranged we started for home, which we reached without accident. My mistress had two favorite slaves; an old nurse about sixty years of age, and a maid-servant about fifteen. On our arrival, we were installed in our new offices: the nurse was to cook; the girl was to attend to the light duty of the house; I was to take care of the horse and carriage, chop wood, and any out-door work about the yard. For the first month or two, everything went on quite smoothly; but soon the cloud grew black, the storm commenced. My mistress had suppressed the evil passions reigning within her as long as she was able; but her temper soon burst forth in all its fury. I had frequently spoken in terms of praise to the cook, of my mistress; but she always replied, that I was not acquainted with her yet. I soon perceived a change in the management of the household affairs. Her first act was to procure a cowhide, which was kept near for immediate use; and there was scarcely a day but some one of us felt it administered by her own hand upon our backs. I have seen her beat the old cook most shockingly; at one time she pushed her into the fire, and burnt her head very badly. This was the kindness to the person who had nursed her. Although I have seen her perpetrate some of the most cruel acts that a human being could, yet I never saw her in a passion when she was inflicting punishment. She seemed to take delight in torturing,—in fact, she made it a pastime; she inspired every one about her with terror. As for myself, I was perfectly terrified when she approached. I never saw, and never expect to see another person that I feared so much as I did that woman. She soon exerted her wicked influence over her husband, who was turned into a mere automaton, moving at her will; and he became through her a most cruel man, lashing and goading the slaves as she bid him. For the first few months my duties were as I have mentioned; but soon they were increased. I had, for one thing more, to tend the dinner-table every day, and fan my mistress during her stay at the table. I have designed the cut below to represent this scene, more clearly than I am able in words. After the dinner, my mistress retired to the back piazza, to which place I had to accompany her, where there was a net hung for her amusement. She would generally lie down in it for an hour or so, and I had there to resume my fanning, as at dinner. When this was through, I had to bring the carriage to the door for her to take an airing in. She would ride four or five miles out and back before tea. I would then take care of my horse and carriage, and my duties were generally over for the day.