Letters from Port Royal Part 15

E. S. P. TO W. C. G.

_Sept. 24._ Limus' seine was shipped in the schooner. I have not yet ordered any for 'Siah, for I thought it would be too late for him to use it this year, and he had better wait and see if Limus' seine was all right. Moreover, entre nous, I don't believe it will do him any good to spend his time a-fishing. It has a sort of excitement, like gold-digging, which unfits a man for steady, plodding industry, witness Limus. Now the present demand for fish will not be permanent.

After the war the negroes will have to fall back upon field-labor for a living, and it will be better for them if in the meanwhile they do not acquire a distaste for steady labor and get vagrant habits. I would talk this over with 'Siah and ask him in serious mood if he really thinks best to spend so much money in fishing-gear, when he could buy land with it by and bye.

Here begins again the rambling narrative of plantation happenings.

FROM H. W.

_Sept. 26._ C. was very busy paying for cotton, and we found him on the piazza, sitting at a little table with the drawer full of money and the gang of women standing and sitting about at the foot of the steps, while he called them up one at a time. He paid old Nancy first, asking her how much she thought it was. "Me dunno, Ma.s.sa, you knows."

As much as ten dollars? "Oh yes! Ma.s.sa, I tink you gib me more nor dat." Fifteen, perhaps? Five for you, Doll, and Peg, each? "Yes, Ma.s.sa, I tink so." And it was pleasant to see the corners of her mouth go as he counted out $48--which she took in perfect quietness and with a sober face, a curtsey and "Tank'ee, Ma.s.sa." Sinnet was more demonstrative than anybody, lifting up hands and eyes, and ending with "Tank de Lord; I mus' go praise." Amaritta drew for her gang $78--they have picked over three thousand pounds. C. paid out over $1000.

H. W. further reports that when C. told old Grace he had weighed altogether a bale for her, "Good G.o.d!" she cried, "me lib to raise bale o' cotton! Come along, Tim, less get some vittle."

The next letter is Mr. Tomlinson's reply to one from W. C.

G., in which he had complained of negroes who refused to pay their "corn-tax,"--a rent in kind for their private patches of corn-land,--and had suggested their expulsion from the plantation as the best remedy.

REUBEN TOMLINSON[144] TO W. C. G.

_Sept. 30._ I have just read yours on the "corn question." I have told Government Superintendents, when the people refuse or neglect to bring their corn to the corn-house, not to interfere with them until it is all broken in;[145] then to tell them how much is expected from them, and give them a certain length of time to bring it in. If it is not done, get a "guard" from the "Jail," and go to their houses and take it. Of course the superintendent is to use a sound discretion in making his demand, making due allowance for failure of "crop," etc.

Your plan is in my opinion open to serious objections as a matter of _expediency_. I have no doubt that there are people on your places whom you would be well rid of. If you can endure them patiently a little while longer, I think it will be to your advantage to do so.

The Government is commencing at once the erection of a large number of houses, and after they are finished those turbulent and unruly people may be disposed of without the scandal and excitement which would otherwise accompany their removal. After this season is terminated, you can refuse any longer to employ such persons, and the Government having then provided homes for them, there will be no longer an excuse for boring you with them.

Mr. Philbrick's advice was as follows:

E. S. P. TO W. C. G.

I am not surprised at the prospect of some meanness about the corn-tax. The negroes would be a marvelous race if it were not so. If any difficulty is encountered in collecting the tax, I should take it out of their pay at $1.50 per bushel, which is about what it costs me to send corn there.

FROM H. W.

_Oct. 13._ Mr. G., who had just come from the Point, told me a very nice thing about the men there. It seems that a few weeks ago Mr.

Tomlinson made an address to them at church about there being five church-members in jail for shooting cattle, and after he got through, 'Siah, the foreman and elder of the Fripp Point Plantation, rose and indorsed what he had said, adding that the thing had never happened on his place. That very week an ox was shot there, and Mr. G. has been unable to find out who did it, all the men protesting that they did not know. So to-day he called them all up and talked to them, and then spoke of the ox and asked them what they thought they ought to do. One man rose and proposed to pay for it--another seconded the motion, and they pa.s.sed the resolution to do so by a vote of sixteen against two!

Mr. G. was very much pleased, and gave notice that if the perpetrator of the deed would come to him and confess within four days he should be let off without paying the fine.

_Oct. 20._ Thomas seemed much better, but very weak, and asked me if I would not give him some liquor! I asked if he had ever been in the habit of drinking it, and he said yes, that he bought it by the pint at camp! He belongs to the First South Carolina Volunteers, Colonel Higginson's Regiment. It is dreadful to think of such means of civilization being introduced among these poor people. It made me heartsick.

While I was dressing for dinner C. came up to ask me if I had "any prejudice against color," as he had asked the steward of the _Wabash_[146] to dine, "a Boston boy who speaks English as well as you do." We found him a very bright, intelligent young fellow and very modest and una.s.suming withal--gave his name only as "Joseph" both to Mr. Soule and C. He had come foraging for the Admiral, and as C. found him waiting for the people to come from the field, he took him about with him and brought up at the house. He was on board the _Mohegan_ when Port Royal was taken and had then just come from the coast of Africa where they had taken Gordon, the slave-pirate, on board the barque _Ariel_, and he gave us a most interesting account of the whole affair, as he went on board with the Captain when he ordered the hatches to be opened and the nine hundred blacks were discovered. C.

says he overheard Amaritta say to him, "You free man? I t'o't so, when I see you walk wi' buckra," and old Grace, when he asked her if she had any eggs, answered, "No, Maus--my dear," her first impression being that as he walked "wid buckra" she must be respectful, and then remembering that she must not say "Maussa" to a black man. He is black as Robert, but with Saxon features. Speaking of Henry, he asked, "Is he short and stout and about my complexion?" Henry is almost white!

_Oct. 22._ Limus is full of amazement at the men of the Fifty-Fifth[147] and could not express his surprise at their walking up to their post-office kept by a black man, and opening their letters to read "just like white men!" They don't know what to make of educated blacks,--it upsets all their ideas on the relative position of the two races! I expected some remarks from Rose about our sable guest--she was not here, but the next day she began: "That stranger man eat up here? Which side him eat?" In the dining-room with us. "Him free man?" Yes, he was born in Boston. "Him read and write?" Yes, as well as I can. This made her open her eyes, and when I told her that in Boston there were schools for the black children to go to just like those for the white children, where they could learn the same things, she departed with a very quiet, "Yes, Ma'am."

FROM C. P. W.

_Oct. 24._ Nothing happens here now, so that even this delightful country, with its charming variety of scenery and its delicious climate, its bracing air, its sparkling streams, its richness of autumnal tints, the ever-varying play of light and shade upon the steep hillsides and through the green valleys often cease to charm.

For myself, I may say that even the continual excitement incident to the task of weighing cotton, selling sugar, or counting rails, not to mention the no less important duty of seeing that my hat is not stolen from my head, or the shingles off my roof,--even these interesting and exciting occupations sometimes grow wearisome, and fail to afford that continued gratification and satisfaction to enjoy which is the object of a life in this Department. Although the statement seems absurd, I must nevertheless affirm, that it is more bother to take care of a plantation of one hundred and twenty working hands than it is to exercise that number in the "School of the Company;" and that the satisfaction derived from the faithfulness and honesty of perhaps thirty is hardly sufficient to atone for the anxiety and distrust with which one regards the remaining ninety, who lie by habit and steal on the least provocation, who take infinite pains to be lazy and shirk, who tell tales of others, of which themselves are the true subjects, and from whom all the artifices of the lawyer cannot draw a fair statement of fact, even when it is obviously for their own interest to tell the whole truth. "Wherefore he is called the everlasting n.i.g.g.ah."

I have had my grumble, and I feel better. What I have said "has truth in it, only distorted." I am not actually miserable, though one might draw that inference from these remarks. The fact is that, the novelty of this life having worn off after fifteen months of the "useful experience," the life, as was to be, and was expected, loses something of its satisfaction, and one is more open to the effect of the vexations and annoyances than when the interest was fresh and the work new and untried. It is not so much that one is annoyed by the work itself, but the imperfections of the system under which we are obliged to work grow more clear and are continually presented in various forms. The only satisfactory thing would be to reconstruct the system on the plantation, first, by turning off all the hands not wanted; second, by adopting a new system in regard to the privileges and compensation of the people. The privileges are, free houses, free land for provision crops, free use of wood, and, with certain restrictions, of the animals and implements. I should do away with these privileges, making them pay house-rent and land-rent, making them pay for their wood, if of certain qualities, and for the use of teams and implements--for their own work. Then I should increase their wages, with fixed prices for the various kinds of work. I should wish to be able to discharge any one whose work did not suit me, and remove him from the plantation. These reforms cannot possibly be inst.i.tuted now, and can never be, probably, on this island. In the meantime, if the people were only honest and truthful, other matters would be of comparatively little account, but they are the most provoking set, in this respect, that you can easily conceive. They are almost incorrigible.

REUBEN TOMLINSON TO C. P. W.

_Oaks, Oct. 30._ I have appointed you one of a "Commission" of three, to meet in the "Study" at R.'s place on Wednesday, November 4, at 10 A. M. The first case that will probably come before you will be that of the disputed ownership of a "boat," now in the possession of one "Limus," purveyor to General Gillmore, but which is claimed by "Barkis," who lives at Hilton Head. Both the parties have been to see me, and Barkis is not "willin'" to give up his claim.

FROM H. W.

_Nov. 8._ I found C. had two men locked up in separate rooms downstairs--there had been some trouble, and one, who was half drunk, had used a knife. One man he let go, the other is still shut up, and sent to see me this evening. It is dreadful to have such things happening, but it will do good for the people to find that there is some law over them.

Early in November Mr. Philbrick went down to Port Royal again to gin and export his cotton crop.

E. S. P. TO MRS. PHILBRICK.

_Coffin's Point, Nov. 10._ Arrived here about 6. I found people in the field picking cotton at R.'s places, and found on nearly all my fields the cotton still green and blossoming, while on most of the Government plantations the gra.s.s had stopped its growth long ago and the crop was about over. I find old Frank (the wily) in confinement in the harness-room for some row among the people last Sunday, awaiting trial. Oh, the horses, how they do look! A few months among our Northern fixings make everything look so wretched down here.

There is a circular just issued by General Saxton, pointing out the plantations which are to be sold to the negroes, and advising them to stake out their claims and build cabins on them as preemptors, which will not attract many of my people, I think. The McTureous places, T.

B. Fripp's, Hamilton Fripp's, and others are to be so sold, as soon as the necessary surveys are made. I doubt the policy of this sort of thing until the time shall have pa.s.sed for the redemption of the land by the old owners, though none may ever appear to redeem. I am afraid some rows may arise from the difficulty of fixing and recording boundaries among a lot of negro squatters, should there be many such.

These plantations, about to be sold at auction to negro preemptors, were those which had been reserved for this purpose from the sale of March 9, 1863 (see p. 171). The order of the President (dated September 16), from which General Saxton got authority for his circular just mentioned, also provided for the sale at auction of about twenty plantations in lots not to exceed three hundred and twenty acres. This latter provision, which might possibly result in preventing many negroes from owning any land at present,--since the plantations reserved for them alone were not large enough for all,--presently brought about infinite trouble, through disagreement among the authorities.

FROM H. W.

_Nov. 15._ The people are quite disturbed about General Saxton's new order, which Mr. French and Judge Smith have been trying to explain to them at church;--in vain, apparently,--for some of the most ignorant of our people thought they should be obliged to buy land, and came to C. in distress at leaving the plantation. Others we hear are selecting their lots, but now comes General Gillmore's order to stop all sales; I am afraid these poor people, who hate all change and "confusion,"

will have their brains hopelessly confused.

FROM E. S. P.

_Nov. 18._ General Saxton has given orders that all work on the plantations[148] in preparation for next year's crop shall be stopped, for he expects to give them up either to the purchasers or the tax-commissioners very soon. The tax men are here, as amicably disposed towards each other as cat and dog, and as they are not remarkable for their efficiency in matters of business, I do not think it very likely that they will accomplish much this winter. They have two parties of surveyors at work, but they don't seem to be doing much but chop vines and sail about the creeks in boats.

FROM W. C. G.

_Pine Grove._ [_Sept. 23._] I think you would be quite astonished at the refinement and homelikeness of our parlor. Bright table-cloths, a most elegant couch lately developed,--a comfortable old sofa, pictures all around, a fancy bookcase almost full of books,--a gla.s.s-topped secretary with an ample supply of pigeon-holes and writing arrangements,--papers lying around loose,--and a wood fire burning in the big chimney-place,--won't that do for philanthropists? One door opens into a large dining-room,--the windows upon a portico, looking out upon the creek winding among the green marsh gra.s.s, with broad water and islands in the distance. For contrast now and then a pig squalls vigorously under the house,--for it is getting cold now and the pigs eagerly seek the shelter of the "big house." It is in vain to try to keep them out, though I've had a fence built round the house.

_Nov. 14._ I shall have to take to contraband pants, I'm afraid, as I did last winter. The negroes can hardly hold me to be of gentle kind, when they see me doing their own work in their own clothes. I wish you would come down to see me, if it is only, by the sight of a white cravat and shining beaver, to convince them that I am a "boss" born.

You shall have your fill of clearing up and improving, too; I need just such energy to make respectable my own premises. At present they are the pigs' playground, except on Sundays, when a lot of the plantation urchins are allowed very quietly to peep in at the windows and learn manners from white folks. At present a young fellow, who has lately waked up from a slouch into a man, is patiently leaning against the sill, waiting, I suppose, for his lesson.

FROM H. W.

_Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26._ We sat down to dinner--sixteen Ma.s.sachusetts people, six ministers' sons. Mr. Folsom and William Allen, Miss R. and Mr. G. went home; all the rest spent the night, and no one on a sofa. We wondered what was the last [dinner-party] as large that had dined in this old house, but Robert says he never saw such a large party here--Mr. Coffin used to give his dinners in Charleston.