Narrative of Henry Watson, a fugitive slave

by Henry Watson

The Author attending at the Dinner-Table.

Thus passed about a year of my time with Mr. William McNeill; when, thinking that the service of a field-hand would be of more value to him, he made up his mind to part with me. He had promised, when he bought me, that he would never put me in the field to work. He asked me, if I thought I could get a master? I told him, I thought I could. He accordingly gave me a pass to go to Vicksburg, which is one hundred miles from my master's farm. There I was well acquainted, and thought I could get a master without any difficulty. I remained there two or three days looking for a master, but was unsuccessful. It then occurred to me that I would go to another town, about thirty miles from Vicksburg, where a gentleman lived who had often spoken of me in flattering terms. I accordingly started, and reached there in safety, and called on the gentleman, and presented the letter which my master had given me. After reading it and asking a few questions, he sent me into the kitchen. He then went across the street to a house where there was a drove of slaves for sale, and selected one and brought him over to me, and asked me, if I thought he would do? I told him, I thought he would. He placed him in charge of the stage-driver the next morning, for Mr. McNeill's farm. Thus ended my services with one of the worst masters on the Mississippi.

I entered the duties of my new situation with pleasure; not that I saw anything more pleasing in my new master than I did in Mr. McNeill, but the thought of having left the farm, as I hoped, forever, was a source of great consolation to me. I do not mention the name of this gentleman or of any of my subsequent masters, as I do not wish to afford them the means to trace me. I resolved, when I commenced my new services, that I would do everything in my power to please my master, so that he would have no occasion to sell me; and I soon ascertained to my satisfaction that my efforts were not unsuccessful, for he entrusted me with the keys of his house,—he not being a married man,—which is the highest mark of confidence a slave enjoys. I had been with him but a short time, when I learned that he was training us for a hotel, which he intended opening in a neighboring city. This information pleased me much; for I thought the larger the city I was in, the smaller the chance would be of my getting on a farm. When the hotel was ready, he started with his servants. We reached there in safety, and went immediately to the hotel, where we each entered upon the duties assigned us; mine was in the dining-room, as waiter, a situation not very desirable on account of not being able to make as much money from boarders as in other stations in the house. In this situation I soon learned to gamble, in order to gain money from those who had the chance of making more than I made. In this wicked business I was very expert, and had constantly on hand a small stock of money. Slavery has made labor dishonorable to the white man; and, as they must have means of living, they generally resort to gambling for support, and as they cannot always find their own color to rob, they fasten upon the poor, degraded slave, who has received some little trifle for an extra piece of labor, to gull from him that which he has paid so dearly for; and I have spent many Sunday nights, after my work was done, gambling. But, as about this time there arose a great excitement respecting gamblers, and having seen, in the city of Vicksburg, five gamblers hung, it rather tended to stop my nefarious business for awhile. The citizens, being determined to put a final stop to the practice, searched among the slaves to punish them for what they had learned from their white brothers. They accordingly had about one hundred up for examination, which was carried on very closely; and they came to the conclusion, that a free colored man and myself were the principals. We were brought before the court, which was held in the bar-room at the hotel where I was employed. The court seemed to have some sympathy for the free man. He was sentenced first to have his left ear cropped, to be tarred and feathered and put in a boat full of holes, and set adrift down the river. They appointed a committee to see it put into effect, and they then proceeded to sentence me. There was some disagreement respecting what my sentence should be. Some wanted me branded,—others hung; but they at last agreed that I should have sixty lashes, to be received at the public whipping-post, and my master to give bonds for me to keep the peace. So great was the excitement, that for three weeks the city was kept under martial law. After I had got over my flogging, I resolved never to gamble again.

Very shortly after this, a circumstance occurred at the coffee-house, which I have seen noticed in print; but, as I was acquainted with the parties, and as some of my readers may not have read it, I will relate it. There was an old slave attached to the house, by the name of Jim, who was summoned one day to a room where there was two young slaveholders present. He had scarcely answered their call before he dropped down, in a fit of apoplexy. "He is dead!" exclaimed one. "He'll come to," replied the other. "Dead, for five hundred!" "Done!" retorted the other. The noise of the fall and the confusion which followed, brought up the owner, who called for a doctor. "No! no! we must have no interference; there's a bet depending!" "But, Sir, I shall lose a valuable servant." "Never mind; you can put him down in the bill!" was their reply. The poor fellow, after suffering some length of time, finally came to. I merely state this fact, as I could many others, to show the passion for gaming the Southerners have, and the brutish manner in which a slave is treated.

Two years of my life passed away without any particular interruption, when, one Sunday afternoon, I got into a dispute with another slave. High words were followed by blows; when I got exasperated, having drank freely of liquor, and stabbed him. I was immediately arrested and put in jail and kept till morning, when I was examined in court. My master, in the meantime, had engaged the services of a distinguished lawyer by the name of S. S. Prentiss, who by his able arguments extricated me from punishment by law; but recommended my master to flog me, which he followed to the letter. The slave with whom I had the difficulty was not injured so as to cause death, and eventually recovered.

I had never been to a meeting of a religious nature since I had been in the city; but, soon after the difficulty I have just mentioned, my master changed the hour for dinner, which enabled us to go to church. There was a Methodist meeting-house on the hill near the jail, to which our master allowed us all to go every Sunday afternoon, as we could not go in the forenoon, where we heard the word of the minister preached to us, who was a white man; the law making it necessary that white persons should be present at all assemblages of slaves or free negroes. The object of the slaveholders in having their slaves go to church can be clearly seen by the following sermon, which, or one very similar to it, I recollect hearing while worshipping at this church, which has been published and circulated quite extensively at the South:—"'All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them:' That is, do by all mankind just as you would desire they should do by you if you were in their place, and they in yours. Now, to suit this rule to your particular circumstances: suppose you were masters and mistresses, and had servants under you; would you not desire that your servants should do their business faithfully and honestly, as well when your back was turned as while you were looking over them? Would you not expect that they should take notice of what you said to them; that they should behave themselves with respect towards you and yours; and be as careful of everything belonging to you, as you would be yourself? You are servants; do, therefore, as you would wish to be done by, and you will be both good servants to your masters and to your God, who requires this of you, and will reward you well for it, if you do it for the sake of conscience, in obedience to his commands. Take care that you do not fret, or murmur, or grumble at your condition, for this will not only make your life uneasy, but will greatly offend Almighty God. Consider, that it is not yourselves; it is not the people you belong to; it is not the men that have brought you to it; but it is the will of God, who hath by his wise providence made you servants, because, no doubt, he knew that condition would be best for you in this world and help you the better towards heaven, if you would but do your duty in it; so that any discontent at your not being free, or rich, or great as some others, is quarrelling with your Heavenly Master, and finding fault with God himself. There is only one circumstance which may appear grievous; that I shall now take notice of,—and that is, correction. Now, let us see what the Scriptures say on this point. 'The servant that knoweth his master's will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.' Now, does this not apply directly to yourselves? Now, when correction is given to you, you either deserve it, or you do not deserve it; but, whether you really deserve it or not, it is your duty, and Almighty God requires, that you bear it patiently. You may perhaps think that this is hard doctrine; but if you consider right, you must needs think otherwise of it. Suppose, then, that you deserve correction, you cannot but say that it is right and just you should meet with it. Suppose you do not deserve it, or at least do not deserve so much punishment for the fault you have committed, you perhaps have escaped a great many more, and are at last paid for all. Or, suppose you are quite innocent of what is laid to your charge, and suffer wrongfully in that particular thing; is it not possible you may have done some other bad thing, which was never discovered, and that Almighty God, who saw you doing it, would not let you escape without punishment some time or another? and ought you not in such a case to give glory to him, and be thankful that he would rather punish you in this world for your wickedness than destroy your souls for it in the next? But, suppose that this even was not the case,—a case hardly to be imagined; and that you have by no means, known or unknown, deserved the correction you have received, there is this great comfort in it, that if you bear it patiently and leave your cause in the hands of God, he will reward you for it in heaven; and this punishment you suffer unjustly here, shall turn to your exceeding great glory hereafter."

Such, my readers, is the doctrine which is preached to the poor slave; and I could add many more specimens of it, if space would permit. They are made to believe that God made them slaves, that they are always to remain slaves, and bear with patience and humility the unjust punishment they receive on earth, that it may be to their glory hereafter. Is it not an unpardonable sin for man thus to defile the holy sanctuary, and pollute the sacred word of God by using it for such base purposes? But comment is unnecessary; the diabolical facts show fairly enough of themselves, without my attempting to bring them out any more. The cut represents a number of slaves listening to preaching of this kind.

The Author in attendance on Public Worship.