Part 4

Peter Poyas was the first man who spoke to me, and asked me to join. I asked him what, the church? He said no, have you not heard, that the blacks were joining, to try and take the country. I asked him, if he thought he had men enough to do it? He said yes, a plenty of men, and the Society will contribute money, with which a white man would purchase guns and powder for them. He said he would call back, and I must consider if I would join them. He called back, and asked me, if I was willing now? Why Peter, said I, you have not got force enough. He said, if I did not join, he would turn all my country people against me. Said I, if so, I’ll join you, but you must not put my name down, when you come out, if I find you strong enough, I’ll join you. Well, said he, if you don’t join you’ll be killed. Peter and Harry Haig called on me afterwards, I was not at home; but the next morning I met Harry, who asked me for my name. I refused it. He said, I would be killed if I did not join. I said, I would join when they came out, if they were stronger than the whites. Harry called on me again, and asked me, if I was willing that the thing would break out soon. I asked him, where they would begin? He said, in Boundary street. At what hour? He said, at 12 o’clock at night, or early in the morning, as soon as the guard is discharged. Jack Pritchard called on me, he is sometimes called Gullah Jack, sometimes Couter Jack, he gave me some dry food, consisting of parched corn and ground nuts, and said, eat that, and nothing else, on the morning when it breaks out, and when you join us as we pass, put into your mouth this crab claw, and you can’t be wounded, and, said he, I give the same to the rest of my troops—if you drop the large crab claw out of your mouth, then put in the small one. Said I, when do you break out, and have you arms. He said, plenty, but they are over Boundary street, we can’t get at them now, but as soon as the patrol was slack, they could get them; this was previous to the 16th June, on which day, he said, they were to break out. On that day he came to me, and said, they could not break out that night, as the patrol was too strong; he said, he would let me know when they were ready. That Sunday fortnight, the 30th June, he came to me and said, I must lay by still, they would not break out then, that he had been round to all his company and found them cowards. I said, thank God, then! He said, give me back my corn and cullah, (that is crab claw). I said, I would not, and upbraided him for having deluded so many. He said, all his country born promised him to join, because he was a Doctor, (that is a Conjurer). He said, the white people was looking for him, and he was afraid of being taken, that two men came to his master’s wharf, and asked him, if he knew Gullah Jack, and that he told them, no. He said, his charms would not protect him from the treachery of his own colour. He went away, and I have not seen him since. Harry Haig has since seen me several times, and told me to hold myself ready. I said, I’m ready when called on. He said, all the draymen came to his master’s cooper yard, and said they were ready, but he told them, he was only waiting for Gullah Jack. He said, he would tell me when they were ready, that they were only waiting for the head man, who was a white man; but he, although asked, would neither tell me the white man’s name, nor where the powder and arms were; this was last Tuesday, the very day the six negroes were hanged, about six o’clock, A. M. this was the last time we spoke, though I have seen him since. I saw Charles Drayton before the 16th, at Monday Gell’s, I was going to market, and Charles called to me as I crossed the street; Joe, who has a wife at Mr. Remoussin’s, asked me, if I did know that Monday was at the head of the Ebo Company, who are going to fight the white people; Monday is an Ebo. I asked Joe, if he was one of that company. He said yes, he was. I asked him, what he could do, as he was an invalid.—He said, he would take Remoussin’s sword and gun, and tell him to lay down in his bed and be quiet. We parted. Previous to the 16th of June, Monday Gell called me into his shop; I went in, and said to him, I heard he was captain of his countrymen’s company, the Ebo’s. He said, he was a sort of a one. I bid him good morning, when he said, when you want to hear the news, come here. I never saw him afterwards.

I met Charles Drayton on the 1st of July in the streets, when he said, now get ready, we must break out at once, for we will not let six lives be taken. I asked him, where they would begin? He said, in Boundary street, directly as the patrol and light horse turned in. I said, had you not better wait till after the 4th of July. He said, no, because in the mean time the people would be hanged. Charles said, they had force enough, and we parted. I met him in Market, betwixt 8 and 9 o’clock, on the 2d of July, and said to him, now the people are hanged, I suppose you are sorry you joined in the business. He said yes, and we parted. Peter Poyas told me also, that they had force enough, that some would come from James’ and John’s islands, and some from Christ’s Church Parish, where he generally went over to a meeting to have a talk, and that he had some about and in town, the number of which he would show me from the Society books, if I would only come to the Society. He said, they were to fight the whites, and keep on fighting, till the English came to help them. Harry told me the same thing. Jack being the head man, I asked him about the plan, he told me the same thing; that the English were to come here to help them, that the Americans could do nothing against the English, and that the English would carry them off to St. Domingo. Monday and Charles were very great together. John, Mr. Horry’s coachman, came to me one day, and asked me what I thought? Every one is ready, said John, to fight the whites, are you ready? He said, I am ready. This took place sometime before the 16th June, and every day he asked me the same questions.—About this time George Vanderhorst came to me and said, they were going to take the country, and he had joined; that he was ready whenever the blacks broke out. He requested me to let him sleep at my wife’s house near Boundary street; I saw him almost every day after the 16th June, and he always said, he was ready whenever the troops were ready. On the 16th June, Jack requested me to let twelve men sleep at my wife’s, as they were to break out that night, and he wanted them to be near Boundary street. On being refused, he departed in anger, and reproached me. George called on me yesterday morning, and asked, if I knew that Charles Drayton was taken up, and said, he was afraid Charles would name him, not because he was on his list, for he had joined Jack’s company, but because Charles had met him at Gullah Jack’s, when they were consulting on the subject; that, if he could near that Charles had named him, he would run off. On Monday, 1st July, Charles Drayton told me, that there would be an insurrection on the morning of the 6th July, as soon as the Guard turned in; he said, he commanded the country born company. Jack told me on the 1st July the same thing, and in addition, that they were to rush in with their dirks, guns and swords, &c. they had got, kill the City Guard, and take all the arms in the arsenals; he also said, there were some arms in King street, beyond Boundary street, in possession of a white man, which they intended to take, (alluding to the arms of the Charleston Neck Company, deposited at Wharton’s, in King street). Charles Drayton said, he had prepared for himself a gun and a sword. John Horry came to me very often, and once said, he had a sword, and that, as soon as it broke out, he would go up stairs and kill his master and family. On the 17th of June, on his carriage box, he expressed himself to me in the same manner he had done previous to the 16th. The blacks would have risen on the night of the 16th, had the Guards not been so strong; this I know from Gullah Jack and Harry Haig, who said, that if the Guards were not too strong, they would get the arms near the Lines, but if the Guards were out, they could not get them to break out with.

(F.)

_Confession of_ HARRY HAIG.

Julius Forrest, and myself, always worked together. Gullah Jack calls himself a negro doctor, he induced Julius and myself to join at last, but at first we refused; before the 16th June, Jack appointed to meet us at Bulkley’s Farm; when we got there, Jack was not there, but Peter Poyas came; we broke up at day-light. Not quite a month before the 16th June, Jack met me, and talked about war. I asked Jack, how he would do for arms? Bye and bye, said Jack, we will have arms; he said, he would have some arms made at the blacksmiths. Jack was going to give * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Until Jack was taken up and condemned to death, I was just like I was bound up, and had not the power to speak one word about it. Jack charmed Julius and myself at last, and we then consented to join. Tom Russell, the blacksmith and Jack are partners, (in conjuring) Jack learnt him to be a doctor. Tom talked to Jack about the fighting, and agreed to join, and those two brought Julius and myself to agree to it. Jack said, Tom was his second, and “when you don’t see me, and see Tom, you see one.” Jack said, Tom was making arms for the black people; Jack said, he would not be killed, nor could a white man take him.

(H.)

_Confession of JESSE, the slave of Thomas Blackwood, Esqr.; furnished to the Court by the Rev. Dr. D. HALL._

I was invited to Denmark Vesey’s house, and when I went, I found several men met together, among whom was Ned Bennett, Peter Poyas, and others, whom I did not know. Denmark opened the meeting by saying, he had an important secret to communicate to us, which we must not disclose to any one, and if we did, we should be put to instant death. He said, we were deprived of our rights and privileges by the white people, and that our church was shut up, so that we could not use it, and that it was high time for us to seek for our rights, and that we were fully able to conquer the whites, if we were only unanimous and courageous, as the St. Domingo people were. He then proceeded to explain his plan, by saying, that they intended to make the attack by setting the governor’s mills on fire, and also some houses near the water, and as soon as the bells began to ring for fire, that they should kill every man, as he came out of his door, and that the servants in the yards should do it, and that it should be done with axes and clubs, and afterwards they should murder the women and children, for he said, God had so commanded it in the Scriptures. At another meeting at Denmark’s, Ned Bennett and Peter Poyas, and several others were present in conversation, some said, they thought it was cruel to kill the ministers, and the women and children, but Denmark Vesey said, he thought it was for our safety, not to spare one white skin alive, for this was the plan they pursued in St. Domingo. He then said to me, Jesse, I want you to go into the country, to enlist as many of the country negroes as possible, to be in readiness to come down to assist us. I told him, I had no horse, and no money to hire one; he then took out two dollars, and gave them to me to hire a horse, and told me to enlist as many as possible. I got the horse the next Sabbath, and started, but the guard was so strict, I could not pass them without being taken up; so I returned, and told Denmark, at which he expressed his sorrow, and said, the business was urgent, for they wanted the country people to be armed, that they might attack the Forts at the same time, and also to take every ship and vessel in the harbor, and to put every man to death, except the captains. For, said he, it will not be safe to stay in Charleston, for as soon as they had got all the money out of the banks, and the goods out of the stores on board, they intended to sail for St. Domingo; for he had a promise, that they would receive and protect them. This Jesse asserted to me, was the truth, whilst the tears were running down his cheeks, and he appeared truly penitent; and I have reason to hope, that he obtained pardon from God, through the merits of Christ, and was prepared to meet his fate with confidence, and that he was accepted of God. At 4 o’clock on the morning of the execution, I visited all the prisoners condemned, and found Jesse at prayers. He told me, his mind was placid and calm; he then assured me, that what he had told me was the truth, and _that he was prepared to meet his God_.

(K.)

_Confession of MONDAY GELL._

I come out as a man who knows he is about to die—some time after Christmas Vesey passed my door, he called in and said to me, that he was trying to gather the blacks to try and see if any thing could be done to overcome the whites; he asked me to join; I asked him his plan and his numbers; he said he had Peter Poyas, Ned Bennett, and Jack Purcell; he asked me to join; I said no; he left me and I saw him not for some time. About four or five weeks ago as I went up Wentworth street, Frank Ferguson met me, and said he had four plantation’s of people who he was to go for on Saturday, 15th June. How, said I, will you bring them down; he said through the woods; he asked me if I was going towards Vesey’s to ask Vesey to be at home that evening, and he would be there to tell him his success. I asked Jack Purcell to carry this message, he said he would; that same evening at my house I met Vesey’s mulatto boy, he told me Vesey wished to see me, I went with him; when I went into Vesey’s I met Ned Bennett, Peter Poyas, and Frank Ferguson, and Adam, and Gullah Jack; they were consulting about the plan; Frank told Vesey on Saturday, 15th, he would go and bring down the people and lodge them near town in the woods; the plan was to arm themselves by breaking open the stores with arms. I then told Vesey I would join them, after sometime I told them I had some business of my own and asked them to excuse me, I went away, and only then was I ever there. One evening, Perault Strohecker, and Bacchus Hammett brought to my shop a keg, and asked me to let it stay there till they sent for it; I said yes, but did not know the contents; the next evening Gullah Jack came and took away the keg, this was before the 16th June; since I have been in prison I learnt that the keg contained powder.

Pharo Thompson is concerned, and he told me, a day or two after Ned and Peter were taken up, if he could get a fifty dollar bill, he would run away; about two Sundays before I was brought here, he asked me, in Archdale-Street, when shall we be like those white people in the church; I said when it pleased God; Sunday before I was taken up, he met me as I came out of Archdale Church, and took me into a stable in said street, and told me he told his master, who had asked him, that he had nothing to do in this affair; which was a lie. William Colcock came to my shop once and said a brother told him that five hundred men were making up for the same purpose. Frank said he was to send to HellHole Swamp to get men.

Perault Strohecker is engaged; he used to go of a Sunday on horse back up the road to a man he knows on the same errand. One Sunday he asked me to go with him; I went and Smart Anderson; we went to a small house a little way from the road after you turn into the ship yard road, on its left hand; they too went into the stable with an old man that lived there, I remained in the yard; they remained in the stable about half an hour; as soon as they came out, I and Perault started to town to go to church, and left Smart there; I was told by Denbow Martin, who has a wife in Mr. Smith’s house, that Stephen Smith belonged to some of the gangs.

Saby Gaillard is concerned; he met me on the Bay, before the 16th of June and gave me a piece of paper from his pocket; this paper was about the battle that Boyer had in St. Domingo; in a day or two he called on me and asked if I had read it, and said if he had as many men he would do the same too, as he could whip ten white men himself; he frequently came to me to speak about this matter, and at last I had to insult him out of the shop; he and Paris Ball was often together. A week before I was taken up, Paris told me that my name was called.

Billy Palmer and Vesey were constantly together; there was once in my shop a long talk between them about this same matter; I begged them to stop it; Vesey told him to try to get as many as he could; he said he would.

John Vincent told me that Edward Johnson, a free man, had said, as he was a free man he would have nothing to do with slaves, but the night they began he would join them.

I told Charles Drayton what uproar there was about this business, and since we have been here we have talked together.

Albert Inglis came to me and asked if I knew any thing about it; I said yes. He asked me if I had joined; I said yes; he said he was one also; he said Adam, a free man wanted to see me, I went with him one night; Adam asked me how many men had joined; I told him what Frank Ferguson had said; he asked me if I believed it; I said yes; he said if he could only find men behind him he would go before. Previous to the 16th, Albert said to me quit the business; I told him I was too far into it, so I must stick to it.

I never wrote to St. Domingo[16] or any where else on this subject, nor kept a list or books, nor saw any such things, but heard that Paul’s William had a list, nor did I hear any thing about arms being in possession of the blacks. I don’t know that Tom Russel made pikes, nor that Gullah Jack had any of them.

Lewis Remoussin called at my shop and asked me to call at his house, he had something to tell me, but I did not go; Jack Glen told me he was engaged.

I met Scipio Sims one Sunday, coming from the country, who said he had been near the Savannah’s to Mr. Middleton’s place; I heard afterwards that his errand was on this business.

I know John the cooper, who said he was engaged too in this business.

William Garner said he was engaged in it and had got twelve or thirteen draymen to join.

Sandy Vesey told me he belonged to it too.

At Vesey’s house, Frank told Gullah Jack, to put one ball and three buck shot in each cartridge.

Mingo Harth acknowledged to me that he had joined, and Peter Poyas told me so too; he, Mingo, told me so several times; Mingo said he was to have his master’s horse on the night of the 16th.

Lot Forrester told me frequently that he was one of the company, and I know that he had joined in the business myself. Isaac Harth told me once that he had joined, he knew I was in the business.

Morris Brown knew nothing of it, and we agreed not to let him, Harry Drayton, or Charles Corr, know anything about it. —— —— told me in my store that he was to get some powder from his master and give it to Peter Poyas; he seemed to have been a long time engaged in it, and to know a great deal. Joe Jore acknowledged to me once or twice that he had joined, he said he knew some of the Frenchmen concerned; he knew I was in it.

(L.)

_The Confession of JACK PURCELL._

If it had not been for the cunning of that old villain Vesey, I should not now be in my present situation. He employed every stratagem to induce me to join him. He was in the habit of reading to me all the passages in the newspapers that related to St. Domingo, and apparently every pamphlet he could lay his hands on, that had any connection with slavery. He one day brought me a speech which he told me had been delivered in Congress by a _Mr. King_ on the subject of slavery; he told me this Mr. King was the black man’s friend, that he Mr. King had declared he would continue to speak, write and publish pamphlets against slavery the longest day he lived, until the Southern States consented to emancipate their slaves, for that slavery was a great disgrace to the country.

(M.)

CONFESSION OF JOHN ENSLOW.

Monday Gell led me in it and took me to Vesey’s; there was a large meeting; Vesey told the meeting the people was to rise up and fight the white people for their liberty; we always went to Monday’s house afterwards; Monday did all the writing; I heard they were trying all round the country to Georgetown, Santee, and round to Combahee, &c. about to get people; Peter was also there, he was one; Peter named Poyas’ plantation, where he went to meet; Bellisle Yates I have seen at the meetings, and Adam Yates, Naphur Yates, Dean Mitchell, Cæsar Smith and George (a Stevedore.) At Vesey’s they wanted to make a collection to make pikes for the country people, but the men had no money! Monday Gell said Purcell was one to get horses to send men into the country; I heard a blacksmith was to make pikes. Jack M’Neil is engaged; I have seen them all at Monday’s; Jack said he was one and would try to get men; the plan was to take the Arsenals and Guard Houses for arms, and not to fire the town unless they failed; Monday was writing a letter to St. Domingo, to go by a vessel lying at Gibb’s and Harper’s wharf; the letter was about the sufferings of the blacks, and to know if the people of St. Domingo would help them if they made an effort to free themselves; he was writing this letter in March, I am not certain of the time; Perault was present when Monday wrote the letter, and also a painter, named Prince Righton; I have seen Pompey Haig at Monday’s, but he neither assented or dissented; Jerry Cohen was at Vesey’s, and said to me he was one; I heard from Vesey and Monday that they had engaged men from the country; Peter Poyas said he had sent into the country to his brother to engage men, who would send him an answer; a party was to attack the Guard-House and Arsenal; another the Arsenal on the Neck; another the Naval Stores on Mey’s wharf; another to attack the Magazine; another to meet at Lightwood’s Alley and then try to cut off the companies from meeting at their places of rendezvous; I belong to the African Congregation; on Saturday the 15th June, a man was to be sent into the country to bring down the people, and Rolla was to command the country people from Ashley River at the Bridge; Ned Bennett and John Horry to meet at Mr. Horry’s corner, and Batteau to come down with Vesey’s party.

(S)

CLASS No. 1.

_Comprises those prisoners who were found guilty and executed._