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Antislavery: The Man-market At Washington

Antislavery: The Man-market At Washington image
Parent Issue
Day
23
Month
February
Year
1846
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The following, from the A.'bany Patriot, is i cnough to mclt a heart of stone; vet t is but t' one of the thousand similar coses constantly ií oceurring in this freo land. How long shall i' thepiracy that allows such deeds be tolerafed, g under the name of luw, nt the nntion's o tol? "( Wafuinoton, Dec. SO, 1845. a Charles A. Wheaton. Efq SyraciiEe: R D car F i end - Your letter of inquiry about a the case of Sarah Carter, to your brother, Mr. Ilorace Wheaton, M. C, was put into my t bands by him. I 6uppuse it as referred to i me, becanse it seemed appropriate to come c. within tho scope of business assigned to the t bercau of hvmanity. l have ihought it proper, tíiérefore, to submit a brief report c ïy throygh you to our mutual constituents c mul associates. Í hope the ofil'ring will ot. t be wholly destitulo of interest or praclicbl i valuó. f Thomas Monroc formcrly carne from An i 5ia.polip, Md., to this city, and was City s Tfiasler, probably, through the Admistration of c Mr. Monroe, and that of Mr. Adams. Upo t the accession of Gen. Jackson and ma fiiends c to power, he was displaced. lie is now an } ol) man- weulthy- of the higher aristocratie i clat-s, oud a member of St. John's Church, which is wilhin rifleshot of ihe bronzcsiatne óf Jefferson, stnnding n front of the j deni's house. Mnny years ago he botight a noman nnd her two voung dauglitèrs from f Princo George's County, .Md., whcre thcy i were raised by Bishop Meade! The motKer has now been dead f ome years. One of ttie t children, by ihc name of Sarah, grew to tnrity and been me tlie cook and maid of all tvork in Mr. Monroe's family. She hndlwo ( daughters by some connection, in respect to '.vliich I have reccivrd no dtfinite informalion. One of tliese duughtere, a few years ogo tunntely made her escape from l:ero, and now resides in your villoge, as I am inlormed. - The olher is still here, a sláve, the property of a Mr. Wulsh. The weck that Com. Decalur was killed bv Coïu. Uarron in a duel, which I find to be 2Eil March, 1820, a man, by the name pf Lnke Carter, who had bbtained 1íb freedom, went to live wkh Mr. Monroe, ns his corichmnn. - Sub?cqnently he beenme Ihe husband of Sarah, who has been before referred to. He has continued to serve Mr. Men roe on wages from that time up to Jnst October- twentyfive years and a half- without reprouch or complaint. The Curlers have raied five children, who served the old matter's fomily as they became old enough. Mr. Monroe, formany years pust, ha6 rented ihem a small lenement at the corner of his yard, for which Carter paid him two dollars a montb rcgulnrfy. Oeductcd from his wages, which were tweho. Tho children have all been provided for by the father and the extra exenion of the tnolher.- Mr. Monroe has never paid a dollar for t hem in any'way.hns never provided fbod or clothc?. Carter's wages have al! been consumcd m bringing up his family. ïn thétnéan'lhne, the eldest dtiiighior of ihis fomily had réarcd Beven children of her own. Those two farmlies, as you perecive, consisted of Samh Carter, and ftve children- her eldest düiigliter, Mary, also having seven cbildren- in all thirteen. Some day jn Octobef last,Mr. Monroe, without a previous hint to tbem, or any ulleged reason, sold these families to Williams, the broker in humanity in this city. 13y the way, Monroe owns the Pen, as it is called, ond rents it to Williams, on a lease of live years at a time. Immeaiately WiUiams run them off to Richmond. Poor Carter had riot an opporlunity to say farvvell, or shed a fath er'a and husband's tcar over them at pnrting. In adayortwo, however - as soon as he could recover a liitlc from the stunni'ig effeets of the calamity, by wbich he had been so euddenly etricken down, he followed them to Richmond, He fouml them, and learned they had ben sold on the bloclc to a trader from Nashville, and werc deslined to the Georgia market in the first instancc. He appliedo Wiláon, the trader, to know on what terms he would Bcirhis family to him. He consented to take83,6.r)0 for them, and gave Carter a memorandum to that effect, but after■ward, by a trick, got it away from him. Carter, half beside himself, uncertain what lo do, came back ogain, and for a few daya tried to reBign himself, as best he could, to his overwhelniing cup of sorrow. He could not eat- sleep flodfrom his eyes- after consulting with his friendsijmd obtaining some articles of necessity and comfort to -carry to his family, he slarted back,' and found them near Richmond, at a little place called Manchester.-Ie applicd ngni lo purchnse thein, and was I old by Wildon tlmt o man in Richmontl votild buy them all, and Oiey could üvo there ogellicr. The partner of Wiltjon went wjth , Marter and lus wif'e, under the prclence of ( inding the purchaser. Cunningly he got hem separated, and lockct! Sarah up in onc f f the jails. The husband finding liis wife f jcked up, and enspectiug tome trick, immss nlely relurned 10 hischildren,whom he found j rought out of the jail and ready to sturt for r eorgia. Thoy were expecting their moiher s -amidst shrieks and teare wliich brol;o his n eart, the poorfatiier was cctnpelled lo tour v mseif away from childrcn, and sol Iiis eycs pon them for tlie last time. i, Hosoon füiind that Wils-on swoppcd ofr" his '' ife to one Bolt?, who is the Postmastcr nt s fanchester. Tlicy had been slnrted oiTin tiu e lorning in pursuit of a purchaser, for the !■ irpose of gelting" Saruh nway from her chils en. Botts con.sentcd to tnke two hundred p ld fifty dollars for liis wil e, and a Mis. n aleh of this city, whóie nisband is absent c i Soiilh America, ndvanced tho monry - king a bilí of sale of Sarah - on conoition il , ïould bc repaid in March. n Sarah Carter is a woman of good character, id one of nncommon smartness in her condill an. She hopea, wilh a mother's bêart, yet n rcdeem her childrcn from bondage! She t wiüincf to worlc night ond 'ilay to nccomplish p , lier acre is about fifW-twri - iias a líale, a( t( iod coustitution. Luko Carter is a man Q ' about ïeventy years of age - liis character r integrity and upiihlncsá is uni:npeac!i)lc - ])s undertundiiig is nncomonly strong ulclearfor one of his advanlnges - he made profession of rellgich in the Methodist chnrch . litlle before ihe burning of the cnpitol and ie frkirmish with the British at Bladensburg. i August. 181-1, nnc' has mointaiued it withït one tnint or reprooch to thls time - more ittn thirty ene years. Thcrc ere elevon jaüs in Riclimond, the ïpital of Viiginio, which are consten! lv rowded with victiins. The railroad train t ever arrivés without a freight of mitery. A ( iy never passes, without soles in the street, t om the aueiion stands. The Sabbat h is v jeday of greatest activity in the traffic. The , :renms ond wailing of sundered fainüev-, !he. f rack of the driver's whip, an.l the echoes of i ie auctioner's infernal voice, are perpetnally ommino-led in terrific dim. I have no eal to ninke in behalf of Sarah Carter. The tle is to!d, ond cannot fuil to be understood. a 'hose wliote'jearis prompt thcni to give for N er relief, can enlrust iheir benefacti#ms to i ou.orsend them dircclly lo me, and they t ill be füi'.hfully applied, Without donations r nm the North she will still be a miseiable lave. ! 1 have thus sfated this case at lengt h - too r ïiniiiciy, peibapy, it will be thonght - nol be t ause there is in it any hardship or infl ction ïore anallin;,' tlian is to be met wilh every ay and in every instanco of human "brokerge. IIy objpcjt in doing it is tvvo-fold. We re apt to regard the cruchies and atrocily o!' Ihiveiv asa great, abstract whole, and ( jrj they fuil to make tlie inípréssión upon ur sensibilities, which wotild impel us to ( ermmed uclion. Ilere are the features of t sino le case, in no tony peculinr, but t illy and iiievitably arising out of the relation f Mas' er and Sinve. 1 regard it, too, of oreat j onsecjucnee to bring every act of this sort, ( iell defiued, to the public attcntioii, wilh Kimc?, places and date?. In this way we iave ar'vèh the infamóos trade to a greal ixfenl frem this Dit-trici, and must nöw folowit np; and attack it in the ciipital of the Ü!d Dominion,' vuw (s rlrongliobJ . 1 have io comments to make. I had intended to ittV sonie pretly plain talk obout 6tiipid ond Iniilling ministers andchurches at the North. md ulso about liard-harted, felfUh poluicians, md uiithinkintr citizons, by whose consent and :o-operalion ihe slaves are made such, but I oave to you and the others to draw snch nferences as this case will juslify. I have ust returneJ from nn iniervievv with ihia outdgèd and BurTerïrig family, and .1111 fiiled wilh noxpres.sible grief and ehome! Yon hnve long been, my friend, one of the ew unshrinlung advocates of the crushed lave, lt has cot yon timo, moncy, cuslc and vopulurit y ; but 1 do not beiievc you will ïver regiet, arjy efforts pui fonh in ihis cause. ff there is anything SA'eet and blessed iii the lomrstic relations- if Chrisl's gospel is not a i drenm - if tho idea of eternal rëwarda is not i delusion, lam fiuc you will rejoice most of ill in this part of your hislory.