The Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave | Page 6

not as clean as it might have been. Mr. Colburn, for
this offence, tied Aaron up in the wood-house, and gave him over fifty
lashes on the bare back with a cowhide, after which, he made me wash
him down with rum. This seemed to put him into more agony than the
whipping. After being untied, he went home to his master, and
complained of the treatment which he had received. Mr. Darby would

give no heed to anything he had to say, but sent him directly back.
Colburn, learning that he had been to his master with complaints, tied
him up again, and gave him a more severe whipping than before. The
poor fellow's back was literally cut to pieces; so much so, that he was
not able to work for ten or twelve days.
There was also, among the servants, a girl whose master resided in the
country. Her name was Patsey. Mr. Colburn tied her up one evening,
and whipped her until several of the boarders came out and begged him
to desist. The reason for whipping her was this. She was engaged to be
married to a man belonging to Major William Christy, who resided four
or five miles north of the city. Mr. Colburn had forbid her to see John
Christy. The reason of this was said to be the regard which he himself
had for Patsey. She went to meeting that evening, and John returned
home with her. Mr. Colburn had intended to flog John, if he came
within the inclosure; but John knew too well the temper of his rival,
and kept at a safe distance;--so he took vengeance on the poor girl. If
all the slave-drivers had been called together, I do not think a more
cruel man than John Colburn,--and he too a northern man,--could have
been found among them.
While living at the Missouri Hotel, a circumstance occurred which
caused me great unhappiness. My master sold my mother, and all her
children, except myself. They were sold to different persons in the city
of St. Louis.

CHAPTER IV.
I was soon after taken from Mr. Colburn's, and hired to Elijah P.
Lovejoy, who was at that time publisher and editor of the "St. Louis
Times." My work, while with him, was mainly in the printing office,
waiting on the hands, working the press, &c. Mr. Lovejoy was a very
good man, and decidedly the best master that I had ever had. I am
chiefly indebted to him, and to my employment in the printing office,
for what little learning I obtained while in slavery.

Though slavery is thought, by some, to be mild in Missouri, when
compared with the cotton, sugar and rice growing States, yet no part of
our slave-holding country, is more noted for the barbarity of its
inhabitants, than St. Louis. It was here that Col. Harney, a United
States officer, whipped a slave woman to death. It was here that Francis
McIntosh, a free colored man from Pittsburgh, was taken from the
steamboat Flora, and burned at the stake. During a residence of eight
years in this city, numerous cases of extreme cruelty came under my
own observation;--to record them all, would occupy more space than
could possibly be allowed in this little volume. I shall, therefore, give
but a few more, in addition to what I have already related.
Capt. J.B. Brunt, who resided near my master, had a slave named John.
He was his body servant, carriage driver, &c. On one occasion, while
driving his master through the city,--the streets being very muddy, and
the horses going at a rapid rate,--some mud spattered upon a gentleman
by the name of Robert More. More was determined to be revenged.
Some three or four months after this occurrence, he purchased John, for
the express purpose, as he said, "to tame the d----d nigger." After the
purchase, he took him to a blacksmith's shop, and had a ball and chain
fastened to his leg, and then put him to driving a yoke of oxen, and kept
him at hard labor, until the iron around his leg was so worn into the
flesh, that it was thought mortification would ensue. In addition to this,
John told me that his master whipped him regularly three times a week
for the first two months:--and all this to "tame him." A more noble
looking man than he, was not to be found in all St. Louis, before he fell
into the hands of More; and a more degraded and spirit-crushed looking
being was never seen on a southern plantation, after he had been
subjected to this "_taming_" process for three months. The last time
that I saw him, he had nearly lost the entire use of his limbs.
While living with Mr.