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Manners Of The Slavocracy--Women-whippers

Manners Of The Slavocracy--Women-whippers image
Parent Issue
Day
25
Month
July
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Do not misunderstand the capiion of this artícle. Wó aro presenting illustrations of the nanners of slaveholdera, and we intend now lo ehow that the chival ons ladies of the South, in many instances, are not inferior to the sterncr sex in the art of wielding the cowskinj and thc ]addlo. We shall begin with & few instances tiientioned in Weld's work. Angelina Grimlce, daughter of Judge G'rimlte, of S. C., says: "Soutbern niistrnsses sometimes flog their slavcs, themsdrcs. though gencraily s compelled to flog ano'.hcr. While etaying ata friend's house, somc years ago.I one day saw the mistress with a cowliide in her hand, Bcolding in an tindet tone her waiiing man, wlio was about 25 yeara oíd. Vliether she actuaüy ínflicted the blows. I do not fenow, fur I hnsienght and hearing. It was not thefirst time that I had sccn a mistress thus cngaged." Mr. John Vanee, a member of the Baptist Church, in St. Albans, Ohio, says: ;In 1826, I saw a woinnn by the name of Mallix, flog her fefilnve witH a horsewhip so horribly that sb-e was washed in salt and waler several days, to Jceep her bruises Jrommortifying." The Louisville Reporter of January 15, 1Ö39. contain8 a report of a trial for inhuman treatment of a female slave. "Dr. Constant tcstified, that he eaw Mrs. Maxwell at he kitchen door, whipping the negro severely. wiihout being particular whether she struck her in the face or not. The negro waa lacerated by thc whip, and thc blood löasjlowing."A gentleman of Quincy, HL, formerly a resident of Missouri, whose charactcr is vouched for by Rev. C. S. Renshaw, and Judge Saow, of Quincy, saya: "One Mrs. Maun, living near - in - co. Missouri, was knuwn 10 bevery cruel to her Blaves. She had a bcnch made purpoaely to whip them on; ofid what6he called her 'six pound paddie' art instrument of prodigious torture, bored through with holes; thisshe would toield with both hands as she stood over her prostratc victim. ;Sho thus punÍ6hed a 'lire slave woman namcd Fanny, belonging to Mr. Charles Trabue, who Iives near Palmyra. Marión Co., Missouri; on the morning after the punishment, Mary waa a cu rpse; 6he was eilently and quickly buried, but rnmor was not so easily atopped. Mr. Trabue Iieard of it, and commenced suit for bis property. 'The murdered elave was disinterred, and an inquest held; her back was a masa of jellied niUEcieS; and the coronar brought in a verdict of death by the 'eix pound paddle.' Mrs. Mann fled fora few monthe, but returned again, and ber frienda found means to protract the suit."Dr. David Ñelsoa, late president of Mr.rion College, Missoori, relates the following faet. which occurred where he was a family phjsician. ':I was one day dressing a blistcr, and the mistress of the house sent a little black girl ihto the kitchen to bring me some warm water. She probably mistook the message; for she returned with a bowl oïboiling water; which her mistress fio sooner perceived, than 6he thrust her hand into it, and held it there till it was half cooked." ?■ Judge Turner of Lexington, Ky . finding it isipossible to to live wiih his wife, on account of her ugliness, sent her to the lunatic asylum. Her friends interfered. and in conversntion in an office in Lexington on the subject, in the presence of John Clarke, hesaid, 'That woman has been the immediate cause of the death of sn of my jrvanls by her skvkrities.' Rev. Coleman S. Hodgea of Western Virginia, soys: "I h&vefreqvently seen the m'streis of a family in Virginia, with whom I Was well acquainted, beat the woman who performed the kitchen woik with a stick two feet and a hnif long, ond nearly as thick asmy wrist; striking her over the head, and across the small of the back, with as much spite asyou would a snakc, and for vvhat I ehould con3der no oflence at all." Should any doubt the correctness of these statements, wc will refer them to deeds of stil! greatei" atrocity perpetrated in New Orleans by a Madame La Laurie, as narrated by the papers of that city in It34, No one will coatend that the New Orleans papers are disposed to fabrícate 'abolilion lies!' The Bee says: "Upon entering one of the apartments, the most appallingspectacle met thcir cyes. Seven slaves, more or less horribly mutllnted, were oeen suspended by the neck. with their limbs apparcntly stretched and torn, from one extremity to the other. They had been conrined for severa! monthsin theeituaiion from which 'hey had thus proVidentially been resued; and had been merely kept in existenee to prolong their suiTerings, and to make themtaste all that a most refineJ cruelty could infíict." The New Orleans Mercantile Advertiser says: 'A negro woman was fouftd chained, coveied %vith bruises and wounds from severe flogging. AU the apartments were then forced open. In a loom on the ground floor, two moro were found chained.and in a dcplorabla condition. Up stairs and m the garrct, four more were found chained: some so weak as to be unablc to walk, and all covcred with wounds and ores. One mulatto boy declares himself to have been chained for five months, bemg fed daily wjth only a handíul of meal, and receiying every morning the most cruol treatment.'' The New Orleans Courier eaysi ';We saw one oí these miserable beings. He hasalarge hole in his head- lus body. from head to ioot, was covcred with scars and filled wi;h worms." Tho New Orleans Mercantile Advertiser says: 'Seven poor unfortunate slaves were found ome chained to the floor, other with chains round their necks, fastened to the ceiling: and ne poor oíd man, upwards of sixty years of agc, cliamed hand and foo, ond made faat to the floor, in a kneeling position. His head bore the appearanceof having been eaten until it wasbroken. and the worms were actually to be seen making ieaet of hie brainalj A woman had her back!Oli7CIOÜKeri(ifthe ePrion may be uscd) u i the lofh; i e very bcnzs might bl sccn projectmg iirovgn (tic skin! " Eleazer Powcü Jr., a masón, while workjng ot his tra.io m Jefferson co., Missiesippi, was knowing to thj followinS transact.oii at the house ofa tavern keeper named James Truiy. "He had a s!ave named Lucy? who occupied tho8tati.)n of chamber maid and tnble waiter. Ono day. j.ist after dinner, lis. Truiy took Lucy and bound her orm! round a pine sappling behind the house, and commcncei! fiogging her wiih with a riding whip, and when tired would take the chtiir nnd rest. She continued thus, alternately flogging and resting, for at least an hour and a half. I af terwards learned from the bar-keepcr, and otïlers, that the woman'e oflence was-that she had boirght iwo caniles to set on the table the evenmgb'efore. not knowing thers wcre eome yet in tbebox." 'Pliilcuion Blfss, of Elyiia. Ohio, n dcscribing the instrumcn-s of punishment. snys: "The ladies Cl !) n chastising tjjeir domestic servante generally use the I have known some us e the shovel and tongs." Rey. Gcorge Bourne, late editor of the Protestant Vindicator, says: "Mr Pcnce, af Rockinham couniy, Virginia, used to boasi,- r am the best hand to whip a wcn:h in the whole co untry.' Slie usod to ptpioa the girls to a post in the yard on the Lord's day morning, scourge them, put on the 'nejro píusUr,' salf, pepper and vinegar. leave them them tied, nnd walk away to chiuch isdemiire as a nuö, and after service repeat her flxyin?, if Lhe feit the wfcim. J once expostulattd with her uppn lier cruelty. 'Mrs. Penee, how can you whip your ris so publicly, and disturb your neichbors so on the Lord's day morning?' Her answer was' memorable. lf I were to whip them on ny other dav, I should lose o day's work; but by wbipping them on Sunday, thsir backs gtt wcll méugh by Monday mürni"g.' That woman, ifalive, is doubtless a member of the eburebj now as then."Herc wo will slay our quotations for the present, and make one or two remarfca Throughout the world, women are kinder and more compassionato than men. Ledyord, the Amej icao travellen dcclsrca, ihat nrnong all the uvage tribes he ever visited, whiltí ''e sufiêred many abuses from the men, he never yet asked a femalo for a drink of water even, without obtaining it if it was in her power. How is it, then, that women become thus changed in their naturef It is by the possession of arbitrar? power, and by being placed in c.rcumstances where their feelings impel them lo use it. Take the case of a widow, whose hasband dies; leaving her fifty slnves to manage. Those slaves are indisposed to xvork, but work they must. To makc them work, means must be used. It wül not do to pay wages to slaves, and the whip ia the only atimulus to labor that can be applied, and fhat must be applied enough to itceomplbh the end soüght, be the amount in.flicted much orlittle. Henee, while slavery exista, tiagging vin be indispensable. Thus even a consdientioua lady miglu (hink she was only performing a Christian dufy, while che ordered the lashes inflicted, or wielded the cowskin hereelf. We do not say she would not give full scope to her anger or other feelings; she probnbly wouldbut we contend it would be wrong to infer from flogginge of thia kind that the ladi?a of Charleston or New Orleans are naturally more hard hearted or unfeeling than thoseof Ann Arbor or Detroit. Human nature is the same every where -and in te same circumstances there can be no doubt that the ladies of Michigan would seize the cowhide or the paddie with as much avidity as those of the South. Leat this aceusation should be ihought too hard, we shall lengthen thisarticle by a quotation from Charles Stuart. of England, in which some cases are mentioned ihat are right to the purpose. "A young lady, the dauehter of a Jamaica planter, was sent at an early age to school in tngland, and after complcting her education. returned to her native country. é ",?he. '8 mw sellled witi lier husbanrl nn'l tamily in England. I visited her nenr Bath. early last spring. (1834.) Conversing on ihe above subjset, the paralvzwg eflbcis of slaveholdng on the heart, she eai'J:. 'While at school in England, loften thoiight with peculiar tendernos of the kindncss of;, slave who had nursed and carried me about. Uponreturniug to my faiher'e, onc ofrnv iirstincuiines was about hiin. I was deeply afflicted to find ihat he was on the point of undergoi.:g a "law flogging for having run away." I threw myseli at my father's feet and impiorcd wiih teare, his pardon; biu my father steadily replied, that i' would ruin the discipline of the pWtation. and that the pnnishment must take plnce. I wept in vain. and retired eo grieved and disgustcd, thai tor some diys after, I could scarcolv b(ar with patience. the sight of my own fiuher.' Bat manv months had not elapsed ere I was as rcady as any bodij tó seize the domestic whip. and ños. mv slares wilhiut hcïiwiin.' ' J ''This lady ia one of the most Chrisiian and noble minds ofmy acqunintance. She and her liusbnnd disnnguiahed themselves several yenrs sgo;, in Jamaica, by imrnediaicly enancipatin their slaves." e"A lady, now in the West ïndies. wns sent in ter infancy, to her friends, nenr Belfnst. in Lc land, for education. Shc remained under 'their charge frorn five to fifteen ycars of age. and grew "P !%'ery ing which her friends conld wislr- At fifieen. 6he returncd to the West Indies- was man.ed- and after some years pniJ her friends neai Uelfast. a second visit.' Townrda white people. she was the same elegant, and merestihg womnn as before: apparently full of every virluous and tender feeling; but tow-rds the colored peopla sne was lüce a tigresa If Wilerforce's name was mentioned, she would sny 'Oh I wish we had the wretch in the West Indies ' I would be one of the first to help to tear his heart out! -and ihen she would tel! of the manner in which the West Indian Lidies used to treat their slnres. 'I have oden.' she said, 'when mv women have displeased me. snntched their bahv from their bosorn, and running with it to a ive'.í have tied my shawl round its shonldrs and pretended tobcdrovvning il; oh. it wis so funny to nenr _ the mother's screamsü' - and then she laugliedalmostconvulsively at the recollection. "

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Subjects
Old News
Signal of Liberty