Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 82

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 1032

USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II > Part 82

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Acting Governor Quitman was the first governor of Mississippi (1836) to defend slavery in an executive message. He complained of "reviews, orations, tracts and even school books, emanating from the non-slaveholding States. These publications have been characterized by illiberal and odious comparisons, by false or mistaken misrepresentations of our character, morals and habits, and by sweeping denunciation of our civil institutions.

Within the past year . this interference has as- sumed a character which will no longer permit us to be silent or

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inactive. Organized associations have been formed in some of the non-slaveholding States, with the avowed purpose of effecting the abolition of slavery, in every State of the Union, by whatever means their envy, their fanaticism or their deep-seated malignity, may devise." He charged that attempts had been made to incite insurrection or organization among slaves for the promotion of emancipation. "The morality, the expediency, and the duration of the institution of slavery, are questions which belong exclusively to ourselves. It would degrade the character and prostrate the dig- nity of the sovereign State, to step down into the arena of con- troversy and discuss the morality, the propriety or wisdom of her civil institutions with foreign powers or with self-constituted as- sociations of individuals, who have no right to question them. It is enough that we, the people of Mississippi, professing to be actuated by as high a regard for the precepts of religion and moral- ity as the citizens of other States, and claiming to be more com- petent judges of our own substantial interests, have chosen to adopt into our political system, and still choose to retain, the in- stitution of domestic slavery."

Governor Lynch, who was elected by the opponents of Calhoun, was no less vigorous in repudiating outside interference. "The question of right involved admits of no parley, no intermeddling, no discussion from any quarter-nor can a proposition bearing on this point, either immediately or remotely, be listened to for a moment. In stamping upon these incendiary movements our in- dignant and decided disapprobation, there can be but one opinion. Mississippi has given a practical demonstration of feeling on this exciting subject that may serve as an impressive admonition to offenders; and however we may regret the occasion, we are con- strained to admit that necessity will sometimes prompt a summary mode of trial and punishment unknown to the law. But no means should be spared to guard against and prevent similar occurrences." (See Panic of 1835.)

Upon the collapse of credit in 1837, Governor Lynch asked the legislature "whether the passage of an act prohibiting the intro- duction of slaves in this State as merchandise may not have a salu- tary effect in checking the immense drain of capital annually made upon us by the sale of this description of property." To do so would only be obedience to the constitution. "It is freely admitted, and the objection may be made to such a law, that it would be at variance with the broad principles of our free institutions-its en- forcement, too, must always be attended with difficulty. Under such impressions I voted in convention against the clause imposing the inhibition; and under different circumstances, looking to its general operation, I should certainly still oppose it." But he be- lieved circumstances now warranted an' experiment. He also noted that the prohibitive clause in the constitution had cast a cloud upon the validity of all bills of sale of negroes.

A committee of the house (Phillips of Madison chairman) in recommending the annexation of Texas in 1837, discussed the ques-

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tion of slavery as the reason of opposition to annexation, and an argument why the South should demand annexation, so that "an equipoise of influence in the halls of congress will be secured." (House Journal, 1837, p. 158). This committee said of slavery: "This system is cherished by our constituents as the very pal- ladium of their prosperity and happiness, and whatever ignorant fanatics may elsewhere conjecture, the committee are fully as- sured, upon the most diligent observation and reflection on the sub- ject, that the South does not possess within her limits a blessing, with which the affections of her people are so closely entwined and so completely enfibered, and whose value is more highly appre- ciated, than that which we are now considering. To this system we owe more than we can well estimate of domestic com- fort and social happiness. To it we are chiefly indebted for the proud spirit of liberty which so eminently distinguishes the proud- and highminded inhabitants of this happy region which every southern man, worthy of the name, is resolved before high heaven to protect and sustain, if need be, even at the hazard of his life. During the last winter the hall of representatives in congress was for the first time desecrated with a petition from slaves, on the subject of abolition. Abolition societies, created in a fiendish spirit of malignity, discreditable to the dignity of human character, are at this time multiplying with astonishing rapidity in the New England States. This unholy crusade has not only a potent band of moral agitators in our own country, but they are encouraged and stimulated to action by a hypocritical fraternity of polar philanthropists across the Atlantic." In 1841 Governor McNutt transmitted to the legislatures communications from other States relative to the refusal of Northern States to sur- render fugitives charged with stealing slaves. He said: "The prin- ciples contended for by the governors of the States of Maine and New York are utterly indefensible, and in violation of both the letter'and spirit of the national compact, and if adopted generally, by the non-slaveholding States, will inevitably lead to a dissolution of the Union." (For subsequent history see Administrations, Tucker to Sharkey.)

Niles Register, of February, 1849, notes a petition from Han- cock county to the governor of Mississippi asking an extra session of the legislature to prohibit the further shipping in of slaves from Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, where slavery had ceased to be profitable, "throwing an immense population on the extreme southern States, which is destined to increase with im- mense rapidity." But congressional prohibition of this traffic was bitterly opposed by the politicians. (See Nashville Convention.)

A writer in DeBow's Commercial Review said, about this time, that it was the belief of many citizens that the neglect of manufac- ture and the turning of all investment into agriculture could be remedied by prohibiting the further introduction of slaves. "In my opinion, there is a still more cogent reason for the adoption of this system of exclusion not only by Mississippi, but also by

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most of the extreme Southern States. In the northern slaveholding States (Kentucky to Virginia), slave labor is but little profitable, and a disposition is already manifested by them to sell us their slaves, and eventually abolish the institution within their respec- tive limits. The wild fanaticism of the abolitionist has checked this evil to some extent, but we should also anticipate it by forbid- ding the introduction of their slaves amongst us, and thus compel them to be our allies, by forcing them to retain their property, and thus possess a common interest with us in its preservation." (Vol. XI, p. 618).

The attitude of the extremists as the great war approached is stated in the resolution introduced in the Mississippi senate by I. N. Davis, November 1, 1858: "Whereas, At the adoption of the Federal Constitution, every State which formed the Union, save one, tolerated and protected slavery; and Whereas, property in slaves is directly and fully recognized by said constitution and also by the Holy Bible; Therefore, Resolved, That the institution of slavery, as now held and practiced in the Southern States, is neither legally nor morally wrong, and hence the law of congress making the slave trade piracy should be repealed." After two weeks, in which this proposition was thoroughly discussed, the proposition to revive the African slave trade was defeated by reference to committee. The author of the resolution had been the Unionist candidate for congressman-at-large in 1852, on the Foote ticket.

On the general subject of conditions S. S. Prentiss wrote to his brother in Maine, dated Natchez, July 25, 1831: "You ask me

about the slaves in this country-how they are treated, etc. . · The situation of slaves-at least in this State-is not half as bad as it is represented, and believed to be, in the North. They are in general, as far as my observation extends, well clothed, well fed, and kindly treated-and, I suspect, fully as happy as their masters. Indeed, I have no question, that their situation is much preferable to that of the free negroes, who infest the Northern cities. To be sure, there are, occasionally, men who treat their slaves cruelly and inhumanly-but they are not countenanced by society, and their conduct is as much reprobated as it would be anywhere else. To free the slaves, and let them continue in the United States, would not, in my opinion, be any advantage to them: though if they could be transported to African again, it would be better. But that is impossible on account of their number-and even if they were all offered the privilege of going to Africa, I do not believe half of them would accept it. The sin of the business lies at the doors of those who first introduced slavery into this country. The evil now is too deep-rooted to be eradicated."

There were three distinct classes of slaves: (1) the domestic slaves or servants, some of whom were taught to read and write, and readily imitated the manners of their masters; (2) the town slaves, including the negroes working at the various trades and as draymen, hucksters, etc. White mechanics had one or more as- sistants of this sort when they could afford it; and some free

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negroes owned slaves. "Many of the negroes who swarm in the cities are what are called hired servants, hired out by their masters or allowed to hire their own time," paying a tribute to their masters according to their earnings. Some saved their earnings until they were able to buy their freedom. "There are indeed few families, however wealthy, whose incomes are not increased by the wages of hired slaves, and there are many poor people, who own one or two slaves, whose hire enables them to live comfortably. From $3 to $5 a week is the hire of a female, and 75 cents to a dollar a day for a male. The city slaves are distinguished as a class by superior intelligence, acuteness and deeper moral degradation. (3) The third and lowest class consisted of those slaves who are termed field hands."

Mrs. Jefferson Davis wrote (biography of Jefferson Davis) concerning James Pemberton, the colored man who was selected by Jefferson Davis as overseer of his plantation, that he "took charge of Briarfield, and managed the negroes according to his master's and his own views. They were devoted friends and always ob- served the utmost ceremony and politeness in their intercourse, and at parting a cigar was always presented by Mr. Davis to him. James never sat down without being asked, and his master always invited him to be seated, and sometimes fetched him a chair. James was a dignified, quiet man, of fine, manly appearance, very silent, but what he said was always to the point. His death, which oc- curred from pneumonia in 1850, during our absence, was a sore grief to us, and his place was never filled." See Davis, Joseph E .; Dabney, Thomas ; Cameron, J. S.

Thomas Dabney, writing in 1884, noted that the negroes left at home by Confederate soldiers were never rude to the women and children. "The more the problem is studied the greater is the marvel. I have arrived at the conclusion that the universal acquiescence of the negroes was due to their enlightenment, and not to their ignorance. You will remember that the San Domingo ne- groes were nearly all savages but recently imported, and very few to the manner born. It was the common practice among Southern ladies to teach their servants to read, and as many of the out ne- groes as chose to attend. That amount of knowledge enabled them to separate the clothes when they came in from the laundry, and deposit each piece in its proper drawer. That might have been motive enough ; but many were educated far above that. A negro man, living on a very fine plantation but a few miles below Vicks- burg, rented the plantation as it stood, from his former master, at the close of the war, and was soon known as the best planter in the county, and perhaps in the State. His cotton, at the Cincin- nati Exposition, took all of the prizes. The good behav- ior of the negroes was not due, as you suggest, to their ignorance." In this connection it is well to note that servile races have never revolted in times of war.

Marriage between slaves had no recognition in law. Hence the condition of the slaves in this respect varied with the character of

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the masters. The essential feature of slavery, as a continuing in- stitution, was that the offspring of slaves were the property of the master. Whether this property right should be asserted to the ex- tent of selling off, depended upon the character of the masters, also. In cases of financial emergency, it was difficult to resist the exer- cise of the legal right to sell. Selling off also became necessary where the plantation operations were not extensive, or the growing population of the quarters would ruin the master. Thomas Dabney (q. v.) was a Virginian who was remarkably considerate of his negroes. He'sold but four in his life time-one who killed her hus- band, one who attempted to kill the overseer, a thievish girl and one who desired to be transferred. He disapproved of hiring out servants, but at times hired out good mechanics. For one, a black- smith, he received $500 a year.

Mississippi was never such a slave exporting State as Virginia, but was the famous destination of the slave gangs that were marched through the wilderness, brought down the Ohio, or by ship from Norfolk or Alexandria to Natchez. There was a general impression outside that in Mississippi the lot of the slave was much harder than in the region where he was reared. That the policy of labor in the Southwest was to get the utmost out of a slave during his years of greatest capacity, regardless of his fate afterward, was the general understanding, as appears, in numerous publications of the ante-bellum period. This understanding was prevalent among the negroes of Virginia and Kentucky also. J. H. Ingraham wrote in 1835: "Perhaps two-thirds of the first slaves came into the State from Virginia; and nearly all now introduced, of whom there are several thousands annually, are brought from that State. Kentucky contributes a small number, which is yearly increasing ; and since the late passage of a slave law in Missouri, a new market is opened there for this trade. It is computed that more than $200,000 worth of slaves will be purchased in Missouri this season, for the Natchez market. A single individual has re- cently left Natchez with $100,000 for the purpose of buying up negroes in that State to sell in Mississippi. The usual way of transporting slaves is by land, although they are frequently brought round by sea. Last year more than 4,000 were brought into the State, one-third of whom were sold in the Natchez market. The prices of slaves vary with the prices of cotton and sugar. At this time, when cotton brings a good price, a good field hand can- not be bought for less than $800 if a male; if a female for $600. Body servants sell much higher, $1,000 being a common price for them. Good mechanics sometimes sell for $2,000, and seldom for less than $900. The usual price for a good seamstress or nurse is from $700 to $1,000. An infant adds $100 to the price of the mother, and from infancy the children of the slaves increase in value about $100 for every three years. All domestic slaves or house servants often sell at the most extravagant prices -the best, native or acclimated, at $1,800 to $2,000.

Negro traders soon accumulate great wealth, from the immense

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profit they make on their merchandise. . One of their num- ber, who is the great Southern slave merchant, and who, for the last fifteen years, has supplied this country with two-thirds of the slaves brought into it, has amassed a fortune of more than a mil- lion of dollars by this traffic alone."

The slave market near Natchez was about a mile from the town-a courtyard surrounded by low buildings. The negroes for sale were dressed in black fur hats, roundabouts and trousers of corduroy velvet, good vests, strong shoes, and white cotton shirts. The females were dressed in neat calico frocks, white aprons and capes, and fancy kerchiefs. This market was visited often by In- graham, as well as others, where several hundred slaves of all ages, colors and conditions were exposed for sale. "I have con- versed with a great number of them, from the liveliest to the most sullen, and my impression, which is daily strengthened by a more intimate knowledge of their species is, that the negro is not dis- satisfied with his condition-that it is seldom or never the subject of his thoughts-that he regards it as his destiny, as much as a home about the poles is to the Laplanders; nor does he pine for freedom more than the other after the green hills and sunny skies

of Italy. Negroes, when brought into market, are always anxious to be sold; and to be sold first is a great desideratum, for in their estimation it is an evidence of their superiority." Owners frequently refused to sell negroes so as to part sisters attached to each other ; but negroes related frequently preferred to be sold to different owners, so that they might have pretexts for visits.

The State treasurer's report of 1854 states that the average price of slaves (including children, it may be inferred) was $600 in 1844, and had increased in ten years to about $800. The number of slaves listed in 1844 was 288,707, and the number in 1854 was esti- mated at 300,000. The total value would be $250,000,000. But taxation fell very lightly upon this sort of property. Owners were taxed for slaves, of any age, under 60 years, 60 cents each under the law of 1844, and this rate was cut in half by the law of 1850. It was a rate of about 5 cents on the $100, in 1844, and 2 or 3 cents in 1850. An owner was taxed as much for an infant as for a field hand value at $1,500, or a good mechanic, worth from $2,000 to $4,000.

Judge William Yerger said in the constitutional convention of 1865 (q. v.) : "The president of the United States, by a proclama- tion, issued as a war measure, on the 1st day of January, 1863, declared that slavery was thenceforward abolished. But that proclamation, being a mere declaration, did not abolish it. Some- thing more was necessary. Before the issuance of this proclama- tion, the president, in September, 1862, had issued another proc- lamation, calling upon the people of the Southern States to lay down their arms and return to their allegiance to the government of the United States-assuring them that if they would do so they would be protected in all their rights to person and property, in- cluding slaves, guaranteed to them by the constitution; but warn-

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ing them, if they did not do so, he would, on the first day of January, 1863, declare, by proclamation, that all slaves in the in- surrectionary States should be free. This proclamation was de- rided-the warning was disregarded-the insurrection continued- and the war was carried on until the armies of the United States entered into every States and compelled the surrender of all the forces arrayed against them-and thus carried into execution the proclamation of emancipation. Hence, as a fact, slavery has not been abolished by the sole act of the United States-but its aboli- tion has been produced by the joint action of the government and the people of the Southern States."

In "A Southern Planter," recalling the life of the Dabneys, of Hinds county, Susan Dabney Smedes writes: "Very many slave- holders looked on slavery as an incubus, and longed to be rid of it, but they were not able to give up their young and valuable negroes, nor were they willing to set adrift the aged and helpless. To have provided for this class, without any compensation for the loss of the other, would have reduced them to penury. Now that the institution is swept away, I venture to express the conviction that there is not an intelligent white man or woman in the South who would have it recalled, if a wish could do it. Those who suf- fered and lost most-those who were reduced from a life of afflu- ence to one of grinding poverty-are content to pay the price. Good masters saw the evil that bad masters could do. It is true, a bad master was universally execrated, and no vocation was held so debasing as the negro traders. Every conscientious proprietor felt that these were helpless creatures, whose life and limb were, in a certain sense, under his control. There were others who felt that slavery was a yoke upon the white man's neck almost as gall- ing as on the slaves; and it was a saying that the mistress of a plantation was the most complete slave on it."

The effort to maintain slavery had, of course, back of it, the self- ish motives of property. But the war could never have gained such great popular support in the South unless there were a worthier reason. Nations and individuals, when at their best, understand least their real motives. There is something of cause they cannot fathom. It may be seen now, in all sections of the Union, that the fundamental wrong, to which slavery was incidental, was that the negro was injected, as the laborer, into a community founded on the principle of giving the laborer equal rights with the rich and powerful. The community could not survive as an American community with truth to American ideals, and oppress any part of the population; and, on the other hand, the white population could not contemplate a condition in which the negro should be the political master by force of numbers.

As John Sharp Williams has said, "the philosophy of our sec- tional history-the purpose, conscious or unconscious, of our sec- tional strivings-will be shown to have been always consistent," always with one purpose. "And that purpose, however the shib- boleth of the hour, State's Rights, secession, sanctity of slavery,

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equal citizenship in the Territories, anti-reconstruction, or what not, may more or less have obscured it to the eyes of others and for a time to our own-that unvarying purpose is this-the pre- servation of our racial purity and racial integrity; the supremacy of the white man's ethics and civilization. There has been no 'lost cause,' but a preserved cause, though many things thought at many times to be a necessary part of the cause have been lost. For example, Secession has been lost. It was the remedy resorted to to assert the Cause. Slavery has been lost, but it was not our Cause, though we thought so once, and fought for it, among other things. But why? Was it not because our people thought that with the enfranchisement of the negroes would necessarily come the downfall of the white man's civilization and the destruction of his family life, whence is evolved his code of ethics and upon which - is based his civilization? The event has proved that the appre- hended result was not a necessary result, but how well-founded was the apprehension, judging by San Domingo, Mexico and South America, whose experience alone history had then furnished us. Moreover, how hardly did we escape it? Would we have escaped it at all, but for the fortitude, patience, constancy, self-discipline, self-command, and solidarity and capacity for organization learned during four years of hardship and war?"

Slayden, or Slayden's Crossing, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Marshall county, 12 miles north of Holly Springs. Popu- lation in 1900, 26.

Sledge, a postoffice in the northern part of Quitman county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 12 miles northeast of Belen, the county seat.

Small Pox. The first quarantine law was enacted by Governor Sargent and the judges, and opportunity for its application was given by the prevalence of small pox at New Orleans in 1802. William Dunbar wrote Governor Claiborne urging quarantine and suggesting that the new discovery of vaccination be made use of. The terms of the law hardly covered the case, and the governor could only warn the merchants of Natchez not to expose for sale goods from New Orleans. He suggested that the citizens by sub- scription employ a messenger to bring vaccine from Kentucky. This was done, but the virus proved ineffective. The small pox was ranging at Natchez when the legislature met in special ses- sion in May, and the governor urged the enactment of a health law, to prevent the introduction of infectious diseases.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 82

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association Number of Pages: 1032

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 1032