Slavery

From "The History Of Harrison County West Virginia"
by Henry Haymond, 1910

Transcribed and donated by Barb Ziegermeyer

In August 1619 a Dutch ship sailed up the James River and offered for sale to the planters twenty African Negroes as slaves. There was no indenture or any limitation of service. The negroes were captives and were sold by their captors to repay themselves for their trouble and expense . There seemed to have been no conscientious scruples as to depriving a human being of his liberty, and no difference of opinion as to their right to do so. The negroes were perhaps regarded the same as bound servants, with the important exception, that the servitude was to last during their lives. The planters readily purchased them to cultivate tobacco, and from this small nucleus widened year by year, the great African shadow, out of which was to come in the future the dire calamity of war, bringing in its train suffering, woe and desolation. Slaves were not as numerous in the western counties of the state as the eastern ones, the conditions being different and the system being very expensive. Harrison County never contained at any one time more than 382, that being the number given by the census of 1860. They were mostly employed in domestic service, driving teams and ordinary labor. Uncle Frank Sehon, belonging to Daniel Davisson, is said to have been the first slave child born in Harrison County. He died along in the seventies. They would sometimes escape into Ohio and Pennsylvania where they would be free. Congress by the passage in 1850 of what is known as the "Fugitive slave law" authorized the Government to return fugitive slaves to their former owners. This law created great excitement throughout the free states and was quite a factor in bringing on the civil war. Charles, a slave in the Jackson family, one Saturday night, took one of his master's horses and rode to St. Mary's and before noon on Sunday was in Ohio. His residence was discovered and he was brought back under the Fugitive Slave Law, and sold South just before the War. Gangs of slaves would occasionally pass through the County handcuffed to a rope with a man on horseback holding one end of it on their way to the South by Parkersburg and the Ohio River to be sold to sugar and cotton planters. These merchants in human beings who made a business of buying up negroes and taking them South were called "Soul Drivers." Their calling was considered a cruel and inhuman one, and they did not stand well in the estimation of the people. Many years before the Civil war the question of abolishing slavery was agitated and persons who were in favor of this were called " Abolitionists". This movement was bitterly opposed by the slave holders and created a strong sectional feeling between the free and the slave holding states. Occasionally upon the settlement of estates slaves, men, women and children, would be sold at auction in front of the Court House to the highest bidder. It was a sad sight as families were separated never to meet again. The slave code of Virginia was severe and tyrannical. It was unlawful to teach a slave to read or write. It was unlawful for any one to deny the right of property in slaves either by writing or speaking, or to assist a slave to escape from bondage. A Justice of the Peace had the authority to take a newspaper from the United States Post Office and burn it, if in his opinion it contained anti-slavery sentiments. Thus was denied the right of free speech and freedom of the press. America's great editor, Horace Greely, Editor of the New York Tribune was indicted by the Circuit Court of Harrison County for circulating his paper containing anti-slavery sentiments. The County Court had the right to sentence a slave to death. But finally after nearly two centuries of slavery in 1862, during the great war, President Abraham Lincoln, by his emancipation proclamation struck the shackles from the arms of four million of slaves and bade them go free. In 1866 upon the adoption of the 13th. Amendment to the Constitution of the United States slavery was abolished and all men declared free and equal before the law, thus fulfilling the prediction made by the celebrated editor Horace Greely upon one occasion when he wrote that the time would come "When no slave shall clank his chains beneath the shades of Monticello or by the graves of Mount Vernon." The following is a portion of an advertisement published in the Clarksburg Intelligencer September 23, 1826. "Fifty Dollars Reward." Runaway from the subscriber on the night of July 24, my man named Fill. He is about twenty eight years of age, supposed about five feet eleven inches high, well made, walks straight but has a down look when spoken to and quite a smooth face. Very little to say generally. I purchased him of a Mr. Baxter about ten years ago, who was authorized to sell him by his master Mr. Fitzhugh near Fredericksburg, but I don't believe he will make in that direction. The above reward will be given if taken out of the State, twenty five dollars if a shorter distance and over twenty miles, and ten if about home, but in either case he is to be lodged in jail and information given so that I get him. George. Cunningham, Moorefield, Va." There were many original characters among the slaves in Clarksburg. The older ones were privileged in the families in which they lived and were generally called "Uncle and Aunt" as a mark of respect. "Uncle Rube," a slave of the Stealey family had many amusing and mysterious tales to tell of his adventures. One was that one night when returning home from a corn shucking, he was confronted by the Devil in the Court House yard, who handed him a brass jug and ordered him to take a drink. Just as Uncle Rube lifted it to his lips, the devil, jug and all vanished in a sheet of fire, leaving Old Rube senseless on the ground. He did not recover consciousness until daylight and said he then could detect a strong Odor of brimstone in the air, and that his head ached for two days after. "Uncle Rube" always regretted that he lost that drink of liquor. It was strongly suspected that the old man had freely imbibed at the corn shucking before he thought he met the Devil. Uncle Ben Dempgy, who belonged to the Williams family was famous and popular among the youngsters and always had something amusing to tell. Once "Uncle Ben" took it into his head to make a dash for liberty and one night he headed for the Ohio River. After hiding in the woods for two or three nights, he made his way to the vicinity of Salem, and meeting some one in the road who called him by name he exclaimed, "Lord Bless my soul, who knows me way out here in Canada" He was perfectly willing to return home and never made another effort for freedom. "Aunt Mlly Chapin" who lived to an advanced age, had the early history of the Clarksburg people at her tongue's end, and was always interesting to talk to. She was a famous cook and had the respect of all who knew her. She was at one time the slave of the famous and eccentric lawyer James Pindall, and had many amusing anecdotes to tell of his doings. "Uncle Watt Colston" who was brought to Clarksburg by Judge Lee and who died about 1900, claimed to be over a hundred year of age. He had been employed at the "White House when John Tyler was president. His master at one time hired him as cook on a ship bound on a voyage from Alexandria to China. He was thoroughly imbued with the old time Virginia manners and no living man could excel him in deferential politeness and courtesy. "Uncle Watt" when he came to town would have his hat in his hand nearly all the time greeting his acquaintances, and Lord Chesterfield himself could not bow more gracefully. He was the last of the old regime in Clarksburg. "Uncle Humphrey" lived on the banks of the river near the Fair Ground. "Aunt Easter," his wife had the reputation of being a conjurer, and was held in great awe by the colored people and young whites. "Aunt Molly" who was a slave in the Moore family, would often boast that she had given General Washington a drink of water at the gate of her master's residence in New Jersey. She was a little girl at the time, but whether the incident occurred during the war of the Revolution or afterwards in one of Washington's tours of the New England States is not definitely known. "Aunt Rose" was a famous exhorter and would deliver addresses from the Court House steps, church steps or wherever she happened to be when the spirit called her. She was gifted with a wonderful flow of language and her eloquence always attracted attention. She has long since gone to her reward. "Esau" an intelligent mulatto was the slave of Daniel Wilson who had inherited him from his father Colonel Benjamin Wilson. He had been taught to read and write and was employed by his master as a general clerk in his numerous business affair. About the year 1838 Esau was sold South and finally fell into the hands of General Samuel Houston of Texas, who employed him as his body servant. It is said that General Houston some years afterwards came to Clarksburg and purchased Esau's wife. Becoming anxious for his liberty Esau ran away to Mexico and upon his arrival there became a free man and enlisted in the Army. During our war with Mexico in 1846, one of the Colonels of Mexican Cavalry Regiment, who was an English speaking Mulatto was supposed to have been Esau by the Wilson family.

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