FIFTY YEARS IN CHAINS;
OR,
THE LIFE OF AN
AMERICAN SLAVE.
"My God! can such things be?
Hast Thou not said that whatsoe'er is done
Unto thy weakest and thy humblest one,
Is even done to Thee?" — Whittier.
New-York:
H. DAYTON, PUBLISHER,
107 NASSAU STREET.
INDIANA: INDIANAPOLIS — DAYTON & ASHER.
1859.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1858, by
H. DAYTON,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York
J. J. Reed,
printer & stereotyper
43 Centre St. N.Y.
PREFACE.
The story which follows is "true" in every particular. Responsible citizens of a neighboring State can vouch for the reality of the narrative. The language of the slave has not at all times been strictly adhered to, as a half century of bondage unfitted him for literary work. The subject of the story "is still a slave" by the laws of this country, and it would net be wise to reveal his name.
CONTENTS
Chapter I. | Separated from my mother | 9 |
Chapter II. | Some short time after my wife | 25 |
Chapter III. | It was manifest that I was now | 49 |
Chapter IV. | It was now about the middle of June | 73 |
Chapter V. | We had been stationed in the old | 93 |
Chapter VI. | By the laws of the United States | 110 |
Chapter VII. | The overseer was calling over the names | 124 |
Chapter VIII. | At the time of which I now speak | 144 |
Chapter IX. | It is impossible to reconcile the mind | 148 |
Chapter X. | I have before observed that the | 193 |
Chapter XI. | Early in March, my seine being now | 211 |
Chapter XII. | After this the fishing season passed | 240 |
Chapter XIII. | An affair was now in progress | 262 |
Chapter XIV. | The country I now lived in was new | 278 |
Chapter XV. | My master died in the month of May | 307 |
Chapter XVI. | I could not believe it possible | 324 |
Chapter XVII. | On the twenty-fourth of October | 344 |
Chapter XVIII. | The month of November is, in all years | 360 |
Chapter XIX. | In the month of June 18 | 390 |
Chapter XX. | The name of my new master was | 407 |