History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 69

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 958

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I can't lef widout de chile: an de chile will sure be de means ob kotchin me, caze, you see, I is advertise. Now, can't you tell me wa I kin do ? Massa promise me freedom and wat is mo' he promise Joe him freedom ef I do wa he tell me. I would radder git my freedom some udder way, pervided I could afterwards git hold a Joe, which I hab my doubts about.

At this moment the child, which the Doctor had observed on the little bed, and which he thought to be sleeping, began to sob. The Doctor rose from his seat and went toward the bed. But Sam said : " Nebber mine the chile. Doctor ; you come wid me : I want to tell you sumfin." The Doctor then turned and followed Sam out of the cave. When out, Sam said : " Mass Will- iam, in my oat I sware I would not only no tell myself wat it is, but I wouldn't let anybody get a chance for the chile to tell. So you see, Doctor, ef you ebber get a chance at de chile it hab to be without me know um. Eben de Gineral had to promise he would nebber talk to de chile fore Massa would gib him de money ; an when de Gineral does come yer I fus put de chile in anodder room."

"What, is there another room in this cave ?"

"Yes, Sir ; but I not lowed to show wa tis."

The Doctor took his departure feeling greatly perplexed. IIe did not wish to jeopardize the interest of Sam and Joe, and he felt greatly impressed with the idea that there was some- thing wrong about the doings of Smith. He finally concluded to wait for further development, and to watch as closely as he could the movements about the cave. Matters passed on with- out any new developments for a year. The Doctor occasionally called to see Sam, but never got an opportunity to talk with the child. The old General, in about a year, got into very bad health, and necessarily neglected them, and, in the fall of 1856, called upon the Doctor and told him there were a brace of blackbirds that might need his attention. "I am," said he, " soon to leave this world, and it is a poor business to be engaged in trying to keep darkies caged up for their master. I never intended to let them go back into slavery if I could help it, but I thought I wouldn't do anything until I saw that he wasn't a-going to give them their freedom ; then I would just step in and say that I could testify the niggers stayed here with his own per- mission, and then the law wouldn't give them to him. But I may die soon, and so I now tell you about it."

The old General said, that. knowing the Doctor to be a sincere friend to the colored people, and not knowing any one else who would be so likely to see to their interests, he had determined to satisfy his conscience by informing him that a mulatto man and his little white-skinned nephew were living in Coon Bluff; that their master was a Carolinian named Smith, who had first taken the boy from his unele and had apparently gone to return no more, having left another white man with Sam to take him on when he got well ; that Smith called on him the next day with the boy, a very delicate little fellow, who cried a great deal, and trembled, but said not a word, and made generous offers to him to look after them, which he accepted, and, while his health lasted, he had fulfilled his trust.

From those interviews he had come to the conclusion that Smith was engaged in some- thing criminal, and he was a little afraid that the negroes themselves knew all about it, and that Smith and Sam were both afraid the little boy would let it out, and that was the reason he was never allowed to speak with the boy. " If," said the General, "he hadn't promised to give the boy his freedom, I should suspect that Smith had kidnaped him ; but, then, there was the adver- tisement in the New Orleans paper, describing both the man and the boy ; so it couldn't be that. So I have come to the conclusion that Smith is working somehow with a gang of counterfeiters, and that the niggers have to play some part in their game. But all things look so eurions that I want to wash my hands of it. I am in very poor health, and, God knows, I hain't got the best preparation for it, and I don't want any heavier load to carry."

The Doctor now determined to keep a more vigilant cye than ever upon the cave. There being no testimony whereby any legal proceedings could be had, he felt assured if he under- took any open action at that time, it would only serve to put the parties on their guard, and prevent their detection. Sam himself always seemed to the Doctor to be very sincere and very

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

anxious to get out of the difficulty he was in, and, from all that could be judged of his manner, he kept nothing back, except what he said he had bound himself to do and to keep the child from doing. He often expressed the wish that the matter could leak out without his having anything to do with it, or that somebody could talk to the child without his knowledge.

" Suppose," said the Doctor to him one day, " I should get out a writ of what is called habeas corpus, and bring an officer here to take you and the child before the court, and require you to show cause why you keep the child in confinement."

" Well, I see, Mass William, wid all you larnin, you make mistake some time. If you bin guine to do dat, what fur you no do um widout tell me ? Now you tell me, when I is under oat, I hab fur to hinder you from do it. But even if you did do um, how you gwine git at me wid de officer so you kin git de chile. Did you ebber see de chile ? "

"Yes, I saw it once, lying on that bed in the corner-or rather, I heard him crying in the bed, and you drew me away to prevent my talking to him."

" How you know, den, dat I got de chile now ? "

" You have me there, Sam. I don't know any more than you have often told me about him, as though he were in the cave."

" Sam, you puzzle me! You are so conscientious about your oath, and yet it is to do something, or be aiding something you think is bad. It is a strange and mysterious matter ! "

" Well, Mass William, I tell you de chile hab to be taken care ob. Ef anybody was to get hold of de chile widout my knowledge, and widout my helpin um to do it, and could git um to him house, and so keep de child and take care ob um heself, and gib me a chance fur to git to Can'da, I tank de Lord from de bottom ob my heart. But I no see no way fur all dis to happen. I tinks about it mightily ; and I is hopin dat Massa will come befo' long and set de matter all straight. But I hab my fears bote ways. I don't like dese men what comes about de cave and stays here sometimes more'n a week. How dey gits in I nebber kin tell, and when dey goes out I dunno. Dey treats me well, but I fears all ain't right."

The Doctor now saw that the only thing he could do must be either by some stratagem to get away the child, or wait until Smith returned from California, and then keep a sharp lookout upon his movements. The former plan he frequently tried, but the negro would find him at it, and express his regrets at the failure.

In the summer of 1857, one beautiful morning when the prairie was radiant with sunshine and flowers, and the tall bluffs, with their green oaks interspersing the open pasturage, and here and there jutting rocks seeming to rival each other in attracting an admiring gaze, the Doc- tor, assisted by his sons, and a German named Christian Hottman, were on their way to survey some islands in the Wisconsin River. They had to pass near a bluff, called the Sugar Loaf, on account of its height and shape, which stands a mile or more below Coon Bluff, and is a con- tinuation of the same range of hills. On the top of the Sugar Loaf lies a rock about six feet high, and nearly n cube in its shape. No one travels the prairie below without fixing the eye frequently upon the apex of the Sugar Loaf. The attention of the party was called to a white spot surmounting the rock. On approaching nearer, it appeared about the height of a child ten or twelve years old. A white sheet was closely drawn around the slender form. The short. dark hair made an impressive contrast with the white robe and the pale face, and ever and anon there came a shrill cry, " father, father, father!" The party hastened around the bluff to as- cend it, and in doing so lost sight of the object. On reaching the summit, it had vanished. There were the footprints of a man on a sandy spot by the rock, but the party could make no further discovery. Nor did any one else in the neighborhood know of any child who could have been there at that time.

The Doctor the next day visited the cave, expecting to call at the hole for Sam, but instead of this he found himself as he had only once before, directly in the chamber. Sam was not there, but there was his Prairie du Chien friend. An explanation was soon made. He had been on a visit to some of his old friends in the vicinity, and had called upon Sam. He had found him the day before in great trouble of mind. When Sam went for water, he had as usual put the child

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

down into an apartment which was closed by a stone at its entrance. Upon taking up the stone and calling for the child on his return, he received no response. Supposing the child was sleep- ing on the bed he kept there for him, he went down himself. but could not find him. He searched all about, but could see no place where he could get out, unless he had raised the stone and come out that way, and that seemed an impossibility. He then searched about among the bluffs and ravines, and at last found him, with only his shirt and a sheet round him, on the top of the Sugar Loaf. He found out from the boy that he had discovered a place where he got out of his room, and by keeping on through a very long passage, he finally came out by a flight of steps on the top of the Sugar Loaf, the trap-door of which opened of itself when the child came to it, and, as he stepped out, slammed down again. Sam ran back here with the child as fast as he could, and tried to get him to show the place where he got out, but he said he could not persuade the child to tell him. " I think it likely he could not find it again. But Sam became so alarmed that he said he would risk it to take the child along and try to get to Canada. I got them on the railroad last night, and if they met with good luck they are on the lake now. He begged me to take these things out here that belonged to you, and leave them at the mouth of the cave, and then to call on you and thank you for your kindness to him."

" Did you," asked the Doctor, " did you speak to the boy ?"

" Ah! the boy had agreed that, if Sam would take him out of the cave, he would not speak to anybody until he gave him permission."

" Well ! well ! It is all a mystery," said the Doctor.

RECOVERY OF THE LOST CHILD.

Immediately after their arrival in Canada, Ben and Sue united in holy wedlock. Sue then obtained a situation as a house girl, while Ben was tempted with the offer of high wages to go on a voyage in a sailing vessel to Milwaukee. It was a singular coincidence that his vessel was lying in the river at Milwaukee at the same time that Sam was making his way there.

To prevent as much as possible the gaze of curiosity, and make detection the more difficult, Sam had taken the precaution to apply the juice of a plant he had found on Coon Bluff, to the face and hands of the child, so as to give the complexion a nearer approximation to his own color. The deeper tinge was the more necessary after so long a confinement in the cave. He had, indeed, frequently taken the child with him to the mouth of the cave and allowed some sun- shine and air, but it was not enough to keep up a tanned complexion, Indeed, Joe, when most under the influence of a Southern sun, was so white and beautiful a boy that no Northern man would have suspected he had any African blood.

Sam had observed soon after he got into the car, that a man passed his seat whom he rec- ognized as one of the company he had frequently seen in the cave. The man did not appear to notice him, and he took care afterward to prevent his being observed, by keeping his face in the shade and by sitting remote from the lamp. But Sam was mistaken ; he was, however, not ques- tioned during the journey. On arriving in Milwaukee, as the day was dawning, he inquired of the first colored man he met, where he could find a vessel going to Canada. The man very readily accompanied him in search of one. There was but one in the river, and that was not to leave until the next day. Sam engaged passage for himself in the steerage, and, having done so, got the child into a berth and sat down quietly on a bale of goods near by. The hands were very busy unloading the vessel. Among them was Ben, who, in a few moments, Sam saw and recognized.

" Why, Ben, dat you ? How you get yer ?"

Ben looked around for the speaker, and startled at his own recognition of Sam ; but, with his characteristic prudence, immediately recovered himself on observing a suspicious-looking white man leaning against a pile of goods, evidently watching Sam. Instead of replying to Sam, Ben pretended not to notice his question as directed to himself, and, lifting a bale of goods, imme- diately passed out of the vessel. He had on a working dress, and, as he had been handling some dirty articles of freight, he was by no means neat in his dress ; in a word, he answered just the

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

description of the advertisement, so far as his outward appearance indicated ; and, as Sam had called him by name, this was additional ground for supposition. The suspicious-looking white man was none other than a Deputy Marshal who had the authority of Mr. Belezer to apprehend him. He had been employed, by the man whom Sam had seen the night before, to look after Sam himself, while measures were being taken to bring him and the child before Judge Miller, of the United States District Court. Immediately calling for assistance to watch Sam, he himself awaited a favorable opportunity for seizing Ben. He saw his powerful frame, and he had learned the history of his escape. Taking out of his pocket a set of irons, and with two Deputies to aid him. he sprang suddenly upon Ben, while he was stooping to take up a bale of goods, and in a moment had him beyond the power of resistance. The movement was so expeditious, that. before the hands at work on the vessel had time to make inquiry as to the matter, Ben was hur- ried off directly to Judge Miller's residence, and the functionary, with his usual alacrity in such cases, granted a hearing at once, although he had not yet taken his breakfast.

In a hall-hour they were at the court house, prepared for the examination; and by that time were collected a crowd to witness the proceedings. Ben, as soon as he saw that he had no power of resistance, had determined to keep perfectly quiet, so, without saying a word, he had walked calmly and quietly with the officers, and was now sitting in the court house, manifesting not the least anxiety about his own case, but occasionally looking sternly at the Judge. The Deputy showed his authority for making the claim, and the Judge read the description of his person. It represented the fugitive as named Ben, and there was a witness to prove that he bad been saluted by that name, although he had entered himself on the vessel's books by another name. Ilis size, his slovenly appearance, his very black complexion, the loss of a front tooth, all corresponded with the paper. One more thing was alone wanted to complete the testimony. Ile was represented as having the distinctive speech, very marked, of a Carolina slave, and the advertisement went on to say that, as the slaves could not read or write for themselves, the prob- ability was, that, if they were found with free papers, they would be from the hand of some Abo- litionist.

The Judge then, more for the purpose of applying the test than to place Ben on his defense, said :

" Ben, have you anything to say why you should not be delivered up as the slave of Mr. Belezer ?"

But Ben, who was looking down at the time, did not seem to notice that the Judge was addressing him. The Judge repeated the question, but still no answer. Again the Judge said : "Ben, have you nothing to say ?""

This time Ben looked up, but, instead of answering, he cast his eyes about, as though he were looking to see to whom the Judge was speaking. A gentleman leaned forward and told him he had better answer the Judge.

" Was your Honor speaking to me? I thought you were addressing some one named Ben." The Judge looked perplexed; the Deputies looked at one another.

" Ilas the prisoner anything to say in his own behalf?" asked the Judge of a lawyer who had stepped up to Ben at that moment to offer his services.

" lle says, sir," said the lawyer, " that if your Honor will have his irons taken off, be will speak for himself, and I, sir, will be his security, if your Honor pleases, that he shall not escape before the examination closes."

" 'l'ake off' the irons," ordered the Judge.

The irons were taken off. Ben rose and made a polite bow to the lawyer who had befriended him, and again sat down.

" Will the defendant say what he calls himself, since he is unwilling to answer to the name of Ben ?" said the Judge.

" I will write it, may it please your Honor." And Ben, reaching to the table, wrote on a sheet the name James Ward, in a clear, bold hand, and, handing it to the Judge, returned to his place.

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

" May it please your Honor," said Ben, " I shall occupy a very short time in my own defense. It is hard, very hard, that in a country boasting itself to be the land of the free and home of the brave, a man without crime may at any time, by the laws of a far-off State, be seized, ironed, lmurried through an ex parte form of trial, and rushed, as fast as steam can lend velocity to cupidity, to the cotton and rice plantations of the South. What defense can I make, sir ; nay, what defense could your honored self make, against one who may claim you, even white as you are, under the Fugitive Slave Act ? Had the man who sought to recover his slave simply limited himself within the requisitions of that act, which your courts, in violation of all true and correct principles, from Cicero to Blackstone, have been pleased to recognize as law, he would, sir, have indited his affidavit and advertisement in terms so general that, ere this moment, your IIonor may have handed me over, a shackled victim of official insolence, to be, not a slave on a Carolina plantation, for that I should never submit to, but tempted to shed human blood to secure my liberty."

At this point, the crowd could no longer be restrained, and the court house shook with the uproarious applause of the then gathered multitude. The noise having subsided, the Judge, with unusual blandness of manner, said :

"Mr. Ward, it is quite unnecessary to proceed; there has evidently been a mistake, and the agent of the claimant may withdraw his application, for I certainly cannot grant it in this case."

Here the United States District Attorney sprang up and asked, " Is your Honor prepared to attend to the other case ? "

" Yes," said the Judge, " I may as well now."

While Ben's case had been proceeding, Sam and his charge had been brought in, in this case without the irons, and had been seated opposite to Ben and where he could see them distinctly. Addressing himself to the lawyer who had volunteered his services in his own case, he asked him whether he was an Abolitionist or not. On being answered in the affirmative, he whispered him to get for him from the vessel his coat that was in his berth, and to bring it carefully, as there was something in the pocket which he might need. He did not wish to leave now, as one of his downtrodden class was to be placed upon trial. The lawyer soon returned with the coat, and, it being a very good one, it gave Ben quite a changed appearance for the better.

The examination proceeded, and, when the description of Joe was given, Ben, for the first time, noticed the child with Sam. The description in this case was not so specific as in the other, and the parties came fully within the letter of the advertisement and affidavit. Sam, from policy, that he might have a claim upon his master to fulfill his promise, determined, as soon as he was taken, to make no effort at defense. And so frightened was the child that noth- ing could be got by any one from that quarter.

Although it had been only a little more than two years since the separation in South Car- olina, Ben's speech was so different that it was not recognized by the child, whose eyes were fixed all the time upon the floor.

The case had proceeded to that point when, if any defense was to be set up, it was now high time that it should be offered. The same lawyer as in the other case stepped over to Sam and asked him if he should defend him. IIe shook his head. The Judge then said :

" Mr. Black, I do not see that I have now anything else to do than to grant your certifi- cate as the agent of Mr. Smith. This man does not attempt to deny the claim ; and, although on account of that poor little boy, whose interesting countenance touches my sympathy, I could wish he were free, yet the law is plain, and I must do my duty."

Here Ben, who had been gazing fixedly upon the child for some time, rose from his seat, and, addressing the Judge, said :

" Would it be proper for me to testify in this case, sir ? For, may it please your IIonor, I can demonstrate to your satisfaction that what I say is true."

" It is a little out of order," said the Judge, " but, if there be any good reason why I should not grant the certificate, I wish to know it. This little boy is nearly white; to dis- courage kidnaping white children, I will give him all the chance the occasion allows."

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

" If your Honor please, in order to establish firmly what I testify to, I will recall your mind to the fact that I said too much specification, in my case, defeated the purpose of the claimant. Strangely enough, your Honor is equally deceived in this case. What is the name of the child ? It is said in the paper to be Joseph or Joe. For your own satisfaction, inquire for yourself of the child."

The Judge here put the question :

" Little boy, will you tell me what your name is?" But the child kept gazing on the floor without reply, either from fear or from the promise to Sam.

" Well, may it please your Honor, I will give the name," said Ben. Sam looked at him attentively, but without exhibiting any strong emotion. " The name I give is Wizena Belezer.'

The child looked up, screamed, sprang from her seat and clung around him, saying, " Oh, Ben, Ben ! Where's father ? Where's my mother ? Are they dead ? Ben, are they dead ?" The whole assembly, including even Judge Miller, wept over the scene.

" This is the child," said Ben, " the only daughter of him who has claimed me as his slave. She was supposed to be dead; how she came into this position, I know not." He then raised Wizena in his arms, and said : " Your father and mother are living in Carolina."

As he attempted to put her down on the platform by the Judge, " Oh, Ben, Ben! Don't leave me, for pity's sake, don't leave me," she pleaded.

" You are in safe hands," said Ben, as he succeeded in extricating himself from her. Then, drawing his revolver out of his pocket, he exclaimed : "The man who attempts to stop me, does it at his own peril." Walking by Sam, he touched him on his shoulder and said, " Follow me." No one attempted to stop them, for all were either taken up with Wizena, or stupefied with amazement. They reached Canada by the underground railroad in safety.

The agent for Smith had pushed out at the moment that Ben uttered the name of Wizena.

After succeeding in pacifying the child, she told her story in a simple way. She had been seized by a man near the river, whom she knew to be Mr. Smith. He had with him little Joe. He took out of Joe's bundle a suit of clothing, and made her wear them. A man that was with him, took Joe and carried him to a skiff down the river, while Smith, after cutting her hair short, took her to the eave near Arena. As the reader knows the rest of the history better than Wizena did, it is unnecessary to tell all that she had to say.

Measures were immediately taken to restore her to her parents, and great was the joy when they clasped her in their arms.

Mr. Belezer not only immediately sent free papers to Ben and his wife, in token of their appreciation of his noble conduct, but again returned to the North to reside, and this time brought with him all his slaves, and emancipated them.

Coon Bluff Cave has been entirely deserted ever since, and Smith has not yet been heard of. It was ascertained, some time after these events, that the Indians had simply exchanged with some man, a saddle of venison for Wizena's dress, which they then gave to a little squaw, about the same size. When they were attacked at the ferry, they were bringing the wounded man to the Doctor at Arena. This man had formed an attachment for an Indian squaw, and it was about her he spoke on the night of Mr. Belezer's disaster in the marsh.

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History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 69

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 958

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 958