American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses

PUNISHMENTS.

PUNISHMENTS. I. FLOGGINGS. The slaves are terribly lacerated with whips, paddles, &c.; red pepper and salt are rubbed into their mangled flesh; hot brine and turpentine are poured into their gashes; and innumerable other tortures inflicted upon them. We will in the first place, prove by a cloud of witnesses, that the slaves are whipped with such inhuman severity, as to lacerate and mangle their flesh in the most shocking manner, leaving permanent scars and ridges; after establishing this, we will present a mass of testimony, concerning a great variety of other tortures. The testimony, for the most part, will be that of the slaveholders themselves, and in their own chosen words. A large portion of it will be taken from the advertisements, which they have published in their own newspapers, describing by the scars on their bodies made by the whip, their own runaway slaves. To copy these advertisements entire would require a great amount of space, and flood the reader with a vast mass of matter irrelevant to the point before us; we shall therefore insert only so much of each, as will intelligibly set forth the precise point under consideration. In the column under the word "witnesses," will be found the name of the individual, who signs the advertisement, or for whom it is signed, with his or her place of residence, and the name and date of the paper, in which it appeared, and generally the name of the place where it is published. Opposite the name of each witness, will be an extract, from the advertisement, containing his or her testimony.  163 WITNESSES. TESTIMONY. Mr. D. Judd, jailor, Davidson Co., Tennessee, in the "Nashville Banner," Dec. 10th, 1838. "Committed to jail as a runaway, a negro woman named Martha, 17 or 18 years of age, has numerous scars of the whip on her back." Mr. Robert Nicoll, Dauphin st. between Emmanuel and Conception st's, Mobile, Alabama, in the "Mobile Commercial Advertiser." "Ten dollars reward for my woman Siby, very much scarred about the neck and ears by whipping." Mr. Bryant Johnson, Fort Valley, Houston Co., Georgia, in the "Standard of Union," Milledgeville Ga. Oct. 2, 1838. "Ranaway, a negro woman, named Maria, some scars on her back occasioned by the whip." Mr. James T. De Jarnett, Vernon, Autauga Co., Alabama, in the "Pensacola Gazette," July, 14, 1838. "Stolen a negro woman, named Celia. On examining her back you will find marks, caused by the whip." Maurice Y. Garcia, Sheriff of the County of Jefferson, La., in the "New Orleans Bee," August, 14, 1838. " Lodged in jail, a mulatto boy, having large marks of the whip, on his shoulders and other parts of his body." R. J. Bland, Sheriff of Claiborne Co, Miss., in the "Charleston (S.C.) Courier," August, 28, 1838. " Was committed a negro boy, named Tom, is much marked with the whip." Mr. James Noe, Red River Landing, La., in the "Sentinel," Vicksburg, Miss., August 22, 1837. " Ranaway, a negro fellow named Dick—has many scars on his back from being whipped." William Craze, jailor, Alexandria, La. in the "Planter's Intelligencer," Sept. 26, 1838. " Committed to jail, a negro slave—his back is very badly scarred." John A. Rowland, jailor, Lumberton, North Carolina, in the "Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer," June 20, 1838. " Committed, a mulatto fellow—his back shows lasting impressions of the whip, and leaves no doubt of his being A SLAVE." 164  WITNESSES. TESTIMONY. J. K. Roberts, sheriff, Blount county, Ala., in the Huntsville Democrat," Dec. 9, 1838. " Committed to jail, a negro man—his back much marked by the whip." Mr. H. Varillat, No. 23 Girod street, New Orleans—in the "Commercial Bulletin," August 27, 1838. " Ranaway, the negro slave named Jupiter—has a fresh mark of a cowskin on one of his cheeks." Mr. Cornelius D. Tolin, Augusta, Ga., in the "Chronicle and Sentinel," Oct. 18, 1838. " Ranaway, a negro man named Johnson—he has a great many marks of the whip on his back." W. H. Brasseale, sheriff, Blount county, Ala., in the "Huntsville Democrat," June 9, 1838. " Committed to jail, a negro slave named James—much scarred with a whip on his back." Mr. Robert Beasley, Macon, Ga., in the "Georgia Messenger," July 27, 1837. " Ranaway, my man Fountain— he is marked on the back with the whip." Mr. John Wotton, Rockville, Montgomery county, Maryland, in the "Baltimore Republican," Jan. 13, 1838. " Ranaway, Bill...