Chapter VIII: Kidnapping

The principle which declares that one human being may lawfully hold another as property leads directly to the trade in human beings; and that trade has, among its other horrible results, the temptation to the crime of kidnapping.

The trader is generally a man of coarse nature and low associations, hard-hearted, and reckless of right or honor. He who is not so is an exception, rather than a specimen. If he has anything good about him when he begins the business, it may well be seen that he is in a fair way to lose it.

Around the trader are continually passing and repassing men and women who would be worth to him thousands of dollars in the way of trade,—who belong to a class whose rights nobody respects, and who, if reduced to slavery, could not easily make their word good against him. The probability is that hundreds of free men and women and children are all the time being precipitated into slavery in this way.

The recent case of _Northrop_, tried in Washington, D. C., throws light on this fearful subject. The following account is abridged from the _New York Times_:

Solomon Northrop is a free colored citizen of the United States; he
was born in Essex county, New York, about the year 1808; became
early a resident of Washington county, and married there in 1829.
His father and mother resided in the county of Washington about
fifty years, till their decease, and were both free. With his wife
and children he resided at Saratoga Springs in the winter of 1841,
and while there was employed by two gentlemen to drive a team South,
at the rate of a dollar a day. In fulfilment of his employment, he
proceeded to New York, and, having taken out free papers, to show
that he was a citizen, he went on to Washington city, where he
arrived the second day of April, the same year, and put up at
Gadsby’s Hotel. Soon after he arrived he felt unwell, and went to
bed.

While suffering with severe pain, some persons came in, and, seeing
the condition he was in, proposed to give him some medicine, and did
so. This is the last thing of which he had any recollection, until
he found himself chained to the floor of Williams’ slave-pen in this
city, and handcuffed. In the course of a few hours, James H. Burch,
a slave-dealer, came in, and the colored man asked him to take the
irons off from him, and wanted to know why they were put on. Burch
told him it was none of his business. The colored man said he was
free, and told where he was born. Burch called in a man by the name
of Ebenezer Rodbury, and they two stripped the man and laid him
across a bench, Rodbury holding him down by his wrists. Burch
whipped him with a paddle until he broke that, and then with a
cat-o’-nine-tails, giving him a hundred lashes; and he swore he
would kill him if he ever stated to any one that he was a free man.
From that time forward the man says he did not communicate the fact
from fear, either that he was a free man, or what his name was,
until the last summer. He was kept in the slave-pen about ten days,
when he, with others, was taken out of the pen in the night by
Burch, handcuffed and shackled, and taken down the river by a
steamboat, and then to Richmond, where he, with forty-eight others,
was put on board the brig _Orleans_. There Burch left them. Tho brig
sailed for New Orleans, and on arriving there, before she was
fastened to the wharf, Theophilus Freeman, another slave-dealer,
belonging in the city of New Orleans, and who in 1833 had been a
partner with Burch in the slavetrade, came to the wharf, and
received the slaves as they were landed, under his direction. This
man was immediately taken by Freeman and shut up in his pen in that
city, he was taken sick with the small-pox immediately after getting
there, and was sent to a hospital, where he lay two or three weeks.
When he had sufficiently recovered to leave the hospital, Freeman
declined to sell him to any person in that vicinity, and sold him to
a Mr. Ford, who resided in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, where he was
taken and lived more than a year, and worked as a carpenter, working
with Ford at that business.

Ford became involved, and had to sell him. A. Mr. Tibaut became the
purchaser. He, in a short time, sold him to Edwin Eppes, in Bayou
Beouf, about one hundred and thirty miles from the mouth of Red
river, where Eppes has retained him on a cotton plantation since the
year 1843.

To go back a step in the narrative, the man wrote a letter, in June,
1841, to Henry B. Northrop, of the State of New York, dated and
postmarked at New Orleans, stating that he had been kidnapped and
was on board a vessel, but was unable to state what his destination
was; but requesting Mr. N. to aid him in recovering his freedom, if
possible. Mr. N. was unable to do anything in his behalf, in
consequence of not knowing where he had gone, and not being able to
find any trace of him. His place of residence remained unknown until
the month of September last, when the following letter was received
by his friends:

_Bayou Beouf, August, 1852._

MR. WILLIAM PENY, or MR. LEWIS PARKER.

GENTLEMEN: It having been a long time since I have seen or heard
from you, and not knowing that you are living, it is with
uncertainty that I write to you; but the necessity of the case must
be my excuse. Having been born free just across the river from you,
I am certain you know me; and I am here now a slave. I wish you to
obtain free papers for me, and forward them to me at Marksville,
Louisiana, Parish of Avovelles, and oblige

Yours,

SOLOMON NORTHROP.

On receiving the above letter, Mr. N. applied to Governor Hunt, of
New York, for such authority as was necessary for him to proceed to
Louisiana as an agent to procure the liberation of Solomon. Proof of
his freedom was furnished to Governor Hunt by affidavits of several
gentlemen, General Clarke among others. Accordingly, in pursuance of
the laws of New York, Henry B. Northrop was constituted an agent, to
take such steps, by procuring evidence, retaining counsel, &c., as
were necessary to secure the freedom of Solomon, and to execute all
the duties of his agency.

The result of Mr. Northrop’s agency was the establishing of the claim of Solomon Northrop to freedom, and the restoring him to his native land.

It is a singular coincidence that this man was carried to a plantation in the Red river country, that same region where the scene of Tom’s captivity was laid; and his account of this plantation, his mode of life there, and some incidents which he describes, form a striking parallel to that history. We extract them from the article of the _Times_:

The condition of this colored man during the nine years that he was
in the hands of Eppes was of a character nearly approaching that
described by Mrs. Stowe as the condition of “Uncle Tom” while in
that region. During that whole period his hut contained neither a
floor, nor a chair, nor a bed, nor a mattress, nor anything for him
to lie upon, except a board about twelve inches wide, with a block
of wood for his pillow, and with a single blanket to cover him,
while the walls of his hut did not by any means protect him from the
inclemency of the weather. He was sometimes compelled to perform
acts revolting to humanity, and outrageous in the highest degree. On
one occasion, a colored girl belonging to Eppes, about seventeen
years of age, went one Sunday, without the permission of her master,
to the nearest plantation, about half a mile distant, to visit
another colored girl of her acquaintance. She returned in the course
of two or three hours, and for that offence she was called up for
punishment, which Solomon was required to inflict. Eppes compelled
him to drive four stakes into the ground at such distances that the
hands and ankles of the girl might be tied to them, as she lay with
her face upon the ground; and, having thus fastened her down, he
compelled him, while standing by himself, to inflict one hundred
lashes upon her bare flesh, she being stripped naked. Having
inflicted the hundred blows, Solomon refused to proceed any further.
Eppes tried to compel him to go on, but he absolutely set him at
defiance, and refused to murder the girl. Eppes then seized the
whip, and applied it until he was too weary to continue it. Blood
flowed from her neck to her feet, and in this condition she was
compelled the next day to go into the field to work as a field-hand.
She bears the marks still upon her body although the punishment was
inflicted four years ago.

When Solomon was about to leave, under the care of Mr. Northrop,
this girl came from behind her hut, unseen by her master, and,
throwing her arms around the neck of Solomon, congratulated him on
his escape from slavery, and his return to his family; at the same
time, in language of despair, exclaiming, “But, O God! what will
become of me?”

These statements regarding the condition of Solomon while with
Eppes, and the punishment and brutal treatment of the colored girls,
are taken from Solomon himself. It has been stated that the nearest
plantation was distant from that of Eppes a half-mile, and of course
there could be no interference on the part of neighbors in any
punishment, however cruel, or how ever well disposed to interfere
they might be.

Had not Northrop been able to write, as few of the free blacks in the slave states are, his doom might have been sealed for life in this den of misery.

Two cases recently tried in Baltimore also unfold facts of a similar nature.

The following is from

THE CASE OF RACHEL PARKER AND HER SISTER....

It will be remembered that more than a year since a young colored
woman, named Mary Elizabeth Parker, was abducted from Chester county
and conveyed to Baltimore, where she was sold as a slave, and
transported to New Orleans. A few days after, her sister, Rachel
Parker, was also abducted in like manner, taken to Baltimore, and
detained there in consequence of the interference of her Chester
county friends. In the first case, Mary Elizabeth was, by an
arrangement with the individual who had her in charge, brought back
to Baltimore, to await her trial on a petition for freedom. So also
with regard to Rachel. Both, after trial,—the proof in their favor
being so overwhelming,—were discharged, and are now among their
friends in Chester county. In this connection we give the narratives
of both females, obtained since their release.

_Rachel Parker’s Narrative._

“I was taken from Joseph C. Miller’s about twelve o’clock on Tuesday
(Dec. 30th, 1851), by two men who came up to the house by the _back_
door. One came in and asked Mrs. Miller where Jesse McCreary lived,
and then seized me by the arm, and pulled me out of the house. Mrs.
Miller called to her husband, who was in the _front_ porch, and he
ran out and seized the man by the collar, and tried to stop him. The
other, with an oath, then told him to take his hands off, and if he
touched me he would kill him. He then told Miller that I belonged to
Mr. Schoolfield, in Baltimore. They then hurried me to a wagon,
where there was another large man, put me in, and drove off.

“Mr. Miller ran across the field to head the wagon, and picked up a
stake to run through the wheel, when one of the men pulled out a
sword (I think it was a sword, I never saw one), and threatened to
cut Miller’s arm off. Pollock’s wagon being in the way, and he
refusing to get out of the road, we turned off to the left. After we
rode away, one of the men tore a hole in the back of the carriage,
to look out to see if they were coming after us, and they said they
wished they had given Miller and Pollock a blow.

“We stopped at a tavern near the railroad, and I told the landlord
(I think it was) that I was free. I also told several persons at the
car-office; and a very nice-looking man at the car-office was
talking at the door, and he said he thought that they had better
take me back again. One of the men did not come further than the
tavern. I was taken to Baltimore, where we arrived about seven
o’clock the same evening, and I was taken to jail.

“The next morning, a man with large light-colored whiskers took me
away by myself, and asked me if I was not Mr. Schoolfield’s slave. I
told him I was not; he said that I was, and that if I did not say I
was he would ‘cowhide me and salt me, and put me in a dungeon.’ I
told him I was free, and that I would say nothing but the truth.”

_Mary E. Parker’s Narrative._

“I was taken from Matthew Donnelly’s on Saturday night (Dec. 6th, or
13th, 1851); was caught whilst out of doors, soon after I had
cleared the supper-table, about seven o’clock, by two men, and put
into a wagon. One of them got into the wagon with me, and rode to
Elkton, Md., where I was kept until Sunday night at twelve o’clock,
when I left there in the cars for Baltimore, and arrived there early
on Monday morning.

“At Elkton a man was brought in to see me, by one of the men, who
said that I was not his father’s slave. Afterwards, when on the way
to Baltimore in the cars, a man told me that I must say that I was
Mr. Schoolfield’s slave, or he would shoot me, and pulled a ‘rifle’
out of his pocket and showed it to me, and also threatened to whip
me.

“On Monday morning, Mr. Schoolfield called at the jail in Baltimore
to see me; and on Tuesday morning he brought his wife and several
other ladies to see me. I told them I did not know them, and then
Mr. C. took me out of the room, and told me who they were, and took
me back again, so that I might appear to know them. On the next
Monday I was shipped to New Orleans.

“It took about a month to get to New Orleans. After I had been there
about a week, Mr. C. sold me to Madame C., who keeps a large
flower-garden. She sends flowers to sell to the theatres, sells milk
in market, &c. I went out to sell candy and flowers for her, when I
lived with her. One evening, when I was coming home from the
theatre, a watchman took me up, and I told him I was not a slave. He
put me in the calaboose, and next morning took me before a
magistrate, who sent for Madame C., who told him she bought me. He
then sent for Mr. C., and told him he must account for how he got
me. Mr. C. said that my mother and all the family were free, except
me. The magistrate told me to go back to Madame C., and he told
Madame C. that she must not let me go out at night; and he told Mr.
C. that he must prove how he came by me. The magistrate afterwards
called on Mrs. C., at her house, and had a long talk with her in the
parlor. I do not know what he said, as they were by themselves.
About a month afterwards, I was sent back to Baltimore. I lived with
Madame C. about six months.

“There were six slaves came in the vessel with me to Baltimore, who
belonged to Mr. D., and were returned because they were sickly.

“A man called to see me at the jail after I came back to Baltimore,
and told me that I must say I was Mr. Schoolfield’s slave, and that
if I did not do it he would kill me the first time he got a chance.
He said Rachel [her sister] said she came from Baltimore and was Mr.
Schoolfield’s slave. Afterwards some gentlemen called on me [Judge
Campbell and Judge Bell, of Philadelphia, and William H. Norris,
Esq., of Baltimore], and I told them I was Mr. Schoolfield’s slave.
They said they were my friends, and I must tell them the truth. I
then told them who I was and all about it.

“When I was in New Orleans Mr. C. whipped me because I said that I
was free.”

* * * * *

Elizabeth, by her own account above, was seized and taken from
Pennsylvania, Dec. 6th or 13th, 1851, which is confirmed by other
testimony.

It is conceded that such cases, when brought into Southern courts, are generally tried with great fairness and impartiality. The agent for Northrop’s release testifies to this, and it has been generally admitted fact. But it is probably only one case in a hundred that can get into court:—of the multitudes who are drawn down in the ever-widening maëlstrom only now and then one ever comes back to tell the tale.

The succeeding chapter of advertisements will show the reader how many such victims there may probably be.