32 chapters
5 hour read
Selected Chapters
32 chapters
My Southern Home: OR, THE SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE. BY WM. WELLS BROWN, M.D. AUTHOR OF “SKETCHES OF PLACES AND PEOPLE ABROAD,” “CLOTELLE,” “THE BLACK MAN,” “THE NEGRO IN THE REBELLION,” “THE RISING SON,” ETC. — “Go, little book, from this thy solitude! I cast thee on the waters—go thy ways! And if, as I believe, thy vein be good, The world will find thee after many days.”—Southey. — BOSTON: A. G. BROWN & CO., PUBLISHERS, 28 East Canton Street. 1880.
My Southern Home: OR, THE SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE. BY WM. WELLS BROWN, M.D. AUTHOR OF “SKETCHES OF PLACES AND PEOPLE ABROAD,” “CLOTELLE,” “THE BLACK MAN,” “THE NEGRO IN THE REBELLION,” “THE RISING SON,” ETC. — “Go, little book, from this thy solitude! I cast thee on the waters—go thy ways! And if, as I believe, thy vein be good, The world will find thee after many days.”—Southey. — BOSTON: A. G. BROWN & CO., PUBLISHERS, 28 East Canton Street. 1880.
Copyright, 1880, BY ANNIE G. BROWN. electrotyped and printed by Duffy, Cashman & Co., Fayette Court, Boston....
40 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
No attempt has been made to create heroes or heroines, or to appeal to the imagination or the heart. The earlier incidents were written out from the author’s recollections. The later sketches here given, are the results of recent visits to the South, where the incidents were jotted down at the time of their occurrence, or as they fell from the lips of the narrators, and in their own unadorned dialect. Boston , May, 1880....
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
Ten miles north of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, forty years ago, on a pleasant plain, sloping off toward a murmuring stream, stood a large frame-house, two stories high; in front was a beautiful lake, and, in the rear, an old orchard filled with apple, peach, pear, and plum trees, with boughs untrimmed, all bearing indifferent fruit. The mansion was surrounded with piazzas, covered with grape-vines, clematis, and passion flowers; the Pride of China mixed its oriental-looking
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
I have already said that Dr. Gaines was a man of deep religious feeling, and this interest was not confined to the whites, for he felt that it was the Christian duty to help to save all mankind, white and black. He would often say, “I regard our negroes as given to us by an All Wise Providence, for their especial benefit, and we should impart to them Christian civilization.” And to this end, he labored most faithfully. No matter how driving the work on the plantation, whether seed-time or harves
19 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
Dr. Gaines’ practice being confined to the planters and their negroes, in the neighborhood of “Poplar Farm,” caused his income to be very limited from that source, and consequently he looked more to the products of his plantation for support. True, the new store at the Corners, together with McWilliams’ Tannery and Simpson’s Distillery, promised an increase of population, and, therefore, more work for the physician. This was demonstrated very clearly by the Doctor’s coming in one morning somewha
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
During the palmy days of the South, forty years ago, if there was one class more thoroughly despised than another, by the high-born, well-educated Southerner, it was the slave-trader who made his money by dealing in human cattle. A large number of the slave-traders were men of the North or free States, generally from the lower order, who, getting a little money by their own hard toil, invested it in slaves purchased in Virginia, Maryland, or Kentucky, and sold them in the cotton, sugar, or rice-
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
Dr. Gaines and wife having spent the heated season at the North, travelling for pleasure and seeking information upon the mode of agriculture practised in the free States, returned home filled with new ideas which they were anxious to put into immediate execution, and, therefore, a radical change was at once commenced. Two of the most interesting changes proposed, were the introduction of a plow, which was to take the place of the heavy, unwieldy one then in use, and a washing-machine, instead o
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
Profitable and interesting amusements were always needed at the Corners, the nearest place to the “Poplar Farm.” At the tavern, post-office, and the store, all the neighborhood assembled to read the news, compare notes, and to talk politics. Shows seldom ventured to stop there, for want of sufficient patronage. Once in three months, however, they had a “Gander Snatching,” which never failed to draw together large numbers of ladies as well as gentlemen, the elite , as well as the common. The gett
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
Forty years ago, in the Southern States, superstition held an exalted place with all classes, but more especially with the blacks and uneducated, or poor, whites. This was shown more clearly in their belief in witchcraft in general, and the devil in particular. To both of these classes, the devil was a real being, sporting a club-foot, horns, tail, and a hump on his back. The influence of the devil was far greater than that of the Lord. If one of these votaries had stolen a pig, and the fear of
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
Cruelty to negroes was not practised in our section. It is true there were some exceptional cases, and some individuals did not take the care of their servants at all times, that economy seemed to demand. Yet a certain degree of punishment was actually needed to insure respect to the master, and good government to the slave population. If a servant disobeyed orders, it was necessary that he should be flogged, to deter others from following the bad example. If a servant ran away, he must be caugh
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
While the “peculiar institution” was a great injury to both master and slaves, yet there was considerable truth in the oft-repeated saying that the slave “was happy.” It was indeed, a low kind of happiness, existing only where masters were disposed to treat their servants kindly, and where the proverbial light-heartedness of the latter prevailed. History shows that of all races, the African was best adapted to be the “hewers of wood, and drawers of water.” Sympathetic in his nature, thoughtless
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
A young and beautiful lady, closely veiled and attired in black, arrived one morning at “Poplar Farm,” and was shown immediately into a room in the eastern wing, where she remained, attended only by old Nancy. That the lady belonged to the better class was evident from her dress, refined manners, and the inviolable secrecy of her stay at the residence of Dr. Gaines. At last the lady gave birth to a child, which was placed under the care of Isabella, a quadroon servant, who had recently lost a ba
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
The invention of the Whitney cotton gin, nearly fifty years ago, created a wonderful rise in the price of slaves in the cotton States. The value of able-bodied men, fit for field-hands, advanced from five hundred to twelve hundred dollars, in the short space of five years. In 1850, a prime field-hand was worth two thousand dollars. The price of women rose in proportion; they being valued at about three hundred dollars less each than the men. This change in the price of slaves caused a lucrative
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
Throughout the Southern States, there are still to be found remnants of the old time Africans, who were stolen from their native land and sold in the Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans markets, in defiance of all law. The last-named city, however, and its vicinity, had a larger portion of these people than any other section. New Orleans was their centre, and where their meetings were not uninteresting. Congo Square takes its name, as is well known, from the Congo negroes who used to perform their
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
Forty years ago, the escapes of slaves from the South, although numerous, were nevertheless difficult, owing to the large rewards offered for their apprehension, and the easy mode of extradition from the Northern States. Little or no difficulty was experienced in capturing and returning a slave from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, or Pennsylvania, the four States through which the fugitives had to pass in their flight to Canada. The Quaker element in all of the above States showed itself in the furnish
22 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
In the year 1850, there were fifty thousand free colored people in the slave States, the greater number residing in Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. In all the States these people were allowed but few privileges not given to the slaves; and in many their condition was thought to be even worse than that of the bondmen. Laws, the most odious, commonly known as the “Black Code,” were enacted and enforced in every State. These provided for the punishment of the free colo
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
The success of the slave-holders in controlling the affairs of the National Government for a long series of years, furnishing a large majority of the Presidents, Speakers of the House of Representatives, Foreign Ministers, and moulding the entire policy of the nation in favor of slave-holding, and the admitted fact that none could secure an office in the national Government who were known to be opposed to the peculiar institution, made the Southerners feel themselves superior to the people of th
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
The night was dark, the rain descended in torrents from the black and overhanging clouds, and the thunder, accompanied with vivid flashes of lightning, resounded fearfully, as I entered a negro cabin in South Carolina. The room was filled with blacks, a group of whom surrounded a rough board table, and at it sat an old man holding in his hand a watch, at which all were intently gazing. A stout negro boy held a torch which lighted up the cabin, and near him stood a Yankee soldier, in the Union bl
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
During the Rebellion and at its close, there was one question that appeared to overshadow all others; this was Negro Equality. While the armies were on the field of battle, this was the great bugbear among many who warmly espoused the cause of the Government, and who approved all its measures, with this single exception. They sincerely wished the rebels to be despoiled of their property. They wished every means to be used to secure our success on the field, including Emancipation. But they would
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Immediately after the Rebellion ceased, the freedmen throughout the South, desiring no doubt to be fully satisfied that they were actually free and their own masters, and could go where they pleased, left their homes in the country and took up their abode in the cities and towns. This, as a matter of course, threw them out of business, and large numbers could be seen idly lolling about the steps of the court house, town hall, or other county buildings, or listlessly wandering through the streets
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
Spending part of the winter of 1880 in Tennessee, I began the study of the character of the people and their institutions. I soon learned that there existed an intense hatred on the part of the whites, toward the colored population. Looking at the past, this was easily accounted for. The older whites, brought up in the lap of luxury, educated to believe themselves superior to the race under them, self-willed, arrogant, determined, skilled in the use of side-arms, wealthy—possessing the entire po
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
The moral and social degradation of the colored population of the Southern States, is attributable to two main causes, their mode of living, and their religion. In treating upon these causes, and especially the latter, I feel confident that I shall throw myself open to the criticism of a numerous, if not an intelligent class of the people upon whom I write. The entire absence of a knowledge of the laws of physiology, amongst the colored inhabitants of the South is proverbial. Their small unventi
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
In the olden time, ere a blow was struck in the Rebellion, the whites of the South did the thinking, and the blacks did the work; the master planned, and the slave executed. This unfitted both for the new dispensation that was fast coming, and left each helpless, without the other. But the negro was the worst off of the two, for he had nothing but his hands, while the white man had his education, backed up by the lands that he owned. Who can wonder at the negro’s improvidence and his shiftlessne
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXII.
CHAPTER XXII.
Those who recollect the standing of Virginia in days gone by, will be disappointed in her at the present time. The people, both white and black, are poor and proud, all living on their reputation when the “Old Dominion” was considered the first State in the Union. I viewed Richmond with much interest. The effect of the late Rebellion is still visible everywhere, and especially amongst those who were leaders in society thirty years ago. I walked through the market and observed several men with lo
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXIII.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Norfolk is the place above all others, where the “old-Verginny-never-tire” colored people of the olden time may be found in their purity. Here nearly everybody lives out of doors in the warm weather. This is not confined to the blacks. On the sidewalks, in front of the best hotels, under the awnings at store-doors, on the door-sills of private houses, and on the curbstones in the streets, may be seen people of all classes. But the blacks especially give the inside of the house a wide berth in th
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXIV.
CHAPTER XXIV.
The education of the negro in the South is the most important matter that we have to deal with at present, and one that will claim precedence of all other questions for many years to come. When, soon after the breaking out of the Rebellion, schools for the freedmen were agitated in the North, and teachers dispatched from New England to go down to teach the “poor contrabands,” I went before the proper authorities in Boston, and asked that a place be given to one of our best-educated colored young
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXV.
CHAPTER XXV.
Among the causes of that dissatisfaction of the colored people in the South which has produced the exodus therefrom, there is one that lies beneath the surface and is concealed from even an astute observer, if he is a stranger to that section. This cause consists in certain legislative enactments that have been passed in most of the cotton States, ostensibly for other purposes, but really for the purpose of establishing in those States a system of peonage similar to, if not worse than, that whic
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Years ago, when the natural capabilities of the races were more under discussion than now, the negro was always made to appear to greater disadvantage than the rest of mankind. The public mind is not yet free from this false theory, nor has the colored man done much of late years to change this opinion. Long years of training of any people to a particular calling, seems to fit them for that vocation more than for any other. Thus, the Jews, inured to centuries of money-lending and pawn-broking, t
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Union is strength, has long since passed into a proverb. The colored people of the South should at once form associations, combine and make them strong, and live up to them by all hazards. All civilized races have risen by means of combination and co-operation. The Irishman, the German, the Frenchman, all come to this country poor, and they stay here but a short time before you see them succeeding in some branch of business. This success is not the result of individual effort—it is the result of
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Advice upon the formation of Literary Associations, and total abstinence from all intoxications is needed, and I will give it to you in this chapter. The time for colored men and women to organize for self-improvement has arrived. Moral, social, and intellectual development, should be the main attainment of the negro race. Colored people have so long been in the habit of aping the whites, and often not the better class either, that I fear this characteristic in them, more than anything else. A l
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXIX.
CHAPTER XXIX.
In America, the negro stands alone as a race. He is without mate or fellow in the great family of man. Whatever progress he makes, it must be mainly by his own efforts. This is an unfortunate fact, and for which there seems to be no remedy. All history demonstrates the truth that amalgamation is the great civilizer of the races of men. Wherever a race, clan, or community have kept themselves together, prohibiting by law, usage, or common consent, inter-marriage with others, they have made little
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
The Negro in the American Rebellion His Heroism and His Fidelity. By Wm. Wells Brown, M.D.
The Negro in the American Rebellion His Heroism and His Fidelity. By Wm. Wells Brown, M.D.
Nearly 400 pages. Handsomely bound in cloth. Price $2.00. Dr. Brown has written a number of books, but none of them are more interesting or instructive than this, his History of the Negro in America. Commencing with the first cargo of slaves landed in the colonies in 1620, he carries the race through “The War of 1812,” “The John Brown Raid,” and “The Late Rebellion,” portraying in a most graphic manner the horrors of the slave trade in the olden time; the different struggles of individual negroe
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter