Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - II. Arrival at Boston—Adventures between Boston and New York—Buffalo—An Asylum—Return to New York—A Voyage—On the Farm in New Hampshire
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4.2
Story of an Emigrant.
I made two trips with the captain from New York to
Charleston and back again. At the wharf of Charleston, I
was, for the first time in my life, brought face to face with
American Negro slavery in its most odious aspect. Crowds
of Negroes were running along the pier pulling long ropes, by
means of which the ships were loaded and unloaded. Each
^anii of Negroes was under the charge of a brutal overseer.
o n o o
riding on a mule, and brandishing a long cowhide whip,
which he applied vigorously to the backs of the half-naked
Negroes. During the night they were kept penned up in
sheds, which had been erected for that purpose near the
wharf. Thev were treated like cattle, in every respect. This
sight influenced me in later life to become a Republican in
politics.
After our second return to New York, Capt. Wilson
assumed the command of one of the first clipper ships
which carried passengers to California in those days.
This was at the most stirring time of the gold fever, and
the captain kindly offered to take me along and let me stay
out there, an offer which thousands would have accepted.
But I was never smitten with the gold fever, and, having a
distaste for the sea, I said good-bye to the kind captain,
never to see him again. My wages were to have been onlv
five dollars a month, but he generously paid me eight
dollars, so that I had earned enough money to pay mv wav
to Boston, whence my friend Eustrom had written me and
urged me to come.
I arrived iu Boston about the middle of December, and,
when I returned to the old boarding house, I spoke English
so well that my acquaintenances hardly believed it possible
that I could be the same person. Mr. Eustrom was now
working as wood polisher. lie had made many friends and
lived happily and contented on $4- a week. By strict
economy these wages sufficed for board, lodging, and clothes.
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