{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3212", "width": "1859", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "fj\\n.0^\\nV\\n.-^q.\\nv\\\\^\\no G^ *b\\nl^,-,\\no\\nH\\nt-\\no\\n4\\nr\\no.\\nSi\\nV. v^\\nA\\\\ v.\\nJ\\n.V\\n,G^ ^o ^.v;;^\\n.^i\\nV", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": ".r\\nv\\nV e\\n-^o\\n_^0^\\n^O", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "RECOLLECTIONS\\nOF THE\\nINHABITANTS, LOCALITIES, SUPERSTITIONS,\\nKUKLUX OUTRAGES\\nOH THE CAROLINAS.\\nCARPET-BAGGER\\nwho was born and\\nTjIVed there.\\n7 /c/\\n1880.\\nU5", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "Entered aceording to Act of Congress, in the year ISSO, in the ottice of the\\nLibrarian of Congress, at Washington.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "TO THE\\nCAEPET-BAGGEES OF THE SOUTH:\\nTHOSE UNSWERVING REPUBLICANS\\nTO WHOSE FIDELITY AND SAGACITY THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED\\nSTATES ARE INDEBTED FOR THE SUCCESSFUL\\nCONSUMMATION OF THE\\nRECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH,\\nthis unpretentious volume is respectfully\\ndedicated, by\\nThe Author.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "TO THE PUBLIC.\\nTlie following work possesses the merit of truthfulness, what-\\never else may be said of it. We make no apology for its appear-\\nance or its contents. We believe some things pertaining to the\\npeople of the South and its peculiar customs and prejudices, not\\nto be found in any other work, are to be found in this. If it\\nshall add to the general stock of information, our highest hopes\\nand expectations shall have been realized.\\nThe Author.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "TABLE OF CONTENTS.\\nCHAPTER T.\\nGeneral Introduction. Description of a Southern Village.\\nOur Beasts of Burden and Vehicles. First Mondays. A\\nHumorous Incident.\\nCHAPTER II.\\nProsecuting the .Journey. Beauties of Nature Strewn Around\\nUs. The Guide Post. The Irishman s Mistake. Brown goes\\nTo See a Man. The Old Mill Pond.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Just the Place for Dark\\nDeeds. Legends connected with it. Union Soldiers. Murdered\\nVictims. Story of Henry Woods. His Guilty Love and its\\nFatal Determination. Matrimony among the Plantation Hands\\nof the South. Wasted Power. Mistaken Policy of Southern Pro-\\nducers. Wiiat Judge said.\\nCHAPTER III.\\nThe Old Church and School House. Reflections on their Style\\nof Architecture. The Forgotten Dead. Superstitious Dread of\\nGhosts on the part of the Inhabitants.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Witchcraft and Conjura-\\ntion Peculiar Antics of a Pretended Conjurer. His Legal Com-\\nplications and Happy Deliverance. Despondency and Gloom\\noccasioned by a Belief in the same. Ignorance the Cause of these\\nSuperstitious Beliefs. Its Existence in Germany, England, and\\nNew England in the Past. Day beginning to Dawn in the South.\\nCHAPTER IV.\\nOriole. Its Appearance, Population, etc. Edward. Hill, our\\nHost. Some Account of his Early Life and Subsequent Career.\\nLabor and Perseverance Conquers All. Sacrifice of Principle\\nEssential to Success in the South Then as Now. Our Repast.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "6\\nTJie Menu. CoUards. Moral Status of the Denizens of Oriole.\\nBrown s Opinion: It is Worse than New York. Reminis-\\ncence of a Former Visit to This Place. Reflections on the Treat-\\nment of Colored People in all parts of the South.\\nCHAPTER V.\\nLowlands of the Carolinas. Spring Freshets. Famine Threat-\\nened. Mail Carrier Up a Tree, Unhealthy Localities. Rice\\nCulture. Sufferings of Hands. The Great Dismal Swamp.\\nAp[)earance and Extent. The Rohber s Stronghold. Henry Berry\\nliowrie. He Defies the Militia of a Whole State. His Audacious\\nBearing. A Confrere Hung. Lowrie is Wounded and finally\\nKilled. The Fugitive s Retreat. Uncle Pompey s Experience.\\nCHAPTER VL\\nThe Bell Homestead. Accommodations for the Night. The\\nBlack Cat. My Wife Alarmed. An Unfortunate Throw, and\\nAlarm of the Family. Mine Host Jones and the Writer Adjourn\\nto the Yard. Snake Stories. Snakes in the House; in the Bed;\\nin ihe Mill. Snake Bites and Whiskey Treatment. Coachwliip\\nSnake. Snakes for Food. Medicine and Music. Reminiscences\\nof the Slaveholding Era, by Jones. The Men and Women who\\nCleared and Cultivated these Lands. The Whip. The Auction\\nBlock. The Stocks. InsufHcient Food. Dawn of Day.\\nCHAPTER Vn.\\nIncidents of the Route. Post Boxes. Mineral Springs.\\nFloral ollege. The Duello. Reminiscences of S(;hool Life in\\nthe South Before the War. An Oasis. A Foraging Expedition.\\nDifference between Southern and Northern Hosiiitality. Win-\\nning our Fodder by a Stratagem. Our Repast and Departure.\\nCHAPTER VIII.\\nFannie on her metal. First Mishap of the Road. All s\\nWell that End s Well. The Deserted Cotton Plantation.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Then\\nand Now. Contributing Causes. Carpet-Bag Rule in the\\nSouth. Both Sides of the Question. What the Writer saw in", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "South Carolina.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 How Property-Holdera Felt.-Characteristic\\nLetter.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Where did the Blame Lie?\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Admission of the Writer of\\nthe Letter.- Land Commission.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Rail Road Bonds.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Private\\nOperations.\\nCHAPTER IX.\\nThe Camp-Meeting Ground.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 General Appearance of the\\nPlace.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Jones Pleased.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Religious Tendencies of the Colored Race.\\nAre they Peculiarities of the Colored Race, or are they Begotten\\nof their Weak and Oppressed Condition The Writer s Views on\\nthis Subject.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Reminiscences of a Camp-Meeting.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Sudden Pros-\\ntration and Narrow Escape.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 The Philadelphia Mourner.\\nQuotations from a Sermon.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 First Lines of some of the Hymns.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nA Woman on Fire.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Disadvantage of Wearing a Hoop Skirt.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nNearing Civilization.\\nCHAPTER X.\\nThe Ku-Klux-Klan.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Its Origin.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Its Name.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Objects and\\nDeeds of Violence.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Recollections of its Early Days.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Proofs of its\\nExistence.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 What Hon. Reverdy Johnson thought of its Members.\\nThe Origin of the Exodus, and Probable Result.\\nCHAPTER XL\\nThe Poor Whites of the South.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Contributing Causes of their\\nPresent Condition.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Their Social Status Habits of Life Means\\nof Support.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Dislike of them by the Colored People of the South.\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094Struggles on the Part of Some of Them to Better their Condi-\\ntion.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Remarkable Instances of Success.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Their Future in This\\nCountry.\\nCHAPTER XII.\\nProducts of the Carolinas.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Cotton.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Turpentine.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Peanuts.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nSweet Potatoes, etc.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Forest Fruits.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Chincapins. Hickory-\\nnuts.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Persimmons.-Grape Culture.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Fishes, Oysters, etc.\\nCHAPTER XIII.\\nThe Colored People of the South.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Different Classes.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 The\\nPlantation Hands.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Their Habits and Modes of Life.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Corn-", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "shucking and Log-rolling Bees.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Their Love of Possum and\\nSweet-en-tater. Will they Steal The Colored People of the\\nCities and Towns, General Intelligence among them, and Causes\\nContributing Thereto. Churches and Schools among them.\\nEflorts of Bad Men to Create Prejudice between Different Classes\\nof them. Education and Wealth will Dispel All.\\nCONCLUSION.\\nPast and Present of Magnolia. Sherman s Boys and Har-\\ndee. No Law to Compel One Man to Mister Another. The\\nResults of the Trip. Returning North.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER I.\\nGeneral Introduction. Description of a Southern Village.\\nOur Beasts of Burden and Vehicles. First Mondays. A\\nHumorous Incident.\\nThe early days of the Summer of 1872 found three\\nfathers, three mothers and five children residing in the\\nquiet little village of Hudsonville, South Carolina.\\nDriven by fate and the results of the recent great rebel-\\nlion, the effects of which were still agitating all that\\nsection of the Southern country, we had changed our\\nplaces of abode in other States and pitched our humble\\ntents in this section of the United States, with the\\navowed intent of commencing life anew, and making\\nup by sober, industrious effort, so far as the ability lay\\nin us, for lost time. We were all members of that\\nmuch abused, but exceedingly patient class, known in\\nthis country as colored people, a term which embraces\\nall who have within their veins a single drop of African\\nblood, from the sable brother who traces his lineal\\nancestors, on both sides, directly from the banks of the\\nCongo and the Nubian plains, and boasts of his\\nunadulterated blood, to the fiaxen -haired octoroon, who\\nleads captive the heart of her unwary Anglo-Saxon", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "10\\nadmirer, that never associates her in his mind with any\\nmember of the despised race.\\nJones, the eldest of the three, was a native South-\\nerner, to the manor born, (a favorite phrase, by the\\nway, in that section,) and had left the home of liis\\nnativity, only sixty miles to the northeast of our present\\nplace of abode; in fact, having passed the greater part\\nof his manhood as an intineiant carpenter, he was well\\nacquainted not only with ever} town and hamlet of an}^\\nnote in all that region of country, but he was deeply\\nversed in the avenues of travel leading to them; which\\nwas a very important acquisition in a section of country\\nwhere there were no railroads, and where the tourist\\nwas relegated to the usages in vogue before the advent\\nof the Christian era. He knew the names and places\\nof residence of every property-holder of any note as\\nwell, and, had the records and maps of the country\\nbeen lost, I verily believe he could have located more\\nthan one half the farms, and given them metes and\\nbounds from his retentive memory, for stakes and\\nstones and blazed trees were as familiar to him as\\nthe ordinary thoroughfares of business are to the\\nmetropolitan merchant. He could no more part with\\nthe services of his friendly pipe than he could with his\\nbetter half, and when comfortably ensconced by the\\nside of a glowing hickory fire on a winter s night, with\\nhis pipe well filled, he could spin yarns by the hour.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "11\\nBrown was the junior of Jones, and, while he had\\nnot the same degree of experience concerning country\\nlife, 3 et he made it his boast that he knew a thing or\\ntwo, because he had spent several j^ears as a resident\\nof that great hive of industry, New York a name, the\\nvery mention of which to the average rustic of the\\nSouth, causes his eyes to dilate like miniature saucers\\nand animates his curiosity. Brown was impulsive; he\\npreferred fighting to eating; he carried his revolver and\\nbowie knife, and boi e the reputation in all that section\\nof being a had man, of which epithet, as applied to\\nhim, he was very proud.\\nOf the writer hereof but little need be said, since he\\nis to take a very unimportant part in the events which\\nshall be related scarcely more than that of a faithtul\\nscribe, who will undertake to note down a truthful\\naccount of the events in their regular order. Suffice it\\nto say then, that, while he acknowledged the Old\\nNorth State (North Carolina) as the home of his\\nnativity, yet, having escaped thence during his tender\\nchildhood, shunning the baleful effects of that social\\nulcer, slavery, and seeking a healthy atmosphere, where\\nhe could grow to the full stuture of manhood, he had\\nfound that garden spot of the whole earth, the noble\\nWestern Reserve of the great State of Ohio, where,\\nsurrounded by kind friends, loving hearts and institu-\\ntions of learning, he had succeeded in acquiring a", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "12\\nsuflicient store of knowledge to partially appreciate his\\nown infinnities and the necessities of his race, and he\\nhad now returned to the Sunny South with a burning\\nzeal to do something in iiis day for the common good,\\nand build up for himself and family an honorable name\\namong the sons of men.\\nWe had not tarried long in Hudsonville before we\\nbegan to think that we had made a mistake in locating;\\nfor, while ^his village was quite noteworthy in some\\nrespects, 3 et, for men without capital, having aspirations\\nsocially and financiall}^, it was as barren as a desert. A\\ncourt-house, jail, post-office, three churches, four large\\nwarehouses, five stores and about fifty dwellings,\\nscattered at irregular intervals along half a dozen\\nstreets and accommodating from two hundred and fift}\\nto three hundred souls, comprised tlie village. The\\ninhabitants of this little place were composed almost\\nexclusively of the owners of the large cotton planta-\\ntions, which lay on three sides of it, and their families\\nand dependents, if we except two or three storekeepers,\\nwho supplied the wants of this small community.\\nSocially, they formed a little literar3- coterie, or mutual\\nadmiration society among themselves, at whose doors\\nno foreigner (as they significantly termed all persons\\nfrom the North) need knock. They sent to Charleston\\nfor their extra provisions, drew their latest fashions\\nfrom Charleston, and derived their newspapers and", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "13\\ngeneral inspiration from tlie same source. Tliey had\\nheard of Calhoun, Rhett, Hayne, Pinckney, and other\\nstates rights champions, and worshipped their names,\\nbut cared little for aught else; and, aside from attending\\nchurch and rendering an occasional parlor theatrical,\\nthey had little amusement. For a colored person,\\npossessing any of those liner qualities of soul or\\nintellect, such as distinguish one from the ignoble\\nherd, there was no affiliation, no inspiration, no life,\\nsave such as could be found among the plantation\\nhands, who, though frequently pure-hearted and inno-\\ncent in their dealings, were, nevertheless, covered by\\nsuch a dark pall of ignorance and superstition,\\nbequeathed to them by their former taskmasters, as\\nrendered them unfit for the ordinary demands of\\nsociety. There was no business there for a man without\\na trade, or capital with which to undertake some specu-\\nlative enterprise; and as for the learned protessious,\\nsuch as medicine and law, no one thought of embarking\\nin the practice of either, unless his acquaintance was\\ncoextensive with the county and his reserve fund consid-\\nerable.\\nThere were at least twelve days in the year, however,\\nthat would have been considered as exceptions to the\\nrule in Hudsonville; when monotony gave place to\\nvariety, and the appearance of the public square was\\naltogether changed. These were the First Mondaj^s", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "14\\nof each and every month; days made famous in the\\nState of South Carolina by reason of the fact that the\\nsheriffs of the different counties were accustomed to\\noffer for sale at the county scats such property as fell to\\ntheir lot to sell, by viilue of their oflicial capactiy.\\nThere were a class of hardy men who made it their\\nbusiness to drive wagons over the territory of that and\\nadjacent states, bartering and selling goods, especially\\ntobacco, liorses and mules. They came, generallj from\\nthe western section of the State of North Carolina,\\nwhere there are numerous tobacco manufactories and\\nsome live stock worthy of note. As the}- progressed\\nalong their route they were in the liabit of selling to\\npersons remote from commercial centers, and when they\\ncould not obtain money for their wares they would\\nbarter them away for such produce as they could dispose\\nof in the large toAvns, such as hides, corn, bacon, flour and\\nthe like. These wagoners kept well posted regarding\\nFirst Mondays, and they became in the course of\\ntime to be one of the most prominent features of the\\nday. They began to arrive early in the day, with dogs\\nand other animals hitched on behind, and as they\\nranged themselves in semicircular form on the public\\nsquare they presented quite a picturesque appearance.\\nThe} were generally men of much experience, and not\\nunfrequently included among their number persons of\\ndesperate character, especially when excited from the", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "15\\neffect of strong drink. Hence these days became noted\\nfar and wide as occasions of strife, and sometimes\\nbloodshed. On such occasions knives were freely used,\\nand the revolver was an indispensable means of protec-\\ntion.\\nAs these lines are being penned the writer recollects\\nan occasion when about a dozen men, veterans of the\\nConfederate arnw, were seated on the side of a hill in\\nclose proximity to his place of abode. They had\\nnumerous bottles of brand} peaches and cherries (the\\nsale of whisky and brandy in any other form being for-\\nbidden by law on those days), all of which they greedily\\ndevoured, and speedily became intoxicated. They then\\nrecounted their deeds of valor upon the field of battle\\nduring the great rebellion; told how many Yanks\\nthey had killed, and exhibited, in one or two instances,\\ntrinkets manufactured from the bones of our poor Union\\nsoldiers. After that they boasted of the niggers they\\nhad owned before the war, and told how much they\\nregretted the loss of them. It happened that among\\nthese men there was one whose race was not well\\ndefined. He was a peculiar looking man not exactl}\\nwhite, nor yet was he sufficiently dark to be classed\\nwith the colored people by one not well acquainted with\\nhim. He was familiarlj known as Colonel. In his\\nday Colonel had owned a few slaves, and to a certain\\nextent he had affiliated with the white portion of the", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "16\\ncommunitj% During this maudlin performance on the\\npart of the men referred to, the conversation turned on\\nthe pedigree of the various members of the party, and\\neach in turn gave his, so far as he could. Smith said\\nhis ancestors came over direct from England and landed\\nat Jamestown; Scott said he could trace his pedigree to\\nthe Scottish bard of the same name, and he was not\\ncertain but that some of the Burns family were distantly\\nrelated to some of his ancestors; O Neil referred the\\ngentleman to his illustrious Irish ancfstr^^ of which he\\nseemed to be very proud; but, when it came to the\\nColonel s turn to speak, he was as silent as the tomb,\\nand opened not his mouth. Come, Colonel, said\\nSmith, none of that now; show up; no dodging.\\nThat s so, they all rhymed in chorus, Tell us\\nwhere j^ou came from. Well, gentlemen, said the\\nColonel, hesitating, if I must tell 3^ou, I believe T.am\\nPorhKjesey Portugese Nigger exclaimed Smith\\nwith much emphasis, and then there was a general\\nlaugh, and all took a drink at the expense of the blush-\\ning Colonel. Later in the evening these men mounted\\ntheir horses and rode violently through the streets of\\nthe village, yelling like wild Indians, terrifying the\\nsouls of timid women and children, and concluding the\\nperformance by cutting one of their own number\\nseverely with a knife. During the early part of this\\nsame afternoon an incident of a rather humorous nature", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "17\\ntook place, which was characteristic of the men and\\ncustoms.\\nA young man who had imbibed rather freely, and\\nwas confident respecting his physical abilit} said he\\nwas a tinker and spoiling for a fight; he had chal-\\nlenged several persons to a fight at fisticutts, and in one\\nor two instances he had even shaken his fist in the faces\\nof men. He continued to run around the square, daring\\nsome one to knock a chip otl of his shoulder, without\\nmeeting with the slightest success. Brown, one of our\\nparty, was at that time keeping a grocery facing the\\npublic square. The building occupied by him was built\\non the side of a hill, and the intervening depression in\\nfront had been filled with sawdust; just the place for\\nthrowing somersaults. Brown was very busy with his\\ncustomers, when the young man spoiling for a fight\\nentered his store and said I m a tinker; receiving no\\nattention from any one, he repeated the assertion, 7 m\\na tinker, I am! At that instant Brown turned, seized\\nthe youth by the collar of his coat and the waistband of\\nhis pantaloons, and threw him. Some said the misguided\\ntinker turned a triple somersault; that I cannot vouch\\nfor, but this much can truly be said: when he came\\ndown he struck on his head, and the last that was seen\\nof him he was sitting beneath a tree, mopping his brow\\nand wiping the blood from his nose, while he perchance\\nruminated in his mind over the uncertainties of life.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "18\\nThese days, however, were few and far between, and\\ncould not be relied upon. Under these circumstances,\\nthe aforesaid trio were not long in concluding to visit a\\nneighboring town of some commercial pretensions, for\\nthe purpose of prosecuting an investigation with a view\\nto an ultimate change of our place of residence. In this\\nsection of the country, those avenues of thrift and prog-\\nress, rail roads, were then, as now, little in use, and as a\\nmeans of conveyance our choice lay between walking\\nand buggy riding; but as the proposed route lay through\\nsands and rough lands, we were not long in selecting the\\nlatter. Our stock were not such as to attract the eye of\\na connoisseur, or even to reflect credit upon the equine\\nspecies in that vicinity, as a slight description of then\\nwill readily prove. Jones had a little bay mare, of ner-\\nvous temperament, slightly over-fed, and anxious to\\nexhibit her vivacity to the average observer. In short,\\nshe would run away whenever opportunity offered. But\\nJones was very proud of her, called her Fannie, and\\nmade a regular pet of her. Brown had a large sorrel\\nhorse, of very angular appearance, whose hip bones\\nwere so very prominent as to be suggestive of hat pins,\\nwhile his spinal column and heavy ribs, visible through\\nhis losely fitting hide, betokened a frame of uncommon\\nstrength and powers of endurance; and notwithstanding\\nthe evident fact that he had seen better days, he yet\\nretained a sufficient degree of his pristine vitality and", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "19\\nfire to paw the earth and neigh for new scenes and fresh\\nexploits; of which, 1 may add, he was ere long to have\\nan ample allowance. Brown purchased this horse and\\ngave as consideration, five dollars in money, one barrel\\nof flour, and two sides of salt dried bacon. Gentle\\nreader, you may smile if yon choose when I tell you\\nthis, but it is a fact, nevertheless; this unpretentious\\nhorse, under Ids master s judicious care, frecjuently\\ntraveled twenty miles, to the nearest rail road station,\\nand returned with fifteen hundred pounds of merchan-\\ndise, between sunrise and sunset of the same day; and\\nwas at times pitted against comparatively fast horses\\nfor a race. The writer s horse was a borrowed one. He\\nwas jet black, with a piece of his tail cut off; he was not\\nwhat might be called a fast horse on the contrary he\\nwas quite slow in his movements, and needed constant\\nprodding to keep him in motion; and had such a care-\\nworn, discouraged, heart-broken look about his counten-\\nance, as would almost melt a heart of stone, and cause\\nan over anxious driver to relent. Such, then, were our\\nhorses; and our vehicles were scarcely more pretentious.\\nThey were not models of beauty nor yet even fair speci-\\nmens of art; since they were minus tops, had low backs,\\nand the one in wdiich the writer and his family traveled\\nwould not track with the others by several inches.\\nHowever, they were the best that could be obtained in\\nthat section for love or money; and, making a virtue of", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "20\\nnecessity, we refrained from grumbling and faultfinding,\\nand began to prepare for our journey. Tin. first thing\\nprovided was provender for the horses, an article (juite\\nscarce in that villngv and hence very highly prized. We\\nfilled sacks with corn, placed them under the seats, and\\ntied on numerous bundles of fodder behind; filled our\\nbaskets with food and our Hasks with liquids for the\\ncompany; the little ones were stow(ul away in safe\\nplaces, and our positions taken on the scats. Thus\\nequipped and mounted, we turned our backs for the time\\nupon old Hudsonville, jubilant at the thought that for a\\nshort space at least we should be relieved of the fatigu-\\ning monotony which seemed to l)e crushing out all our\\nformer vigor, that we should esca[)e from the scornful\\nglances, the sneers and intolerable oppressions which\\ninevitably go hand in hand with caste proscription;\\nalbeit, those who champion the system are self consti-\\ntuted autocrats, and in any well-regulated community,\\nhaving merit as its standard of distinction, would not\\nattain to mediocrity. While such thoughts as the fore-\\ngoing fiit through the mind, we cross the corporate lim-\\nits, descend a slight knoll into a jjlcasant little valley,\\nlose sight of the si)ires of the churches, and are well\\nStarted on our journey.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER ir.\\nProsecuting the Journey. Beauties of Nature Strewn Around\\nUs.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Tiie Guide Post.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Tlie Irishman s Mistake. Brown goes\\nTo See a Man. The Old Mill Pond.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Just the Place for Dark\\nDeeds. Legends connected with it. Union Soldiers. Murdered\\nVictims. Story of Henry Woods. His Guilty Love and its\\nFatal Determination. Matrimony among the Plantation Hands\\nof the South. Wasted Power. Mistaken Policy of Southern Pro-\\nducers. What Judge said.\\nOnce relieved from the restraints imposed upon us\\nby municipal regulations, and stimulated by the cheer-\\ning surroundings, our little party gave itself up to the\\npleasures of the hour; the elder ones of us sang and\\ncheered, while the little ones made the welkin ring with\\nshouts of merry laughter, and sustained their reputation\\nof being little chatterboxes. And well might we\\nrejoice; for a scene was spread out around and before\\nus almost surpassing belief; a scene from the laboratory\\nof nature; such as no pen can depict or pencil sketch.\\nThe forests clothed in their newest garments and be-\\ndecked with vernal flowers, were more inviting than\\never; primroses blushed back at May flowers, while\\nviolets drooped their modest heads and each vied with\\nthe other in scattering sweet fragrance on the balmy\\nair. The feathered songsters, resplendent in their", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "22\\nrecent i)luniage, drew inspiration from the scene and\\npiped forth their melodious la\\\\ s of gratitude and\\nthanksgiving; while the frisky little squirrels, leaping\\nfrom liinl) to limi), glanced sidcwisc at us and ran\\nathwart our track as if to challenge us to a little game\\nof hide-aiid-go seek, in which the}- were sure to he the\\nvictors. Little Johnnie was desirous of having a bouquet\\nof l)oo Towers, as he termed pretty flowers, and his\\nwish was gratified: Alice, Jones eldest daughter,\\nthought if she had one of those little squirrels, she\\nwould have attained to the acme of her ambition: while\\nLulu was informed that the only practical way to gain\\npossession of one of those little red birds was to drop a\\nlittle salt on its tail. And thus we held our course\\nonward as rapidly as we could under the circumstances,\\nthe male portion of the family walking in the meantime\\nto assist the horses through the accumulating sands,\\nwhen suddenly we came to where the road forked, and\\nthere very demurely stood a guide post, with one\\nsolitary hand, pointing in an equivocal direction,\\nWhat s that, cousin Henry? said my better half.\\nThat, cousin, is a guide post, he replied. A guide\\npost! guide to what? it has onl}^ one index, and that is\\napparently pointing to the woods over there. Well,\\nsaid cousin Henry, for that matter, it would have been\\njust as well if it never had any, for at the time it was\\nput up there were only few in this part of the country", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "23\\nwho could read the inscription on it. The colored peo-\\nple were prohibited by law from learning to read, the\\npoor class of white people had no provision made for\\nthem, and the rich ones \\\\ery seldom needed a guide\\npost. The writer suggested that it was put there to\\ncommemorate some important event in the history of\\nthe neighborhood; and this suggestion drew forth the\\nwell-known stor}^ related by our ancestors, of the Irish-\\nman, fresh from the mother countr3^ who, while travel-\\ning in the Granite State, approached a guide post which\\nbore the inscription 40 miles to Manchester. It is\\nsaid that Patrick was greatly perplexed to fathom the\\nmeaning of the inscription: he took off his hat and\\nscratched his head, and finally, after intently gazing\\nupon it for a brief space with an expression of counte-\\nnance indicative of great anxiety, he audibly solilo-\\nquized: Fahrty miles the man chased her! be me sowl\\nI cud av ketched her in tin. Brown, however, who\\nduring the relation of the foregoing anecdote had been\\nscrutinizing a little clump of trees in the direction indi-\\ncated by the index on the guide post, just then surprised\\nus all by exclaiming: Ladies and gentlemen, please\\nexcuse me tor a moment while I go to yon shanty and\\nsee a man. And without further parle} he took leave\\nof us, not even awaiting our answer or interrogatory as\\nto whether he would have company. Another moment\\nexposed to full view a little groggery here in this", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "24\\nisolated place, to entrap the unwary traveler and\\ncontribute toward his fall. The lone index on the\\npost pointing to the grove was explained; all was plain\\nnow. We were mistaken in supposing it to be a guide\\npost; it was the dram seller s signal to the road to per-\\ndition. Brown shortl}^ overtook the remainder of tlie\\nparty; he was a changed man, for whereas before he left\\nus he was stupidly drll, his eyes now sparkled with\\nmerriment, and instead of being demure and solemn he\\nwas now garrulous, and had even began to compare the\\nold rail fence on the side of the road to a rustic struc-\\nture which he had seen in Central Park, New York,\\nwhen his narrative was fortunately cut short by Cousin\\nHenry (as we familiarly called Jones) exclaiming,\\nCousin John, (meaning the writer) do you see tliat\\nmill-pond over there? I assured him in most positive\\nterms that I did. Well, that is Hunt s mill pond, that\\nyou have heard me talk so much about. I want 3 ou to\\ntake a good look at it as we go by, because there are a\\ngood many hard stories told about it, and most of them\\narc true, too.\\nIn truth I scarcely needed the injunction to take a\\ngood look at it, for it was such a place as was well\\ncalculated to challenge the attention of any traveler,\\nand even as he spoke we ai)proached the rude bridge\\nover the race, which gave forth deep intonations beneath\\nthe horses hoofs and wagon wheels in perfect keeping", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "2\u00c2\u00a7\\nwith the sun-ounding sceneiy. Overhanging the margin\\nof one segment of this pond were gloonw cypress trees,\\nand beneath these an almost impenetrable jungle of\\nwhortleberry bushes, reeds and rushes, fit abode for\\nbeasts of prey and poisonous reptiles. Added to this\\nwas the deafening roar of the waters, rushing wildly\\nthrough the race, and reverberating through the for-\\nest; all of which made up a scene well suited for deeds\\nof violence and bloodshed. During the war, cousin\\nJohn, spake Jones, there were more than one poor\\nunion soldier killed and thrown into this pond, and if the\\nbottom could be raked, you would find man} a human\\nskeleton buried in the mud. Why do you say that,\\ncousin Henry? did you take any part in the transactions?\\nI asked. No, but these things were talked about and\\ngenerally understood; and the people hereabouts don t\\nhesitate to admit it. 1 remember hearing old Colonel\\nHull tell of a union soldier that escaped from his com-\\nmand one night; he was sick and could not go very fast,\\nand so, when the alarm was giA^en that a man had escaped,\\nand they put bloodhounds on his track, he was easily\\ncaptured. One of the part} asked the Colonel what was\\ndone with the soldier; but he got for an answer only a\\nsmile and a wink as the Colonel pointed over his shoul-\\nder in the direction of Hunt s mill pond.\\nAbout three years ago, he continued, a i)eddler s\\npack was found in tiiat thicket over there, pointing", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "26\\nto a suggestive looking jungle on the margin of the\\npond. It had l)een rifled of its contents; near it lay\\nan old leathern wallet, containing nothing of value, and\\nonly a few feet further ot! was found a heavy, club-\\nshaped piece of wood, blood-stained, with a few hairs\\nsticking to it. What became of the body no one has\\never answered, but if that old mill-pond could talk, I\\nthink it could tell something about it.\\nBut the strangest transactisn that ever took place\\nin connection with this pond, so far as I have any\\nknowledge, was the murder of a woman by one Henr}\\nWoods, who was hung in Hudsonville last summer.\\nWhat was that I asked.\\nWell, to give 3^ou a full understanding of the occur-\\nrence, I must go back a little.\\nYou see, he continued, during the days of slavery\\nit was not considered a very serious otfence for a slave\\nto have more than one wife; and while a few of the more\\nconscientious owners, in some instances seemed to dis-\\ncourage it, by far the greater number not only winked\\nat it, but actually encouraged what might have been\\nmistaken for one phaze of the religion of the latter day\\nsaints. The result was a pol3 gamous state of society\\nin existence among the slaves; and on many of the most\\npopulous plantations, husbandless wives and fatherless\\nchildren. In fact, even those who went through the\\nform of a marriage ceremon} were told that it was not", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "27\\nbinding on them, and so thoroughl}^ convinced were they\\nof the truth of this statement that after freedom came\\nthey were remarried by hundreds and thousands; indeed\\nRev. Mr. Moore, of Darlington, did nothing else for\\nseveral weeks than go around and marry these emanci-\\npated people. And a strange sight it was too. cousin\\nJohn, to see parents who had grown-up children, some\\nof them grand-children, old gray haired men and women\\nwho had climbed the hill together for more than half a\\ncentur} in some instances, where their owners were kind\\nand would not separate them, come to the matrimonial\\naltar, renew their vows, clasp each other in their free\\narms, and shout glory hallelujah to the Lord who had\\ndelivered them out of bondage and permitted them to\\nsee the glorious light of lil)ert3\\\\\\nOwing to the early training that these people had\\nreceived, he continued, there were a great many who\\nafter they gained their liberty refused to fall in with the\\nnew order of things, and continued to follow the old\\nfashion of having more than one wife. Such a man was\\nHenry Woods. He had a very nice woman for a wife,\\nwho was intelligent, industrious and kind; she was the\\nmother of a bright-ej^ed little child which he acknowl-\\nedged as his own, and Henry really loved them both.\\nBut, for some inexplicable cause, he could not make up\\nhis mind to .forsake another woman with whom he had\\nbeen more than intimate for several years, notwithstand-", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "28\\ning his seeming desire to 1() so. His wife chicled him;\\nthe nciglibors upbraided; his own conscience told him it\\nvvfis wronj, but still he persisted in his course. Finally\\nhis wife told him she would not live with him any\\nlonger unless he quit Lucy, his paramour. Tiien Henry\\nbecame desperate; he went to Luc} and tried to per-\\nsuade her to let him alone, but as she would not consent\\nhe let the matter dro[) and said no more on the subject.\\nAnd so the matter rested, and had almost escaped the\\nattention of every one, until one day a man ploughing\\non the other side of this pond, smelled an obnoxious\\nodor, and upon investigation lound the partially decom-\\nposed remains of a colored woman. The corpse was\\nidentified as the body of Luc}^ who had previously been\\nmissed, but as the process of decomposition was far\\nadvanced and the stench was almost intolerable, it was\\ndilHcult to persuade any one to handle it, and it was\\nfinally placed in a rude box and buried without examin-\\nation.\\nI lie allair had been nearly forgotten, when, the\\nattention of the coroner being called to it, he caused\\nthe body to be disinterred and examined. It was\\nfound, upon examination, that the woman was the\\nvictim of foul play, and had been inhumanly murdered\\nby some unknown felon, who, for aught that was known,\\nwas even then at large in their very midst. Suspicion\\npointed at once toward Henry Woods, her former", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "29\\nfriend, as being the guilty part\\\\ and, as is generally\\nthe case, the discovery of one fact led to others. It was\\nascertained that about ten days previous to the discovery\\nof the body a loud shriek had startled several persons\\nresiding m the vicinity of tlie pond, but as no adequate\\ncause therefor was discovered the matter was dismissed\\nfrom their minds and shortly forgotten. One of the\\nneighbors also recalled the fact that at or about the\\nsame time, when traveling along the road near the pond,\\nhe saw Henry standing in a suspicious manner amongst\\nthe under brush, and that he, when accosted, answered\\nevasively. And then ever} one remembered that Henr}\\nhad worn a downcast, guilty look upon his countenance\\nfor a week or more, and had not borne himself in his\\nusual manner. All these things contributed to produce\\nin the mind of every one the conviction that Henrj^\\nWoods had indeed murdered Luc} Hall, his mistress.\\nThe result was the arrest and incarceration of Henry,\\nwho firmly and persistentlv protested his innocence, and\\ndenied all knowledge of the circumstances surrounding\\nthe tragedy. The body of Lucy, when examined, pre-\\nsented not only several contused wounds and abrasions\\nof the skin, but, in addition to all these, there were\\nnumerous little gashes covering the scalp, wearing the\\nappearance of having been made by the corner of a\\nhatchet, or some tool having a blunt edge, while there\\nwas a total absence of one arm, for which no one could", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "30\\naccount. The bruises and cuts were easily accounted\\nfor upon general principles, but the absence of the arm\\nwas a matter that excited the curiositj of all.\\nThe jail in which Henr}^ was confined was a typical\\nSouthern jail, contracted in its dimensions, poorly ven-\\ntilated, and filthy beyond all reason. The atmosphere\\nof this institution was impregnated with foul odors,\\nwhich emanated from the stagnant tluids contained in\\nslo[)-pails, that stood around lacking attention, and of\\nvermin there was no limit. The walls of his cell were\\ncovered with sheet iron, while a bundle of rags in one\\ncorner of the room answered the purpose of a l)ed. His\\nfood was the proverbial corn bread and fat l)acon.\\nWhen occasional deliveries of this jail took place, the\\nprisoners had onlv to escape to a swamp in the rear of\\nthe building and their freedom was secured, for the old\\nsheriff made no effort to pursue them beyond the mar-\\ngin, where he would discharge his fowling-piece and beat\\na hast} retreat. At length the trial of Henry took\\nplace, and his innocent wife, who had in the meantime\\nbeen arrested also, as j^articeps criminis, and lodged in\\njail with him, was compelled to l)ear a portion of his\\ndisgrace and sufferings. Henry was convicted of mur-\\nder, but his wife was set free without day. Alter he\\nhad received the sentence of death, he dismissed all\\nhope of pardon on this side of the grave, made a com-\\nplete confession of the crime, and sought the services of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "31\\na minister of the gospel. He never did, however,\\naccount for the missing arm, concerning which there\\nwere two theories in vogue; one of which was that when\\nthe woman was pushed into the water and drowned, as\\nHenry had confessed, the arm was chopped off by her\\nmurderer while clinging to the log upon which he stood\\nbut the other theory, which was the favorite one among\\nthe colored people, was that after being cast into the\\npond, an alligator, or some other monstrous reptile, had\\ntorn the limb from the body, as the mangled stump\\nseemed to indicate.\\nHangman s daj^ was a gala day in the South then\\nas now, he continued; and the day on which Henry\\nWoods was executed was no exception to the rule.\\nLong before the hour appointed for the execution, people\\nof all colors, ages and conditions began to flock to the\\nscene of the sad event, which was the Public Square of\\nHudsonville. Young and old, large and small, rich and\\npoor, the vigorous and decrepit all came in wagons and\\nbuggies, on horseback and afoot, they crowded the roads\\nleading to the village. It seemed as though all the\\nplantations and hamlets within a radius of twenty miles\\nhad poured out their inhabitants and sent them forth\\non one grand holiday excursion. They filled all the\\nvacant space within the bounds of the Public Square,\\nthey crowded the stores and dwelling-houses, and even\\nthe neighboring house and tree-tops were made to do", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "32\\nservice on this occasion. Those inseperable attendants\\nof holiday assemhlages, circusses and camp meetings in\\nthe South the gingerbread, beer and peanut-venders\\nwere on tlie scene, ministering to the wants of the\\nhungry; while the elfects of corn whisky were plainly\\ndiscernable in the flushed clieeks, unsteady gait and\\nheated discussions of those who had imbibed it, so slight\\nwas the moral effect of the pu])lic execution which was\\nwithin an hour to be consummated in their very\\npresence.\\nAt precisel} twelve o clock the gloomy procession\\nappeared, with the doomed man in their midst. The\\nvictim wore an ordinary suit of black clothing, kindly\\ndonated for the occasion, had his arms firml}- bound at\\nthe elbows and wrists, a black cap on his head and a\\nhalter around his neck. During the mournful march\\nfrom the jail to the scaffold, his wife, who was in a\\nneighboring house, gave forth a series of most heart-\\nixMiding shrieks, and the whole combined furnished such\\na scene as brought tears from the eyes of the strongest\\nman present. The victim mounted the fatal drop with\\nplacid composure, in strange contrast with the agitation\\nobservtible on the part of the rest. He sul)mitted with-\\nout a murmur to having his knees and ankles l)ound,\\nand then he addressed the crowd. He acknowledged\\nhis guilt; denied that he mutilated the Ixxly l)y cutting\\noff the arm referred to: warned those in his presence", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "agaiast the evils of bad company and kindred evils, and\\nconcluded by asserting his willingness to die and com-\\nmending his soul to the Savior. A hymn was then\\nlined out by the minister present, in the singing of\\nwhich the doomed man took the lead. The good sisters\\npresent shouted and prayed by turns, and in the midst\\nof all this confusion the trap was sprung which launched\\nthe soul of Henry Woods into eternity. The drop was\\ntoo long, and the result was the feet of the victim rested\\nupon the earth. Several strong men rushed to assist the\\nsheriff, and raised up the body until the rope could\\nbe shortened. The body was even then motionless and\\nvoid of any evidence of animation to the casual observer,\\nalthough there might have been a perceptible motion of\\nthe pulse to the medical expert. After hanging there\\nfor the space of an hour, it was lowered into a\\nrough pine box and turned over to the relations of the\\ndeceased for burial.\\nWhen Cousin William had concluded this interesting\\nnarration it was noticed that the children had succumbed\\nto the influence of the springing motion of the buggies\\nand fallen asleep, while the old pond had been left far in\\nthe rear.\\nIn this connection it may not be considered out of\\nplace to remark that the supply of water power by the\\npond referred to was sufficient to have run spindles and\\nlooms enough to spin and weave all the cotton fibre", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "34\\nproduced in that vicinity, yet it was utterly disregarded,\\nsubjected to no practical use, and permitted to waste.\\nPerhaps the future will bring forth some Southern\\npolitical economist who will undertake to explain the\\nreason why the producers of the South continue to persist\\nin their lavish wastefulness: why they ignore all the\\nteachings of the past and the rules and maxims of\\neconomy, and cling to their ante helium habits. At\\npresent no adequate excuse presents itself so far as the\\nwriter is aware of. They plant their cotton and garner\\nit; they press it into bales and sell it to foreign man\\nufacturers for a small price, and then buy it back\\nagain, manufactured into fabrics of various kinds, at a\\ngreatly increased figure. They harvest their sugar-cane\\npress out the juice and reduce it to sugar, S3a up and\\nmolasses, and in many instances leave the clarif^ang and\\nrenovating process to be done by Northern labor and\\nenterprise. Very poor land, which will scarcely produce\\nthe tithe of a crop of cotton, is still subjected to the\\nculture of the fibre, while the same land, if given to the\\nproduction of corn, sweet potatoes, peas, and other like\\nproduce, would repay the laborer s toil and render it\\npossible for one to obtain articles of ordinary diet for the\\ntable in some sections where now scarcely the invalid is\\nable to subsist, so completely is the whole territory\\ngiven to the culture of cotton. The writer has an\\nacquaintance who once walked more than eight miles in", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "35\\nscouring the country thereabouts iu the almost vain\\nettort to procure a tender chicken for an invalid wife.\\nAnd it is a matter of no ver} unfrequent occurrence that\\nwhen at times the boats are delayed by drouth, or other-\\nwise, a whole town or district is deprived of such com-\\nmon articles of food as flour and bacon, coffee and sugar;\\nand, surprising as it may seem, there ^\\\\as a time during\\nthe writer s residence in Hudsonville, when corn for the\\nlive stock was held at a premium because of its scarcity,\\nand this, too, when the village was literally surrounded\\nwith well cultivated plantations.\\nThis ruinous policy on the part of the South was very\\naptly illustrated b} Judge a few weeks ago when,\\nin the course of a public address on the occasion of a\\nreception which had been tendered one of our prominent\\ncitizens by the people of Columbia, South Carolina, he\\nsaid in substance as follows: We sell our raw hides at\\neight and ten cents a pound, and ship them to the North\\nwe furnish the red oak bark to tan them with; after-\\nwards we buy back the tanned leather and pay you\\nthirty-five and forty cents per pound for it. Nor are\\nthe many inconveniences attending such a policy the\\nleast objectionable feature attending this polic}^; for we\\nmust not lose sight of the additional fact that, while the\\nproducers fail to realize the increased profit accruing\\nfrom the manufacturing of the raw materials into their\\nultimate forms; while their cities and towns languish for", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "36\\nthe want of remunerative employment for the men and\\nthe young women who might become to be of assistance\\nin providing the necessaries of life for large and needy\\nfamilies, and the tide of immigration is stayed from its\\nonward tendency in that direction; all of which causes\\nhave their force in seriorsly discouraging and retarding\\nthe growth of that whole section of country: while all\\nthese facts exist, I say, the additional fact remains to be\\nwritten that the people of the South are actually paying\\nout of their meagre surplus, representing the profits on\\ntheir crops, the price of twice handling the goods and\\nconveying them to and from places remote from the\\nsections where they are consumed. The South expe-\\nrienced the Ibll}^ of this policy to her sorrow during the\\nrecent rebellion, when she was a dependent upon her\\nenemies for the sinews of war, and her sons and daugh-\\nters, in many instances, walked the streets of her\\ncommercial centers clothed almost literally in sackcloth\\nfor it is related, on good authority, that in some\\ninstances carpeting was utilized as a covering for the\\nperson, and boots and shoes were ranked as the greatest\\nluxuries. In those days parched corn husks took the\\nplace of coffee, and butternut cotton goods were substi-\\ntuted for broad -cloth.\\nBut we have digressed from our original topic. We\\nhave passed the fifteen-mile post, just five miles from the\\nvillage of Oriole, the first on our route, and as we are", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "37\\ndesirous of reaching that point before three o clock we\\nmust urge on our horses. Once there, we shall unhitch\\nand feed them, while we partake of a sliglit repast\\nourselves.\\nBut, sta}-; we arc approaching objects of importance.\\nWhat are those moss covered buildings just in advance\\nof us, cousin Henry?\\nThey are an old church and school-house, cousin\\nJohn; and that lonely-looking space just in the rear is a\\ncemetery, or grave-yard, as they are called here, he\\nanswered.\\nKind reader, excuse us for a moment while we hold\\nthe baby, so that our patient wife can change her posi-\\ntion, for she vows that the low brace attached to our\\nbuggy, called a back, is tortu) ing her, and a change must\\nbe made, and that without delay; afterwards we shall\\nreturn to the church, the school-house and the deserted\\ncemetery.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER III.\\nThe Old Church and School House. Eeflections on their Style\\nof Architecture. The Forgotten Dead. Superstitious Dread of\\nGhosts on the part of the Inhabitants. Witchcraft and Conjura-\\ntion Peculiar Antics of a Pretended Conjurer.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 His Legal Com-\\nplications and Happy Deliverance. Despondency and Gloom\\no(;casioned by a Belief in the same. Ignorance the Cause of these\\nSuperstitious Beliefs. Its Existence in Germany, England, and\\nNew England in the Past.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Day beginning to Dawn in the South.\\nWhen I am dead and gone from you darling.\\nWhen I m laid low in my grave,\\nAnd my spirit has gone to Heaven above,\\nTo Him who my soul has saved\\nWhen you are happy and gay once more,\\nThinking of days that have been\\nThis one little favor I ask of you,\\nSee that my grave is kept green.\\nIt is not the intention of the writer to refer so partic-\\nularly to the church and school house in this connection,\\nas to the forlorn cemeter^^ beyond, for aside from the dila-\\npidated appearance of these relics of the past, and the\\nmemories of days that have now become historical, which\\nare recalled by their presence, there was nothing con-\\nnected with them worthy of especial mention. It is true,\\nthe old well beneath the spreading oak over there, with", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "39\\nancient sweep^aarf* detached pole and moss covered buck-\\net, carried us baclv in imagination to the time when the\\nlads and lassies of that section mounted upon their\\nfrisking steeds, who after accomplishing their sabbath\\ndays journey to the house of the Lord, dismounted by its\\nside, and quenched their thirst from its refreshing con-\\ntents; to say nothing of the little ones, (children of the\\nfavored few) who found in its crystal draught an ever-\\nready excuse to escape the vigilant eye of the school\\nmaster, on the sultry summer s day.\\nAnd who that has read the story of the attlictions\\nand persecutions of the colored race in the south, could\\neven casually glance at the shattered panes, broken\\ndoors, dust covered pulpit and uncushioned seats with\\nbacks so erect and unyielding as to reflect to some de-\\ngree the cruel dispositions of those who were wont to\\noccupy them, while beneath the ministrations of some\\nsedate divine they searched the Scriptures in the vain\\nendeavor to discover some maxim or command that\\nwould justify or even extenuate the sin of human slavery\\nindulged in by them. But there was nothing connected\\nwith these time honored ruins that carried the mind\\nback to an era of thrift and advancement, when the in-\\ntellect was unclouded and the ambition soared to sub-\\nlime conceptions: nothing in the architectural design of\\nthese, suggestive of the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Com-\\nposite, Gothic or any other school known to the artist;", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "40\\nbut everything was Hat, and unpretentious, in perfect\\nkeeping with a generation that courted ease and exemp-\\ntion from toil, at the expense of the sweat, the blood and\\nlives of a whole race of people; and who preferred\\nrather to devote their time to forging fetters for their\\nlimbs and training blood-hounds for the inhuman chase,\\nthan to unfolding the god-like qualities of mind and\\nsoul, and contributing toward the amelioration of human\\nwoes.\\nBut let us look at this little cemeterj^ this last rest-\\ning place of the forgotton dead. I say forgotten and I\\nthink rightly so; for who could look upon that lonely\\ndeserted space all covered with rank weeds and inhabited\\nby serpents, and come to any other conclusion. Here\\nwere no marble slab or monument, bearing an inscription\\nof love and kind remembrance; not even a stake, in\\nsome instances, remained to mark the grave of one who\\nformerly graced the board; it might have been a fond\\nparent, or perhaps a kind and loving brother or sister.\\nWho knows but that beneath those very weeds and\\nrubbish, lay the remains of one who once was the joy\\nand light of the household, such an one as could have led\\ncaptive the heart of wealth and virtue; one whose merry\\nvoice resounded through these very groves, fit company\\nfor the little song birds, that acknowledged her coming\\nwith songs of delight; whose flaxen tresses floated lightly\\non the summer breezes, disclosing to view a bust of ala-", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "41\\nbaster and form angelic; and it may be that those little\\nfeet once capered nimbi} o er the well scrubbed floor to\\nthe lascivious pleasing of a stringed instrument in\\nthe hands of a native musician. But now all is for-\\ngotten; no loving soul, fondly cherishing her memory,\\nbends the knee beside her lonel} grave, to plant a rose\\nbush or ivy vine; no one drops a tear,8ilently saying\\nGone but not forgotten.\\nUnder the circumstances is it to be wondered at that\\na general feeling of superstitious dread of ghosts pervad-\\ned the community in that section of countr} and that\\neven persons who would not have hesitated to beard\\nthe lion in his den or face the enemy on the field of\\nbattle, could not have been hired, coaxed or scared into\\nvisiting that cemetery, or any other cemetery indeed,\\nafter night fall To have undertaken to persuade some\\nof the people in that localit} that there were no such\\nexistences in fact as ghosts, and convince them that\\nwhat they mistook for these ethereal substances were\\nonly results of a distorted imagination, would have been\\na futile task for it was a belief not only inculcated from\\ntheir childhood, until it had become to be a part of their\\nreligious belief, but they had even imbibed it from their\\nmothers breast. The writer can recall instances in his\\nchildhood days when one of his daily chores was to go to\\nthe residence of Judge a wealthy old slave hold-\\ner, and fetch back our daily allowance of milk, and", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "42\\nsince this duty was frequently performed after night\\nfall, no little embarrassment was experienced on his part\\nb} reason of the ghost stories with which he was regaled\\nby those with whom he came in contact on the judge s\\npremises. Aunt Hannah would tell of the dead\\ngroaning in their graves, when certain passages of\\nscripture were read over them, on certain nights of the\\nyear at the hour of low twelve; LittleAunty, would\\ntell of a haunted house on the writer s wa} to his home,\\nwhere liglits were blown out and strange noises heard\\nat all hours of night, in which no one could he induced\\nto reside for love nor money; while Augustus would\\nrelate that a real ghost had ])een seen a few days prior,\\nwalking in tlie village cemetery, and vow that not for\\nhis liberty (he was a slave) could he be induced to enter\\nthat cemetery after dark. And often on a winter s night\\nafter sitting and hearing those ghost stories repeated\\naround the family circle, one s heart would leap within\\nhim at the rustling of a garment or the movement of a\\nmouse, and in imagination he was even then in the j)re-\\nsence of a veritable Spirit of health or goblin damned\\nand as for sleep, it was a stranger to his eyelids for\\nweary hours, and when at last it came, it brought with\\nit dreams such as were better calculated to disturb than\\nrefresh the mintl. And while considering this subject,\\nwe are tempted to refer also to another superstitious\\nbelief which has become firmly seated in the minds of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "43\\nmany persons of both colors in the South, I refer to\\nthe belief in witchcraft and conjuration, the latter of\\nwhich so far as I am informed is only a modification of\\nthe former, according- to their teachings and belief.\\nThey not only refer to the traditions of their ancestors\\nas tlie basis of this silly belief, but even go so far as to\\npoint with pride to certain passages of the Scriptures, to\\nbe found in tlie Old Testament, in justification of it;\\nand with a look of triumph ask you whether you are\\nwiser than the inspired writers. Gray haired matrons\\nand sires, with one foot in the grave, who rest\\ntheir future happiness on a firm belief in the teachings\\nof the meek and lowly Savior, will prate for hours of\\nwitches, that enter dwellings through key holes, and\\ncan only be killed by being shot with silver balls; while\\nthey are as completely enslaved by their superstitious\\nfears, maxims, lucky and unlucky days, and as much\\nsubjected by the force of the same, as though they were\\n1 the stocks, or fettered to the soil. Diseases\\nthat under other circumstances would be attributed\\nto ordinar}^ causefs, are laid at the door of witches\\nand conjurers, and the only practical and reasonable\\ntreatments are ignored, while enchantments of various\\nkinds, amulets, and charms are resorted to as a means of\\nrelief. Cups are turned, roots of various kinds are dug\\nfrom the earth and treasured up, horse shoes and bones\\nof animals are suspended in tlie house or nailed over the", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "44\\ndoors, cards are shnflled and their dread portents read\\nwith ahirm; children are taught to religiously avoid step-\\nping in the fresh tracks of those who have preceded\\nthem on the road; to enter a house at one door and depart\\nby the same, they consider an ill omen; to turn back is a\\nsign of bad luck, because Lot s wife looked back and was\\nturned into a pillar of salt; an old shoe is cast after a\\nnewly married couple, and the life and death of the\\ncontracting parties to every marriage are influenced\\nby the state of the weather at the time of its consumma-\\ntion. All the foregoing signs are regarded with religious\\nscrupulousness, to sa} nothing of the phazes of the moon\\nand lucky and unlucky stars; a few marks upon the\\nearth or a crooked stick in the way, excites as much\\ncuriosity, more indeed, than a venomous reptile would.\\nThe writer recalls an incident in this connection,\\nwhich occurred during his sojurn in the South, that goes\\nfar toward illustrating the subject under consideration.\\nNot far from the village of Hudsonville there was situated\\na large cotton plantation, the property of a Mr. Sackett,\\nof Charleston. There were extensive quarters upon this\\nland for the accommodation of the hands, of whom there\\nwere a goodly number. The overseer, together with his\\nwife and children, composed the white portion ot the\\ninhabitants, while the colored hands constituted the\\nremainder. They were of the average intelligence\\nfound in that section of the country. During the spring", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "45\\nof the year 1872, a peculiar-looking genius, tall of\\nstature, dark of complexion, wearing knee breeches, a\\nred flannel shirt and a very broad-brimmed straw hat,\\nmade his appearance upon the plantation aforesaid,\\ncarrying in his hand a small satchel, containing numerous\\nvials filled with liquid substances of various colors. He\\nannounced himself as being a votary at the shrine of his\\nSatanic majesty, with whom he was in league, and by\\nwhose aid and assistance he possessed power not only\\nover all the various diseases and ills to which humanity\\nis heir, but even succeeded in convincing some of the\\nmembers of the little community that he held in his\\npower the destinies of all who came within reach of his\\nmagic arts. He could unfold the secrets of the past and\\npresent, and prognosticate the future. His bearing and\\nattire were so very peculiar that he experienced little\\ndifliculty in securing free access to the rude cabins,\\nwhere he gratuitously obtained his dinner and supper.\\nDuring the interval between these meals he improved\\nthe opportunity of telling the fortunes of several of the\\nheads of families and their wives. To some husbands\\nhe unfolded the infidelity of their wives, and then he, in\\nturn, revealed to the grief-stricken wives all the myste-\\nries of their husbands guilty loves. The result of all\\nthis treachery was that there were few cabins on that\\nplantation during tlie following night where peace and\\nquiet prevailed. Mutual accusations were made mutual", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "46\\nexplanations and protestation.^ followed; then curses\\nand hissing epithets were .showered down freely upon\\nthe head of the presumptuous wretch the vice-gerent of\\nOld Nick who was the cause of all the trouble. At\\nlast the impostor was ferreted out, Ijound hand and foot\\nand, after having been ridden on the ragged edge of a\\nrail through the quarters, he was turned over to the\\ntender mercies of the minions of the law. The trial\\njustice s office was crowded on the following morning\\nwith witnesses and anxious spectators, determined to\\nsee that right and justice prevailed.\\nThe justice s office was situated on an isolated town\\nlot, flanked on either side with small patches of corn.\\nI he corn Avas now sufficiently advanced to be about five\\nfeet in height, which in that locality was not more than\\nhalf height. The case was called The State of South\\nCarolina against John Doe. The now thoroughly\\nfrightened victim was led to the bar of justice; the win-\\ndows and the door were open, and yet the heat was\\noppressive and the atmosphere stifling.\\nWhen the defendant had patiently listened to the\\nreading of the charge preferred against him, he mur-\\nmured not, but entered a plea of guilty. Then, as if\\nto seek relief, he exclaimed, Sherifl^, for goodness sake\\ngive me a little water, or I shall faint; at the same\\ninstant reaching forward toward the water bucket,\\nwhich stood on a shelf near the door. The crowd, now", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "47\\npartially reconciled, stood apart to give the tainting\\nman a chance, when, with a leap and a bound, the bird\\nescaped, and in another moment, as he sped through the\\ncorn, the rows actually parted to receive him, so great\\nwas his speed. Talk of pursuing him! one had as well\\nhave undertaken to pursue the frightened stag or to\\nchase the bird on the wing, so rapid were his movements.\\nHe never smiled on us again, and the last word that was\\nheard of him was brought by a wagoner, who had\\nencountered him in an adjoining county, where by means\\nof a black cord stretched across the road and his vials\\nof liquids, he had frightened some of the ignorant\\nones, and was actually demanding and receiving from\\nthem small sums of money as an indemnity against\\nevil.\\nThis is a strange recital, but true nevertheless. I do\\nnot hesitate to assert that death itself were preferable to\\na condition of mind such as enslaves those who are\\nthe victims of that cruel superstitious belief known as\\nconjuration, when from the very nature of its teachings\\nthey are cut off from all hope, and relegated to gloomy\\nforebodings and despair. Let us hope that a brighter\\nday is dawning for the deluded souls in the Sunny\\nSouth, when intelligence and reason shall prevail, and\\nignorance shall be dispelled. Then all these supersti-\\ntious beliefs will be banished. The time was when in\\nsome of the most enlightened portions of the earth", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "48\\nsimilar beliefs prevailed to an alarming extent; for we\\nare told by Macauley that in the beginning of the six-\\nteenth century death was lirst pronounced against all\\nwho should be convicted of witchcraft; also that about\\nthe year 1515, five hundred witches were executed in\\nGenoa in the space of three months: and that about one\\nhundred thousand persons were executed in Germany\\nfrom the publication of the bull of Innocent VIII., in\\nthe beginning of the sixteenth century, up to the sup-\\npression of the evil: in some instances children not\\nmore than nine j^ears of age being the victims. And, wi-\\nrabile dictv, we are informed that even in Old England,\\nin the 3 ear 1716, a Mrs. Hix and her little daughter,\\naged nine years, were hanged at Huntington for selling\\ntheir souls to the devil and raising a storm by pulling\\noff their stockings and making a lather of soap; and\\nthat no less than thirty thousand were executed in\\nEngland for witchcraft. And when, in addition to the\\nforegoing, we recall the fact that even in our own\\nbeloved countr^^ bitter persecutions have taken place on\\nthis same account, we need not marvel that it exists in\\nthe South among those who have not enjoyed the\\nelevating influence of education and modern teachings.\\nBut, stay; I have detained the reader so long with my\\nmusings and anecdotes that we are now in sight of the\\nvillage of Oriole.\\nThe children are awake again and waking the echoes,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "49\\nrejoiced at the idea of pressing mother earth once more\\nwith their little feet; and even our fatigued horses have\\nquickened their pace, fully cognizant of the fact that\\nthey are nearing the end of the first stage. We shall\\nmeet asrain in the village.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER IV.\\nOriole.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Its Appearance, Population, etc.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Edward Hill, our\\nHost.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Some Account of his Early Life and Subsequent Career.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nLabor and Perseverance Conquers All.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Sacrifice of Principle\\nEssential to Success in the South Then as Now.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Our Repast.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nThe /T/e7iM.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 ColIar(Is. Moral Status of the Denizens of Oriole.\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094Brown s Opinion: It is Worse than New York. Reminis-\\ncence of a Former Visit to This Place.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Reflections on the Treat-\\nment of Colored People in all parts of the South.\\nThe village of Oriole would never haA e existed unless\\nthe W. R. Rail Road had l)een constructed; and as it\\nowes its origin to that rail road, to a similar degree it\\nwas dependent upon it for its means of support. The\\nshops were located here, together with a round house\\nfor the accommodation of locomotives, and tliose supplied\\nemployment for the heads of the greater number of fam-\\nilies in tlie place. A ware house, three varieties stores,\\nand four groggeries for the accommodation of the inhab-\\nitants and stranger guests,^ who flocked in at stated\\nintervals from the surrounding territory, completed the\\nlist of business establishments, if we except a dingy\\nlooking excuse for an hotel, of which, more further on.\\nAs the afternoon was far advanced, and both tourists\\nand beasts of burden were sadly in need of refreshments\\nwe did not tarry to make an inspection of the town, or", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "51\\neven to gratify the idiotic stare of the lonesome looking\\ninhabitants, but urged our steeds forward to the suburbs\\nwhere resided an old acquaintance, in the person of Mr.\\nEdward Hill, a gentleman of color, the head and chief\\nsupport of a large and growing famih^ Mr. Hill was\\nthe personification of a self made man, viewed from one\\naspect, and furnished a fair illustration of what a man,\\ndevoid of intellectual training beyond such as he\\ncould acquire under adverse circumstances, proscribed\\nby a wicked and embarrassing caste prejudice, can ac-\\ncomplish, if he only possesses a sober, industrious char-\\nacter, coupled with a will to overcome. Edward Hill was\\nmore than the foregoing; he was a fair type of a large\\nclass of colored men who were then as now struggling\\nagainst adverse fate in the South, in the laudable eflfort\\nto vindicate the good name of the so called freedmen of\\nthat section. Edward was born a slave in the state of\\nOld Virginia; he had no remembrance of his mother\\nor father, because he was separated from them in his in-\\nfancy, they having been sold to a speculator, who\\ncarried them to one of the gulf states, as was supposed,\\nand disposed of them to the producers of sugar and cot-\\nton. When quite a lad, he was purchased by Colonel\\nHill, one of the former residents of that county, and\\ngiven employment as a plantation hand on his land, in\\nwhich capacity he soon became to be a favorite, by\\nreason of his industrious habits and pleasing disposition.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "52\\nWhen the Emancipation Proclamation was issued,\\nEdward, like the remainder of the hands, became to be\\na free man, and without a month s delay, set about earn-\\ning a livelihood for his family for he had already taken\\nunto himself a wife, after the plantation fashion then\\nprevailing, and was even then the father of several\\npromising little children.\\nColonel- Hill, his former master, furnished him a\\npiece of land, containing about twenty- tive acres, upon\\nthe condition that Edward should give him a portion\\nof the net proceeds, after defraying the expenses of\\nproducing the crop which was supposed to be a very fair\\ntransaction on the part of the Colonel for the time and\\nlocality in which he resided. In order to procure the\\nnecessary implements of agriculture, as well as means of\\nsustenance while the process of cultivating the crop was\\ntaking place, our friend was compelled to execute a lien\\nupon the whole crop and his personal etfects to a grocer\\nin the town, as was the universal custom in all that\\nregion of country. His power consisted of an old horse,\\nwhich he had purchased for a trifle, and a small steer,\\nhardly tractable, but yet under the vigorous and skillful\\nhandling of his master capable of doing good service.\\nIn the midst of the season, at a time when liis crop most\\nneeded attention, Edward had the misfortune to lose his\\nhorse, and then there was to be seen an example of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "53\\npluck and energy scarcely equaled, certainly not excelled,\\nby the fabled heroes of ancient mythology; for this\\ndetermined man did not sit in despondency and gloom\\nand bewail his loss; but, shall I tell it, while his eldest\\nson guided the plow behind the little steer, his loving\\nwife stood in the same capacity to him, for he actually\\ndrew the plow which she guided. No member of that\\nfamily was permitted to be idle, even the little ones\\nassisting in various ways. The result of all this heroic\\neflbrt was that at the end of the season Edward had a\\nsurplus, after paying all his debts, and the next spring\\nfound him entering upon his preparations for another\\ncrop with a good horse and wagon, which he could call\\nhis own. And so he had continued to labor, year after\\nyear, until now, after the lapse of nine years, we found\\nhim the owner of a large tract of well-improved land,\\ncompletely stocked, and capable of producing, even in\\nan average season, twenty-five bales of cotton, which was\\nat that time worth in the aggregate about eighteen\\nhundred dollars. This is the class of colored men so\\noften referred to by members of Congress and others\\nfrom the South in vindication of the wise and humane\\npolicy adopted by them toward those who were formerly\\ntheir slaves. They say: Behold Edward Hill, only\\nnine 3 ears a free man, and 3 et the owner of a large farm\\nand its api)urtenances, with a net income of at least a", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "54\\nthousand dollars per year. Where is j^our colored\\ncitizen in the North that is doing as well. By way of\\nanswer to all such we have simply to say that, while\\nEdward throve and accumulated property, he did it at a\\nfabulous cost, namely: the utter sacrifice of his man-\\nhood; the subjection of all his civil and political\\nconvictions to the dictates of those whom he dared not\\ndeny as his superiors. He did it by eschewing all\\npolitical discussions, and even the ballot-box, except\\nwhen, for the sake of satisfying his neighbors, he voted\\nthe Democratic ticket, against which his soul and con-\\nvictions rebelled within him. But, hearken! they are\\ncalling us to dinner or supper, which ever you please,\\nfor it is rather late for dinner and somewhat early for\\nsupper; and, while we have been following our friend\\nover his farm, viewing his possessions and listening to a\\nrecital of his struggles to obtain it, the ladies, God\\nbless them, have prepared our frugal repast, and now\\nwe must partake of it. Mrs. Hill had very kindly\\nprepared us some hot coffee, while our good wives had\\npooled the contents of their several baskets for the com-\\nmon repast. The menu was not such an one as would\\nhave been apt to stimulate the appetite of a fastidious\\nperson, accustomed to an elaborate bill of fare, but the\\nviands were relished nevertheless, as the appearance of\\nthe dishes, after we had finished, showed. We had as a", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "55\\nBILL OF FARE,\\nthe following:\\nNo Soup No Fish\\nBoiled Bacon, very fat and cold, with CoUards\\nStewed Chicken, with Dumplings\\nSweet Potatoes\\nFried Chicken\\nMore Col lards:\\nCorn Bread Pickles\\nApple Pie\\nCoffee\\nA few more Collards.\\nThe uninitiated ma}^ be curious to know what col-\\nlards are; and since you have the profoundest sympa-\\nthies of the writer, patient reader, if you have never\\neaten any of them, he will undertake to enlighten\\nyou a little on that subject.\\nCollards are a species of the cabbage plant, of a dark\\ngreen color; they are cultivated like cabbages, and have\\nalmost the exact appearance of cabbages until the}-\\nbecome advanced in age. The cabbage heads; the col-\\nlard does not head. But the collard does begin to head,\\nand forms a closed lump in the center about the size of\\nan orange, which turns white after being touched by\\nfrost, while the surrounding leaves are onl} streaked\\nwith white. To the inhabitants of the country districts\\nof the South, where there are no markets, and the daih\\nallowance consists of salt meat, rice, potatoes and the", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "56\\nlike, and where fresh beef is scarcely ever tasted by the\\npoor people, the collard is a very great blessing; because\\nwhen boiled in a pot with a piece of fat meat and balls\\nof corn meal dough, having the size and appearance of\\nordinary white turnips, called dumplings, it makes pal-\\natable a diet which would otherwise be all but intolera-\\nble. And the} are very dearly liked by nearh every\\none who has been raised on Southern soil, including\\neven some of her most dignified statesmen.\\nAfter dinner we improved the opportunity of taking\\na stroll through the principal street of the village, where\\na fair opportunit} was otfored of studying the moral\\nand intellectual status of the inhabitants. In front of\\nthe stores and groggeries benches were invariably to be\\nseen, upon which lounged numerous inferior specimens\\nof humanity, smoking clay pipes with long reed stems,\\nsquirting tobacco juice, whittling pine sticks, and spin-\\nning yarns. It was a scene such as was repeated\\nseventy-five times out of a hundred to the vision of the\\nsouthern tourists at that period of the South s history.\\nInvariably one could see hitched near by one or more\\nhorses, saddled and bridled a favorite mode of travel-\\ning in that country. Of oaths of a most blasphemous\\nnature there was no limit, and to the mind of the\\naverage Northener the suggestion forced itself that there\\nwas a suitable field for the faithful missionar}^ desirous\\nof doing something in the service of the Master.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "57\\nA year previous to this time, Brown, with his\\nfighting proclivities, had gone to this village and opened\\na small grocery store, in which he also retailed a little\\nof the ardent/ He had not been there three months\\nbefore he had received as many challenges to fight at\\nfisticuffs, all of which he had to accept or else wear the\\nbrand of coward, which would not only have subjected\\nhim to every conceivable annoyance from even his\\nphysical inferiors, but also jeopardized his success in\\nbusiness there. On one occasion he was compelled to\\nbar his doors and windows for several hours, until\\nassistance arrived; and, on another, he was shot in the\\nleg, and confined to his bed for several weeks. Brown\\nfinally, after a brave struggle, lost courage, sold his\\nplace and moved to Hudsonville, vowing that he would\\nnot live in Oriole if any one should give him the best\\nplace in the town, exclaiming: Why, upon my word\\nof honor, it is worse than New York, which in his\\nopinion was no compliment, for he was in New York\\nCity during the hanging of colored men and burning of\\nthe Colored Orphan Asylum by Democrats in 1863.\\nThe writer now recalls an incident, of a trip to\\nthis village, a few months prior to the time referred\\nto. His family, consisting of his wife and little boy,\\nnot two years of age, together with himself, were suffer-\\ning from the effects of a protracted spell of fever and\\nague, as well as the hurtful results of enormous doses of", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "58\\nquinine and calomel, tliathad l\u00c2\u00bbot n administered to them\\nby the physicians employed. We were hardly convales-\\ncent, very weak, and it was thought tliat the life of the\\nlittle one hung by a thread almost. As a last resort, it\\nwas decided to try tlie effects of a colder climate, and a\\nvisit to our kind relatives and friends in Northern Ohio\\nwas undertaken. Our first stage lay over the same\\nrough road that we have just described, and in order\\nthat we might ])e at the station in time to take the early\\nmorning train it was necessary to travel all night.\\nWhen we arrived at Oriole on the following morning,\\ncold, weary and almost heart-broken, we keenly felt the\\nneed of some nourishing food, and the writer imme-\\ndiately applied at the only hotel in the place for accom-\\nmodation. We were flatly refused; receiving as an\\nanswer from the landlord We don t feed niggers\\nliei e; our boarders will not allow it. If you choose you\\ncan go in the kitchen and eat. We looked around.\\nThere sat several sickly-looking men, who api)eared as if\\ntheir only mission on earth was to eat clay and spit\\ntobacco juice, and the} leered at us as though we had\\ncommitted the unpardonable sin. Why are we so dis-\\ngracefull} treated? the writer asked himself. We are\\nclean, our deportment is good, and we are fully prepared\\nto liquidate all bills. Ah, alas! I forgot: it is because\\nour comi)lexions arc less fail than theirs. The day will\\ncome when the rights of men shall be respected in this", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "59\\nSouth regardless of color, birth or previous condition,\\nEat in the kitchen Why, indulgent reader, the\\nkitchen was a filth hole, dark and repelling, the noisome\\nodors of which would have attracted the attention of the\\nhealth officers in any well-regulated Northern city with-\\nout delay. And so we were compelled to grope around\\nin a strange place, among strangers, until coming in\\ncontact with a large-hearted black man, a Good Samari-\\ntan in tlie full acceptance of the term, our wants were\\nsupplied, and we went on our way rejoicing. This is\\nonly one instance of the kind from hundreds that\\nmight be mentioned, showing that while colored men in\\nthe South arc acceptable as farm hands; while they are\\nsought after as house servants, and permitted to almost\\nmonopolize all classes of menial employment, and the\\nwomen in some instances serve as wet nurses, yet they are\\nnot good enough in the estimation of very ordinary white\\nSoutherners to hold places of olllcial trust, or sit at the\\nsame table with them.\\nIn fact, occurrences on a par with the one just\\nreferred to, took place in several instances during the\\nremainder of our journey to Ohio. Even in the city of\\nBaltimore we were threatened with ejection from the\\nparlor or waiting room of tlie Baltimore and Ohio Rail\\nRoad depot, and it was only by the most persistent\\neffort, and positive tliieats of a civil action against the\\ncompany lor damages, that we preA^ented tiie action from", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "60\\nbeing taken. And again, in our passage from Baltimore\\nto another locality, on the Chesapeake Bay, we were re-\\nfused such reasonable and ordinary accommodation as\\nwas accorded to the average white traveler, who was able\\nto pay for it. It is a sore aflliction for men in any\\nstation in life, however ignorant and humble soever they\\nmay be to be debarred of the common courtesies and\\nnecessaries of life; but when a class of persons who have\\nspent a portion of their days among civilized and mag-\\nnanimous people, such as are to be found in many sec-\\ntions of the North, and who have gained such a degree\\nof information, and culture as to know and appreciate\\nthe rights and duties of citizens to one another, are\\ndenied them in plain violation of all law, it is downright\\npersecution and torture. There is no city in the South\\nat the present time, where a colored gentleman can obtain\\nfirst class fare at an ordinary hotel; and indeed, it\\nwould be almost at the cost of his life that even the at-\\ntempt would be made in many instances. Nor is this\\nall; in some parts of the South they not only have sep-\\narate apartments provided for colored people in their rail\\nroad cars, but they have gone so far as to put benches in\\ndilapidated box cars for their accommodation, which are\\nat times suffered to become most intolerably filthy for\\nthe want of a little attention. And this practice is even\\ncarried to street cars in some cities, where the anxious\\npatron is compelled to await the arrival of one bearing", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "61\\nthe legend Colored People s Car, or else walk to his\\nplace of destination. But all the objects of interest are\\nnow examined. Let us return to the house and assist\\nthe women and children in their preparations for the\\nprosecution of our joui ney; for there are fifteen miles\\nbefore us yet to be traveled before Ave seek repose. The\\nchildren must be well wrapped too, for we are in the\\nvicinity of the Great Dismal Swamp, and when the sun\\nhas set the atmosphere will be impregnated with noisome\\nvapors freighted with miasma whence spring so many of\\nthe destructive diseases, of which the South is so prolific.\\nIn the meantime, cousin Henry, let me insist that you do\\nslacken your speed in the future for it will not be at all\\nagreeable to be left behind in this lonesome neighborhood.\\nOn our way hither you left us so far behind that we\\ncame near losing ourselves, but, thanks to a pair of vig-\\norous lungs we were enabled to attract your attention\\nand arrest your speed.\\nOnce more we are safely mounted, and away. Good\\nbye Mr, Hill and family 1 Good bye Oriole! May you\\nboth prosper and live long.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER V.\\nLowlan.ls of the Carolinas.-Spring Freshets.-Faniine Threat\\nened.-Mail Carrier Up a Tree.-Unhealthy Local itie.s.-Rice\\nCalture.-Suffering,s of Hancis.-The Great Dismal Swamp.-\\nAppearance and Extent.-The Robber s Stronghold.-Henry Berrv\\nT owrie._He Defies the Militia of a Whole 8tate.-His Audacious\\nliearing.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 A Confrere Hung.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Lowrie is Wounded and finally\\nKiUed.-The Fugitive s Retreat.-Uncle Pompey s Exi-erience.\\nIn some sections of the South, in the vicinity of the\\nAtlantic Ocean and the hxrge rivers triljutary thereto,\\nare to be seen many of those dark, gloomy and forbid-\\nding places commonly known as swamps. This is\\nespecially true of the eastern half of the territory form-\\ning the States of North and South Carolina, through\\nwhich How the Neuse, Cape Fear, Pedee, and Watei ee\\nUivers; places which are not surpassed for wild scenery\\nand natural ferocity, so to speak, by any of those\\nAfrican jungles with which the writings of Livingstone,\\nStanley, Cameron, and otiier explorers, have made us\\nfamiliar. Nor is it necessary to depart from the ordi-\\nnary avenues of travel in order to experience the truth-\\nfulness of the foregoing statement. Many of the most\\nfrequented highways, and even railroads, lead through\\nthese districts, affording a uiost excellent opportunity of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "observation to the tourist and traA eler. In inari}^ in-\\nstances the difficulties encountered in constructing rail-\\ni-oads are enormous, and to people not possessing\\ngenuine pluck, skill and endurance, they would be\\ninsurmountable. Passengers who have traveled over\\nthe road running from Wilmington North Carolina, to\\nCharleston and Columbia, South Carolina, will readily\\nrecall to mind a high trestle work, several miles in\\nextent, over which trains are borne while passing\\nthrough one ol these inhospitable localities. The sud-\\nden change from the pines and sands encountered on\\nthe eastern coast of North Carolina, and the comforts\\nand luxuries of city life, to the bogs and fens of the\\nswamp districts, must be seen and experienced in order\\nto be properl} appreciated. However, to see them in all\\ntheir prodigality, one should visit these sections in the\\nspringtime of the year, during the falling of the March\\nand April showers. Then the rivers and their tribu-\\ntaries occasionally rise to such an extent as to overflow\\ntheir banks and inundate all the neighboring land. On\\nsuch occasions ordinary business is almost completely\\nsuspended, and the attention of all is turned not only to\\nthe protection of their property, but of even human\\nlife; and it is not an uncommon occurrence for all the\\nlive stock contained on large plantations, such as horses,\\ncows and pigs, to be swept away during the course of a\\nsingle night. All travel is suspended, means of com-", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "64\\nmuuication with the outer world being cut oft until the\\nwaters subside; and in one instance, at least, the writer\\nis reminded, there was an actual scarcity of the neces-\\nsaries of life in the little village of Hudsonville for the\\nreason last stated. One of the amusing incidents of the\\nlast freshet that we were witness to (and tlie} are\\ncharacterized b} amusing as well as sad scenes) was\\nconnected with the postal service of the village. Hobbs\\nwas the mail agent; he had been prior to the war a\\nslave; hence he was poor and had not the most approved\\nfacilities for conveying the mail from the nearest rail\\nroad station to the post office, a distance of fourteen\\nmiles. At the accustomed hour, on the occasion referred\\nto, the greater portion of the male inhabitants of the\\nplace went to the post office, as was their custom, to\\nawait the arrival and distribution of the mail; but as\\ntime wore on and the mail did not arrive, thej betook\\nthem to their homes in a disappointed frame of mind.\\nOn the following morning a courier arrived direct from\\nHobbs, bearing the information that he had started with\\nhis mail bag on the previous evening, but the freshet\\novertaking him he was obliged to seek safety in a tree,\\nleaving liis horse to escape as best he could, and that he\\nwas still up in the tree, where he had guarded the mail\\nbag all the live-long night. The courier closed his\\nstatement with a most earnest request from Mr. Hobbs\\nthat relief be immediately sent to him. However, before", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "65\\nassistance could be sent, Hobbs was descried in the\\ndistance, trudging faithfully along the road, with the\\nprecious burden on his shoulder, to the joy and delight\\nof all. He had availed himself of the kind assistance of\\npeople in the vicinity, until he reached dry land, when\\nhe bid defiance to distance or the weight of his load,\\nand started for homo afoot. But he was not always so\\nfortunate, for on another occasion he was shut out from\\nus, and we were deprived of the benefits of the mail for\\nnearly a whole week, without intermission.\\nIt may seem strange to many persons living at dis-\\ntauces remote from these swamps, upon high and well\\ndrained land, that an intelligent class of persons could\\nbe induced to locate in close proximity to them, when\\nthere is so much land better adapted to the wants of\\nman especially since the atmosphere in this vicinity\\nduring certain seasons of the year is so thoroughly im-\\npregnated with miasm as to breed diseases of various\\nkinds which bring in their train su tiering and death.\\nThis action on their part may be attributed to various\\ninfluences, such as the well known influences of nativity\\nand pecuniary interest, inability to dispose of one s\\npossessions at what he considers a reasonable value\\nof them, the extra fertility of the river lands, and\\nespecially the fact that, in many cases, the owners\\nof the swamp lands were originally engaged in the\\ncultivation of rice; a product very profitable as an", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "6fi\\narticle of commerce and at the same time requiring a\\nlow, wet soil for its production. In the now historical\\ndays of slavery in this country, these very swamps were\\nthe embodiments of hell upon earth, and more tlian one\\npoor man and woman, who was compelled to labor in\\nthem up to their knees in mud and water, if tliey were\\nalive, could by their broken constitutions, scarred backs\\nand debased intellects, bear witness to the veracity of\\nthis statement. Kind reader if your humanity has been\\nspared the shock of beholding the poorly fed bodies of\\nthese human chattels clad in filthy rags grubbing in\\nthese rice swamps, with their wives and little ones beside\\nthem, while the suckling babe at the quarters moaned\\nfor its mother that came not to minister its scanty needs,\\nthank God that your lot has been cast in other times and\\na more genial clime.\\nSuch a district as we have been describing we were\\nto traverse, and even while these thoughts have been\\nrevolving in our mind, we have neared the Great\\nDismal Swamp. The writer has never consulted any\\nauthoritative record with reference to the dimensions\\nof this swamp, but judging from the statements of the\\ninhabitants in that localit} it covers an area of more\\nthan ten square miles. The waters of this swamp are\\nfor the greater part covered with a rich green scum,\\nsuggestive of fevers and agues; the cypress trees which\\nare indigenous to it are curtained and fringed with a", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "67\\nheavy drapery of gray moss, wliich depends like a heavy\\npall trom the limbs that shoot out horizontally from the\\nbodies thereof; and no man has yet fathomed all the\\nmysteries of its dark and forbidding fastnesses, which\\nare said to be the haunts of all that is vile and hurtful\\neither of beasts, birds, reptiles, or even humanity, peculiar\\nto that part of the South. Within its recesses the wild\\nboar and black bear fraternize with each other; the\\nmoccasin and the poisonous rattlesnake intertwine in\\ndeadly embrace; while the higliway robber and liber-\\ntine, secure within its haunts, hold high carnival\\ntogether. It makes one shudder to recall the gloomy\\nplace to mind and the terrible legends connected with\\nit. But to appreciate this feeling, heightened and\\nintensified in the bosom until it becomes to be a veritable\\nhorror, one must pass through this section after night-\\nfall; when the light of the moon and stars is veiled by\\nthe thick fogs and mists that overhang it, and almost\\nEgyptian darkness pervades the atmosphere; and the\\nhootings of the night owl and the harsh croakings of\\nthe multitudinous amphibious creatures are heard, and\\na certain dum[) chill possesses the blood, causing one to\\ninvoluntarily draw his cloak more tightly around him,\\nand clutch his bridle and revolver, as he anxiously spurs\\nforward his excited horse to a less dismal locality. It\\nwas in this swamp that the Lowrie brothers, championed\\nl)y the redoubtable Henry Berry Lowrie made their place", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "08\\nof resort; from whence he issued his commands to the\\ninhabitants of the surrounding country, which were\\nalmost implicitly obeyed, and filled all with consterna-\\ntion by reason of his frequent incursions; and it was in\\nthe interior of this very swamp where he had his den\\nestablished when visited by a representative of the New\\nYork Herald, in the year 1S70, for the purpose of\\nobtaining an interview, an achievement never attempted\\nnor even thought of by any of the provincial papers in\\nDixie s Land.\\nIt appears that during the Southern rebellion various\\nand sundry acts of ill-treatment had been visited upon\\ndifferent members of the Lowrie family, wiiich extended\\nto tlie murdering of one or more of them by persons\\nconnected with the Confederate service. To avenge\\nthese wrongs and compensate their injured feelings, the\\nbrothers Lowrie took the lield, or swamp, where ere long\\nthey were joined by other kindred spirits in that locality,\\nto the number of a dozen or more. They were thoroughly\\narmed, and fully resolved on mischief. After night-fall\\nthey were in the habit of scouring the neighborhood,\\nplundering hen-roosts, burning barns and dwellings, and\\nin some instances murdering men. They lugged off\\ntheir booty into the swamp and devoured it, when they\\nwere ready to engage in other enterprises. One of\\ntheir gang was captured, tried, convicted and hung.\\nDire were the threats thrown out against every ir^an of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "69\\nany standing in that community by Lowrie and his\\nconfreres, conditioned upon the execution of their\\nbrother robber; loud were their curses; but they availed\\nnot; he was hung at the appointed time, and the majesty\\nof the law vindicated. The chief and his gang became\\nlinally to be so audacious that at times they would\\nactually present themselves at the railroad stations,\\narmed cax -a-pie, to the great embarrassment of every\\none. On such occasions they would demand, and gen-\\nerally received the latest newspapers, containing in some\\ninstances full accounts of their dia))olical doings; they\\ncracked jokes and laughed heartily over them, and then\\ndeparted for parts unknown. So great was the appre-\\nhension on the part of the substantial residents in that\\nvicinity that they not only offered a large reward for the\\nbody of the ringleader, dead or alive, but also procured\\na much larger reward to l)e offered by the State otlicials;\\nand as a last resort, by command of the Governor, all the\\navailable troops of the State of North Carolina, num-\\nbering several thousands, under capable officers, were\\nmarched to the margin of the swamp and encamped.\\nHere they remained for a lengthy period of time, expe-\\nriencing all the incidents, save physical wounds,\\nincidental to actual warfare. They stretched a cordon\\nof troops for a long distance on the margin of the\\nswamp, in the vain endeavor to entrap him; and sent\\nout scouts and spies to ferret him out of his hiding", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "70\\nplace. Vain hope! All these ellbrts were destined to\\nl)rove abortive; and the uniformed niilitiu, after indulg-\\ning their vanity and rubbing up their tactics for as lo^o-\\na time as the State would endure the expense, marched\\ntheir troops back again and disbanded them, to be\\nreferred to by future historians and placed by the side\\nof the illustrious individual of whom the poet sings:\\nThe King of the French, wltli sixty thousand men,\\nMarclied up the Jiill, and then marched down again.\\nThere is an end to all things terrestrial however, and the\\ncareej- of Henry Berry Lowrie was no exception to the\\nrule. He was iinally surprised and sliot while seeking\\nshelter and medical care in the house of a relative, and\\nthus ended the career of a man whc in a just cause could\\nliave earned undying honors, but by the force of\\ncircumstances was led to pursue a course which\\nboth stamped his name with infamy and brought deso-\\nlation and grief into many households. After his death\\nthe band dispersed and so tar as the writer knows ceased\\ntheir organized depredations.\\nThere is just one other association connected with\\nthis dismal swamp, which the writer will glance at\\nbefore closing this chapter: We refer to the fact that,\\nin the reign of the slave driver and blood hound in the\\nsunny South, many a poor panting fugitive dragged\\nliis lacerated limbs within its dark recesses, where for\\nmonths, subsisting upon such animal and vegetable food", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "71\\nas lie could gather, with a gnarled root for his pillow,\\nand the broad canopy of Heaven spread out over him,\\nhe found that freedom and respite from his woes which\\nthe laws of his native land refused him.\\nOf these, scores might he mentioned by name; but\\nsuffice it to speak of just one, at this place. He was an\\naged man; he said his name was Porapey; we met him\\non a First Monday, on the Public Square, in Hudson\\nville, where he had wandered in scarcli of a little assist-\\nance in the evening of his eventful life.\\nHone} he said, whar did you come from? You\\nis from de Norf, ain t you?\\nWhy do you ask me that question, uncle? do I look\\nlike a Yankee?\\nWell no, you looks like our people, but den dare is\\nsomefin bout yer way of talkin dat souns like de Norf.\\nWell, to be truthful with you, uncle, I was born in\\nthe South, but raised in the North.\\nJest as I spected. Den you don t know nuflln bout\\nde hard trials of de cullud people in dis part of de\\ncountry, does \\\\^er?\\nWell no, uncle, except what I have read, and heard\\nfrom the lips of the old folks. I suppose you know a\\ngood deal about them.\\nWell, does you see dat scar ober dat eye? Dat was\\nmade b} a rawhide in de hans ob de oberseer; an dat", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "72\\nmark on my neck dar was made by one of Mars George s\\nhouns; dey had me buried in de groun up to my arms,\\nand de dog he got loose an bit me, an of dey hadn t\\ntook him offen me as soon as dey did, he would er killed\\nme. But that s nothin; ef you cud see my back, honey,\\nyer wouldn t ask me any more ef I no ennything bout\\nole slave days. Once I run away, an lived in de big\\nswamp fer more n three months. I staid in dat swamp\\ntell I didn t have nuff close hardly to cover a skeeter,\\n(an de skeeters was mighty l)ig down dar) an I guess I\\nwould er died thar ef Mars George hadn t sent one ob\\nde bans an promised me dat ef I wud come back, de\\noberseer shouldn t whip me enny more; an he kep his\\nword an I neber got anodder whippin after dat. An to\\ntell you de troof, chile, I was gl\u00c2\u00ab,d nuff to git out ob dat\\nswamp an git some more close on agin, fer it was almos\\nas bad as deth to live in dar wid de snakes an varmints.\\nAt fust it made me sick, but arter I hod lived in dar\\nabout a monf, I wus as hard as a litewood not, an nuflin\\ncud hurt me.\\nPoor old man; he was scarred, and crippled, and\\nbent w^ith age, but he had lived to see the dawn of glo-\\nrious liberty, and like a good old christian that he was,\\nhe thanked God and took courage.\\nBut where are we now? We have left the Dismal\\nSwamp far behind, we have passed the thirty- five mile\\npost, and already Brown, who has from the beginning", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "IS\\nof the journey taken the lead, has driven up to the gate\\nin front of a rude k^g house and lowered the bars. It is\\nthe house of an acquaintance, we suppose, where we are\\nto seek repose during the remainder of the night; and\\nwe are all rejoiced, for we are weary with the excite-\\nment and turmoil of the day, and sadly in need of rest.\\nnr", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VI.\\nThe Bell Homestead. Accommodations for the Night. The\\nBlack Cat. My Wife Alarmed. An Unfortunate Throw, and\\nAlarm of the Family. Mine Host Jones, and the Writer Adjourn\\nto the Yard. Snake Stories. Snakes in the House in the Bed\\nin the Mill. Snake Bites and Whiskey Treatment. Coach whip\\nSnake. Snakes for Food. Medicine and Music. Reminiscences\\nof the Slaveholding Era, by Jones. The Men and Women who\\nCleared and Cultivated these Lands. The Whip. The Auction\\nBlock. The Stocks. Insufficient Food. Dawn of Day.\\nThe Bell homestead was a typical one in that portion of\\nthe South, and presuming that a majority of our readers\\nhave never visited that interesting section, we shall es-\\nsay a description of it. The lot of land on which the\\nhouse was built was enclosed by a fence made of slats,\\nwhich were wattled instead of being nailed on. The\\nhouse was constructed of logs; the crevices or chinks\\nbetween which were filled with claj^ by which means the\\ninclement elements were kept out. The chimney to this\\nhouse was constructed of short poles so piled as to lap\\neach other at the corners, until the} reached a sufficient\\nheight: the whole was then plastered over with clay\\nboth within and without. Instead of sash containing\\npanes of glass, the windows, which were merely square\\napertures, were provided with shutters, hung with strap", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "75\\nhinges and having hooks and staples for fastenings; the\\nroof was covered with slats similar to those of which the\\nfence was constructed and the whole presented a very\\nunique appearance; carrying the mind back to the\\nadvent of the early settlers in this country On the\\noutside of this house, between each window and the door\\nin the center, was hung a stretched coon skin in course\\nof bring cured for the market. The interior of this\\nprimitive house was scarcely less romantic in appearance.\\nThe fire place was capacious, sufficiently so to allow of\\na whole log of wood being put on the large irori andirons\\nat one time, while the sooty trammels suspended in the\\ncenter, seemed to await the advent of the big pot in the\\ncorner, containing its accustomed supply of fat meat,\\ncollards and dumplings for the daily dinner. In one\\ncorner of the house was a large blue chest, the counter-\\npart, I imagine, of the one that tradition tells us a fair\\ndamsel in that locality, upon a time, hid her greatly\\nembarrassed beau in, upon the sudden coming of her\\naustere sire. This chest served a triple purpose; it\\ncontained all the spare bed clothing and wearing ap-\\nparrel of the family, furnished seating for at least three\\npersons during the day, and answered the purpose of a\\nbedstead upon which one of the younger members of\\nthe family was accustomed to sleep at night.\\nThere was only one bedstead in the house, and this\\nwas very considerately placed at the disposal of Mrs.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "76\\nBrown, who had the care of an infant not exceeding\\nthree months in age. Brown himself had left the\\nremainder of the company, in quest of recreation as well\\nas to try to see a man in that neighborhood who had\\na brother in New York that had been to him a l)oon\\ncompanion during his sojurn there, prior to locating in\\nHudsonville. Mr. and Mrs. Jones and my own dear\\nbetter half were given pallets on the floor, upon which to\\nlight mos(iuitoes and seek repose, and, the night being\\nwarm and sultry, the absence of ordinary bed clothing\\nwas not regretted. Under the influence of the fatigue\\nthat was oppressing the writer, not many moments\\nelapsed before he was within the kindly eml)race of\\nMorpheus, enjoying the sweets of nature s balmy\\nrestorer; in other words, asleep. I had not slept more\\nthan thirty- seconds, as it seemed to me, though in\\nreality about two hours, when I was awakened from my\\nslumber and again confronted with the realities of this\\npractical life by hearing my wife exclaim scat! I\\nsprang to my feet and demanded of her the cause of her\\nalarm, when, gasping, she whispered: See that cat\\nover there! See how his eyeballs flash!\\nWhere? I asked, rubbing my eyes.\\nOver there; don t you see him?\\nWhat is it, my dear? I said. I don t see any-\\nthing; it s too dark to see.\\nWell, 1 guess you can see that cat s big eyes", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "77\\nflashino; over in the direction of your left liand, can t\\nyouV you old sleepy head, you, she fairly shouted.\\nAnything could carry Johnnie away for aught that\\nyou care for him. You have been sleeping here just\\nlike a log, wliile I have been trying to keep that miser-\\nable old cat from sucking liis lireath or eating his nose\\noff-.\\nThere, there, my love, I said; don t fret now, and\\njust see how I shall punish that feline. I will let him\\nknow that there be powers upon earth competent to\\npursue, overtake and punish evildoers; and if he don t\\nspot me as his Nemesis from this night onward then I\\nain t worth a cent for a throw. So saying, I sum-\\nmoned all the powers within me, and hurled one of my\\nboots in the direction of the flashing eyes. Jones\\nsprang to his feet and, at the top of his voice, inquired\\nwhether the lightning had struck any one else. The\\nwhole family was now thoroughly aroused; a tallow dip\\nwas lit; an explanation followed, and it was definitely\\nascertained that the injury sustained by Jones was not\\nof a serious nature.\\nAfter this occurrence, the most earnest persuasion\\nfailed to induce our injured companion to lie down upon\\nhis pallet again; and as the night was already far spent,\\nit was unanimously concluded by the three that we\\nshould adjourn to the bench under the tree in the front\\nyard, where wc could improve the balance of the night", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "78\\nwhile the women antl children were sleeping. Once\\nthere, I asked Mr. Bell why he kept such a big cat\\naround the house, inasmuch as her practices were of a\\ncharacter most dangerous to little children, of which he\\nhad several. Oh, said Mr. Rell, I don t know what s\\nthe matter with that cat to-night. He never did act so\\nbefore, and we ve raised im from a little kitten. He\\nnever dreamed of troubling any of my children.\\nMebbe it s because your baby is a strange one. Have\\nyer got any backer, stranger he said, digressing, as\\nhe turned to Jones. He was answered in the affirmative.\\nI wish yer would gimme a chaw; mine s in the house,\\nan I don t like to worry the wimmin enny more tonight.\\nAnother thing, he continued, that cat s one of the\\nbest mousers in the world; and as fer ketchin snakes\\nand lizards, he can t be beat. Why, partner, he handles\\na snake jest like enny dog, ef ^er can call it handlin\\nwhen a critter ain t got enny hands; an I wish yer could\\njest see him once. Last fall, jest afore cold weather, my\\nlittle Tommy, the red headed one that Brown took sicli\\na shine to this evenin was playin behint the shed door,\\nan the ole ooman went ter see what misciiief he was in,\\ncause he ke[) so still, (an that s a shore sign of mischief\\namong children) when lo an behold, rite in a box that\\nsot behint the d,oor, quiled U}) thar lay a snake! an the\\nyoung un he stood thar with a stick in his little han\\njest in the act of strikin uv it. The ole ooman didn t", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "79\\nsay a single word; she jest took the chile by his han\\nan led him away, then she got Old Sam, that s the cat,\\nan put him on that varmint; an pardner you kin believe\\nwhat I tell you or not, jest as you please, but its the\\nLord s truth howsumever, the cat took that snake by the\\nback of the head with his mouth an give it one jerk,\\nan made it crack like a whip; he jerked every bone in\\nits body loose; an when he put it down it had no more\\nlife in it than a wooden snake.\\nGreat surprise was expressed, by us at the wonder-\\nful familiarity of the snake, in entering the house so\\nunceremoniously. Pshaw, said Bell, that s not a\\nsarcumstance! Why last summer, in August, I think,\\nJim Cross, who lives on Uncle Sandy Glover s planta-\\ntion, woke up one mornin feelin somethin crawlin over\\nhim; he did nt tech it; he jest raised up his head a\\nleetle bit and seed it was a rattle snake about four feet\\nlong; then he lay down agin an let it pass over him.\\nCause yer see, he was afeerd that ef he tried to git awaj\\nthe snake would take the hint and bite him see? We\\nanswered that we did see very plainly indeed,\\nWell my friend, I said, snakes must be no\\nstrangers to you people around here, at that rate.\\nNo siree, said Mr. Bell, they aint; an what s\\nmore n that, we uses them: in some cases, we makes\\nthem arn ther livin.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "80\\nEarn their living! wli} what do you mean, my\\nfriend? I said.\\nI mean what I sa^V he replied, Ole Mr. Jenkins,\\nover thar that runs the grist mill, has got two white\\nmoccasins, that he has trained to ketch rats an mice, an\\nyou can t find a rat or a mouse about his mill fer money;\\nhut afore he got them snaix, he could nt git rid uv sich\\ncritters. Them snaix goes into every hole and crack\\nabout the mill, whar dogs an cats can t go; an wharever\\nthey go, the varmints leave.\\nHow is it, we inquired, that some of you don t\\nget bit, seeing that snakes are crawling around so\\npromiscuously?\\nLawful sakes, man, we does. It ain t been a month\\nsence a ooman was bit near the big swamp liy a rattle-\\nsnake, an she turned as l)lack as that cat thoy say, (I\\ndidn t see her) an all that the doctorg could do for her\\ndidn t save her; she died.\\nDo the bites of snakes always prove so fatal? we\\nasked.\\nWell, no; not ef yer begins in time. Thar was a\\nl)oy bit around here a year or two ago by a rattlesnake,\\nan he didn t die. His mother follered the doctor s\\ndirections to a T, an he got over it. The docter told\\nher not ter give him enny water for nine days nothin\\nbut tea; an she didn t. Some mothers I know would ef\\ngiven it to him, fer the boy cried an begged for water", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "81\\nlintel it almost broke the poor mother s heart, but nary\\na drop did she give im. Bimebj^ the boy got well; an\\nhe s runnin around now as lively as ennybody.\\nBut there s other ways uv treatin uv em. Some docters\\nfoller the whiskey treatment; that is tor say they giv\\nem nothin but whiske}^; keep em filled up with it tell\\nthe danger is over; an they say it s the shoi est an\\neasiest way uv doctorin for snake bites uv em all. A\\nfeller by the name uvBill Bedford got bit over at Kane s\\nMill-pond last spring. He had some whiskey in his\\npocket in a bottle, an without waitin fer docter or enny\\nbody else he up an drunk the hull uv it. Then he went\\nhome an sent fer the docter, an the docter give him\\nmore an kep him under the influence uv it fer more n\\nnine days, an he got well.\\nDuring the narration of the last incident, Brown had\\ncome upon the scene, and stood apparently deepl}^\\nabsorbed in thought while the mysteries of the whiskey\\ntreatment were being unfolded by our host. At its con-\\nclusion he desired to know whether that school of\\nmedicine was still in vogue there, and, on being answered\\nin the aflirmative, exclaimed, Well, then, fetch along\\nyour snakes, gentlemen!\\nWhere on earth have 3 ou been. Brown exclaimed\\nJones. Here the children has been crying, and cousin\\nJohn has tried to Icnock my brains out throwing at tiie\\ncat, and nowhere could you be found.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "82\\nOh, said Brown, I went down the road a little\\npiece to see a man, and met some of the hoys, and we have\\nbeen having a good time talking over old times, and I\\nwas I telling them about New York.\\nNew York said Jones. Yes, when 3 oii come to\\ndie your last words will be New York; and I ll be\\nblessed if I don t liave it engraved on your tombstone.\\nYou had better have Ijeen here looking after your wife\\nand child.\\nBrown suggested that Jones would not live to see his\\njourney s end unless he kept out of the way of my boots,\\njudging from the big knot on his forehead. This remark\\nbrought forth a laugh at Jones expense, in which all\\nfour participated.\\nWell, continued Bell; let me finish my snake\\nstories; you interrupted me. I have known people here-\\nabouts ter use rattlesnake grease fer rheumatism an\\ntoothache, or nooralgy, as they call it. They ketcli the\\nsnake, cut off his he d an stew out the fat. It s then\\nbottled up an ready fer use in time of need.\\nImpossible! I said.\\nIt s the Lord s truth, pardner; an what s more,\\nthey do sa_y (now mind, I hain t dun it meself,) that\\nther meat is good ter eat, purvidin yer kin git it afore\\nthe pizen leaves the he d and gits in the tail uv the\\nsnake. (We all laughed.) An continued he, the", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "83\\nfiddlers bout here couldn t git along without rattlesnake\\nrattles fer ther fiddles.\\nIs that so? I said.\\nBut, he continued, taking no notice of the inter-\\nru[)tion, the snake they call the coacli whip is the\\nrascal of a snake. They ketch yer an whip yer ontel\\nyer is almost ded. Once I was goin thro the Peters\\nwoods, an I heerd sich a hollerin an a hollerin I\\ndidn t know what ter think uv it; so I ups and hollers,\\ntoo. Then I listens, an I heers somebody say, O, Lo d,\\nde snake is killin me! I grabs a stick an I runs in\\nthe direction uv the noise, an shore enuf thar was one\\nuv Mr. Peters hans a big, strappin feller standin\\nholdin to a tree, an the coach-whip he had got his\\ncollar in his mouth an was wallopin the life out uv him\\nwith his tail.\\nCall him off! exclaimed Brown; m3^ head swims.\\nBuddy, said Jones, can t you just stop a minute\\ntill I get m^ breath.\\nThe writer said, Let s change the subject, and\\nthat was the last we heard of snakes on that eventful\\nnight.\\nWho did you buy this place of, Bell? asked\\nJones.\\nI bought it uv ole Huckleby.\\nIs that so? I guess he s gone to get his just desserts\\nat last.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "84\\nYes, said Boll, he died last Jauuary; an thar\\nwas nt cnii}- uv his old slaves at his funeral; in lac\\nnobody seemed to have a good word to say for him.\\nIndeed! said Brown, that reminds me of an old\\nfellow who (lied in New York, when I was tliore; and\\nwhen he was buried, no one of all who stood around his\\ngrave had a good word to say for him, because he had\\nlived such a miserly life; finally, as the clods began\\nto fall upon his box, and make a hollow sound, one jNlr.\\nSchneider who stood by, sighed deeply and exclaimed\\nveil, fie vass a yoot schvioker any vay\\\\\\nOh, Brown, do go along! exclaimed cousin Henr}^\\n3 ou are alwa^^s putting in a lot of nonsense. I believe\\nif you were at the funeral of your best friend you would\\ncrack a joke at his expense, even if it killed you/\\nColonel Huckleby, said Jones, was one of the\\nmost cruel slave-owners I ever knew, and I have known\\nsome pretty hard cases in my time. It was a common\\nsaying all through this country that you could tell one\\nof Huckleby s slaves at sight, from his scared appear\\nance and disheartened look. He was the only man in\\nthis part of the South that branded his slaves with a\\nhot iron, to mark them. He had a slave by the name of\\nMose, whom he had bought of a speculator. Well,\\nMose had been raised by a different kind of man from\\nwhat old Hucklebj was, and when he began to whip\\nhim and brand him, Mose took to the swamp and stayed", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "85\\nthere until he had to come out to keep from starving,\\nwhen the hounds tracked him and he was captured.\\nThen Huckk by took him and whipped him until he\\nfainted, when he washed the wounds with brine and\\nlocked him up until he was able to work ag-ain. Then\\nhe took him to the blacksmith shop at the quarters and\\nhad an iron hoop riveted around him, with an upright\\npiece that reached about ten inches above his head, to\\nwhich he fastened a bell, so that if Mose ran away\\nagain he could track him l)y the sound of the bell, just\\nas we do cows.\\nWas he successful? we asked.\\nNo indeed! for Mose ran away again the first chance\\nhe got, and when he came to the first mud hole he plunged\\nthe bell into it and got it so full it wouldn t ring\\nany more, and old Huckleby never did find him again\\nuntil after the Emancipation Proclamation, when he did\\nn t dare to touch him. Why, cousin, continued Jones,\\nthe very men. women and children who cultivated\\nthese lands for him, were not properly fed I know it\\nwas hard for the poor slaves to be bought and sold at\\nauction, and separated from their parents and children\\nand husbands and wives, and it was awfully- cruel to\\nwhip them so, but do you know, cousin, I alwaj s con-\\nsidered it a greater hardship for them to be overworked\\nand poorly fed, than either of the others,\\nIndeed I I said.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "86\\nYes, he continued, and the extent to which old\\nIluckleby carried that species of ill treatment, was a\\nshame and disgrace to humanity. He had an old man\\non his rice plantation by the name of Billy. Billy was\\nan older man than Huckleb} himself; he was the first\\nslave he ever owned and he had had him for nearly fift}\\nyears. He placed so much confidence in him that he\\nwould trust him with anything in the world. It hap-\\npened that, when hog killing time came on, Huckleby\\ntook Billy out of the rice swamp to dress and pack the\\npork; there was a great deal of it, and the longer Billj-\\nworked among the meat the more he coveted a little of\\nit to eat; but not one mouthful did he get. His fare\\nwas the ordinary fare of the rice hands on that planta-\\ntion; a double handful of rice each day, and a pint of\\nmolases each week. Finally one evening, just before\\ngoing to his quarters, Billy concealed a small piece of\\npork within the bosom of his coarse shirt. Old Huckle-\\nby. who was at a convenient place, observed the move-\\nment; but said nothing until Billy started for his rude\\nhut at the quarters, when he approached him, and in a\\nsneering way said Now Billy take that piece out of\\nyour bosom and come into the barn, and I will give you\\nall you want. The result was that poor Old Billy, his\\nfaithful trusted slave for nearly fifty years, who had\\nworn out his whole life in his service, assisting in mak-\\ning him a wealthy man, was tied aci oss a barrel and", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "87\\nwhipped until life was almost extinct and then released\\nto drag out the remainder of his daj s, a hopeless cripple.\\nThe foregoing is only one case, cousin, of many\\nothers that might be mentioned where not only Old\\nHuckleby, but many others, requited the labors of their\\npoor slaves in a similar way. Nor is this all. They\\nwould put them in the stocks and keep them there until\\ntlie} would actually faint; and burj^ them in the earth,\\nonly leaving their heads out, for the most trivial causes.\\nAnd, as for the free colored men, well, I ll have to take\\nanother time for that, for the day is beginning to dawn,\\nand we must feed the horses and wake the people, as we\\nhave got a long distance travel to-day and no time to\\nlose. So saying, Jones led the way and we followed.\\nThe old yellow dog snarled at us and showed his teeth,\\nbut a kick from his positive master sent him howling to\\nhis kennel, from which he did not come again during\\nour stay.\\nOur wives and little ones were awakened from their\\ntranquil sleep; the horses were given some provender;\\nthe breakfast was spread, which was composed of the\\nremnants of the meal on the previous day, and then we\\nmounted again, and amidst many kindly expressions\\nfor our future weltare on the part of our host and his\\nkind lady, we once more resumed our journey.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VII.\\nIncidents of the Route. Po.st Boxes. Mineral Springs.\\nFloral College. The Duello. Reminiscences of School Life in\\nthe South Before the War. An Oasis. A Foraging Expedition.\\nDifJerence between Southern and Northern Hospitality. Win-\\nning our Fodder by a Stratagem. Our Repast and Departure.\\nThe refreshment aftorded to the weaker portion of\\nour faiuilies had produced its desired effect, and once\\nagain the little ones appeared in all that mirthfulness\\nand vivacity which is wont to characterize and mark\\nthe contrast between them and children of an older\\ngrowth; and when we sa} tliat it made the lieart leap\\nbut to witness their joy, I only re-echo the sentiment\\nof ever} one of our partj on that occcasion. The\\nfemale portion of our little part} also wore a more\\ncheerful look upon their countenances than they had\\nduring the last half of the da}^ previous, and in truth it\\nwas not to be wondered at, for the very presence of the\\ngreat swamp, along the margin of which the greater\\npart of our road lay during that time, was sullicient to\\nchill the blood within us and repress every sentiment of\\nJ03 and mirth. But we had now arrived at a portion of\\nthe journe} where our route lay through a more hospit-\\nable region; where waters gave place to white sands;", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "89\\nwhere dismal cj press trees, with funereal cast, gave\\nplace to the healthful pine, with here and there a dog-\\nwood tree, in full bloom, and clambering honej^suckle;\\nwhere the rich green scum of the swamp was supplanted\\nby nourishing vegetation, and the carolings of mocking\\nbirds banished from the mind the hootings of owls and\\nharsh croakings of amphibious creatures. It was, in\\ntruth, a most pleasing contrast, well calculated to lead\\none up out of the deep darkness and desolation of\\ndespair to the light of God s countenance, and beget\\nreflections on the universal fitness of all things, and\\ntheir adaptation to the uses for which He hath created\\nthem. But in the midst of all these natural beauties the\\nuniversal absence of artificial attractions was only made\\nmore apparent. For miles and miles one could travel\\nwithout encountering any work of art bearing upon it\\nthe stamp of man s genuis. There was to be seen not\\neven the ruins of what liad once been a human habita-\\ntion of pretentious dimensions or design; and when we\\nrecalled the fact that we were then traversing a state\\nupon which the foot of the white man trod many long-\\nyears before a foothold was gained in some of our middle\\nand western states, that arc now crowded with hives of\\nindustry and even vieing with the old world in the\\nextent and richness of their architectural monuments,\\nwe could not forbear contrasting the difference between\\nthe results of la])or free, untrammeled by ignorance", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "90\\nand caste prejurlice, and labor despised and enslaved.\\nThe one leaves the mind free and filled with lofty am-\\nbitions; while the other, seeing nothing in the present\\nor future upon which it can build its hopes, grovels,\\nrebels and saps the very foundations of society. Every\\nthing we see carries the mind back to the most ancient\\nof times, when the force of steam and electricity was\\nneither known nor appreciated.\\nCousin Henry, I said, addressing Jones; what\\nare those little pigeon-hole boxes placed upon the tops of\\nthose posts for. I have noticed several of them at\\nintervals of three or four miles since we left the\\nswamp.\\nWhy, cousin, ho replied, those are post boxes.\\nWhat?\\nPost boxes, in which the mail along this road is\\ndeposited. Whenever any person has a letter or news-\\npaper (if he l)e so fortunate as to get one) that he wishes\\nto send off by the mail, if he does not feel disposed to\\ntravel twenty or thirty miles to the nearest postoftice, he\\ndeposits it one of these boxes, from which the mail-boy\\ntakes it when he comes along, if it is not stolen out\\nbeforehand.\\nWell! exclaimed Brown; that lieats my time!\\nI have seen in New York letter-boxes fastened to lamp-\\nposts on almost every corner for the accommodation of\\nsuch as did not wish to go to the postoliice. They were", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "91\\nstrong iron boxes, with patent lock and key; but these\\nlittle wooden boxes, open at one end, and nailed to the\\ntops of posts away out here in the woods, are ridiculous\\nin the extreme.\\nI am not sure but that Brown was more than half\\nright, once in his life; for these boxes were just such as\\nEollin, who quotes from the early writers, tells us King\\nCyrus established in Persia at least six hundred years\\nbefore the Christian era.\\nAmong the objects of natural interest also to be seen\\nin various parts of the country through which we were\\nnow i^assing were refreshing little mineral springs. We\\nwere no chemists, and, even had we been, we had no\\nappliances by means of which a satisfactory analysis\\ncould have been effected, therefore we are denied the\\npleasure of laying before our readers either a quantita-\\ntive or qualitative anal3 sis of the constituent elements\\nof the waters flowing from them; but Brown, who was\\nthe first to approach and drink from them, pronounced\\nthem sulphur springs, from the similarity of the well-\\ndefined odor escaping from them to that which always\\naccompanies boiled eggs.\\nYankee capital and enterprise may some day in the\\nnot distant future convert this wilderness into a blush-\\ning garden, and utilize the medicinal virtues of these\\nflowing mineral fountains for the healing of diseases of\\nvarious kinds to which human flesh is heir; ])ut for the", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "92\\npresent, at least, like the wild flowers that cluster near\\ntheir margins, they must waste their sweetness (V) on\\nthe desert air.\\nBut see, cousin Henrvl what are those deserted\\nbuildinii s in ndv;ince of us that stand in the midst of\\nthat spacious groA e They are the first visible\\nevidences of civilization we have met since leaving tlic\\nBell residence, where we rested during the last night.\\nThat, cousin, he answered, is Floral College.\\nFloral College! I repeated after him; a pretty\\nname indeed, and most appropriate too, when we con-\\nsider the surroundings. When was it estahlishedV\\nWliere are the professors, the students and other acces-\\nsories of the college? I asked, in rapid succession.\\nYou ask me so many questions, he replied, that\\nI hardly know where or how to begin to answer them;\\nbut I shall do the best I can. As to the time when it was\\nestablished, I am not well informed, and I can only say,\\nit was before your time and inine, during the most flour-\\nishing period of American slavery- when the young\\ngentlemen of the South had little else to do tlian attend\\nschool, i)ractice the code of honor, study the manual of\\narms and assist in keeping their parents human chattels\\nin subjection. Those were the times when Mars George\\nor Mars Henry, was accustomed to while awa} his\\nda\\\\ S in idleness, at the expense of tlie blood and toil of\\nothers more worthy than himself, while he was being", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "93\\ntaught to decline 7nensa, or conjugate Xuo and con the\\nclassic pages of Greek and Koman literature for exami)les\\nupon which to build a justification of thoir peculiar insti-\\ntution. In that thicket to the right, tradition has it,\\ntwo young men, becoming needlessly offended at each\\nother l\\\\y reason of something that had been said or done,\\nfought in deadly combat, in imitation of their sires, and\\nthe result was, th;it while one was borne to a premature\\ngrave, the other was doomed to a life of seclusion and\\nregret. Thanks to an enlightened and christian senti-\\nment, this barbarous practice is now nearly- extinct in\\nall civilized communities. As for the professors and\\nstudents, they left at the first alarm to try their fortunes\\namidst war s stern conflicts. Some of them fell at Bull\\nRun, others at Petersburgh and Richmond, while a few\\nof the fortunate ones who lived to return to their homes,\\ntheir wealth being swept away, found neither o[)portun-\\nity nor inclination of attending school or prosecuting\\ntheir studies. Those little buildings clustered around\\nthe larger ones were occupied by families of the profes-\\nsors or else by those who either took their residence\\nthere pending the instruction of their children, or sought\\na livelihood in boarding pupils who were attending the\\ncollege.\\nButwh} I asked, did they locate this institu-\\ntion awa} out here in the woods, so remote from the\\ncenters of civilization?", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "94\\nOh, he answered, I suppose that was to afford\\nthe young gentlemen tlie advantages accruing from a\\nquiet retreat in wliieh to prosecute their studies, and at\\nthe same time relieve them of the fatigue and expense\\nof a trip to the woods in search of logs from which to\\npractice their declamations, in course of preparation for\\ncommencement dav. And then the romantic surround-\\nings undoul)tedly did not escape the notice of its foun-\\nders, who were desirous of turning every circumstance\\nto the advantage of the future student.\\nWe had now reached a stage in our journey where\\nthe sand was so deep as to almost impede our further\\nprogress. Tiie poor horses, which, while answering the\\ni)urposes of ordinary domestic use, were totally unfit for\\na Journey of this kind, were greatly distressed; and as\\nfor the patient brute to whose lot it had fallen to draw\\nthe buggy in which the writer and his family were\\npacked, every moment threatened to put an end to his\\ndemonstrative efl orts. Covered with perspiration, with\\noutstreched neck and dilated nostrils he tugged away\\nwith most persistent energy, while the remaining stump\\nof what had formerly been a tail stood out on a level with\\nhis back bone. Desirous of consummating our Journey\\nbefore the close of the day, and fearing the worst, the\\nmale portion of our party were willing to make great\\nsacrifices, and suffer somewhat in the cause of humanity;\\nwe therefore considerately alighted from our perches and", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "95\\nessayed feats of pedestrianism scarcel^^ equaled in the\\nsawdust arena, even in this day of wonderful pedestrian\\nachievements. For the reader must constantly bear in\\nmind the fact that we were traveling in loose sands\\nwhich were almost ankle deep and our grade was upward\\nto sa}^ nothing of the sun, which at almost meridian\\nheight, raised the temperature to about one hundred de-\\ngrees Fahrenheit, in the shade. But the toil and monot-\\nony of the route even under these conditions were greatly\\nmodified by the merry prattle of the little ones, together\\nwith the jokes and puns indulged in at the expense of\\neach other.\\nIt was along here, too, that we encountered the first\\nsnake of the season a small, striped fellow, glittering\\nin his recent coat, as he lay and enjoyed the life-impart-\\ning rays of the vernal sun. One blow on the head from\\na club in the hand of the vivacious Brown was sullicient\\nto end his earthly career; but, for the novelty and ex-\\ncitement of the experience, all three of us felt called\\nupon to assist in the execution, while the ladies turned\\npale from fear and the children laughed and cried by\\nturn. And so we devoured space, not a murmur\\nescaping our lips, until we conquered the sands and\\nhigh grade, and were relegated to what might have been\\ntermed an oasis,. /\u00c2\u00bbs^ beyond the desert, instead of in it\\na gentle declivit}^ laved at its l)ase by a babbling ])rook,\\nwhose sparkling waters were to our parched throats as", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "96\\npleasing as any nectar, distilled by lal)led gods, and\\nwhose mossy banks no lover yet pressed without sul)-\\nmitting to the spell of Cupid s magic charm.\\nHere we dismounted and unhitched; the horses were\\nreleased from their galling gearings and tlioroughly\\ngroomed; and while the} were chewing their provender,\\nthe children, now permitted to run at random, disported\\nthemselves in their innocent ways upon tiie shaded\\nslope. Some embarrassment was occasioned here on our\\npart in securing an additional supply of fodder. Hay\\nor oats were out of the question altogether; and since\\nthe weather was hot, as stated above, corn, the on!}\\nmeans of subsistence now at our command for feeding\\npurposes, Avas too heating in its nature, and endangered\\nthe health of the stock. Our only recourse then was to\\ngo on a foraging expedition, with the hope of securing a\\nlittle fodder b}?^ mone_y or persuasion. I speak in that\\ndou1)tful strain because it was a matter of no little\\ndilHculty to secure fodder in that isolated vicinity; and\\nthe thrice blessed traveler in the eastern or middle\\nstates, who has onl}- to halt at the first cross-roads and\\n})ay his mone} and take his choice of all the luxuries\\nknown to modern art and skill, little appreciates the\\nalmost heart-rending entreaties it often requires on the\\npart of the exhausted traveler to draw forth from the\\naverage Southern rustic the coveted boon. And should\\nthe petitioner be a colored man, lie considers himself", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "97\\nonly too fortunate to be let alone to pursue his journey\\nin peace, to say nothing ot l)eing granted any little acts\\nof kindness by the way.\\nThe magnanimity and hospitality of the South has\\nbeen lauded to the skies, aye, even sung by inspired\\npoets in the past, while the great souled North has been\\ncharged with inhospitalit}^ and selfishness, but truth is\\ngreat and will prevail, and though crushed to earth,\\nthis year, it will rise again next year and vindicate itself.\\nWe grant that, during the period of the South s history\\nwhen she gloated over her possessions of lands and\\nslaves, and proclaimed cotton king of commerce, there\\nwas more than a semblance of truth in her boast that\\nshe was the friend and exemplar of hospitality; for it\\noften happened that strangers visiting that section, who\\nwould wink at her inconsistencies and attempt to palliate\\nthem with sophistical arguments, were caught up, passed\\naround, and entertained in a princely manner, for long\\nperiods of time; and when they departed their praises\\nwere loud and multiplied concerning the hospitable\\nSouth; but has the reader ever considered that the\\nSouth could well afford to be generous at that particular\\nperiod? because, while they and their guests were junket-\\ning around the neighborhood, living upon the fat of\\nthe land, the real bone and sinews of the land were\\neven then delving on the cotton plantation or wading in\\nthe rice swamp, without renuraeration, to sustain sucli", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "98\\nprodigalit} With the North the case was altogether\\ndifferent. The people of the North knew where their\\nmeans came from; the}^ worked for their living, and b}\\nthe sweat of their brow obtained their daily bread.\\nWith less than eight months of pleasant weather during\\nthe course of a whole year, they were compelled to uti-\\nlize every moment of time: nor did the frosts, snows and\\nbleak winds of winter deter them from their labors; but,\\npressing forward with daring hardihood, the} turned\\nwhat to a less thrifty and hardy race would have seemed\\na misfortune, into advantage, and plucked success from\\nseeming adversit} Hence, while the} were not nig-\\ngardly in their dealings, they laid no claim to the\\nreputation of being a race of spendthrifts. If rumor\\nmay be relied on, the South does not now sustain the\\nsame reputation in this respect that she did in ante\\nhelium days, and the reasons are too obvious to be\\nmentioned.\\nHowcA^er, returning to our foraging expedition, we\\nfinally succeeded in discovering a man who had a little\\nfodder. Knowing full well the obstacles in the way of\\nour success in obtaining a few bundles of it, we ap-\\nproached the subject very cautiously and with much\\nprudence. A general in the army, in approaching the\\noutworks of the enemy, could not be more cautious in\\nhis tactics than was Jones in this instance; for, relying", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "91)\\nupon his great experience and suavity of manners, we\\nhad shoved liim to the front as our spokesman.\\nWalking up to the bars, we saw a lean, lank specimen\\nof the native Southerner in the yard, drawing a bucket\\nof water from a deep, deep well, such as are common in\\nthat high country-\\nHowd} said Jones.\\nHowdy do, answered the man of the fodder. We\\nknew he had it, because we had espied some of it in the\\nrear of the barn.\\nBudd} that s an awfully tine horse you ve got\\nthere, said Jones.\\nWell, yaas it is.\\nGuess she s a fast un, ain t she?\\nWell, sorter, I reckon. She runs in two minnits.\\nGoll}^ that s fast! said Jones. We ve got some\\npoor creeters over there in the grove that are almost\\nworn out. Come forty-five miles since yesterday, and\\nain t got a mouthful of fodder for them.\\nDo tell whar are yer gwine?\\nWell, we are going up home to see the old folks.\\nWe haven t seen them for man}^ a day, and it will do\\ntheir poor old hearts so much good to see us once more\\nbefore they die. Here Jones voice became tremulous\\nwith emotion, and a tear was visible in one eye.\\nOle boss, broke in Brown; do you ever tetch any\\nof the old bug-juice?", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "100\\nWell, I reckon I do, partner, said the man of the\\nfodder. Is yer got enny?\\nI never goes without it, don t, said Brown.\\nHere he produced a little flask partly filled with corn\\nwhiskey, obtained on the road, wliich looked for the\\nworld like clear water.\\nThe health of the fodder man and his family was\\ndrank, amidst much hilarity, and then Jones suggested:\\nBuddy, I spose you couldn t let us have about a dozen\\nbundles of your fodder for our creeters, could you?\\nWell, I would jest as live give you my horse almost\\nas to give you her fodder; but, seein tliatyou uns are a\\npurty nice set ef fellers, ef you can get along with half a\\ndozen bundles I guess I kin let you have that much.\\nThankee, buddy, thankee! said Jones, assuming\\nthe manner and speech of tlic locality as much as possi-\\nble; I ll do as much for you some time, when you come\\nalong my way,\\nWhar might be your home? (pieried our bene-\\nfactor.\\nHudsonville, South Carolina, we all answered at\\nonce.\\nOh, I have been tliar; it s a purty nice little place,\\ntoo, but awful dry.\\nYes, answered Brown: nothin but l)iandv\\npeaches and cherries, and they are fifty and seventh-live\\ncents a bottle. But we often send across the river to", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "101\\nGoochville and buy a gallon or so, which lasts us for\\nquite a little while.\\nDuring the latter part of the conversation we had\\nreached the stack and secured our coveted prize, and\\nwhen Brown finished his last observation we politel}- bid\\nour new formed acquaintance good-bye, and went in\\nsearch of our respective families.\\nA little blaze, kindled beneath a broad-spreading\\ntree, was crackling under the coffee-pot, and the lunch\\nwas spread. The collards hy this time were slightly\\nsoured; the coffee had neither cream, milk nor sugar in\\nit to make it palatable; but, for all these seeming dis-\\nadvantages, not a murmur was heard, because we knew\\nthat the darkest hour is just before the break of day,\\nand the nearer we approached the goal of our ambition\\nthe less we regarded the slight inconveniences of the\\njourney. Once at our destination, surrounded by kind\\nfriends and the good things of this life, our present\\nafliictions would but heighten the pleasures attending\\nthem.\\nOur dinner disposed of, we were not long in preparing\\nto resume our joui-ney. Tlie horses, by means of that\\nstrange power possessed by them, which we call instinct,\\nperceiving that they were gradually nearing tlie end of\\ntheir journey, quickened their pace, and all was life and\\nanimation once more,", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VIII.\\nFannie on her metal. First Mishap of the Read. All s\\nWell that End s Well. The Deserted Cotton Plantation.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Then\\nand Now. Contributing Causes. Carpet-Bag Rule in the\\nSouth. Both Sides of the Question. What the Writer saw in\\nSouth Carolina. How Property-Holders Felt. Characteristic\\nLetter. Where did the Blame Lie? Admission of the Writer of\\nthe Letter, Land Commission. Rail Road Bonds. Private\\nOperations.\\nUp to this point, nothing had occured to mar the\\npleasure of our trip, if we except the slight mishap, dur-\\ning the night before, of which the writer was the unfor-\\ntunate cause; and the ordinarj incidents cliaracteristic\\nof every journey through a thinly populated territory,\\ndevoid of the commonest conveniences of every day life.\\nBut at last we were to have a genuine sensation; a real\\ntragedy, we might say, were it not for the melo-drama-\\ntic termination of it. Our readers will remember that\\nmention was made, in the latter part of the previous\\nchapter, of a little brook which laved the base of the\\ndeclivity on which we camped. This stream, in the\\ncourse of its tortuous meanderings, crossed our road\\nabout one mile further down, and by reason thereof a\\nbridge was necessitated, This bridge being of an un-\\nsubstantial character, jarred greatly beneath the tramp-", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "103\\nling of the horses, and gaA e forth sounds that were well\\ncalculated to excite animals of a nervous and fiery dis-\\nposition. Now, as we have stated before, in another\\nportion of this volume, Fannie, cousin Henry s mare, was\\na nervous little thing and just like some human beings,\\nwas exceedingly anxious to display her agility, appar-\\nently for the entertainment of the remainder of the party.\\nNor was our dear cousin ignorant of the fact that she\\nrequired constant watching in order to repress her ebu-\\nlitions of spirit and keep her within due bounds; for, on\\nmore occasions than one, during the course of our present\\njourney, she had shied at seeing the meerest trifles, and\\nendeavored to break loose from restraint. But despite\\nthese timely warnings on her part, Jones persisted in\\ntesting her speed, whenever a suitable opportunit} pre-\\nsented itself. At such such times he would leave the\\nrest of the party far in the rear, until lie was checked by\\nour shoutings and hallooings, when ho would kindly\\ncondescend to await our arrival, at the same time, in a\\ntaunting way, reproaching us for the slothfulness of our\\nmovements. It was not surprising to us then, that when\\nwe arrived at the summit of the gentle slope leading to\\nthe bridge referred to, we saw him lash Fannie and tell\\nher to go. Nor did she need a second command, for\\nwith a snort and a bound, she went. It soon Ijccame\\nevident that Jones had lost control of the animal; for\\nhad she been borne on the wings of the wind, she would", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "104\\nscarcely have exceeded her speed. Turn her into the\\nditch! shouted Brown, l)ut his advice was either\\nunheard or unheeded for she contined to rush straight\\nforward. In another moment she had struck the bridge;\\nand amidst the almost deafening thunderings which it\\ngave forth, passed over in safety; and then! Oh look!!\\nFor mercy s sake The buggy turns over into the\\nditch A scream! and Henry s heels are seen to fly\\nupward into the air, as his body disappeared over the\\ndash ])oard, closely followed by his wife, who hugging\\nher little one to her bosom, turned a complete somer-\\nsault.\\nThe mare, as if conscious of the fact that she had\\ndone all the mischief she could, now stopped and looked\\ncomplacently upon the wreck. As soon as our feet could\\ncarry us, we rushed to the rescue; but by the time we\\nreached them our cousin vvas upon his feet, extricating\\nhis wife and child. A few seconds sufficed to reveal\\nthe fact that beyond the scare and a liberal bedaub-\\ning of mud, no damage had been done; and as for\\nthe buggy, when it was once more placed in its\\nproper position, it was ascertained that with the assis-\\ntance of a single strap it would answer his purpose\\nduring the remainder of the journey. From that time\\nforth until we reached our destination, adopting the\\nmaxim m medio ttilissimus ibis,^ Jones surrendered", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "105\\nthe lead to the vivacious Brown, while he took a position\\nin the middle.\\nThis accident furnished the theme of conversation at\\nodd intervals during the remainder of the journey, and\\npoor Henry was made the butt of many rude jokes even\\nafter our arrival in Magnolia, our objective point.\\nBut occasionally, when an object of unusual interest\\nwas encountered, we would drop that subject long enough\\nto discuss its characteristics. Such an object was a\\nlarge mansion house, built of wood with four large Doric\\ncolumns and friese to correspond, situated in the center\\nof a spacious inclosure, which cA^en then in its deserted\\ncondition gave token of having been at a time not far\\nremoved, the homestead of some man of exceptional taste\\nand wealth. There stood the proud old mansion, the\\nsubstantial construction and classic style of which made\\nit a wonder in that forsaken land. What brain conceived\\nthe plan of its construction? What hands executed the\\ndesign? No one of all that dwelt within its walls\\nremained to speak and only tradition could unfold the\\nstory of its origin. Once those hollow walls resounded\\nwith the stentorian tones of the pater familias, returning\\nfrom the chase or the sober pursuits of life; the man]}-\\nvoice of the father brouglit good cheer and joy to the\\nloving wife and dependent; once the soft sweet lullal)y\\nwas sung by a young mother as she lovingly caressed her\\ndarling babe and hushed it to sweet slumbers; and the", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "106\\ninnocent prattle of infancy was audible, while Cupid\\nplied his art among those who were just blooming into\\nman and womanhood; and when music s soft cadences\\nfell upon the ear, then might have been seen the\\nchivalric youth leading forth the idol of liis ambition to\\ntry the m3 steries of the mazy dance or circle around in\\nthe dizzy waltz. But now, all is hushed and silent; and\\nnaught but the bat, the owl, and creeping vines guard\\nits portals, while the spider silently weaving his web\\nspreads a gloom}- pall over all, and conceals in part the\\nravages of time, which slowly but surely carries on the\\nwork of destruction and saps its foundations. The four\\ngreat s^ camore trees in front of the yard sacred to Jove\\ngrim sentinels over all only add to the romance of the\\nscene and increase our curiosit}\\nNow cousin Henr}-, I said, here is the only\\nreally noteworthy building I have seen during our ride\\nof fifty miles; who owns it?\\nThis is .the Mumford place, he said. It is\\ndeserted now all run down; but the time was, cousin,\\nwhen this place was a perfect hive of industry. This\\nplantation comprises more than a thousand acres and\\nbefore the war produced more cotton than you could\\nshake a stick at. Over there by those woods are what\\nare left of the quarters, but in Mumford s time the}- were\\nmore numerous and the hands were just as thick as\\nblack birds.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "107\\nBut, I asked, what has become of the owner?\\nwhy aint he here attending to his property?\\nThe owner is dead, cousin got killed in the war, I\\nbelieve, and his heirs have never cultivated the land\\nsince he died. They wont sell any of it to the freedmen\\nfor love nor money, and they offer such small wages to\\nhands that they will not work on it; most of them have\\ngone off to work on the rail road; and some of them\\nfollowed tlie army to the north. Besides that, the land\\nhas become so completel^^ overrun with weeds that it\\naint worth much now, and it would take a small fortune\\nto put it in shaiK again.\\nThis remark was too true; and what made it sadder\\nstill was the additional fact that all through that part of\\nthe State and the adjoining State of South Carolina were\\nto be seen extensive tracts of land of Avliich the one just\\nreferred to was a fair illusti ation. Much has been\\nwritten and more spoken regarding the causes that\\nhave contributed toward the decline and ultimate ruin\\nof such valuable property, ])ut nothing so far that the\\nwriter has seen has full}- met his approval. Some,\\npresumably biased in behalf of the South, have attrib-\\nuted it all to carpet bag rule and negro domination\\nwhile others, with contrary tendencies, find no dilliculty\\nin ascribing every evil to the unrepentant South. The\\ntrouble, I opine, lies between the two, as the writer will\\nin the sequel undertake to unfold.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "108\\nWhen tlie writer lirst located in tlie Palinotto State,\\nduring the year 1870, he found tlie following condition\\nof alfairs as near as he remembers. The government of\\nthe State legislative, judicial and executive was in\\nthe hands of the Kepublican party; wliich, at that time,\\neast about eighty-five thousand votes. Of these, al)out\\nsixty thousand were cast by the freedmen, and the\\nremainder by white j)eople. The white votei s were\\ncomposed partly of those whom adventure and the\\nresults of the war had thrown into the State, and were\\nall known and designated as carpet-baggers, but who,\\nin fact, furnished at that time three-fourths of the brain\\nemployed in the whole party; and partly of such of the\\nlower and middle classes of the native white population\\nas, rejoicing at the opportunity of gaining for themselves\\na political influence such as they had never before even\\naspired to covet, and desiring to avail themselves of the\\nopportunity of adding to their wordly possessions, had\\nlaid aside their prejudices and joined their cause with\\nthat of the Republican party.\\nA majority of the members of both l)ranches of the\\nLegislature were persons of African descent. Among\\nthese were to be found a nund)er who possessed such a\\ndegree of natural sagacity and intellectual culture as\\nwould have shown to advantage if placed by the side of\\nsome of the most brilliant intellects to l)e found in the\\nlegislative bodies of our Northern States men, indeed,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "109\\nwho hud enjoyed the advantages of sonic of our okler\\ninstitutions of learning, and who had even brought with\\nthem from European schools ripe experience and scholas-\\ntic acquirements. Did prudence permit, the writer\\ncould mention tlie names of some of tliese men, who\\nhave since become Well known to the community at large\\nby reason of their prominence in national politics.\\nIt is to be regretted, liowever, that as much could not\\nbe said of the remainder uf them, since they, in many\\ninstances, were not only lacking in respect of such ordi-\\nnary and reasonable essentials as common intelligence\\nand moral integrity, but lost no opportunity of impress-\\ning this fact upon the minds of the people of the State\\nand the country at large. It will surprise no one,\\ntherefore, when we tate that the property-holders of the\\nState, who were in general ex-rebels of the State, were\\nhighly disgusted when men, who a few 3-ears prior\\n(months, in some instances,) had scarcely a lodging\\nplace, were seen boasting themselves among their former\\nassociates, clothed in the finest raiment, their wives and\\nchildren wearing rich silks and jewels, and riding in\\ncarriages and phii tons. A general desire seemed to\\npossess every one to become a member of the Legislature,\\nfrom the minister in the pulpit to the plantation hand;\\nand in the fall of 1872 tliere were in county no\\nless than twenty-two aspirants to legislative honors,", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "110\\nof whom only two could read and write, notwithstanding\\nthe fact that were only two vacancies to be filled.\\nTo such an extent was the mania for holding olKce\\npermitted to go, and so completely wore the ignorant\\nmasses possessed of a desire to paiticipate in the bene-\\nfits accruing therefrom, that in one instance, at least, a\\nwell fornied,healthy farm hand who had been so fortunate,\\nor unfortunate, as to be elected to the lower branch of\\nthe Legislature, wept over a subseciuent defeat, and,\\nby reason of liis determination to return to the State\\ncapital in some capacity, actually accepted the position\\nof janitor, and was seen upon the curb cleaning spittoons.\\nIt fell to the lot of the writer, upon a visit to the\\nState capital in the year 1871, to pass a night in the\\ndormitory occupied by a large number of the members\\nof the Legislature. The impressions made on his mind\\nby the events of that eventful occasion will never be\\nfully obliterated by the lapse of time nor change of\\nlocality; for, amidst the fumes of strong drink, the\\nclouds of smoke, the shultiing of feet and maudlin jesting\\nof the grave and reverend seigniors, sleep was an im-\\npossibility, and he contented himself with lining there,\\na quiet observer of transpiring events, and [)hilosophizing\\nas to their probable issue.\\nIt would be manifestl} unjust however and foreign to\\nthe truth, for any one to ascribe to the ignorance of this\\naugust body all the moral turpitude which was even", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "Ill\\nthen drawing forth the scA erest criticisms from some of\\nthe most ardent advocates of the Southern Reconstruc-\\ntion policy: for these poor men were in reality but the\\ndupes of their more wily and sophisticated brethren of\\nboth colors, who used them as mere cat s paws with\\nwhich to pull the nutritious chestnuts out of the Are;\\nand who, while these deluded people were easily pur-\\nchased with a few hundred dollars, were accumulating\\nbank, rail road and mining stocks, as well as pocketing\\na liberal proportion of the bonds of the State of South\\nCarolina. Nor did this condition of affairs end at tiie,\\nstate capital; but becoming contagious, it spread all\\nover the state, and found a lodging in every county,\\ntown and hamlet. In the county of which was a\\nmodel one for that state, the sheriff, (who was a white\\nman,) could neither read nor write, and depended al-\\ntogether upon his clork and memory for the transaction\\nof his complicated duties; the school commissioner was\\na man incapable of discharging his duties according to\\nthe requirements of his position; the probate judge was\\nignorant of the rudiments of law; and some of the\\ntrial justices were men who dishonored their positions\\nin CA ery respect. And yet when the writer during the\\ndelivery of a public harangue, took occasion to suggest\\nthe propriety of selecting the more intelligent class of\\nrepublicans for these positions, rather than such as have\\nbeen referred to, he was liranded with disfavor by all", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "112\\nwho were of that class, (and they comprised the greater\\nportion of the inhabitants) was stigmatized as a college\\nbred man who was in favor of having only educated\\npeople hold office, and relegated to the seclusion of his\\ngrocery and law office. It is no wonder then, that under\\nthe circumstances, there was a feeling of hatred and\\ndisgust, deep and bitter, pervading the breasts of the\\nproperty holding class throughout the State, which was\\ndestined to ultimately break forth in such deeds of vio-\\nlence and bloodshed as have brought dishonor upon the\\nfame of the State and stained the reputation of some\\nof her leading men.\\nThe writer has no recollection of having ever seen\\nan} more direct exposition of the sentiment then\\npervading the latter class of the inhabitants of that\\nState than that furnished by a letter now in his posses-\\nsion, written and addressed to him, subsequent to his\\nreturn to the State of Ohio, by one of her oldest inhabi-\\ntants; a man who for twelve consecutive years repre-\\nsented his county in the Legislature; a former slave-\\nholder, and at that time the owner of more than one\\nthousand acres of arable land.\\nFor the benefit of such readers as may be desirous\\nof obtaining both sides of this important question,\\nwe will insert the letter entire, subject to such com-\\nments thereon as we ma} feel constrained to submit.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "113\\nThe following is the letter verbatim. The italics are\\nour own\\nHudson viLLE, S. C, May 13th, 1873.\\nEsq.\\nI have received your letter, bearing date Ohio,\\nand was somewhat surprised to find that you had left the South\\nentirely. You lived here long enough to find out that it was no\\nplace for one politically who had honest aims. The gang of\\nthieves who call themselves the State Government, want no spies\\nabout them, and therefore was not wanted. If you had\\nbeen a dexterous rogue you might have stolen a good deal, and\\nhave been highly promoted or if you had let the white people\\ntake you up and fought as well as you could with the\\ncolored people, you might have achieved something valuable for\\nyourself as well as for the public interest. I think the whites\\nwould have stood by you just as long as you had strength to fight\\ntlie robbers, and would have been of great service to you. They\\nwanted an advocate from your race some one the freedmen would\\nbelieve, and who would tell them boldly what is going on. For\\nrottenness sits in all the high places, and the white people feel\\nthat they are made mere fish-bait of, and that they have no civil\\nrights under the domination of corn-field darkies, and army sut-\\nlers at the head of the State Government.\\nDo you think the white people of South Carolina will ever\\ntolerate this state of things? Prudence may keep all things quiet\\nfor a time, but when the dam breaks the rush of water will overwhelm\\neverything in its way. We don t intend to submit to the existing\\nstate of things for the benefit of and such as he. I say\\nthis to you who belong to another race, but who knows enough of\\na country where he could not live himself without stealing or\\nwinking at the stealing of others, and who must understand that", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "114\\nthe respectable people who live here, and can t get away to Oliio,\\nintend to assert their rights wlien they can, and throw off the mill-\\nstones that are crushing out their very lives.\\nYou know all about what I am writing, and well understand\\nme when I tell you that time only increases the deep indigna-\\ntion we all feel at wliat we have to suffer, and can never make it\\ntolerable. We are altogetlier willing that human rights should\\nbe acknowletlged, and all races and conditions shall have equal\\nrights under the law. But you knoiv the white man has no political\\nrights here, and that he is at the mercy of mere bummers. All\\nthe concessions we make only draw our own chains tighter. I do\\nnot just now see the end of these things, but it must come. When\\nsuch men as (iovernor Orr and Sawyer are driven from the State\\nbecause they tried to reform the Republican party, and when\\ncould see no resting-place for his feet here, well may all\\nothers, more sensitive to the violence done to all their preconceived\\nopinions and prejudices, feel restless and disgusted, and look beyond\\nthe dead line for the possibility of an escape. It seems hard that\\nafter the white people, who pay all the taxes, have been so\\nreduced as to accept with sincerity such terms as shock every fibre\\nin their systems, yet still they are denied the privilege of making\\ntheir own laws, and have no rights except what cornfield darkies\\nand army sutlers are willing to concede to them, at their own\\nexpense. Therefore we complain.\\nAs to money matters, the people are rich, even with their\\nheavy taxes. The small planters are richer than they ever were.\\nT never saw money so plentiful in South Carolina as last winter\\n(1872). With cotton at seventeen and eighteen cents, even the\\nfreedmen are looking up, and buying largely of everything they\\nwant. One lives near me who has bought and paid for two tracts\\nof land and five horses since the war. If cotton only keeps up", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "115\\nwe are obliged to be full of money. A one-horse farm is good for\\nten bales and provisions. Any one can make it who is willing to\\nwork, and therefore we make no complaints about money. It is\\nthe best place to make money in the civilized world. And there\\nare tliousands of opportunities yet to be seized upon by smart men\\nill mechanical and manufacturing employments that would be\\nsure to bring rich harvests to those who will seek them. We\\nwant Northern men to come amongst as. The old prejudices are\\ncrushed out, and we will hail them as friends if they will come\\namongst and settle down to live by tlieir industry (and vote the\\nDemocratic ticket, he ought to have added). There is any quan-\\ntity of land to rent. I have a field myself of five hundred acres\\nwhich I will rent for two dollars an acre, or will sell for twelve\\ndollars an acre the wiiole tract of nine hundred and fifty acres.\\nYour.s respectfully,\\nThe writer of the foregoing remarkable letter said in\\ntlie [)resence and hearing of tlie author and a large con-\\ncourse of citizens of both colors, upon the occasion ot a\\npolitical demonstration, in substance as follows: We\\nhave made a mistake in the policy adopted and pursued\\nby us toward our colored citizens and the republican\\nparty in general, and I fear it is now too late to repair\\nthe damage done. We should haA^e fraternized with you,\\nand inspired you with confidence in us. Had we adopted\\nthat i)lan, we could have gained a, place in your affec-\\ntions and enjoyed the opportunity of contributing of our\\nsuperior knowledge and greater experience toward the\\nreconstruction and government of our State. But\\ninstead of this, we have held aloof, and treated you with", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "116\\nstudied scorn; instead of voting with you and assisting\\nin the selection of the best men of our own county and\\nState, we have either kept away from the polls altogether\\nor else wasted our strength in futile efforts to elect men\\nto office wlio differed radically from yon, while strangeis\\nhave come in from abroad and usurped the reins of\\ngovernment and now oppress us beyond endurance.\\nHow truthfully- and fitly spoken I for in those few words\\nrested the whole truth of the case. It is true that from\\nthe force of circumstances some of the largest property-\\nholders of the State were disfranchised by law, but this\\nclass included no very considerable portion of the voting\\npopulation, and had any disposition discovered itself on\\ntheir part to fall in with the new order of things and\\nyield obedience to the laws of tlie land, no difficulty\\nwould have been experienced in adjusting affairs to\\nmeet the requirements of their case. There is also\\nanother view t(\u00c2\u00bb he taken of tliis ([uestion, namel_y: If it\\nwere true that rottenness was sitting in all the high\\nplaces, it was equally true that many of the respectable\\npeople of the South winked at it and even encouraged\\nit. For instance the Land Commission of the State of\\nSouth Carolina was formed by law, and had placed at its\\ndisposal more than half a million dollars, tor the avowed\\npurpose of purchasing large tracts of land within the\\nState, to be parcelled out to such of the ambitious freed-\\nmen as were able and willing to ))uv land, but who", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "117\\nowing to the indisposition on the pai t oC the Southern\\nland owners to sell to them, had not the opportunity.\\nIt was a laudable design, conceived in justice and mag-\\nnanimity, ])ut by reason of the connivance of these same\\nlanded grumlders, permitted to become abortive of an_v\\ngood results, and disgraceful to the administration. A\\nland owner having a piece of worn out or swamp land\\nunlit for ordinary agricultural purposes and worth in\\nfact not more than from a dollar and fifty cents to three\\ndollars per acre, would palm the same off upon the Land\\nCommissioners, who were State officers, for an exorbitant\\nprice; just where the whole of the money paid went to I\\ncannot say. And it was noticed that by some peculiar\\nhocus ]-)ocus the choicest parcels of this land, especially\\nif there happened to be improvements on them, were apt\\nto get into the hands of influential members of the\\nlegislature. And in almost every instance where private\\ncorporations were formed by legislative enactments, (and\\nthe volumes containing session laws were full of them)\\nfor the purpose of carrying on mining or other opera-\\ntions within the State, or for the purpose of removing\\nrich phosphatic deposits from the beds of rivers, (an\\narticle very valuable in the cultivating- of cotton and\\nother products) the name of one or more of these same\\nrespectable people of the State, appeared conspicu-\\nous as incori)orators. But aside from all this, whatever\\nniav be said against the honesty or fitness of individuals", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "118\\nl)tu-licii);iting in the State and local governments, it\\nmust be admitted that the} furnished the only element\\nin the State from which the United States Government\\ncould select agents for the transaction of her behests.\\nSay of the colored people of the South tliat tliey were in\\nsome instances ignorant; that in connection witli their\\nwhite brethren and with the connivance of the proi)erty\\nhokiing clement there, they sometimes abused their\\nrespective trusts; sa_y all this and more if possible, it\\nmust still be admitted by everyone wlio knows them that\\nthe} were then as now, loyal to the core and would\\nrather die of starvation and the lash in the hands of their\\nwhite oppressors than cast a ballot for the Democratic\\nparty or betray their country into the hands of traitors.\\nThere has not been a time since the surrender of Lee at\\nAppomattox, when it was not in the power of the Con-\\nfederate element of the South to assist in governing\\nthemselves, had the} felt disposed to accept the proffered\\nconcessions of the Central Government; but the} would\\nnot. And as for the carpet baggers, so called, I\\ncannot understand liow the reconstruction of the South-\\nern States could have taken place in accordance with\\nlegal recpiirements without their assistance; and the\\nSouth is to this day indebted to these same men for\\nsome of her most substantial improvcment^and much of\\nthe energ} and business vital itv enjoyed bv her,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "CHAPTEE IX.\\nThe Camp-Meeting Ground.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 General Appearance of the\\nPlace, Jones Pleased. Religious Tendencies of the Colored Race.\\nAre they Peculiarities of the Colored Race, or are they Begotten\\nof their Weak and Opjiresaed Condition The Writer s Views on\\nthis Subject. Reminiscences of a Camp-Meeting. Sudden Pros-\\ntration and Narrow Escape. The Philadelphia Mourner.\\nQuotations from a Sermon. First Lines of some of the Hymns..\\nA Woman on Fire. Disadvantage of Wearing a Hoop Skirt.\\nNearing Civilization.\\nFor one to undertake a deseription of the manners\\nand customs of the South without including a camp\\nmeeting, would be as futile as for the continental tourist\\nto essay a description of Rome with St. Peter s left out;\\nfor as St, Peter s is a fair type of the predominating\\nreligious sentiment of the inhabitants of that cit}-, to an\\nequal degree docs the camp meeting of the South serve\\nas an exponent of the moral and religious tendencies of\\nthe colored people there; and since in many sections of\\nthe South the colored people constitute not only the\\nbone and sinew of the land, but also give to it whatever\\nof sold and vitality it may possess, it follows that what-\\never interests them pertains to all.\\nIt is not to be wondered at then that when our party,\\nhaving left the deserted mansion and plantation in tlic", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "120\\nrear, approached tlie site whore during the previous fall\\nthe residents of the surrounding country had held a\\ngreat camp meeting, we were inspired with feelings akin\\nto awe and made to audibly soliloquize, as we dismounted\\nand closely scrutinized every object of interest connected\\nwith it like the reverential son of the Emerald Isle on a\\nformer occasion tread lightly, for its on howl} groun\\nthat ye are. There was the vast auditorium just as it\\nwas left at the close of the previous season of religious\\nexcitement. Its construction was the acme of simplicity\\nand economy. Posts, forked at the top, were planted in\\nthe ground; upon these, poles were laid in a longitudinal\\ndirection; resting upon them, transversely, other poles\\nwere placed to form a roof, and the whole was then\\ncovered over with branches and twigs, thus affording an\\nexcellent protection against the force of the sun s rays\\nor the dews of the evening. At one end of this pavilion\\nwas a rude perch, which served the purpose of a pulpit;\\nsplit logs, with the tlat side up and holes bored in the\\nrounded side for the accommodation of legs, answered\\nthe purpose of seats; while without, surrounding all, at\\nirregular intervals, were little arbors or booths, furnished\\nwith rustic tables and seats, which answered every pur-\\npose of domestic use to the wear} pilgrim who had per-\\nformed his hegira to this Mecca of his ambition.\\nSuch were the appointments of this rustic fane; and\\nas Jones drank in the scene and descanted on his former", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "121\\nexperiences at similar places, his religious enthusiasm\\nwas with difficulty repressed. For be it remembered,\\nlike other members of the colored race, especially in the\\nsunny South, his religious tendencies were strong and\\nrequired but little of exhortation or song to fan tliem to\\na glowing flame. On more occasions than one has the\\nwriter been awakened from a profound slumber at the\\ndead hour of night by the loud and earnest supplications\\nof cousin Henry. Those occasions generally immediately\\npreceeded or attended a season of physical suffering or\\nbusiness embarrassment, but rarely followed them; and,\\nbeing blessed with a pair of healthy lungs, they were\\nmatters of common notoriety among the neighbors, and\\nfrequently cost him much embarrassment when in his\\nmore prosperous seasons he became so recreant as to\\nindulge in profanity.\\nMuch has been attributed to the colored people on\\nthe score of religious sentiment, while their prayers and\\nmelodious songs, ascending from the cane-brakes and\\ncabins of the South, have found a place in works of fact\\nas well as fiction, and many a tear of genuine s^nn-\\npatii} has started to the eyes of humane persons on\\nhearing the mournful wail, as imitated by the now\\nubiquitous jubilee singer of the stage.\\nTlie questions have often been asked whctlier this\\nreligious enthusiasm, exhil)ited in so many and vigorous\\nways, is a peculiar characteristic of the African race, or", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "122\\nis it begotten b} the weak and oppressed condition in\\nwhich they are placed in this country? Were their con-\\ndition reversed and if, instead of having been enslaved\\nI and persecuted the} had been free and favored, instead\\nof being poor and subject to caste proscription they\\nwere rich and preferred, would that same religious fer-\\nvency and zeal be conspicuous?\\nNor is the writer prepared to conscientiously answer\\nthese questions in an unequivocal manner, A well-\\nknown writer, speaker and agitator in the anti-\\nslaver} cause of this country, once said, in substance,\\nfrom the rostrum that were it not for the vivacity of the\\nAfrican disposition, and the great fund of religious sen-\\ntiment which characterizes him, he never could have\\nsurvived his afllictions in this country in his present\\ncondition. Instead of multiplying, he would have\\ndecreased numerically; instead of maintaining his\\npristine physical and intellectual force, he would have\\ndegenerated, and the imbecile and insane asj lums of the\\nland, as well as the infirmaries, would to-day be full to\\noverflowing.\\nI raise no issue with the gentleman, for he may be\\ncorrect in his conclusions, but by no means do I desire\\nto claim for the race with which I am identified anj-^\\ngreater degree or dilTercnt quality of intellect or moralitj\\nthan is possessed by the average races of the human\\nfamily on the face of the earth. And I think I speak", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "123\\nthe sentiments of a majority of the more thoughtful\\nmembers of our race when I say. if we have onl}^ accorded\\nto us the credit of possessing such ordinary and reason-\\nable qualities of mind and soul as are the rtl^d of men\\nin general, together with a fair opportunity in \\\\he race\\nof life of proving them, we shall be satisfied therewith.\\nOther races have been oppressed, and severely, too, and\\ntheir oppressions followed seasons of prosperity, which\\nmade it all the more unendurable; and yet they lived\\nthrough it and prospered. Such was the case with the\\nHelots of Greece, and such the condition of the Saxons\\nafter the advent of William the Conqueror, not to men-\\ntion instances of less note in other countries at different\\ntimes.\\nI have noticed that afllictions in any form have a\\ntendency to soften the hearts and quicken the consciences\\nof persons of all colors and conditions; and, in the\\ncourse of the writer s legal experience, he has borne\\nwitness to the marvellous conversion of some very\\nhardened criminals men who to all appearances were\\nincorrigible, and had previously been given up as lost.\\nWho that has been present on the occasion of a storm\\nat sea, railroad accident, or other threatened or actual\\ncalamity, when hardened sinners, (old men, in some\\ninstances, who had not thought of supplicating the\\nThrone of Grace since their mothers taught them around\\nthe family altar to lisp their infant prayers,) upon bended", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "124\\nknees, with their countenances batlied in tears of peni-\\ntance, were pouring forth their souls in earnest suppli-\\ncations, has not experienced the truth of the observation?\\nIs it to be wondered at, in view of the fact of our\\nsufferings and afflictions in this land, that the past and\\npresent generations of colored men have betokened, by\\ntheir prayers and songs, a deep sense of their dependence\\nupon the God of nations, and trust in Him for a happy\\nissue of their cause? I think not. We are led to believe\\nfrom the accounts of African travelers that when\\nin his native land, surrounded by the incidents pertain-\\ning to his barbarous condition, he is brave and daring,\\nand that his actions betray no greater degree of religious\\nenthusiasm than is to be seen among nations of a lighter\\nhue. Witness the struggles of the savage Zulus during\\ntheir recent war with the English.\\nBut to return to the camp meeting. The writer\\nrecalls in a very vivid manner an evening passed at a\\nplace similar to the one now before us, less than a year\\nago, when it seemed as though the whole region was\\nseized with a religious mania, little short of absolute\\ninsanity. For weeks previous, the camp meeting was\\nthe only subject worthy of discussion and it over-\\nshadowed everything else, except the one practical\\nmatter of obtaining daily bread. Small bits of money\\nwere treasured up, new gowns and turbans, flashing in\\ntheir ruddy hues were bought and prepared; chickens,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "125\\nducks and suckling pigs were fattened all in anticipation\\nof the great event. And when the time came, such a\\ngathering of the neighboring clans as took place beggars\\ndescription. To say that the preaching, singing oi- pray-\\ning was artistic would not be true/and to say it was earnest\\nwould be less than truth, for it was something more; it\\nwas violent, it was emotional, it was comical. The ser-\\nmon, as near as we can remember, was a strange mix-\\nture of clo(]uence and humor, antl some of the observa-\\ntions made by the preacher were absolutely startling in\\ntheir nature. In referring to the expulsion of the\\nmoney-changers and those that sold doves from the\\nTemple by the Savior, he represented the Savior as\\ngoing in with his sleeves rolled up; and, again, in\\naccounting for the ascension of the Savior into heaven\\nafter the resurrection, he swept awa^ all theories and\\nspeculations with a single motion of the hand, and in\\nhis imagination pictured a windlass in heaven with a\\ngolden cord attached thereto, to one end of which, be-\\ning lowered, the Savior was clinging, while beautiful\\nangels, robed in white, labored at cranks to wind him\\nu[). The singing was peculiar, defying all attempts on\\nthe part of the average novice at imitation; but for the\\npurpose of conveying only a faint idea of its character\\nto the uninitiated we will quote the first lines of a few\\nof them. One which was sung with great earnestness\\ncommenced as follows:", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "126\\nLook out dar, sinner, how you trample on de cross,\\nIf 3 our foot should slip you are shoah to get los\\nI m gwine ter jine de b-a-n I m gwine to jine de ban\\nAnother less solemn but more suggestive ran as Ibl-\\nfollows:\\nT wish ole Satan would be still,\\nGwine ter git a home bimeby;\\nAn let me do my marster s will,\\n(Jwine ter git a home bimeby.\\nStill another exjiression of the trials and trihiilations\\nof this life ran as follows:\\nSometimes I m up, sometimes I m down,\\nSometimes I m almos on de groun\\nThese are but a drop in the bucket as compared with\\nthe oceans of poetry and music indulged in on that\\noccasion, under the inspiration of which the brothers\\nand sisters would not only pat their feet and clap their\\nhands together, but shout, jumping about, pulling at\\nimaginary ropes, as if in the very act of climbing up\\ninto heaven, and in some instances actuall} fainting and\\nbeing carried out and laid in a cool place. I blush to\\nsa} it, but it is nevertheless true, it sometimes happened\\nthat a sister who possessed a bonnet or dress a little\\nnewer in style, or more brilliant in colors, suffered the\\nmortification of having it partly torn from her b^ some\\njealous sister while under the influence of the spirit and\\nengaged in one of these demonstrations.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "127\\nFor such reasons as the one just related, the writer\\nhas often feared that much of the apparent religious\\nenthusiasm on the part of some of these people is\\nfeigned; on the other hand, some are sincere.\\nIt happened upon an occasion similar to the one\\nspoken of, when the writer was a silent observer, that a\\nburly man, who sat next to liim, suddenly, and without\\nany warning, fell over and kicked out with his feet, one\\nof them coming in close proximit} to our nasal pro-\\ntulierance. Now it happens tliat if there is one member\\nof the writer s body that he is more jealous of than any\\nother it is his nose, hence he has not, up to the present\\ntime, ceased congratulating himself upon his fortunate\\nescape, for there is no room for a reasonable doubt that,\\nhad he been struck in the face with the heavy brogan\\nworn by the stricken brother, his countenance would\\nhave been spoiled for all time to come. The mourner\\nhad reason to be offended at the writer, because of the\\nvery active part he had taken against him in a law suit a\\nshort time previous to this occurrence, and whether he\\nhad adopted that mode of repairing his injured feelings,\\ndoes not plainly appear.\\nAt another time when we were present, the chandelier,\\nwhich consisted of a coal oil lamp, lashed to a joist\\nover head, fell with a crash in the middle of the minis-\\nter s discourse, and the oil, immediately igniting, set fire\\nto the clothes of a lady sitting near by. Vain were the", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "128\\nfrantic efforts of the young gentlemen present to extin-\\nguish the flames, for, despite their efforts to smother\\nthem, a metallic hoopskirt, worn by the damsel, persisted\\nin expanding her burning clothing and burning their\\nhands. The heat increasing, and the life of the victim\\nbeing threatened, it became essential that something\\nshould l)e done, and that quickly. In such an emer-\\ngency, a plain-looking old gentleman, wearing a white\\nfur hat of the style prevalent in the days of our revolu-\\ntionary sires, came forward, bearing in his hand a\\nhickory cane, with one end crooked:\\nNot the least obeisance made he\\nNot a moment stopped or stayed he\\nbut, with a look of placid confidence on his countenance,\\nhe raised the cane aloft, with the crooked end thrust for-\\nward, and without uttering a word hooked it into the skirt\\nand relieved the embarrassed wearer, but left her in a\\ncostume which carried the mind of the observer l)nck to\\nthe days of our first parents in the garden of Eden. Not-\\nwithstanding the fact that enthusiasm ran high before the\\naccident, it now disappeared the exhorter was gone, and\\nthose who were loudest in their demonstrations were\\nrushing wildly around, like sheep without a shepherd.\\nThe following anecdote is related upon the authority\\nof a gentleman who was present, and vouches for the\\ntruthfulness of it. During the winter of 1870 or 1871,\\na protracted meeting was in progress in one of the", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "129\\nmost notorious of the colored churches of the city of\\nPhiladelphia. For more than three weeks excitement ran\\nhigh, and many were converted some bona fide, others\\nnot. Complaints, numerous and emphatic, had been\\nlodged with the authorities concerning disturbances\\ncreated b3Mrresponsible persons, who had attended these\\nmeetings and who, in passing through the streets at\\nunseemly hours, made disturbance by reason of their\\ncries and groans. On the occasion referred to, a group of\\neight or ten persons were passing along a thickly popu-\\nlated street, having in charge a pretended mourner of\\nrather demonstrative tendencies. They had labored\\nover her all the evening, and now that the night was far\\nspent, having failed in accomplishing any perceptible\\nresult, they were considerately conducting, aye, even\\ncarrying her home; for the influence under which she\\nwas laboring was so powerful as to deprive her of the\\nuse of her limbs, but not of her tongue. Onward they\\nbore the sister as she, erstwhile, gave forth a series of\\nshrieks and groans that were truly heart rending; while\\nher comforters addressed themselves to her somewhat\\nafter the following manner: Give up yo hart to de\\nLo d, chile, rite nowf^ Let go dem flesh-pots ob Egyp\\nsinner, an cum eat milk an honey. At that juncture a\\nminion of the law, wearing a uniform, appeared upon the\\nscene of action. What have you got thei-e? he said,\\naddressing the leading comforter. A m-o-u-r-n-e-r,\\nTT", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "130\\nshe answered. A what! exclaimed the policeman.\\nA m-o-u-r-n-e-r, sir, was again answered. Well!\\nexclaimed the ofticer, that s a pretty row to be raising\\non the streets at this hour of the night. If you don t\\nget to your houses in a hurry I shall lock you up. At\\nthe mention of the lock-ui) the mourner was drop[)e d and\\nleft to shift for herself, and, though the remainder of the\\nparty were rapid in their flight, she distanced them all,\\nand led the inglorious retreat.\\nI hope no one will gain the imi)ression from what has\\nbeen written that the writer would cast any reflection of\\nan improper character upon the Christian religion, or\\nridicule the eff orts of the humblest worker in the vine-\\nyard of the Lord; for he recognizes the vastness of the\\nresponsibility any one must necessarily incur who has\\nthe effrontery to do such a thing. If there is one thing,\\nhowever, that we hate and detest upon earth more than\\nanother, that thing is hypocrisy Hence we have no\\nscruples in mimicing or ridiculing whatever savors of\\nduplicity in religion, believing that he who steals the\\nlivery of heaven to serve the devil in is just as much a\\nthief and a robber as he who cracks a safe or robs a\\nbank; and more contemptible, because he cowardl}\\nuses the means provided for the accomplishment of\\nnoble ends as a blind to the dishonorable aims in view\\non his part.\\nBut we linger around this old camping ground too", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "131\\nlong; we must go. Again we are mounted and i)ur-\\nsuing our journe} Our distance is growing beautifully\\nless, and expectation runs high, predicated upon our\\narrival in the town. Only ten miles further, and our\\njourney will liave ended.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER X.\\nTlio Kn Klnx-KIan. Its Origin. Its Name. Objects and\\nDeeds of Violence. Recollections of its Early Days. Proofs of its\\nExistence. What Hon. Reverdy Johnson thought of its Members.\\nThe Origin of the Exodus, and Probable Result.\\nWo had only proceeded a short distance further on\\nour way, when we were confronted b}- the charred re-\\nmains of what had been a dwelling house.\\nWhat s that? 1 asked for the hundredth time, ad-\\ndressing Jones.\\nThat, said he, is the work of the Ku-Klux-Klan.\\nThe man who lived there was nominated for an oflice of\\ninconsiderable importance; but being a Yankee and for\\nthat reason displeasing to his Democratic neighbors, he\\nwas warned to leave the countr} and failing to heed\\nthe notice, he was taken from his house one night by a\\nbody of masked men, given a coat of tar and feathers,\\nand twenty-four hours in which to make his escape.\\nAfter that treatment he hesitated no longer, but left for\\nparts unknown, glad enough to be spared his life. On\\nthe following night his house, with all its contents, were\\nburned to the ground, and left in the condition you now\\nsee it.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "133\\nFurtlier inquiry only tended to strengthen the truth\\nof Jones statement; not only this but the additional\\nfact that throughout the region we were then traversing,\\nthere was a thoroughly organized association of men\\nunder the name given almve. The Ku-Klux Klan was\\nan organization conceived in sin, and born in iniquit}\\nbased not so much upon any wrongs or oppression that\\nits members were actuall} sullering at the hands of\\nthe mcHibers of the newly organized government of\\nthe State, as upon an imagined violence done to all\\ntheir preconceived opinions and prejudices, in the lan-\\nguage of our Southern correspondent, whose letter we\\nhave given in a previous chapter. One of those opinions\\nwas that the South ought to have l)een left alone to\\nsecede from the Union of these States, and not re-\\nstrained by the vigorous North; hence a violence had\\nbeen done the South in restraining her. Another opin-\\nion was that, after having been scourged back into the\\nline of States, South Carolina ought to h,ave been given\\nloose reins to reconstruct herself, and make her own\\nlaws; even though their tendency were such as to\\ncrusli out every spark of civil life from the freedmen,\\ndeprive them of their newly acquired political privileges,\\nand relegate them to the condition of corn field dar-\\nkies, with overseers to crack their whips over their\\nheads, and not even a master to say them nay. Vio-\\nlence had been done to their preconceived opinions", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "134\\n1)V deiiyinir ilicni this privilege, and to eap the climax,\\ntheir preconceived prejudices had been violated by per\\nmitting coru-field darkies and arm\\\\^ \u00c2\u00abutlers to hold\\noffices of emolument and trust, notwithstanding the fact\\nthey utterly refused to fiaternize with them even politi-\\ncally, and reap a portion of the benefits accruing there-\\nfrom. There was no reasonable cause of comi)laint\\nexisting on the part of the peo{)le of that State\\nthat coidd not have been adjusted by lawful means\\nentirely within their ))ower and under their control;\\nand that, in any one of our more considerate States\\nof the North would have been modified without resort\\nto violence and incendiarism. Not so with these im\\npulsive people, however. Their preconceived opinions\\nand prejudices had been violated, and now, just as\\nwhen the Republican party of the North had violated\\nthem by electing Abraham Lincoln to the Presidential\\nchair, nothing short of blood would wipe out the stain.\\nThc}^ regarded the carpet-bagger as the common\\nfoe, and, as a consequence, all arguments that could be\\nlavished upon him, having in view his conversion to\\ntheir doctrines, would be worse than wasted. Hence\\nthey let him severely alone, and in his state of ostracism\\nhe was left to fraternize with jorn-field darkies or\\nelse live the life of a hermit. He chose the former.\\nBut to the colored men they poured forth tiieir souls\\nin all the eloquence at their command, in the vain effort", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "135\\nto lure them back again to all their former felicities\\nIll this attempt as well they were doomed to disap[)oint-\\nment, for their colored brethren had lived among them\\nlong enough to understand the difference between free-\\ndom and slavery, and took no heed of their prayers and\\nentreaties. Tlie colored men were then, as now, true to\\nthe cause of the Union. They had prayed for it; the}\\nhad fought for it; and now they would vote for it, and not\\nall the fair promises of tlieir former masters, nor even\\nthe reputed wealth of the Indies could swerve them one\\ninch from their recognized path of duty. I have known\\nfreedmen to walk twent}^ miles, in a thinly populated\\nregion, to the nearest voting precinct to cast their ballots,\\neven when they knew that such action on their part\\nwidened the breach between them and their emplo^ crs\\nand jeopardized their dearest interests, so true were they\\nto the principles which they had espoused. Being foiled\\nin their etiorts to coax or scare their former slaves into a\\nsupport of their preconceived opinions and prejudices,\\nand being fully determined to yield no jot or tittle to the\\npolicy pursued by the Republican part}^, as a last resort,\\nand one more in consonance with their tastes, inclina-\\ntions and early training, thep adopted the policy now\\nknown as ku-klux-ism a policy of cowardice, perjury,\\nrapine and murder; one ill-suited to any people otiier\\nthan sucli as are found in the South among her half\\ncivilized white population.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "136\\nThe klan was thoroughly organized, having a\\nritual, signs, grips and passwords, The^ wore masks to\\nconceal their cowardly faces, and bound each other with\\na solemn oath not to reveal the name of any member,\\nnor divulge any secret of the order.\\nTheir name, Ku-Klux-Klan, is said to have been\\nsuggested to them by the sound made in the act of\\ncocking and discharging the rifles and shot-guns carried\\nb} them the first two syllables being repeated in a\\nsubdued tone of voice, as Ku Klux, represented the\\ncocking of the piece; while the last syllable, Klan, being\\nrepeated with emphasis, betokened its discharge.\\nThe objects of tlie Klan, as have been already hinted\\nat, were to banish the so-called carpet baggers from\\nthe State, restore the freedmen to positions of serfdom\\nunder their former masters, and regain control of the\\ngovernment of the State. They carried a knife in one\\nhand and a torch in the other, while in their belt the}\\nwore a revolver. The bull-whip and raw-hide were also\\ninstruments of their torture, and made to produce\\narguments which none dared refute. In their expedi-\\ntions they spared neither age, sex nor color, and the\\nreputation of being a black republican was all that\\nwas needed to place one under the ban of their con-\\ndemnation.\\nTo note the progress of the sentiment which culmin-\\nated in the organization of this Klan, was a matter of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "137\\nmuch curiosity; and since the writer was located in one\\nportion of the Sate of South Carolina, from its inception\\nuntil its discovery and prosecution under the adminis-\\ntration of President Grant, he enjoyed many facilities in\\nthis connection not within reach of persons at a dis-\\ntance from the scene of their diabolism.\\nAs early as the gubernatorial contest in 1870, while\\nthe writer, with others, were assisting in the canvass of\\nthe State in behalf of the Republican party, frequent\\nparoxysms of rage were noted on the part of the re-\\nspectable people of the State, which on more occasions\\nthan one, well nigh resulted in blood shed. In one\\ninstance this was so manifestly true that ever afterward\\nour party went out upon the stump prepared for the\\nworst. On the occasion referred to, while one of us,\\nmf)unted upon a rustic rostrum, was descanting on\\nthe evils of Democratic rule, and lauding to the skies the\\nmagnanimous policy of the Republican party, a coarse\\nlooking man with his pants tucked into the legs of a\\npair of cow-hide boots, and wearing a broad-brimmed\\nstraw hat, who had been standing under a tree near by\\nwith a few others of similar stamp, paring a sweet\\npotato with a dangerous looking knife which he held in\\nhis hand, becoming incensed at something which the\\nspeaker said, dropped his potato, and brandishing his\\nknife, rushed toward him. In an instant a dozen sable\\nsons of our party stood between the speaker and his", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "138\\nassailant, and with drawn blades defied the assassin to\\ntouch a hair of his head. His violence soon subsided\\nwithout harm being done.\\nOn another occasion, when tlie orator of the day,\\nduring the delivery of a Fourth of July oration, was\\ndrawing a very striking contrast between the times\\nthat had been and those that were, a former nominee of\\nthe Democratic part}- for Congressman who was present,\\ntook umbrage at something that was said, and catching\\nthe speaker by one leg attempted to pull him from the\\nstand. He came well nigh being paid for his temerit}\\nby a thrust from a sword in the hands of one of the\\naudience, who was a captain of militia. And tlius on\\nnearly every occasion that offered these offended people\\nwould betoken their active hostility to every tiling of a\\npolitical nature not in full harmony with all their pre-\\nconceived opinions and prejudices.\\nAs time wore on apace their opposition increased in\\nvirulence, and assumed a more open form. About six\\nmonths later direct opposition in the nature of Ku-Klux\\noutrages began to be felt and heard from. In the\\nadjoining count}^ a white Republican was summoned to\\nhis door one night by the usual alarm; he went accom-\\npanied b} his wife and daughter, and instead of\\nwelcoming a neighbor or friend who had come to per-\\nform a friendly errand, they were confronted b} a 1)aiid\\nof Ku-Klux, who, without any word of warning or even", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "139\\nopportunity of making- his peace with his God, shot him\\ndown like a dog.\\nIn another section of the State a loving husband and\\nkind father was bound and Hogged in the presence of\\nhis family, because he heeded not their warning to desist\\nfrom taking an active part in the campaign then inau-\\ngurated; houses and well-lilled barns were burned and a\\nperfect reign of terror inaugurated. Their deeds of\\nviolence being heralded abroad, alarm seized upon all\\nRepublicans who inhabited sparsely-settled counties,\\nhaving their places of abode, in some instances, sepa-\\nrated by miles of intervening forest, and their cries for\\nhelp were such as to attract the attention of the General\\nGovernment, who sent its ministers of justice to the\\nscene, where a full investigation of the transactions of\\nthe infamous Klan was had, of which more anon.\\nIt was at about this time that numerous suspicious\\nlooking dodgers, written in an unknown hand, were\\nscattered promiscuously through the streets and stores\\nof Hudsonville, some of them even having been posted\\nto the trees of the Public Square during the night time.\\nThese dodgers and placards bore threats of vengeance\\nswift and dire to all who belonged to the black Repub-\\nlican party, unless they severed their connection with\\nit, and prophesied that the day of retribution was near\\nat hand. To the State senator representing our own\\ncounty they said, Beware, oh, beware Your doom is", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "140\\nsealed! Under the circumstances, we were alarmed.\\nIt is true that a matter of a similar nature in the well-\\nregulated North would have excited only derision at the\\nexpense of the originators of the scheme; but in that\\ndisturbed locality, with many recent murders staring us\\nin the face, and a knowledge of the fact that in other\\nsections of the State much violence had been committed\\nby this same organization. I think our perturbation was\\nexcusable. Accordingly, during the following night and\\nseveral others thereafter, every able-bodied man in the\\nvillage, of both colors, who had at heart the welfare of\\nthe party and its threatened representatives, was sum-\\nmoned to do guard duty at the house of our senator, as\\nwell as to patrol the streets, in anticipation of any out-\\nburst of violence.\\nThe first night was dark and dismal; the rain fell in\\ntorrents, drenching everything exposed to its action;\\nand the darkness was so intense as to be almost felt,\\nsave when an occasional flasli of lightning exposed all\\nnature to view, and filled the imagination with weird\\nforms. On such a night as the foregoing the writer was\\nsummoned to do guard duty. He had just retired lor\\nthe night, and his wife and little infant, snugly ensconced,\\nwere pr(\u00c2\u00bbtectcd from the fury of the elements. It was a\\nsore allliction to arise and go forth into that pelting\\nstorm, but when duty called we had to obey. My wife\\nsuggested that, owing to the inclemency of the weather,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "141\\nthe danger might not be great on that occasion, for*\\nsurel^ she said, the Ku-Klux vvouhl not venture forth iu\\nsnch weather; however, remembering the old maxim,\\nThe darker the night, the darker the deed, we trusted\\nthem as to nothing, and obeyed the summons. Why\\nwere we thus deprived of our needed and dcarl^ -bought\\nrest? What had we done contrary to our country s weal?\\nWhat law had been broken or set at deliance that we,\\nlike fugitives from justice, were driven from pillar to\\npost without finding rest for our feet or place to lay our\\nheads? Not one of these trespasses had we been guilty\\nof, and yet we were the objects of their relentless perse-\\ncutions.\\nWhether it was owing to our continued vigilance, or\\nto some stroke of policy on their part, I cannot say; but,\\nnevertheless, the Ku Klux did not visit us on that occa-\\nsion, and before another season we had changed our\\nplace of abode.\\nMany persons in both sections of the United States\\nhave affected a certain incredulity with reference to\\nrecitals of the outrages perpetrated on the Republicans\\nof the South 1iy this infamous band, and have gone so\\nfar as to ridicule the very idea as being preposterous,\\nand stamp it as a trick of political demagogues to\\ncreate sympathy on the part of the peojjle of the North\\nin behalf of a government of corn-field darkies and\\narmy sutlers, We not only hurl the insinuation back at", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "142\\nthem, Ijut challenge all such to a careful perusal of some\\nof the admissions of their most able men and public\\njournals, as well as other convincing proofs that are at our\\ncommand. It is a well-known fact that, upon the arrest\\nand prosecution of some of the leaders of the klan in\\nthe State of South Carolina, during the winter of 1871,\\nwith a great show of indignation and not a little exi)ense,\\nHon. Keverdy Johnson was procured to go from his\\npleasant home in the North to that forsaken country, for\\nthe purpose of making a defense of their interests. It\\nwas a matter for congratulation on the part of many\\nwell-disposed persons in the North, whose minds had\\nl)ecome somewhat biased, because of the unfortunate\\nreports of misrule and political corruption which were\\nconstantly coming up from the South, as well as the\\nloud protestations of innocence that were constantly\\nbeing made on the part of the accused, that such a man\\nas Mr. Johnson had been selected to defend these cases;\\nfor, knowing his political predilections, but withal hav-\\ning the utmost confidence in his integrity as a lawyer\\nand citizen, they felt assured that the truth, i)uro and\\nsimple, would be disclosed. Imagine their feelings of sur-\\nl)rise then, when, after a protracted trial, guarded by all\\nthe. ingenuity of so distinguished an attorney as he, with\\nfull and free access to every means of defense, Mr.\\nJohnson, in the course of his speech in one of these cases,\\non the 31st day of December, 1871, in the presence of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "143\\nthe accused and their friends, delivered himself of the\\nfollowing sentiments:\\nI have listened with unmixed horror to some of the\\ntestimony which has been brought before you. The\\noutrages proved are,^iocking to humanity; they admit\\nof neither excuse nor justiBcation; they violate every\\nobligation which law and nature impose upon men;\\nthey show that the parties engaged were brutes, insen-\\nsible to the obligations of humanity and religion. The\\nday will come, however, if it has not already arrived,\\nwhen they will deeply lament it. Even if justice shall\\nnot overtake them, there is one tribunal from which\\nthere is no hope. It is their own judgment that tribu-\\nnal which sits in the breast of every living man that\\nsmall, still voice that thrills through the heart the soul\\nof the mind, and as it speaks, gives happiness or torture\\nthe voice of conscience, the voice of God. If it has\\nnot already spoken to them in tones which have startled\\nthem to the enormity of their conduct, I trust in the\\nmercy of heaven, that, that voice will speak before they\\nshall be called above to account for the transactions of\\nthis world. That it will so speak as to make them peni-\\ntent, and that trusting in the dispensation of Heaven,\\nwhose justice is dispensed with mercj when they shall\\nlie brought before the bar of their great tril)unal, so to\\nspeak, that incomprehensible tribunal, there will be found", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "144\\nin the fact of their penitence, or in their previous lives,\\nsome grounds upon which God may sa} Paudon,\\nSuch sentiments, coming from the lips of their own\\npaid counsel, together with the fact that the accused\\nwere convicted by a jury of their peers, ought most\\nassuredly to carry conviction with them to the mind of\\nevery fair thinking man. But if anything further were\\nneeded, let the following from a Georgia newspaper\\nthe Oglethorpe Echo^ a Conservative paper of that\\nsection speak: Anthony Thurster, the negro preacher\\nwho was so severely whipped by a party of disguised men\\nnear Maxle^- s lately, asks that we announce to his white\\nfriends that from this time forward he will prove himself\\na better man; will never again make a x)\u00c2\u00bblitical speech,\\ndeliver a sermon, or vote a Republican ticket from\\nhenceforth he is an unswerving Democrat. We are glad\\nthat Anthony s eyes are at last opened to a proper course\\nfor him to pursue, but sorry that such stringent measures\\nhad to be adopted ere he would, as it were, be born\\nagain.\\nAgain, we have the statement of H. M. Dixon, who\\nwas not long since murdered in Mississippi because he\\ndared to run on an independent ticket, supported by men\\nof all political tendencies, as follows: Owing to certain\\nreports that Patterson, a member of the Republican\\nLegislature who was hanged in the eventful campaign of\\n1875, had a considerable sum of money on his person,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "145\\nand that said money was used for my own benefit, I feel\\nin honor bound to vindicate myself, although I deplore\\nto refer to the past as it will bring before the public\\n7nany of our best citizens. I will briefly state that said\\nmoney, and larger sums, was raised to defray the current\\nexpenses of the campaign and to stuft the ballot-boxes\\nif necessary to purchase certificates of election for two\\noflEicers now holding offices of trust and emolument in\\nour county. I have in my possession the necessary\\nproof, and if called upon will furnish it. Signed: H. M.\\nDiion.\\nThese proofs, together with the voluminous reports\\nof committees appointed by Congress to investigate this\\nsubject, ought to leave no candid man in doubt. But in\\naddition to all that has been said and written on this\\nsubject, if more were needed, we have a condition of well-\\nestablished circumstances more patent than all. Wit-\\nnesses will sometimes falsify even men who are disposed\\nto deal fairly in their testimony, at times become biased\\nby reason of their interest in the issue at stake, or, per-\\nhaps, their peculiar surroundings; but circumstances,\\nwhen admitted, never lie. What shall we say then of\\nthe sudden and precipitate flight of the men of the North\\nwho went to the South and invested their capital and\\nlabor, intending, in good faith, to become residents of\\nthat section? Surely it was no trivial cause that pro-", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "146\\n(Uiced that result. Tlic Goldsboro, North Carolina, State,\\ncommenting on this action on the part of this class of\\ncitizens in the South, uses the following suggestive\\nlanguage:\\nIt is a sad fact for this worn-out and famished\\nState, that of the thousands of men who came hither,\\ninvested their means, and attempted to make homes\\nunder Republican rule, to-day but few remain. At the\\nloss of their all they have wandered awa\\\\ to seek a home\\nwhere they can speak their sentiments and vote as they\\ndeem best, without subjection to insult, abuse and villifi-\\ncation from such men as Governor Vance. Immigrants\\nfrom all countries and all states pass us by, the carpet-\\nbaggers lose their all rather than remain, and many of\\nher own sons seek in states where schools, polls and\\nspeech are free a new home.\\nThese citations are in part from sources outside of\\nthe State of South Carolina, but notwithstanding, they\\nshow a common purpose and unity of action on the part\\nof the Democratic party of the South, to usurp b}^ unfair\\nmeans that power they cannot justly obtain at the ballot\\nbox, and trample the rights of others under their feet.\\nThe question is sometimes asked: Why don t the\\nfreedmen fight? If our readers will for a moment con-\\nsider that these men were, from their infancy, taught to\\nfear and ol)ey white men; that they are uneducated and", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "147\\nunsophisticated, while their former masters are educated\\nand shrewd; that while the white men of the South were\\neducated to the use of the rifle and the shot-gun, the\\nfreedmen were kept in ignorance of their use; and\\nI urtlier, that in man} instances the freedmen arewitliout\\nleaders, they will appreciate the condition of these poor\\nmen with their unfortunate surroundings.\\nIn our humble opinion the solution of the problem of\\nthe future of the South is involved in the outcome of\\nthe present movement of the colored farm hands of the\\nSouth to Northern and Western States. If it shall con-\\ntinue until the laboring element of that section is\\nmaterially weakened, a change of policy on the part of\\nthe intolerant faction there will, of necessit} be adopted;\\nand this change will be of such a character as shall\\nadmit to equal terms of civil and political fraternity the\\nsable freedmen then remaining among them or else\\ninvite as participants in the profits of their estates, a\\nforeign element wlio will be willing to cultivate them\\nand preserve them from ruin. Time alone can unfold\\nthe result.\\nOf one thing there can be no reasonable doubt the\\ncolored men of the South, having been robbed and mur-\\ndered, their wives and daughters having been subjected\\nto the insults and outrages of a brutalized populace,\\nhave long: since become disgusted, and now having their", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "148\\neyes opened to a proper sense of their degradation and\\nabu e, are rapidly seeking homes in the free Noi thvvest,\\nwhere they ean serve God and their eountry according\\nto the dictates of their own conscience, and reap a rich\\nreward as the result of honest labor.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER XI.\\nThe Poor Whites of tlie Soutli. Contrilniting Causes of tlieir\\nPresent Condition. Their Social Statns; Habits of Jjife; Means\\nof Support. Dislike of them by the Colored People of the South.\\nStruggles on the Part of Some of Them to Better their Condi-\\ntion. Remarkable Instances of Success. Their Future in This\\nCountry.\\nWe were now iienriiig our journey s end, and as we\\ngradually approached this center of civilization in the\\nOld North State, an increased degree of animation\\nwas plainl} perceptible. The roads became more nu-\\nmerous; the antiquated log huts of the route gave place\\nto houses a little more modern and pretentious in\\nappearance, having frames and being covered with clap-\\nboards. Nor is this all. The inhabitants of the country\\nbecame more numerous to whom our little procession,\\nas we journeyed along, was a source of much curiosity\\nand more speculation. In some instances a woman s\\nhead would be thrust out of a window to gain a view of\\nus; in otlicrs, the door would be partly opened and the\\nend of a nose could be seen protruding; and, then, again\\nthe whole family would come out, and, with countenances\\nfull of blank amazement, stare at us as though we were\\nthe first living specimens of humanity they had enjoyed\\nthe privilege of beholding for many days.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "150\\nIt was during our passage tlirougli this part of the\\ncountry that we enjoyed an excellent opportunity of\\nobserving the condition and social habits of that large\\nand, I may sa} unfortunate class of people who inhabit\\nv\\\\ovy portion of the South, known and designated as\\npf)or whites. wiio must not be confounded witli the\\nhonest laborers of the North, known in the South l)y the\\nSouthern chivalry as Northern mud-sills. T say un-\\nfortunate because, while I acknowledge the truth of the\\nold maxim Eveiy man is the architect of his own\\nfortune, I believe it to be equally true that we are all\\nthe ci eutures of circumstances, and, to some extent, it\\nis better to be born lucky than rich. Many a person\\nhas lived his allotted span and gone hence, leaving\\nbehind him a reputation, among his fellows, pure and\\nunspotted, who had he been surrounded by a different\\nstate of circumstances during his lifetime would have\\nmade shipwreck of his most favorable opportunities.\\nThe possession of means in abundance, and the absence\\nof penury and want, often prevents a inan from exhibit-\\ning a thieving disposition. The lack of an occasion\\nprevents, in some instances, a dormant mendacity from\\nasserting itself; while the absence of an emergency,\\nbeyond doubt, relieves the world of a murderer in many\\ninstances. And, vice versa, men are sometimes reduced\\nto an unfortunate condition of life, and led to commit", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "151\\nacts at war witli theii best jiulgment and natural incli-\\nnations, from the sheer force of circumstances.\\nFor these reasons, I refer to the poor whites of\\nthe South as an unfortunate class; for, in my opinion,\\nthe) are the unfortunate victims of a number of contrib-\\nuting causes, such as would sink any people on the face\\nof the earth to a similar depth of physical, intellectual\\nand moral degradation, anything short of a miracle\\nintervening.\\nTo begin, then There seems to be little room for\\ndoubt that climatic influences have contributed toward\\nthe present condition of these people, for their emaciated\\nbodies and sallow complexions are just such as one\\nwould naturally expect to encounter under the debilita-\\nting influences of a semi-tropical clime, in the absence\\nof such hygienic influences as may be artificially applied\\ntoward the preservation of health. It is a well-known\\nfact that climate does exert an influence over men as\\nwell as the lower animals, and that in the course of a\\nprotracted time, with diet and habits of life changed,\\nmen and animals have been known to undergo radical\\nchanges of a physical and intellectual character. The\\nhair of horses has become to closely resemble wool after\\ntheir removal from a temperate to a tropical clime. The\\nwool of sheep, on the contrary, has taken the appear-\\nance of hair; colors have changed, and, in short, the\\ncourse of nature apparently reversed. (See Narrative", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "152\\nof a Journey Tlirough the Upper Provinces of India;\\nsecond edition London, 1828; vol. ii., p. 215); also see\\nWiseman s Lectures on Science and Revealed Religion;\\nnew edition, 1866, lecture third.)\\nCardinal Wiseman, in his lectures on Science and\\nRevealed Religion, Lecture Third, page 135, refers to the\\nstatement of a recent traveler who explored the Hauran,\\nor district be^ ond the Jordan, wherein he si)eaks of a\\nfamily residing at Abu-el-Beady, in charge of the sanc-\\ntuary, as being remarkable for having negro features, a\\ndeep black color and crisped hair the male and female\\nprogenitors of whom were of pure Arabian blood, l)oth of\\nthe past and present generations. He further says that\\nthe Arabs who inhabit the valley of the Jordan have\\nflatter featui-es, darker skins and coarser hair than any\\nother tribes. Our own countryman. Dr. Draper, in a\\nwork written by him on physiology, argues at some\\nlength and with much earnestness, and not a little show\\nof reasonableness to our mind, that not only may changes\\nbe produced in the size and form of the features, and\\ncolor and feeling of the skin by climatic conditions, but\\nhe goes so far as to assert that domestic and social differ-\\nences, when no change of climate takes place, often\\nproduce marked differences of a ph^^sical and moral\\nnature.\\nWe are constrained to admit, then, that the great\\nchange from an invigorating, temperate climate on the", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "153\\npart of these people, to a warm and sluggish one, has\\nhad its effect in transforming them from men of energy\\nand ambitious aims to the inanimate specimens of\\nhumanity that we find them now. The prevalence of\\nbilious and malarial fevers, accompanied with agues,\\nthroughout the greater portion of the South, caused in\\npart by the too rapid generation of the bile in the sys\\ntem, and, to a greater extent, by miasma escaping from\\nthe swamp lands referred to in another portion of this\\nvolume, has a very enervating effect, and the man who\\nhas the moral courage or physical endurance to raise\\nhimself up from beneath the weight of inertia which\\npresses so heavily upon all in that climate, is indeed a\\nhero in the true signification of the term.\\nBut we are asked, Why is not the force of this iner-\\ntia perceptible in the cases of the wealthy white and\\ncolored people of the South? To this question we\\nreply, the wealth}^ whites are enervated, and were it\\nnot that the} are able, by means of their wealth, to sur-\\nround themselves with the aids and luxuries of life, and\\nmake frequent journeys to higher latitudes and more\\nhealth} sections of the country, they would rapidly sink\\nto a level with the class referred to. And as for the col-\\nored population, they are differently constituted from\\nthe white people and better adapted to that climate^ I\\ninfer the latter statement from the fact that the colored\\npeople are not subject, to an equal degree, to some of the\\n2^", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "154\\nmalarial diseases prevalent there, which, in times past,\\nhave proved fatal to so many thousands of the fair race.\\nThe unproductiveness of the soil in some of the flat\\nand sandy parts, especially in the Carolinas, is another\\ncause tending to discourage and demoralize the poor\\nwhites of the South. There are sections where it would\\nrequire the undivided time and attention of an expert\\nfarmer to eke out the most ordinary subsistence, of\\nwhich county, South Carolina, is a fair example.\\nWhere swamps do not prevail in that forsaken county,\\nsands predominate; and the wonder is, not that the\\npeople residing there are dejected and poor, but that they\\nexist at all.\\nThe appearance of one of these farmers on his arrival\\nupon the market with a load of wood, is unique and\\namusing in the extreme, and many anecdotes of an\\ninteresting nature are related at their expense. Imagine\\ntwo wheels, about four feet in diameter, with two poles\\nattached longitudinally to the axle, holes bored in the\\npoles from the rear ends to a point even with the circum-\\nference of the wheels, in which upright stakes are driven;\\nthen glance at the little scrawny steer between these\\npoles, with bits of leather, some rope and more cloth\\nstrings for harness, and the arm full of wood constitut-\\ning the load, together with the little brown jug, and\\nyellow cur attached to the vehicle underneath, and\\nnothing further, save the long, lank, hairy creature, with", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "155\\nbutternut clothes and a cracked voice, exclaiming,\\nW-h-o a! will be required to complete the picture.\\nIt is said that upon a time, a gentleman traveling\\nthrough county met one of these cadaverous-\\nlooking specimens proceeding slowly along the road with\\na rather suspicious-looking load, when the following\\ncolloquy ensued: Gentleman Where are you from?\\nCountryman O r-i. Gentleman What s 3 -our\\nload? Countryman Timber an fruit. Gentleman\\nWhat s your timber? Countryman Hoop-poles.\\nGentleman What s your fruit? Countryman\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Per-\\nsimmons.\\nAnother anecdote is related of the people of this\\ncount}^ for the truthfulness of which the writer is not\\nwilling to vouch. It is to the eflect that, while proceed-\\ning on his way after leaving the countryman just referred\\nto, he encountered still another man standing beneath a\\npersimmon tree, holding in his hands a pole raised aloft\\nwith a little pig attached to the end, which was feasting\\nupon the persimmons on the tree. The gentleman\\nai)proached the countryman, when the following conver-\\nsation took place: Gentleman What are you doing\\nthere? Countryman Sister Sal is goin ter git\\nmarried au I m fattenin this pig for the weddin\\nIn addition to the foregoing influences which we\\nhave mentioned as exerting an influence over these poor\\npeople must be remembered that which the institution", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "156\\nof slavery, and its direct tendency to debase labor, liad\\nin this respect; for it is a fact, that cannot be gainsnyed,\\nthat the baleful eftects of that social ulcer made them-\\nselves felt upon all colors and classes of societv; and,\\nwhile it reduced the slave to the condition of a mere\\nchattel, it debased all labor and cursed the ver}^ people\\nthat it was intended to bless. The poor white man\\nshunned labor because it was considered as the i)rovince\\nof the slave to toil; and to have condescendetl to till the\\nsoil or wield the sledge hammer would have subjected\\nhim to the same iml)ecile scorn and proscription that\\nthe slave was made to feel. The ladies of the slave-\\nholding order reclined at ease, not even exerting them-\\nselves, in some instances, to dress themselves; and when\\nthey went to promenade, or into the flower garden, they\\nwore sun bonnets and long gauntlets to protect their fair\\ncomplexions. Hence the ladies of the poor class, who\\naspired to be like them, refrained as much as possible\\nfrom coming in contact with anything calculated to soil\\nthe hands or bronze the complexion. And in this way\\nthe impression gained among these people that no one\\ncould be a gentleman or a lady and at the same time\\nwork like a nigger. The result was seen in their lean\\nbodies, impoverished condition and mental imbecility.\\nIn addition to all that has been written, it remains to\\nbe said that to the failure of the wealthy white people\\nof the South to provide educational facilities for these", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "157\\npoor people, much of their present degi-adation must 1)C\\nattributed. It was no uncommon thing to find commu-\\nnities in the South where the fact of a man being able to\\nread and write gave him a prominent position among\\nthese people, and even surrounded him with such an air\\nof superiority as made him a kind of petty sovereign in\\ntheir midst, so great was their deficiency in this respect.\\nAs a means of obtaining a livelihood they sought posi-\\ntions which gave them a little authority- over the enslaved\\ncolored people, such as policemen in cities, patrols in\\nthe country, and overseers on plantations. In these\\npositions they were noted for their acts of cruelty and\\noppression toward the colored people, and it frequently\\nbecame necessary for the outraged slave to seek the\\nintervention of his master to protect him from their\\nfury. The colored people of the South, both free and\\nslave, heartily detested these poor bucras, as they\\ncalled them; their hatred going to such an extent that\\nthey could not endure anything owned by them, even\\nthe slaves who sometimes were so unfortunate as to fall\\ninto the hands of one of them who had made a start\\nin life, coming in for a share of their contempt. Such\\nas had no definite means of support resorted to such\\nmethods of making a living as would hardly answer the\\npurpose in any other section in the United States. In\\nfact the very lavishness of nature in some respects\\nseemed to lend to their dissolute habits. Some of them", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "158\\nwho had succeeded in acquiring possession of an old\\nshot-gun woukl scour the forests in quest of game, and\\ngenerally succeeded in obtaining a racoon, a s iuirrel or\\nrabbit, which would bring good cheer to the family for\\nseveral days. Others would fish in the ponds and\\nstreams abounding there, and find in the finn} tribe\\ntheir surest means of support; while still others would\\ncultivate a little garden spot, well stocked with collards,\\nraise a pig. which had a head as long as the remain-\\nder of the body, and also keep a few chickens, that\\nsubsisted on the dunghill. Berrying time was a great\\nseason among them, wlien the} could be seen in crowds\\ngoing to the fields and woods to pick berries\u00e2\u0080\u0094 black-\\nberries and whortleberries from the proceeds of which\\nthey generally succeeded in realizing a sutficient sum of\\nmoney to buy a little clothing. The writer, during his\\nsta.y in the South, was acquainted with a poor fellow,\\ncrippled as to one foot, who during the fall and winter\\nseasons had to be assisted by the authorities, but who\\nduring the berrying season was so elated and independ-\\nent over his successes that he would scarcely recognize\\na colored man upon the streets. It mattered not, how-\\never, how poor they were, even thougii the wolf stuck at\\ntheir very doors, they each and every one managed to\\nkeep by them a cur dog to share with them their joys\\nand sorrows; which sometimes became so greatly\\nreduced by hunger that the hens nests in the neigh-", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "159\\nborhood were robbed of their eggs, and other depre-\\ndations of even a more serious nature committed.\\nAmong the peculiar habits of these people may be\\nmentioned those of clay eating, rubbing snuff and chew-\\ning tobacco by the women, and of drinking whiskey by\\nboth classes. As to clay eating, I cannot account for\\nthe origin and prevalence of the habit, unless it be that\\nowing to their peculiar diet an unusual amount of acidity\\nis produced in the stomach, by reason of which a certain\\ncraving is caused for something to neutralize its effect,\\nupon the same principle that we eat magnesia for\\ndyspepsia; or it may be that their stomachs need a\\nforeign substance to assist their digestiA^e powers, on the\\nsame principle that a chicken takes gravel into its crop;\\nor, perhaps, the cravings of hunger suggest it.\\nAs to the force of these suggestions I leave the reader\\nto judge for himself, as the writer lays no claim to being\\nan expert in dirt- eating. It is nevertheless true that\\nvast quantities of red, white and blue clay are eaten by\\nthe poor whites of the South, of all ages, but principally\\nby the young. The writer has seen children sitting on\\nan old-fashioned hearth before a large fireplace, pick-\\ning out the clay or mortar between the bricks and\\neating it.\\nThe snuff-rubbing propensity is indulged by the\\nwomen. They purchase the strongest Scotch snufi\\nwithin their reach, and with a stick chewed at one end,", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "100\\ndip it out of a tin box and eat it, or rub it, as it is called,\\nthe idea being that of rubbing or cleaning the teeth with\\nit, which is only another name for eating it. They pre-\\nfer a stick about ten inches in length, from a birch or\\nblack-jack tree, whose fibres are fine and tough, capable\\nof being chewed into a little brush at one end, and with\\nthese sticking out of their mouths, they will gad the\\nstreets and gossip by the hour.\\nThe men will have their whiskey, and rather than be\\ndeprived of it, they scour the country in search of\\nit, and part with everything except their dog and gun in\\nexchange for it; the pipe and plug tobacco are necessary\\naccessories, of course.\\nNo adequate conception can be formed by a stranger\\nto their condition, of the vast gulf that separates this\\nclass of people from their wealthy brethren, and to\\no])serve the scorn and disdain visited upon them by the\\nrich, one not informed with regard to all the circum-\\nstances would mistake them for a species of serfs, rather\\nthan American citizens of pure white blood, clothed\\nin all their constitutional rights. For this reason any\\neffort on the part of one of them to arise from his humil-\\niated station of life and assert his manhood is attended\\nwith such embarrassments and obstacles at every step as\\nwould dishearten an}^ but the most determined.\\nThen the avenues leading to wealth and preferment\\nare difficult of access, especially to a boy or man whose", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "161\\neducation has been neglected from his birtli. His first\\nmove towards bettering his condition was generally to\\nget a small piece of land, an undertaking attended with\\npeculiar hardships to him, because in that section of the\\nSouth most of the land that was of any value was\\nowned in large tracts by men of wealth, who often exact-\\ned the last farthing before they would part with it; and\\nthen, being ignorant, the poor white, like his freedman\\nbrother, was at the mercy of the crafty vendor, wlio fre-\\nquently defrauded him of his hard-earned means and\\nleft him in a worse condition than at first. However,\\nhaving obtained a small piece of land, his next move was\\nto get a substantial house, which he did by reducing the\\nallowance of food and other essentials at home. It was\\na hard lot, but necessity, stern and unyielding, demanded\\nthe sacrifice and it had to be made, or else an entire life\\nof want and disgrace stared him in the face. Having\\nonce obtained a piece of land and a house, his ambition\\ngenerally led him to aspire to the possession of a slave;\\nif this point could be attained, then indeed would his\\nsuccess in his undertaking be assured. For several\\nyears, however, he contented himself with hiring a man\\nto assist him, whom he generally managed to make earn\\nall that was paid for him, until his fund being increased\\nby the sale of a few bales of cotton each year, he reached\\nthe goal of his ambition, made the bold venture and pur-\\nchased him, generally a woman or old man, but a slave", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "162\\nnone the less. He then boro a ver^ close relation to the\\nman of whom it is said\\nHe had one male attendant, thin and lean,\\nLike Komeo s Mantuan apothecary\\nWho daily swept his dusty office clean,\\nAnd summed up his accounts with caution wary;\\nIn short, was this factotum every way\\nBurdened with lal)or and but little pay.\\nHe then began to put on airs. At times he would say\\nBoy, look at me! I m your master! At others, meeting\\nsome of his former companions on the road, his attention\\nwould be absorbed in considering something in another\\ndirection. But the greater portion of his time would be\\nspent in aping the manners and style of his wealtliy\\nneighbors, and trying to gain from them one smile of\\nI ecognition. He would hire a pew in church and have\\nJiis family attend regularly, with the vain hope that\\nthose aristocratic grandees would deign to notice them;\\nbut, alas, how often were their hearts made to bleed\\nwithin them by reason of the cold, heartless treat-\\nment they received. Nothing daunted, however, if he\\nwere composed of the proper material, he persevered, and\\ncontinued to add to his landed possessions and increase\\nthe number of his slaves, until linally success attended\\nhis efforts and he found himself a wealthy man in full\\nfellowship with his neighbors, disdaining to associate\\nwith the poor white trash from whom he sprung.\\n1", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "163\\nSome very illustrious men, whose names have graced\\nthe highest positions within the gift of the people, have\\nsprung from that unfortunate class of people. Abraham\\nLincoln was a poor white of the South; but his parents\\nhad the good sense and moral courage to leave Kentucky\\nand go to the great Northwest; had the}^ not, in all prob-\\nability a bright intellect and great soul would have been\\nburied in obscurity. Andrew Johnson was one of these\\npoor whites, uneducated i\\\\\\\\} to manhood, but by some\\nfortuitous circumstances he gained political preferment\\nand lived to be President of the United States. Henrv\\nClay was a poor mill boy of the South, but ascended to\\na senatorial position, where he won undying fame.\\nBesides these, many others could be mentioned who\\nconquered all opposition and forght their way to\\nwealth and honor, thereby proving to every one that is\\noppressed and degraded by caste and poverty, Where\\nthere is a will there is a way.*", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER XII.\\nProducts of the Carolinas. Cotton. Turpentine. Peanuts.\\nSweet Potatoes, etc. Forest Fruits. Chincapins. Hickory-\\nnuts. Persimmons. Grape Culture. Fishes, Oysters, etc.\\nAs in commercial and social pursuits tbc South is\\nmore than two generations behind the other sections of\\nthe United States, so in respect to her agricultural tools\\nand modes of procedure slio is, as compared with them,\\nin a state of darkness such as carries the mind far back\\ninto the era of the wooden plow, and otlier instruments\\nof medieval farming.\\nThe people cultivating the soil throughout tlie region\\nspoken of liy us do not seem to appreciate the value of\\nland, judging from the immense waste that is permitted\\nin this respect, and the lack of interest displayed b\\\\^\\nthem in improving what they have under cultivation, or\\nin appropriating to their use tlie hidden treasures con-\\ntained therein; for instead of keeping down the rank\\nweeds that are apt to grow around the margin and in\\nthe corners of their iields, and plowing deep into the\\nsoil in order to turn up the treasures in the shape of\\nrich loam, they content themselves with skimming upon\\nthe surface, merely breaking the crust, and gleaning", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "165\\ntherefrom half a, crop instead of a bounteous harA est.\\nWhy the husbandmen there persist in this unproritablo\\nmode of agriculture is difficult to be determined, unless it\\narises from the force of habit, l)eing one of the rich\\nlegacies bequeathed to the South by the institution of\\nslavery, which she has not as yet been able to dispose\\nof\\nThe foregoing remarks do not apply, however, so\\nmuch to the production of the cotton plant as to cereals\\nand other species of produce, since, cotton being their\\nstaple product, upon which all their hopes, ambitions\\nand means of support are based, they have brought into\\nrequisition in the cultivation of it more than ordinary\\nskill and energy; and, besides, the cotton plant does not\\nrequire the same amount or quality of cultivation that\\nis demanded by other products.\\nThe cotton yield of the Southern States at the\\npresent time is enormous, and it only requires a glance\\nat a few figures for one to ai)preciate the fact that under\\nany economical and liberal policy on the part of the\\nSouth it could be made a source of great wealth to that\\nsection, and, as king of commerce, caused to demand\\nthe homage of the civilized nations of the earth.\\nIt is estimated by competent judges that the yield for\\nthe past season was not far from the gross amount of\\nfive millions of bales, which at a fair valuation of fifty\\ndollars a bale would reach the enormous sum of two", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "166\\nhundred iiiid lifty millions of dollars an amount which\\nin ten years time would be sufficient to have paid oft the\\nwhole national debt, incurred by reason of the Southern\\nRebellion.\\nCotton was not originally the staple article of the\\nSouth, for its cultivation and preparation for the spindle\\nand loom was fraught with so much expense as to pre-\\nclude the idea of making it an article of much profit to\\nthe planter. The territory comi)rised in the original\\nthirteen States suita])le for its cultivation was meagre,\\ncomparatively speaking, and the modern appliances for\\nseparating the seeds from the fibre not having been\\ninvented, the operation had to bo performed by hand,\\nwhich was both slow and expensive. iJnder these cir-\\ncumstances it is not to be wondered at that it occupied\\na place secondary to other products which have since\\ngiven place to its culture. But the invention of the\\ncotton-gin by Whitney, and the spinning-jenny by\\nHargreaves; the application of steam to the operation\\nof machinery by Watt, and the cession to the United\\nStates of the Florida territory, together with the acqui-\\nsition of all that vast extent of land known as the\\nLouisiana purchase, and the Texas territor}^, the fruit of\\nthe Mexican war, made the production of cotton not\\nonly easy but profitable, and at once gave it a prominence\\nin the commercial world that time has only tended to\\nincrease.", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "167\\nThe process of its cultivation as followed by the\\nSouthern planter is very easy, and entails no consider-\\nable expense; an} one having a few acres of land and a\\nsufficient amount of money to purchase a small shovel-\\nplow and a few bags of guano for manure, being compe-\\ntent to engage in it, provided he possesses the physical\\nability to handle a hoe about ten inches in widtli. Of\\ncourse it is always better to possess a horse, mule,\\nsteer, or beast of some kind to draw the plow and assist\\nin the ordinary routine work, but I have known several\\ninstances where determined men of great muscular abil-\\nity and powers of endurance have succeeded in raising a\\nsmall crop without anything of the kind mentioned,\\nbeyond the hiring of an animal for a few days to do the\\noriginal breaking of the ground. In several instances\\nthe writer has seen freedmen harnessed to the little plow,\\nbreaking the soil between the rows after the plants had\\ngained a few weeks growth. The ground being broken\\nand the shallow drills being formed, the next step\\ntowards raising a crop of cotton is to scatter a little\\nguano along them, a thing wiiich none but the ver}\\npoorest class of planters will fail to do unless their land\\nis phenomenal for richness, in the localities referred to.\\nThis is done by the plantation liands, who for that pur-\\npose don a suit made of bagging, or some other very\\ncheap material, and cover their heads, since the dust\\nescaping from this greatly esteemed fertilizer possesses", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "168\\na most nauseating, pungent odor, and can be smelt at\\nremote distances from where it is stored when the wind\\nis favorable or unfavorable therefor. The guano is\\ncarried in a haversack, hung around the neck, and dis-\\ntributed through long trumpet-shaped tin tubes, held in\\none hand of the planter, who grabs it out of the bag\\nwith the other. The greatest economy is practised in\\nthe use of guano, for its cost is considerable and its\\nvirtues are great, a teaspoonful of it being a liberal\\nallowance for a hill of corn, and a slight si)rinkling of\\nthe dust along a drill ^just enough to be seen sufficing\\nfor cotton. Should too much be used there would be\\ngreat danger of losing the crop from an excess of heat\\ncaused thereby, unless the season were a wet one.\\nCotton seed is also considered a most excellent fertil-\\nizer, standing in this respect next to guano; hence they\\nare treasured up and highly prized b}- those who possess\\nthem. P\\\\)llowing the act of scattering the fertilizer comes\\nthat of sowing the seed (for the seed is literally sowed,\\nnot planted in hills as corn and sweet potatoes are), and\\nwhen they are up and about an inch in heiglit, tlie pro\\ncess of chopping out begins, which consists in chop-\\nping out with a broad hoe the growing plants, so as to\\nleave spaces between them of from ten to twelve inches,\\naccording to the strength of the soil and the judgment of\\nthe planter. When tliis act is performed nothing more\\nremains to be done except to keep the plants free from\\nI", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "169\\nweeds until they arc l.irge and strong enough to over-\\npower them, when they are supported by having earth\\ndrawn up to them so as to form a little hill, which is\\ncalled laying by.\\nThe planter then takes a rest, sees that his gin and\\npress are in good condition, attends camp-meetings, pic-\\nnics and political demonstrations, where he fraternizes\\nwith his neighbors over the jovial loatermillion.\\nThe plant bears beautiful pink blossoms, which give\\nplace to the boll containing the cotton. To appreciate\\nthe appearance of a cotton field filled with plants, the\\nbursting bolls of which invite the agile pickers, one\\nmust be present upon the spot. The scene may be com-\\npared, but not fairly described, and even the imagination\\nof the most poetic mind must fail to do it justice.\\nAfter picking, the cotton is ginned, a process by\\nmeans of which the seeds are separated from the fibre\\nwithout injury to it. Pressing and baling complete the\\nprocess, and it is then ready to be sent to the North or\\nthe continent of Europe, to be manufactured into fabrics,\\nwhich the South repurchases at a greatly enhanced value\\nto clothe her people with.\\nAnother article of commerce produced in the Caro-\\nlinas is turpentine, and, in fact, in some sections of those\\nstates it almost monopolizes the attention of a large\\nportion of the inhabitants, and furnishes tlic principal\\nmeans of support.\\n22", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "170\\nTurpentine is, as our readers are aware, the product\\nof the pine tree, of which there are large forests in both\\nNorth and South Carolina. In fact, the pine tree is to\\nthe states in which it abounds to any considerable\\nextent, indirectl}^ what the palm tree is to some oriental\\npeoples food, clothing, bedding, dwellings and firewood.\\nIt furnishes food and clothing through the revenue\\nderived from the sale of turpentine: bedding from the\\npine straw which it annually casts off; lumber from\\nwhich the houses are built from the bodies, and firewood\\nfrom its small limbs and crooked stems.\\nThe process by which the turpentine is obtained\\nfrom the tree is unique and of interest. Converging\\ngrooves are cut on the surface of each tree by an instru-\\nment shaped for that purpose, generally on the side\\nfacing in the direction of the sun. At first only a few of\\nthese grooves are cut, in order that there may be no\\nwaste of the flowing turpentine and that the trees may\\nnot suffer materially and lose all their vitality during a\\nsingle season; by observing this course, a good, healthy\\ntree can be made to do service for many years, until it is\\nskinned and scraped almost to the limbs. Beneath these\\nconverging grooves is cut a box, which is nothing\\nmore than a small, pocket-shaped opening cut into the\\nbody of the tree for the purpose of receiving the flowing\\nturpentine, something after the principle that is followed\\nin making maple sugar, except, in the latter case, we", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "171\\nbelieve, a hole is bored in the tree and a tube inserted,\\ninstead of grooving the surface and cutting a box. The\\naction of the sun upon the exposed surface causes the\\nturpentine to flow and fill the box, which is then dipped\\nand put into barrels. The portion dipped from the\\nboxes in an unadulterated state is virgin pure, and\\nmuch more desirable in the market than the scrapings,\\nwhich are filled with small chips and pine straw, and\\nthereb}^ depreciated in value.\\nThe turpentine is then placed into a still for distilla-\\ntion, which is done by heating it to a suitable tempera-\\nture. During this process the vapors arising from the\\ncontents of the still are passed through a submerged\\nworm, and collected in a vessel containing water, from\\nwhich it is drained; this constitutes the spirits of tur-\\npentine. The chips and straw fioating upon the molten\\nturpentine is then skimmed off^ with a strainer and\\nthrown into a pool of water, around which, in the\\nwriter s boyhood, a small army of urchins generally\\nstood, with little black traj^s under their arms or upon\\ntheir heads, awaiting their turn of dross, as the\\nrefuse matter was designated.\\nThis dross, when ignited, burns with a fierce and\\nardent glow, and is the means of protecting many a poor\\nfamily in the South from the rigors of a harsh winter\\nseason, such as frequently is known in the Carolinas,", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "172\\nAvhon ice is formed of siiflicient thickness to support the\\nweight of a man.\\nAnother product of these interesting States is their\\npeanuts. Let Eg3 pt assert her antiquit}-, as exhibited\\nin her pyramids, obelisks, sphinxes, monster ruins and\\nmummies; Greece may boast of her Parthenons and\\ntreasures of art; Rome display her Coliseum, great\\ncathedral and carved pillars Carolina still rejoices in\\nbeing the chief source of the festive peanut. These\\nnuts are known in the parts where they are produced by\\nthe various euphonious names of ground-peas, pea-nuts,\\nground-nuts, pinders and gubers. They grow on the\\nground (not on trees, as some suppose,) and are attached\\nto a running vine, which bears a small blossom of a deep\\nyellow color, about the size of an ordinary- English pea-\\nblossom. When dug they hang in great clusters, closely\\nconnected with the roots of the plant, from Avhich they\\nare gathered and spread in the sun to dry; after which\\nthey are put in bags, when they are ready for the market.\\nThe parching or roasting process is done in various\\nways, some being done in great ovens, where large quan-\\ntities are handled at one roasting; while otlu rs arc\\nroasted by peanut vendors, who stand on the corners\\nand at the intersection of streets, to the great delight of\\nthe small boy and the embarrassed lover. What this\\ncountry would do without the peanut it startles us to\\nimagine, since the advent of a circus, county fair or", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "173\\nFoui th of July celebration without the presence of the\\npeanut wouki be a barren ideality.\\nSweet potatoes also come in for their share of [)at-\\nronage in the Carolinas. Not Jersey- Sweets, nor\\nsuch as are raised in the Noi th, but real sweet potatoes,\\nas the Spanish, the Bermuda and tiie yam potatoes\\nsuch potatoes as, when subjected to the heat of a\\nhot oven, crack open and permit some of the liquid\\nhoney to escape from them, while the hungry little ones,\\nwho sit by, scarcely repress the flow of saliva until their\\nanxiety for one can be relieved. And such large pota-\\ntoes! Why, the writer has seen sweet potatoes in the\\nOld North State as large as an ordinary infant s\\nhead, weighing several pounds each. They are raised in\\ngreat abundance, and stand in the same relation to the\\npoor people down there that the Irish potato does to the\\ninhabitants of the Emerald Isle.\\nIndian corn is also cultivated, l)ut almost exclusively\\nfor domestic use. Tlie white variety is preferred, which\\nis ground into meal and used with a little salt and water\\nfor making bread; flour bread among the poorer classes\\nbeing considered a luxury. At times, especially in\\nhog killing time, the character of the corn bread is\\nvaried by putting into the dough cracklings, which\\nare the browned portions of meat out of which the lard\\nhas been tried. This crackling bread is considered\\nby some of these poor people a great delicacy, of which", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "174\\nthey are very fond. At other times they put apples,\\nchopped fine, into the dough, and treat the boarders to\\napple bread, thus in various and sundry simple\\nmodes varying their scanty supplies.\\nWith proper attention and experience the Carolinas\\ncould be made the seat of extensive and profitable grape\\nculture, of which there are several very fine varieties.\\nThe Scuppernong grows, even in its wild state, to a pro-\\ndigious size, as large, in some instances, as crab apples,\\nand possesses a flavor which for delicac}^ is dittlcult to\\nbe surpassed. The people there, however, do not seem\\nto appreciate the value of their rich possession in this\\nvine, and, with a few exceptions, it is neglected and\\nallowed to run to waste; just as many other of their\\nmost valuable natural resources of wealth and happi-\\nness are.\\nIt would not be the part of justice to close this\\nchapter without saying a word about the rivers, abound-\\ning in their wealth of fishes, oysters, clams and crabs,\\nespecially near the coast of the Atlantic.\\nAbout the time that the free colored people of the\\nState of North Carolina were seized with a desire of\\nleaving that portion of the country and casting their\\nlot in the free North, because of the proscriptions and\\nconstant menaces that afllicted them in their native\\nState, the writer s father was asked whether he would\\nnot accompany some emigrants to the new home in the", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "175\\nNorthwest. He answered them by saying, When you\\ncan transfer the Neiise and Trent rivers, with their con-\\ntents, to Ohio, I will go with 3 ou; not before.\\nThe fishes to be found in these rivers consist in part of\\nshad (which is the king of fish for the breakfast table),\\nthe trout, perch, mullet, drum, pike, herring, sturgeon\\nand many others too numerous to be mentioned in a\\npaper of this size. Hard-shell and soft shell crabs,\\nand lobsters also abound, while just bej-ond, in the\\nsounds, some of the largest, fattest and most delicately\\nflavored oj^sters and clams are to be found that the\\nwaters upon the face of the earth can afford. We have\\nnot attempted in the foregoing to give anything purport-\\ning to be a detailed list of all the products of these\\nfavored states, for their name is legion, and would\\nrequire a book exceeding the size of the one now under\\ncontemplation to contain even their names.\\nIn addition to those mentioned, however, as consti-\\ntuting a portion of the staple articles, may be mentioned\\nsome of the forest nuts and fruits, such as the chincapin,\\nwhich is a small nut of the chestnut family, only smaller,\\nsweeter and having the shape of a top. The people of\\nthese states gather them and boil or roast them, when,\\nin many instances, they are strung on threads and worn\\naround the necks of children, after the manner of beads;\\nbut like the man who covered himself with a large flap-", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "176\\njack upon going to bed, the children sometimes dream\\nthey are hungry, and eat their beads.\\nThe hickor} nut of North Carolina, especially in\\neastern and central portions, to which my attention has\\nbeen principally directed, has a thick, hard shell and\\nsmall kernel, hence it can bear no comparison to the\\nnutritious nut of the scaly bark variety to be found in\\nthe Northwest. The walnut, however, flourishes in\\ngreat abundance, and is of a fine qualit}\\nAmong the fruits found growing in a state of nature\\nmaj be mentioned the red plum, the yellow plum, the\\ncranberr} and the persimmon. The three former arc\\nnot strangers to the people of the North, but the latter,\\nthe persimmon, is not well known. When the persim-\\nmon is green its astringent qualities must be tested in\\norder to be appreciated, since they set at naught alum\\nand other such articles in use among us; but when ripe\\nand mellowed by the frost, they are very sweet and\\npleasant to the taste. They are of the size of an ordi-\\nnary plum, perhaps a little larger, and contain a kernel\\nwithin them of the same size and shape as the plum,\\nTlie good matron of the South makes from the persim-\\nmon a kind of beer, whicli, when ready for us, laughs to\\nscorn cider, small beer and lager, and is not half so\\ninjurious in its effects.\\nWe are now entering the suburbs of Magnolia, our\\nplace of destination; we sec little of interest to the gen-", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "eral reader to be described, hence we will drive directly\\nto the home of our relatives, and after resting and\\nrefreshing ourselves, acquaint our readers more minutely\\nwith the colored people of the South, and other objects\\nof interest.\\nYS", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER XIII.\\nThe Colored People of the South. Different Classes. The\\nPlantation Hands. Their Habits and Modes of Life. Corn-\\nshucking and Log-rolling Bees. Their Love of Possum and\\nSweet-en-tater. Will they Steal The Colored People of the\\nCities and Towns. General Intelligence among them, and Causes\\nContributing Thereto. Churches and Schools among them.\\nEfforts of Bad Men to Create Prejudice between Different Classes\\nof them.-^Education and Wealth will Dispel All.\\nThus far in the course of our narrative we have onlj\\nspoken of the colored element of the South in a general\\nway, as it was necessary or convenient to do in order to\\nillustrate some of the customs and habits of the whole\\npeople of that section; but having at length completed\\nour journey, and the process of hand-shaking and con-\\ngratulations in general being ended, an opportunity is\\nnow afforded of studying the condition and habits of\\nthese people in a minuter way, since the} are to be seen\\nin every Southern city in all the various phases pre-\\nsented by them the residents at their homes and places\\nof avocation, and the non-residents as they stroll in from\\nthe neighboring plantations for the purposes of trade or\\nrecreation.\\nTaken as a whole, the colored people of the South", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "179\\narc a remarkable people, and in some respects, the most\\nversatile of habits and disposition of any people with\\nwhich it is the good fortune of the writer to be\\nacquainted. They are pervaded with a certain fund of\\ngood humor and mirthfulness that follows them from the\\ncradle to the grave, and like the little girl in an Eastern\\ncity who was expelled from a school because she inces-\\nsantly laughed, it seems to be a physical impossibility\\nfor them to repress their laughter, songs, dancing and\\nmerry-making. Man}- of them seem to never reach old\\nage, if judged by their innocent ways, and we not infre-\\nquently find old Aunties and Uncles who are just\\nas supple and playful as in their youthful days. Nor did\\nthe bitter oppression incidental to the estate of slavery\\nchange the fact, for despite it all they managed to snatch\\nfrom their limited hours of rest and refreshment time\\nsufficient to sing a song, dance a shuffle or crack a joke,\\nto the great merriment and satisfaction of all who beheld\\nthem. Add to this fact the disposition on their part to\\nindulge in exercises of a religious character, interspersed\\nwith much that was diverting to the mind, and it is not\\ndifficult to account for the fact that, notwithstanding\\ntheir ill-treatment and debasement by their taskmasters,\\nthey grew from a handful, landed in this country in\\n1812, to a vast multitude of nearly four millions of souls\\nat the time when the immortal Emancipation Proclama-\\ntion was issued by the martyr Abraham Lincoln.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "180\\nTo travelers along the routes of our great rivers, they\\nfurnished a continuous fund of amusement and recrea-\\ntion, and they were not only willing to give liberally of\\ntheir means for the purpose of eliciting the inimitable\\nsong, dance or gesture, but some even essayed to mimic\\nthem, as the basis of many an hour of public divertise-\\nment in places of amusement in distant lands.\\nIt must not be inferred from the foregoing, however,\\nthat these people carried their innocent traits to such an\\nextent as to deprive them of the sterling qualities of\\nman or womanhood far from it; on the contrary, their\\nachievements in the mechanics, agriculture, literature\\nand upon the battle field, as recorded by the historian of\\nto-day, set at defiance any such conclusion which may\\nhave been formed and entertained in the mind of any\\none.\\nThe colored people of the South may be divided into\\ntwo general classes the plantation hands and the in-\\nhabitants of commercial centers. We mention the\\nplantation hands first because they are the most numer-\\nous body by far, and contitute the physical force of that\\nclass in the Southern States. These plantation hands\\nare, for the greater part, quite dark of complexion (the\\nproportion of mixed-blooded colored people being\\ninfinitely smaller than in the cities) the}- are strong\\nand healthy as to their bodies, and industrious to a\\nfault. They have been known to work, during the busy", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "181\\nseason, seven days in the week, (though not from\\nchoice), and the rising sun seldom finds them in bed.\\nThey have been accustomed from infancy to the plainest\\ndiet, such as corn bread, fat bacon or pork, cow peas,\\nrice and molasses, together with such fruits as could be\\ngathered from the fields and woods, upon which they\\nhave thriven, being strangers to many of the evils that\\nattlict the flesh in our luxurious centers, and sometimes\\nliving to ages far beyond the allotted span a centena-\\nrian being no curiosity in their midst. Their diet,\\nhowever, is sometimes varied by the addition of a chicken\\nor opossum, of which they are passionately fond. This\\npassion on their part for chicken and possum arises\\nnot so much from any constitutional partiality on their\\npart, or difference in their tastes and inclinations\\nrespecting articles of food from the rest of the human\\nfamih^, as from the absence of fresh meat of all kinds,\\nthe very sight of which is at times sufficient to excite a\\nwhole neighborhood.\\nThe writer recalls an incident in the little village of\\nHudsonville, during his sojourn there, when, upon the\\narrival of a countryman on the Public Square with ^a\\nsmall carcass of doubtful looking meat, covered over\\nwith boughs of trees as a protection against the attacks\\nof the large blue flies, which were numerous, the\\nmania on the part of the villagers to obtain a piece of", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "182\\nthe coveted flesh was so great that one lady, who was\\nunable to get any, actually shed tears of sorrow.\\nIt is not to be wondered at, then, that these people\\nare elated over the possession of something to vary the\\nmonotony of their harsh and unpalatable diet. Pos-\\nsum and sweet-en-tator reach the acme of the planta-\\ntion hand s gustatory ambition. Cliicken is good;\\nsquirrel, racoon and rabbit are good roast pig is very\\n(jood but possum and sweet-en-tater admit of no\\ncomparison in the imagination of the poor hungry\\nhand.\\nHoney, they will sa} jes take dat possum an\\nstrip off de skin; hang him outdoors til de fros strikes\\nhim; den bring him in de house, put him in de pot an\\nparbile him; after dat stuff him, la^ him in de oven, put\\nlittle pieces of fat meat over him, an la}^ sweet-en-taters\\nall roun him; den let him lie dar til he gits rite brown;\\ntake him out; put him on de table! an L-o-d, h-o-ne-y!\\nDonH say dem greasy ivords no more!\\nIt s no wonder that, at intervals of recreation, they\\nwill all join in and sing with great enthusiasm that\\nremarkable song, commencing with the suggestive lines,\\nDat 2)ossnm meat am good an sweet,\\nKearve him to de hart.\\nAmong the amusements incidental to plantation life\\nthe corn-shucking and log-rolling bees stand pre-emi-\\nnent. On the former occasions the neighbors all turn", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "183\\nout and assist each other in shucking their corn. In\\nthis way large quantities of corn are disposed of at a\\nsingle gathering, without the monotony attending the\\nprivate performance of an equal amount of labor.\\nWhiskey, which is the product of corn in that section,\\nis freely passed around on such occasions, and is not\\nunfrequently the cause of ill feeling and disturhance.\\nAfter the work is completed a general good time is\\nindulged in, concluding, as a rule, with a dance to the\\nnotes of a squeaky fiddle, in the hands of one of their\\nnumber, and the patting of such others as are unable to\\nrestrain their flowing spirits. But the log-rolling par-\\nties carry off the palm for real vigor and romantic effect.\\nAt these meetings were to be found the vigorous youths\\nof all the surrounding region, who assembled, like the\\nathletes of ancient Greece at the Olympian games, to\\ntest their physical prowess and win for themselves repu-\\ntations of which they were no less proud. These\\ncontests occurred at a space upon which lay the logs\\nchopped from trees, which had been felled in the process\\nof clearing land. The participants generally separated\\nthemselves into two factions, at the head of each was a\\nchampion, and the feats of strength and endurance were\\nas a rule exhibited in their attempts to out-vie each\\nother in lifting at the bar placed under one end of a heavy\\nlog; when it sometimes happened that the mate of the\\nsuccessful party was unable to raise his end or endure", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "184\\nto bear it to the pile, which covered him with the dis-\\ngrace of defeat, while the other was correspondingly\\nelated and considered a wonderful man. It was very\\namusing to hear the opposite champions challenge each\\nother from the tops of their respective piles, using the\\nmost exaggerated and ridiculous expressions imagi-\\nnable. Such expressions as the following were generally\\nindulged in on such occasions, being shouted at their\\nutmost pitch of voice:\\nFirst champion Oh, you can t rule me!\\nSecond champion You can t knock a chip off my\\nshoulder!\\nFirst champion I m yer lion tamer!\\nSecond champion Here s yer alligater eater\\nFirst champion Woman never had me\\nSecond champion Man, he never got me!\\nFirst champion 7 come in gold molds!\\nAnd thus they would proceed until, their mission\\nbeing accomplished they, like the corn-shuckers, would\\nfinish the night with music, feasting and dancing.\\nAt times, however, the utmost good-will did not pre-\\nvail to the close, and fighting and bloodshed would take\\nthe place of music and feasting, owing to the too free\\nuse of strong drink.\\nEflforts have been made from time to time by those\\nwho have been more industrious in exposing the weak-\\nnesses of the colored race than in exalting their virtues,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "185\\nto impress the belief upon the popular mind that the\\naverage plantation hand will engage in little acts of\\npeculation that is to say, steal.\\nThe writer has enjoyed unusually favorable facilities\\nof acquainting himself with every phase of character\\npertaining to this class of people, and after careful ob-\\nservation, extending over a long period of time, he feels\\nauthorized in repelling the accusation as a base slander\\nupon the fair fame of one of the most patient, indus-\\ntrious and honorable classes of people that is to be found\\nupon the American continent. It is true the colored\\npeople spoken of have within their number men who,\\nlike their white brethren, will commit acts of violence\\nagainst the property of their neighbors, sometimes\\nindulging in peculations the very insignificance of which\\nare well calculated to call down upon them the scorn and\\nridicule of the community in which they reside, such as\\nthe taking of pigs, chickens, seed cotton and the like;\\nbut these acts are no more frequent than may be found\\namong some classes of the white people of both sections,\\nwith this mitigating feature that, when the plantation\\nhand of the South relieves a planter of a fat pullet, pig,\\nor even a few pounds of seed cotton, he merely indulges\\nhis disposition to obtain a pittance of what they have\\nrobbed him and his ancestors of, and generally for the\\npurpose of satisfying the cravings of hunger.\\nThe colored men of the Southern plantations have", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "186\\nmade the South what it is, have produced four-fifths of\\nthe cotton, sugar, rice and tobacco which for many 3 ears\\nconstituted the chief articles of commerce, and for all\\nthis they have received no compensation; they have to\\nthis day an equitable claim on every foot of land,\\nevery horse, cow, pig or chicken to be found on Southern\\nsoil, owned by ex slaA eholdors, and for them to occa-\\nsionally assert their right of redemption is not steal-\\ning.\\nThe colored people of the cities and towns are a\\nheterogeneous mass. They are to be found of all shades\\nof color known among the races of men black, yellow,\\ncream colored, white, and all the intermediate shades\\nSome of them boast that they are of pure African\\nextraction not mongrels; while others rejoice in the\\npossession of a very liberal allowance of pure white\\nblood, and use every means in their power to gain\\nrecognition b} their white brethren. There are those,\\nindeed, who make it their boast that they have de-\\nscended, on their father s side, from some of the first\\nwhite families of the South, and claim recognition on\\nthe ground of consanguinity, referring to the well-\\nknown family resemblance as a proof of the cor-\\nrectness of their assertion. Nor must it be con-\\ncluded, as is supposed by some, that the fact of a\\ncolored person having his blood mixed is necessar-\\nily a proof of illegitimacy, for, on the contrary, the", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "187\\ngreater portion of the mixed-blooded colored people of\\nthe South are the fruits of legitimate matrimonial\\nalliances formed among the difterent shades of the race\\nduring the past and present generations. Much refine-\\nment of manners and real intellectual culture is also\\ndiscernable among the colored people who inhabit the\\ncities and towns of the South, since they were in times\\npast not only more favored with respect to opportunities\\nof gaining information than the poor plantation hands,\\nbut the relations the} bore the wealthy whites as\\ndomestics and servants in other capacities were to them\\na source of great profit in increasing their knowledge.\\nBesides this, the free colored people, who were in the\\nState of North Carolina permitted to acquire property\\nand send their children to school, to a limited extent, em-\\nulating the example of the intelligent white people, edu-\\ncated their children somewhat,collected libraries and read\\nsuch newspapers of the day as they could get possession of,\\nthereby becoming, in some instances, the equals and even\\nsuperiors of many of the white citizens. Being great\\nimitators and thoroughly Americanized in their ideas\\nand ambitions, they vied with the more wealthy portion\\nof societ}^ in clothing themselves in the latest styles\\nand furnishing their houses with modern improvements.\\nThe barbers of the South were also a prolific source of\\ninformation to the rest of colored society; since, by vir-\\ntue of their calling, they were brought into the presence", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "188\\nof the leading statesmen, lawyers and politicians of that\\nsection, who frequently did not hesitate to discuss\\nquestions of State and National polity in their pres-\\nence.\\nThe mechanics, as well as the domestics of the South,\\nwere also composed of this class of people; in fact, the\\ncolored people were the intimate attendants and supports\\nof the propert3 -holding element in cA-ery department of\\nlife. Thej were indispensable at the birth, depended\\nupon at the wedding, and in the hour of death the\\nprayers and groans of some trusted Aunty or\\nUncle furnished a safe escort for them to that\\nbourne from which no traveler returns.\\nIn some cities, during the slave-holding era, there\\nwere no distinct churches for the colored people, and\\nthey were provided for in the galleries of the various\\nwhite congregations, where the pious eye of the master\\ncould note their movements.\\nThe writer attended one of these churches during the\\nfirst Sabbath of his sojourn in Hudsonville, to acommo-\\ndate a friend, but the visit was not repeated. The\\nentrance in this instance was made at the rear end of the\\nstructure, and after being seated in the filth} galler^^ we\\nwere denied even a glance from the preacher s eyes.\\nIn the large cities, however, the colored people are\\nprovided with churches and ministers of their own selec-\\ntion, where they worship God according to the dictates", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "189\\nof their own consciences this is especially true of them\\nsince the war.\\nI regret to say that on various and sundry occasions\\nin the past, short-sighted men of the demagogue stamp,\\nyf6r the satisfaction of their own personal ambition,\\nhave endeaA ored to create a feeling of prejudice on the\\npart of the dark against the light-colored people\\nin some parts of the South, by representing to them that\\ntheir interests were of a conflicting nature, and endeav-\\noring to lead innocent persons of a darker hue to\\nbelieve that their light-colored brethren were aspiring\\nto monopolize all the chief places of honor and emolu-^\\nment. Be it said to the honor of the masses of the dark-\\ncolored people of the South, that their good judgment\\nhas restrained them from falling in with these wicked,\\nmen in their dangerous designs, and led them to ignore\\nall such propositions made to them.\\nBefore the abolition of slavery in the South there was\\nan element of society to be found there which has since\\nlost its identit} by being absorbed or merged into\\nthe one general class recognized as the colored people of\\nthe South. I refer to the body known before the war as\\nfree negroes, or in their vernacular, free niggers.\\nThis was thie most hopelessl}- forlorn class, in some\\nrespects, of any we have mentioned, if a people hated\\nand despised, slighted and scorned, neglected and\\nabused, may be referred to as being forlorn.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "190\\nfor the foregoing adjectives but faintly describe their\\nunenviable condition in that inhospitable Southern\\nland. These people were of all colors, sexes and condi-\\ntions, and their origin was various. It was a maxim of\\nthe common law, which was strictly adhered to in nearly\\nall the slaveholding states, that the condition of the off-\\nspring followed that of the mother; hence, in all cases\\nwhere the condition of the mother was that of a free\\nwoman the offspring was born free; it mattered not how\\nher freedom was obtained, provided it was in accordance\\nwith the provisions of the law. If a woman of pure\\nwhite blood cohabited with a person having a visible\\nadmixture of African blood, the offspring resulting from\\nthat union was born and remained free, because the\\nmother, being a white person, was, ipso facto, free in\\nthe South, and the condition of her child followed that\\nof herself; and, strange as it may seem, such unions were\\nnot unknown, even in the palmiest days of the peculiar\\ninstitution, nor, indeed, were they sufficiently rare of\\noccurrence to attract especial interest or occasion\\nunusual remark.\\nThe writer is conversant with a case where a planta-\\ntion hand, of the darkest hue and most uncouth\\nappearance begat offspring by each of the two daughters\\nof his master; and these two mulatto children, being\\nchildren of one father and of sisters, were thereby half\\nsisters and cousins (a very strange relationship), were", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "191\\nreared under the same roof as the rest of the family\\nliving to be ahnost centenarians, and to look back upon\\na numerous progeny of free colored people.\\nIn other instances, good and faithful maidservants,\\nwho had given the better portion of their life in the\\nservice of their owners, rendering services of peculiar\\nmerit such, for instance, as rearing a family of children\\nfrom infancy to years of discretion, and nursing the\\nsick were manumitted, together with their children,\\nwho, with their progeny, thereafter were free. And\\nsome who were so fortunate as to be married to free\\nmen, who were of industrious, frugal and ambitious\\ndispositions, were purchased by their husbands, which\\nmade them and their children, born thereafter, free.\\nIn the foregoing, and other ways, which we will not\\nnow weary the patience of the reader by relating, a very\\nnumerous population of free colored people came into\\nexistence, and remained up to the era of general emanci-\\npation in the South. Having a visible admixture of\\nAfrican blood in their veins, the} were of course rele-\\ngated to the same social status as the slaves, except\\nthat of bondage. They were ignored by the whites as\\nassociates, however intelligent or refined they might be;\\nand although in a few instances (very rare) slight modifi-\\ncations of this rigid rule took place, still the writer has\\nyet to be informed of a case where it was wholly abolished.\\nThey inhabited commercial centers chiefly for the", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "192\\nreason that being, as a rule, not the owners of land for\\nagricultural purposes, they resorted to mechanical pur-\\nsuits for a livelihood in which they became expert as\\ntime progressed, and furnished the architectural skill of\\nthat whole section in the constructing of buildings and\\nbridges of various kinds, and even some of the tlectest\\nships that ploughed the waters. Another reason that\\nma}^ be assigned for their tendency towards cities und\\ntowns is the fact that they were the objects of suspicion\\nand distrust in the rural districts on the part of the\\nslaveholders, who feared that their proximity to and\\nassociation with their slaves would contaminate them\\n(the slaves), by creating in their minds a feeling of\\njealousy and restlessness under their oppressed condi-\\ntion.\\nBeing deprived of the right of sitting on juries and\\ngiving their sworn testimony in all litigation where their\\ninterests conflicted with those of white men, the} were\\nat the mercy of the most unprincipled rogues and liber-\\ntines; and unless they secured the friendly aid of some\\nwhite guardian or patron, they were liable not only to be\\nrobbed of their hard-earned possessions and deprived of\\nlife and liberty by means of the perjured statements of\\ncovetous persons of the other race, but in many\\ninstances the most outrageous and infamous crimes,\\nwhich shock every fibre in the body of a real man, were\\nperpetrated upon helpless females, when no redress", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "103\\ncould be had, the only witnesses to them being persons\\nof color.\\nIn some sections of the South these poor people were\\ncompelled to purchase badges at fabulous rates and\\nwear them, in order to distinguish themselves from their\\nslave brethren and although they, in this way and by\\npaying a direct poll-tax, as well as the usual tax on\\ntheir meagre possessions, were constantly enriching the\\npublic treasury, yet the} were not permitted to vote for\\ntheir representatives, being in this respect in a worse\\ncondition than the Indians, who pay no taxes.\\nIn times of public alarm these free colored people\\nwere objects upon which the lower class of the white\\nelement of the South vented their spite, since they were\\nentirely defenseless, being forbidden by law to carry fire-\\narms, or even to keep them within their dwellings, and,\\nas we have remarked, had little or no redress at law.\\nThis was especially true of them at a time when a real\\nor imaginary revolt of the slaves was threatened. The\\nwriter will never forget a reign of terror that was inau-\\ngurated and maintained during the Fremont-Buchanan\\ncampaign of 1856. The impression had in some mys-\\nterious manner become prevalent amongst the slaves\\nthat if Fremont was elected President of the United\\nStates their freedom would be assured. Where this idea\\ncame from or how it gained currency amongst them,\\nnobody knew; but it existed, nevertheless, and created\\n5T", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "194\\nin tlie minds of the move cautious of the slave-holders\\nan apprehension that in the event of a failure on the\\npart of the slaves to realize their expectations, acts of\\nviolence might be indulged in by them. Laboring under\\nthis mental delusion, and being filled with such a degree\\nof cowardice as their guilty actions naturally begat in\\nthem, they organized bodies of midnight marauders,\\nknown as patrols, who, during the night season, scoured\\nthe suburbs of the ancient town in which we lived,\\nstriking terror to the hearts of the defenseless free col-\\nored people, who had not even masters to protect them,\\nand in many instances committing depredations that\\neven a savage would blush to acknowledge.\\nWe almost shudder to recall ah eventful night when\\nan ominous knock was heard upon the door of our\\nhumble cot. We were all alone. Mother was a poor\\nwidow, her fatherless children were all quite young,\\nthe eldest not yet having reached puberty. We made\\nno response. Again that harsh knock rang upon the\\nmidnight air, causing our hearts to beat almost audibly\\nwithin our breasts. Not yet did we deign a response.\\nThen there fell upon our ears a harsh, cruel voice:\\nOpen this door, G d d n you! or we ll bust it in!\\nJohn, said our dear mother, get up and see what\\nthey want. I guess they are the patrols. Then, ad-\\ndressing herself to the marauders, she said: All right;", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "195\\nwait a minute until we make a light, and we ll let you\\nin.\\nA match was struck; an old-fashioned tallow dip\\nwas lit, and then the writer, clothed in his robe de nuit,\\nwith fear and trembling, drew the bar. A half dozen\\nuncouth, desperate-looking characters invaded the prem-\\nises, accompanied by one or two men who laid claim to\\nsome degree of respectability, and who, upon discovering\\nthat the} were only disgracing themselves by trespass-\\ning upon the premises of a lonely widow and her little\\nbrood, were lavish of their apologies and vacated with-\\nout dela} The remainder, after passing through the\\nhouse and glancing curiously at every object that\\nconfronted them, failed to find anything that could be\\nconstrued into a firearm, and left, to return no more.\\nOur neighbors, however, were less fortunate, for it\\nhappened that an old fowling-piece, a relic of the past,\\nwas discovered upon their premises, which was the\\ndirect cause of procuring for its unfortunate owner\\nthirty-nine lashes upon his naked back, from a cow-hide\\nin the hands of one of that infernal clan. Nor was that\\nall, for, not being satisfied with flogging the husband,\\nthey essayed to insult the wife, and when she resisted\\nand attempted to resent the insult, they assaulted her in\\na most outrageous manner.\\nFor a colored man to assault a white man in those\\ndays was to commit an unpardonable ofl ense, which", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "196\\nblood alone could atone for it mattered not how great\\nsoever the provocation might be, or how just the colored\\nman s cause. We distinctly remember an incident that\\ntook place in the State of North Carolina in the latter\\npart of the 3 ear 1856, when the writer was a boy, that\\nmade a lasting impression upon his mind and caused\\nhim to remark to his kind mother that if she did not\\nsell her home and leave the South, ho would leave just\\nas soon as his age and means would admit of it. The\\nincident was as follows\\nA large, muscular man, having a very slight admix-\\nture of African blood in his veins, drove into the town\\nof with a load of small casks or kegs which he\\nhad made to barter away for a few groceries. He went\\nto one of the leading merchants of the place and oftered\\nhis kegs for sale, and a trade was readily effected; but\\nduring during the course of the conversation that\\nensued, the capacity of the kegs being called in question,\\na dispute arose between the merchant and the country-\\nman, when the former stigmatized the latter as a liar;\\nthe rustic retorted b} hurling tlie same epithet at the\\ngrocer, when the latter struck the customer a violent\\nblow in the face with his fist, who had no sooner received\\nit than he returned it with interest, felling the merchant\\nto the floor. Immediately the cry went around: A\\nnigger has struck a white man; kill him! kill the d n\\nnigger! and a crowd such as wei e in those days always", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "197\\nto be found loitering around stores and wharves in that\\nsection, without further inquiry fell upon the countryman\\nand attempted to knock him down. He was equal to the\\nemergenc} however, and had he enjoj-ed even the sem-\\nblance of fair pla}^ would have succeeded in whipping\\nall his assailants; but finally, when it became apparent\\nthat he was getting the better of the cowardly crew, a\\nsailor in their midst drew a bar of iron, and striking\\nhim a blow on the head with it, felled him to the ground.\\nOnce in that position his clothing was torn from his\\nbody, his arms and legs pinioned, and his bare back\\nflogged with a cowhide until the blood ran from it,\\nand the gashes made in his flesh by the cruel strokes\\npresented a ghastly spectacle as they gaped open. For\\nthis colored man there was no redress; indeed, he was\\nonly too glad to escape with his life, and drag back\\nagain his mangled, bleeding body to the heart-broken\\nwife and grief-stricken children from whom he had\\nparted a few hours previous with hopes beating high.\\nThe writer labors under the embarrassment derived\\nfrom the fear that there may be those who will read\\nthese recitals of oppression and injury inflicted upon the\\ncolored people of the South with incredulity, and imagine\\nthem to be the productions of a dishonest imagination.\\nIf such should be the case, the reader has only to refer\\nthe matter to any one of the thousands of well-informed", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "198\\ncolored citizens who are to be found in all our cities\\nand towns of the North for a verification, not only by\\ntheir verbal testimon} but by their scarred and crippled\\nbodies that are yet to be seen. The half has not been\\ntold.\\nWhat the colored people of the South need at the\\npresent time to raise them up to an equal plain with the\\nbetter class of the white people there is a fair opportu-\\nnity in the race of life to earn and accumulate money,\\nand good educational facilities for their children.\\nThanks to the large-heartedness of the people of the\\nNorth, there are in some sections of that benighted\\nland a few educational institutions that will compare\\nfavorably with some of the best in the land; where\\nyoung men and women of color are fast preparing them-\\nselves to enter the higher walks of life. Of such are\\nFisk University and Hampton Institute, to say nothing\\nof many others less pretentious.\\nThe law of the land can do so much for us as to\\nremove all obstructions from our way that are obnox-\\nious to its provisions; but no more. It can not take\\nus from under the ban of prejudice any more than it\\ncan the pauper of another race.\\nOur destiny lies to a very great extent in our\\nown hands, and^the quicker we recognize that fact the\\nmore rapid will be our progress upward. If the", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "199\\nrecognition and preferment of races of other people is\\ngoverned by their wealth, intelligence and integrity, b}^\\nthese same means, and these alone, must we seek\\nand expect to win success in life; and not by a state\\nof inertia, or a period spent in bewailing our unfortu-\\nnate lot. A word to the wise is sufficient.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "CONCLUSION.\\nPast and Present of Magnolia. Slierman s Boys and Har-\\ndee. No Law to Compel One Man to Mister Another. The\\nResults of the Trip. Returning North.\\nWe must now hasten to a conclusion of our narrative,\\nsince we have already occupied more time and space\\nin relating it than we anticipated at the beginning.\\nSuffice it to sa3\\\\ then, that the town of Magnolia, while\\npossessing a greater population than Hudsonville and\\nwearing somewhat of a metropolitan appearance, did not\\nfully meet our expectations. Even 4 Jones and Brown,\\nour companions of the route, who had resided there in\\nformer times during its prosperity, scarcely recognized\\nin its charred and dilapidated appearance the Magnolia\\nof the past, when business was flourishing and there was\\nabundance of labor with fair remuneration for all, except\\nthose who were enslaved. Instead of scores of drays\\nand carts being employed in hauling the large deposits\\nof merchandise to and fro from the steamboat landing;\\nnow half a dozen vehicles could scarcely find employ-\\nment; where formerly a numerous body of mechanics\\nwere wont to reside in the midst of a plentiful supply of\\nall the necessaries of life, we at length found only a", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "201\\ntithe of them, striving to elve out an existence b}- the\\nperformance of such odd jobs as couhl be found in a\\nplace where the erection of substantial buildings gave\\nplace to a few repairs to such as were already in\\nexistence to keep them in suitable. condition for use,\\nand the banks that once flourished there for the accom-\\nmodation of a healthy trade, were to be found no more,\\nbut in their stead one petty institution. In fact, decay\\nand blight seemed to have seized upon all things. The\\npeople who inhabited the place appeared to be discour-\\naged and lost to all ambition, even to repair the sad\\nravages that the events of the war had entailed.\\nFormerl}^ this place was the seat of learning, refine-\\nment and wealth for all that section of the great State\\nof North Carolina, and the unsophisticated rustic of the\\ninterior who had the ambition to make it a visit, opened\\nhis eyes in astonishment as he gazed at the exterior of\\nthe capacious buildings to be found there, and the riches\\nas displayed in the show-windows and on the streets; in\\nshort, it was the commercial center from which all the\\ncountry around, within a radius of a hundred miles,\\ndrew its supplies, and it was no uncommon thing before\\nthe war to see her streets in the vicinity of the Court\\nand Market House, crowded with the vehicles of\\nplanters and small farmers, who had traveled many\\nmiles to visit this emporium for the purpose of purchas-\\ning or exchanging wares.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "202\\nBut now all this was reversed, and, instead, gloom and\\ndespondency seemed to brood over the forsaken place.\\nThe inhabitants remaining were not slow in attributing\\nall their losses and misfortunes to the Yankees, and\\npointed to the charred remains of their former bank\\nbuildings and store-houses, which were destroj ed dur-\\ning Sherman s grand march to the sea, as a proof of\\nthe correctness of their statements, but they seemed to\\nlose sight of the fact that their own obstinacy in en-\\ndeavoring to impede his progress, even up to the last\\nmoment, occasioned the greater portion of the damage\\nthat had accrued.\\nIt is related that one of the typical Southern ladies of\\nthat time, full of reliance on the superior fighting quali-\\nties of the Southern chivalry, when told that Sherman\\nwas approaching the town, said O, never mind,\\nGeneral Hav-dee is here, and he won t let them enter.\\nAlas for her confidence and reliance upon the superior\\nskill and chivalric bearing of Har t/ee and his troops!\\nInstead of emulating the example of the gallant three\\nhundred under Leonidas at Thermopylae, and dj ing in\\nthe last ditch, they at the last moment ingloriously\\nfled, being in some instances wounded in the back, and\\nnot a few of them captured.\\nAmong the wealthy class of the white people to be\\nfound at this place were some who for their general in-\\ntelligence and magnaminity of character are deserving of", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "203\\ngreat praise. This is especially true of a few of the\\nweaker portion of the community, who were veritable\\nministering angels at the bedside of many a poor unfor-\\ntunate sufferer in their midst, for which future genei-a-\\ntions will render them their full mead of praise; but as\\na rule the}- were very exclusive in their habits, and dis-\\ndained to mingle on terms of intercourse with those\\nwhom they considered their inferiors their standards\\nof distinction being color, money and intelligence.\\nSome of the male portion carried their silly prejudice\\nto such an extent that they would even refuse to\\naddress a colored man as Mister, calling him Tom,\\nDick, Harry or boy, as the case might demand,\\nregardless of the merits or demerits of the person\\naddressed, or his station in life. The following anec-\\ndote will go far to show the extent to which the\\nbusiness men of the place permitted this silly bias\\nto carry them. A very respectable colored man, of\\naverage intelligence, was elected to the honorable posi-\\ntion of alderman of the town, and he very reasonably\\nconcluded that he was entitled to the ordinar^^ and usual\\ncourtesies that ought to be observed on the part of one\\ncitizen to another; therefore, when he was addressed by\\na merchant of the town as Thomas, it is not to be won-\\ndered at that he reminded him that he had a handle\\nto his name, and that handle was the word Mister. The\\nresult of this action on the part of the city father", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "204\\nwas au invitation extended to him by tlie merchant to\\nleave his store, which invitation not being immediately\\ncomplied with, the porter was ordered to summarily\\neject the alderman, which he did in a manner more\\nforcible than polite. An action in the nature of as-\\nsault and battery against the aggressors was the next\\nscene in this strange drama, in which the defendants\\nwere acquitted, and the complainant was not only lec-\\ntured by the partial justice for not leaving the premises\\nof the merchant when ordered by him to do so (albeit\\nhe had gone there on business, which had not been\\ntransacted), but was also reminded that there was no\\nlaw in the State of North Carolina, known to the court,\\nb} virtue of which one man could be compelled to\\nmister another.\\nWe found an extensive, well-regulated society of col-\\nored people here, together with churches and schools\\nmanaged b} them, that were a credit alike to tliem and\\nthe State in which the} resided, but the increased cost\\nof living in a manner suitable to our requirements, to-\\ngether with the almost total absence of remunerative\\nemplo3 mont, prevented us from selecting Magnolia as a\\nhome. Besides this, we had breathed the pure atmos-\\nphere of the free North for so long a time that the\\nprejudices and customs peculiar to that locality could\\nilly be brooked by us; we therefore concluded to return to\\nHudsonville by the nearest route, pack our carpet-bags,", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "205\\nand turn our steps Northward, where the invigorating\\nbreezes of our mountains and lakes impart new life, and\\ninspire one with hopes and ambitions such as go far\\ntowards establishing true manhood; and where the laws\\nand customs in vogue do not necessarily militate\\nagainst one on account of his race and color, but everj^\\nman is known and honored for what he is, judged by\\nthe standard of morality and qualification.", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "\u00e2\u0080\u00a21\\nV\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0J\\nD-\\n\u00c2\u00bbr\\nV\\nN?", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0210.jp2"}, "211": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0211.jp2"}, "212": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0212.jp2"}, "213": {"fulltext": "o\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a25", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0213.jp2"}, "214": {"fulltext": "o\\n.0^ v. ^O. .V\\n^b\\nV-0^\\n0\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2^0^\\n^/^l\\n-^o\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0v\\n^i.\\nv/\\n%ikr\\n,v\\n-*i^..\\n.-.S -J^-.\\n;^8^", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0214.jp2"}, "215": {"fulltext": "o\\nBS BROS.\\nar \u00e2\u0096\u00a0IMDIMO\\ni 8\\nUGUSTINE\\nFLA.\\nS#32084\\n.J* v^\\nA", "height": "3084", "width": "1731", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0215.jp2"}, "216": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3100", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "recollectionsofi00gree_0216.jp2"}}