Still, William, Underground Rail Road:
A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, Etc.

Porter & Coales, Publishers, Philadelphia, PA, 1872
Call Number: 1400, MSA L1117

MSA L1117, Image No: 481   Enlarge and print image (48K)

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Still, William, Underground Rail Road:
A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, Etc.

Porter & Coales, Publishers, Philadelphia, PA, 1872
Call Number: 1400, MSA L1117

MSA L1117, Image No: 481   Enlarge and print image (48K)

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456 THE UNDERGROUND RAIL ROAD. coachman, was kept on the ooach box one c&Id night when they were out at a ball until he became almost frozen to death, in fact he did die in the infirmary from the effects of the frost about one week afterwards." Another case was that of a slave woman in a very delicate state, who was one day knocked down stairs by Mrs. Johnson herself, and in a few weeks after, the poor woman died from the effects of the injury thus received. The doctor who attended the injured creature in this case was simply told that she slipped and fell down stairs as she was coming down. Colored •witnesses had no right to testify, and the doctor was mute, consequently the guilty escaped wholly unpunished." " Another case," said John Weslcy, " was a little girl, half-grown, who was washing windows up stairs one day, and unluckily fell asleep in the window, and in this position was found by her mistress ; in a rage the mistress hit her a heavy slap, knocked her out of the window, and she fell to the pavement, awl died in ;i few hours from the effects thereof. The mistress professed to know nothing about it, simply said, 'she went to sleep and fell out herself.' As u:?ual nothing was doue in the way of punishment." These were specimens of the inner workings of the peculiar institution. John, however, had not only observed Slavery from a domestic stand-point, he had also watched master and mistress abroad as visitors arid guests in other people's houses, noticed not only how they treated white jH'ople, but also how they treated black people. " These Johnsons thought that they were first-rate to (heir servants. When visiting among their friends they were usually very polite, would bow and scrape more than a little, even to colored people, knowing that their names were in I>;H] odor, on account of their cruelty, for they had been in the papers twice about how they abused their colored people." As to advertising him, John gave it as his opinion that they would be ashamed to do it from the fact that they had already rendered themselves more notorious than they had bargained for, on account of their cruelty towards their slaves; they were wealthy, and courted the good opinion of society. Besides they were members of the Presbyterian Church, and John thought that they were very willing that people should believe that they were great saints. On the score of feeding and clothing John gave them credit, saying that " the clothing was good enough, they liked to sec the house servants dressed;" he spoke too of the eating as being all right, but added, that " very often time was not allowed them to finish their meals." Respecting work, John bore witness that they were very sharp. With John's intelligence, large observation, good memory, and excellent natural abilities, with the amount of detail that he possessed, nothing more •would have been needed for a thrilling book than the facts and iucidents of slave life, as he had been conversant with it under the Johnsons in Maryland.