CHAPTER XIII
Page 176
- The Curious Axe-Helve
- Symptoms of approaching Illness
- Continue to decline
- The Whip ineffectual
- Confined to the Cabin
- Visit by Dr. Wines
- Partial Recovery
- Failure at Cotton Picking
- What may be heard on Epps' Plantation
- Lashes Graduated
- Epps in a Whipping Mood
- Epps in a Dancing Mood
- Description of the Dance
- Loss of Rest no Excuse
- Epps' Characteristics
- Jim Burns
- Removal from Huff Power to Bayou Boeuf
- Description of Uncle Abram; of Wiley; of
Aunt Phebe; of Bob, Henry, and Edward;
of Patsey; with a Genealogical Account of each
- Something of their Past History, and
Peculiar Characteristics
- Jealousy and Lust
- Patsey, the Victim
On my
arrival at Master Epps', in obedience to his order,
the first business upon which I entered was teh
making of an axe-helve. The handles in use
there are simply a round, straight stick. I
made a crooked one, shaped like those to which I had
been accustomed at the North. When
finished, and presented to Epps, he looked at
it with astonishment, unable to determine exactly
what it was. He had never before seen such a
handle, and when I explained its conveniences, he
was forcibly struck with the novelty of the idea.
He kept it in the house a long time, and when his
friends called, was wont to exhibit it as a
curiosity.
It was not the season of hoeing. I was first sent
[Pg. 177]
late the corn-field, and afterwards set to scraping
cotton. In this employment I remained until
hoeing time was nearly passed, when I began to
experience the symptoms of approaching illness.
I was attacked with chills, which were succeeded by
a burning fever. I became weak and emaciated,
and frequently so dizzy that it caused me to real
and stagger like a drunken man. Nevertheless,
I was compelled to keep up my row. When in
health I found little difficulty in keeping pace
with my fellow laborers, but now it seemed to be an
utter impossibility. Often I fell behind, when
the driver's lash was sure to greet my back,
infusing into my sick and drooping body a little
temporary energy. I continued to decline until
at length the whip became entirely ineffectual.
The sharpest sting of the rawhide could not arouse
me. Finally, in September, when the busy
season of cotton picking was at hand, I was unable
to leave my cabin. Up to this time I had
received no medicine, nor any attention from my
master or mistress. The old cook visited me
occasionally, preparing me corn-coffee, and
sometimes boiling a bit of bacon, when I had grown
too feeble to accomplish it myself.
When it was said that I would die,
Master Epps, unwilling to bear the loss, which
the death of an animal worth a thousand dollars
would bring upon him, concluded to incur the expense
of sending to Holmesville for Dr. Wines.
He announced to Epps that it was the effect
of the climate, and there was a probability of his
losing me. He directed me to eat no
[Pg. 178]
meat, and to partake of no more food
than was absolutely necessary to sustain life.
Several weeks elapsed, during which time, under the
scanty diet to which I was subjected, I had
partially recovered. One morning, long before
I was in a proper condition to labor, Epps
appeared at the cabin door, and, presenting me a
sack, ordered me to the cotton field. At this
time I had had no experience whatever in cotton
picking. It was an awkward business indeed.
While others used both hands, snatching the cotton
and depositing it in the mouth of the sack, with a
precision and dexterity that was incomprehensible to
me, I had to seize the boll with one hand, and
deliberately draw out the white, gushing blossom
with the other.
Depositing the cotton in the sack, moreover, was a
difficulty that demanded the exercise of both hands
and eyes. I was compelled to pick it from the
ground where it would fall, nearly as often as from
the stalk where it had grown. I made havoc
also with the branches, loaded with the yet unbroken
bolls, the long, cumbersome sack swinging from side
to side in a manner not allowable in the cotton
field. After a most laborious day I arrived at
the gin-house with my load. When the scale
determined its weight to be only ninety-five pounds,
hot half the quantity required of the poorest
picker, Epps threatened the severest
flogging, but in consideration of my being a "raw
hand," concluded to pardon me on that occasion.
The following day, and many days succeeding, I
returned at night with no better success - I was evi-
[Pg. 179]
dently not designed for that kind of
labor. I had not the gift - the dexterous
fingers and quick motion of Patsey, who could
fly along one side of a row of cotton, stripping it
of its undefiled and fleecy whiteness miraculously
fest. Practice and whipping were alike
unavailing, and Epps, satisfied of it at
last, swore I was a disgrace - that I was not fit to
associate with a cotton-picking "nigger" - that I
could not pick enough in a day to pay the trouble of
weighing it, and that I should go into the cotton
field no more I was not employed in cutting
and hauling wood, drawing cotton from the field to
the gin-house, and performed whatever other service
was required. Suffice to say, I was never
permitted to be idle.
It was rarely that a day passed by without one or more
whippings. This occurred at the tie the cotton
was weighed. The delinquent, whose weight had
fallen short, was taken out, stripped, made to lie
upon the ground, face downwards, when he received a
punishment proportioned to his offence. It is
the literal, unvarnished truth, that the crack of
the lash, and the shrieking of the slaves, can be
heard from dark till bed time, on Epps'
plantation, any day almost during the entire period
of the cotton-picking season.
The number of lashes is graduated according to the
nature of the case. Twenty-five are deemed a
mere brush, inflicted, for instance, when a dry leaf
or piece of boll is found in the cotton, or when a
branch is broken in the field; fifty is the ordinary
penalty following all delinquencies of the next
higher grade; one
[Pg. 180]
hundred is called severe; it is the punishment
inflicted for the serious offence of standing idle
in the field; from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred is bestowed for the serious offence of
standing idle in the field; from one hundred and
fifty to two hundred is bestowed upon him who
quarrels with his cabin-mates, and five hundred,
well laid on, besides the mangling of the dogs,
perhaps, is certain to consign the poor, unpitied
runaway to weeks of pain and agony.
During the two years Epps remained on the
plantation at Bayou Huff Power, he was in the habit,
as often as once in a fortnight at least, of coming
home intoxicated from Holmesville. The
shooting-matches almost invariably concluded with a
half-crazy. Often he would break the dishes,
chairs, and whatever furniture he could lay his
hands on. When satisfied with his amusement in
the house, he would seize the whip and walk forth
into the yard. Then it behooved the slaves to
be watchful and exceeding wary. The first one
who came within reach felt the smart of his lash.
Sometimes for hours he would keep them running in
all directions, dodging around the corners of the
cabins. Occasionally he would come upon one
unawares, and if he succeeded in inflicting a fair,
round blow, it was a feat that much delighted him.
The younger children, and the aged, who had become
inactive, suffered then. In the midst of the
confusion he would slily take his stand
behind a cabin, waiting with raised whip, to dash it
into the first black face that peeped cautiously
around the corner.
At other times he would come home in a less brutal
[Pg. 181]
humor. Then there must be a merry-making.
Then all must move to the measure of a time. Then
Master Epps must needs regale his melodious ears
with the music of a fiddle. Then did he become
buoyant, elastic, gaily "tripping the light
fantastic toe" around the piazza and all
through the house.
Tibeats, at the time of my sale, had informed
him I could play on the violin. He had
received his information from Ford.
Through the importunities of Mistress Epps,
her husband had been induced to purchase me one
during a visit to New Orleans. Frequently I
was called into the house to play before the family,
mistress being passionately fond of music.
All of us would be assembled in the large room of the
great house, whenever Epps came home in one
of his dancing moods. No matter how worn out
and tired we were, there must be a general dance.
When properly stationed on the floor, I would strike
up a tune.
"Dance, you d--d niggers, dance," Epps
would shout.
Then there must be ho halting or delay, no slow or
languid movements; all must be brisk, and lively,
and alert. "Up and down, heel and toe, and
away we go," was the order of the hour.
Epps' portly form mingled with those of his
dusky slaves, moving rapidly through all the mazes
of the dance.
Usually his whip was in his hand, ready to fall about the
ears of the presumptuous thrall, who dared to rest
for a moment, or even stop to catch his breath.
[Pg. 182]
When he was himself exhausted, there would be a
brief cessation, but it would be very brief.
With a slash, and a crack, and flourish of the whip,
he would shout again, "Dance, niggers, dance,"
and away they would go once more, pell-mell, while
I, spurred by an occasional sharp touch of the lash,
sat in a corner, extracting from my violin a
marvelous quick-stepping tune. The mistress
often upbraided him, declaring she would return to
her father's house at Cheneyville; nevertheless,
there were times she could not restrain a burst of
laughter, on witnessing his uproarious pranks.
Frequently, we were thus detained until almost
morning. Bent with excessive toil - actually
suffering for a little refreshing rest, and feeling
rather as if we could cast ourselves upon the earth
and weep, many a night in the house of Edwin Epps
have his unhappy slaves been made to dance and
laugh.
Notwithstanding these deprivations in order to gratify
the whim of an unreasonable master, we had to be in
the field as soon as it was light, and during the
day perform the ordinary and accustomed task.
Such deprivations could not be urged at the scales
in extenuation of any lack of weight, or in the
cornfield for not hoeing with the usual rapidity.
The whippings were just as severe as if we had gone
forth in the morning, strengthened and invigorated
by a night's repose. Indeed, after such
frantic revels, he was always more sour and savage
than before, punishing for slighter causes, and
using the whip with increased and more vindictive
energy.
[Pg. 188]
Ten years I toiled for that man without reward.
Ten years of my incessant labor has contributed to
increase the bulk of his possessions. Ten
years I was compelled to address him with down-cast
eyes and uncovered head - in the attitude and
language of a slave. I am indebted to him for
nothing, save undeserved abuse and stripes.
Beyond the reach of his inhuman thong, and standing on
the soil of the free State where I was born, thanks
be to Heaven, I can raise my head once more among
men. I can speak of the wrongs I have
suffered, and of those who inflicted them, with
upraised eyes. But I have no desire to speak
of him or any other one otherwise than truthfully.
Yet to speak truthfully of Edwin Epps would be to
say - he is a man in whose heart the quality of
kindness or of justice is not found. A rough,
rude energy, united with an uncultivated mind and an
avaricious spirit, are his prominent
characteristics. He is known as a "nigger
breaker," distinguished for his faculty of subduing
the spirit of the slave, and priding himself upon
his reputation in this respect, as a jockey boasts
of his skill in managing a refractory horse.
He looked upon a colored man, hot as a human being,
responsible to his Creator for the small talent
entrusted to him, but as a "chattel personal," as
mere live property, no better, except in value, than
his mule or dog. When the evidence clear and
indisputable, was laid before him that I was a free
man, and as much entitled to my liberty as he -
when, on the day I left, he was informed that I
[Pg. 184]
had a wife and children, as dear to me as his own
babes to him, he only raved and swore, denouncing
the law that tore me from him, and declaring he
would find out the man who had forwarded the letter
that disclosed the place of my captivity, if there
was any virtue or power in money, and would take his
life. He thought of nothing but his loss, and
cursed me for having been born free. He could
have stood unmoved and seen the tongues of his poor
slaves torn out by the roots - he could have seen
them burned to ashes over a slow fire, or gnawed to
death by dogs, if it only brought him profit.
Such a hard, cruel, unjust man is Edwin Epps.
There was but one greater savage on Bayou Boeuf
than he. Jim Burns' plantation was
cultivated, as already mentioned, exclusively by
women. That barbarian kept their backs so sore
and raw, that they could not perform the customary
labor demanded daily of the slave. He
boasted of his cruelty, and through all the country
round was accounted a ore thorough-going, energetic
man than even Epps. A brute himself,
Jim Burns had not a particle of mercy for his
subject brutes, and like a fool whipped and scourged
away the very strength upon which depended his
amount of gain.
Epps remained on Huff Power two years, then,
having accumulated a considerable sum of money, he
expended it in the purchase of the plantation on the
east bank of Bayou Boeuf, where he still continues
to reside. He took possession of it in 1845,
after the
[Pg. 185]
holidays were passed. He carried thither with
him nine slaves, all of whom, except myself, and
Susan, who has since died, remain there yet.
He made no addition to this force, and for eight
years the following were my companions in his
quarters, viz: Abram, Wiley, Phebe, Bob,
Henry, Edward, and Patsey. All
these, except Edward, born since, were
purchased out of a drove by Epps during the
tie he was overseer for Archy B. Williams,
whose plantation is situated on the shore of Red
River, not far from Alexandria.
Abram was tall, standing a full head above any
common man. HE is sixty years of age, and was
born in Tennessee. Twenty years ago, he was
purchased by a trader, carried into South Carolina,
and sold to James Buford, of Williamsburgh
county, in that State. In his youth he was
renowned for his great strength, but age and
unremitting toil have somewhat shattered his
powerful frame and enfeebled his mental faculties.
Wiley is
forty-eight. He was born on the estate of
William Tassle, and for many years took
charge of that gentleman's ferry over the Big Black
River, in South Carolina.
Phebe was a
slave of Buford, Tassel's neighbor, and
having married Wiley, he bought the latter,
at her instigation. Buford was a kind master,
sheriff of the county, and in those days a man of
wealth.
Bob and Henry
are Phebe's children, by a former husband,
their father having been abandoned to give
[Pg. 186]
place to Wiley. That seductive youth
had insinuated himself into Phebe's
affections, and therefore the faithless spouse had
gently kicked her first husband out of her cabin
door. Edward had been born to them on
Bayou Huff Power.
Patsey is twenty-three - also from Buford's
plantation. She is in no wise connected with
his fathers, but glories in the fact that she is the
offspring of a "Guinea nigger," brought over to Cuba
in a slave ship, and in the course of trade
transferred to Buford, who was her mother's
owner.
This, as I learned from them, is a genealogical account
of my master's slaves. For years they had been
together. Often they recalled teh memories of
other days, and singled to retrace their steps to
the old home in Carolina. Troubles came upon
their master Buford, which brought far
greater troubles to bear up against his failing
fortunes, was compelled to sell these, and others of
his slaves. In the chain gang they had been
driven from the Mississippi. W
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