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During
my
residence
with
Master
Ford
I
had
seen
only
the
bright
side
of
slavery
.
His
was
no
heavy
hand
crushing
us
to
the
earth
.
He
pointed
upwards
,
and
with
benign
and
cheering
words
addressed
us
as
his
fellow-mortals
,
accountable
,
like
himself
,
to
the
Maker
of
us
all
.
I
think
of
him
with
affection
,
and
had
my
family
been
with
me
,
could
have
borne
his
gentle
servitude
,
without
murmuring
,
all
my
days
.
But
clouds
were
gathering
in
the
horizon
--
forerunners
of
a
pitiless
storm
that
was
soon
to
break
over
me
.
I
was
doomed
to
endure
such
bitter
trials
as
the
poor
slave
only
knows
,
and
to
lead
no
more
the
comparatively
happy
life
which
I
had
led
in
the
"
Great
Pine
Woods
.
"
William
Ford
unfortunately
became
embarrassed
in
his
pecuniary
affairs
.
A
heavy
judgment
was
rendered
against
him
in
consequence
of
his
having
become
security
for
his
brother
,
Franklin
Ford
,
residing
on
Red
River
,
above
Alexandria
,
and
who
had
failed
to
meet
his
liabilities
.
He
was
also
indebted
to
John
M.
Tibeats
to
a
considerable
amount
in
consideration
of
his
services
in
building
the
mills
on
Indian
Creek
,
and
also
a
weaving-house
,
corn-mill
and
other
erections
on
the
plantation
at
Bayou
Bœuf
,
not
yet
completed
.
It
was
therefore
necessary
,
in
order
to
meet
these
demands
,
to
dispose
of
eighteen
slaves
,
myself
among
the
number
.
Seventeen
of
them
,
including
Sam
and
Harry
,
were
purchased
by
Peter
Compton
,
a
planter
also
residing
on
Red
River
.
I
was
sold
to
Tibeats
,
in
consequence
,
undoubtedly
,
of
my
slight
skill
as
a
carpenter
.
This
was
in
the
winter
of
1842
.
The
deed
of
myself
from
Freeman
to
Ford
,
as
I
ascertained
from
the
public
records
in
New-Orleans
on
my
return
,
was
dated
June
23d
,
1841
.
At
the
time
of
my
sale
to
Tibeats
,
the
price
agreed
to
be
given
for
me
being
more
than
the
debt
,
Ford
took
a
chattel
mortgage
of
four
hundred
dollars
.
I
am
indebted
for
my
life
,
as
will
hereafter
be
seen
,
to
that
mortgage
.
I
bade
farewell
to
my
good
friends
at
the
opening
,
and
departed
with
my
new
master
Tibeats
.
We
went
down
to
the
plantation
on
Bayou
Bœuf
,
distant
twenty-seven
miles
from
the
Pine
Woods
,
to
complete
the
unfinished
contract
.
Bayou
Bœuf
is
a
sluggish
,
winding
stream
--
one
of
those
stagnant
bodies
of
water
common
in
that
region
,
setting
back
from
Red
River
.
It
stretches
from
a
point
not
far
from
Alexandria
,
in
a
south-easterly
direction
,
and
following
its
tortuous
course
,
is
more
than
fifty
miles
in
length
.
Large
cotton
and
sugar
plantations
line
each
shore
,
extending
back
to
the
borders
of
interminable
swamps
.
It
is
alive
with
alligators
,
rendering
it
unsafe
for
swine
,
or
unthinking
slave
children
to
stroll
along
its
banks
.
Upon
a
bend
in
this
bayou
,
a
short
distance
from
Cheneyville
,
was
situated
the
plantation
of
Madam
Ford
--
her
brother
,
Peter
Tanner
,
a
great
landholder
,
living
on
the
opposite
side
.
On
my
arrival
at
Bayou
Bœuf
,
I
had
the
pleasure
of
meeting
Eliza
,
whom
I
had
not
seen
for
several
months
.
She
had
not
pleased
Mrs.
Ford
,
being
more
occupied
in
brooding
over
her
sorrows
than
in
attending
to
her
business
,
and
had
,
in
consequence
,
been
sent
down
to
work
in
the
field
on
the
plantation
.
She
had
grown
feeble
and
emaciated
,
and
was
still
mourning
for
her
children
.
She
asked
me
if
I
had
forgotten
them
,
and
a
great
many
times
inquired
if
I
still
remembered
how
handsome
little
Emily
was
--
how
much
Randall
loved
her
--
and
wondered
if
they
were
living
still
,
and
where
the
darlings
could
then
be
.
She
had
sunk
beneath
the
weight
of
an
excessive
grief
.
Her
drooping
form
and
hollow
cheeks
too
plainly
indicated
that
she
had
well
nigh
reached
the
end
of
her
weary
road
.
Ford
's
overseer
on
this
plantation
,
and
who
had
the
exclusive
charge
of
it
,
was
a
Mr.
Chapin
,
a
kindly-disposed
man
,
and
a
native
of
Pennsylvania
.
In
common
with
others
,
he
held
Tibeats
in
light
estimation
,
which
fact
,
in
connection
with
the
four
hundred
dollar
mortgage
,
was
fortunate
for
me
.
I
was
now
compelled
to
labor
very
hard
.
From
earliest
dawn
until
late
at
night
,
I
was
not
allowed
to
be
a
moment
idle
.
Notwithstanding
which
,
Tibeats
was
never
satisfied
.
He
was
continually
cursing
and
complaining
.
He
never
spoke
to
me
a
kind
word
.
I
was
his
faithful
slave
,
and
earned
him
large
wages
every
day
,
and
yet
I
went
to
my
cabin
nightly
,
loaded
with
abuse
and
stinging
epithets
.
We
had
completed
the
corn
mill
,
the
kitchen
,
and
so
forth
,
and
were
at
work
upon
the
weaving-house
,
when
I
was
guilty
of
an
act
,
in
that
State
punishable
with
death
.
It
was
my
first
fight
with
Tibeats
.
The
weaving-house
we
were
erecting
stood
in
the
orchard
a
few
rods
from
the
residence
of
Chapin
,
or
the
"
great
house
,
"
as
it
was
called
.
One
night
,
having
worked
until
it
was
too
dark
to
see
,
I
was
ordered
by
Tibeats
to
rise
very
early
in
the
morning
,
procure
a
keg
of
nails
from
Chapin
,
and
commence
putting
on
the
clapboards
.
I
retired
to
the
cabin
extremely
tired
,
and
having
cooked
a
supper
of
bacon
and
corn
cake
,
and
conversed
a
while
with
Eliza
,
who
occupied
the
same
cabin
,
as
also
did
Lawson
and
his
wife
Mary
,
and
a
slave
named
Bristol
,
laid
down
upon
the
ground
floor
,
little
dreaming
of
the
sufferings
that
awaited
me
on
the
morrow
.
Before
daylight
I
was
on
the
piazza
of
the
"
great
house
,
"
awaiting
the
appearance
of
overseer
Chapin
.
To
have
aroused
him
from
his
slumbers
and
stated
my
errand
,
would
have
been
an
unpardonable
boldness
.
