An Account of the Late Intended Insurrection among a Portion of the Blacks of this City

Part 5

Chapter 52,515 wordsPublic domain

─────────────┬──────────────────┬────────┬───────────────────────────── _Prisoners │ _Owners’ Names._ │_Time of│ _How Disposed of._ Names._ │ │Commit._│ ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Peter │James Poyas │ June 18│Hanged on Tuesday the 2d │ │ │ July, 1822, on Blake’s │ │ │ lands, near Charleston. Ned │Gov. T. Bennett, │ do. │ 〃 Rolla │ do. │ do. │ 〃 Batteau │ do. │ do. │ 〃 Denmark Vesey│A free black man │ 22│ 〃 Jessy │Thos. Blackwood │ 23│ 〃 ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── John │Elias Horry │ July 5│Do. on the Lines near Ch.; │ │ │ Friday July 12. Gullah Jack │Paul Pritchard │ do. │ 〃 ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Mingo │Wm. Harth │ June 21│Hanged on the Lines near │ │ │ Charleston, on Friday, 26th │ │ │ July. Lot │Forrester │ 27│ 〃 Joe │P. L. Jore │ July 6│ 〃 Julius │Thos. Forrest │ 8│ 〃 Tom │Mrs. Russell │ 10│ 〃 Smart │Robt. Anderson │ do. │ 〃 John │John Robertson │ 11│ 〃 Robert │ do. │ do. │ 〃 Adam │ do. │ do. │ 〃 Polydore │Mrs. Faber │ do. │ 〃 Bacchus │Benj. Hammet │ do. │ 〃 Dick │Wm. Sims │ 13│ 〃 Pharaoh │— Thompson │ do. │ 〃 Jemmy │Mrs. Clement │ 18│ 〃 Mauidore │Mordecai Cohen │ 19│ 〃 Dean │— Mitchell │ do. │ 〃 Jack │Mrs. Purcell │ 12│ 〃 Bellisle │Est. of Jos. Yates│ 18│ 〃 Naphur │ do. │ do. │ 〃 Adam │ do. │ do. │ 〃 Jacob │John S. Glen │ 16│ 〃 Charles │John Billings │ 18│ 〃 ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Jack │N. McNeill │ 22│Do. Tues. July 30. Cæsar │Miss Smith │ do. │ 〃 Jacob Stagg │Jacob Lankester │ 23│ 〃 Tom │Wm. M. Scott │ 24│ 〃 William │Mrs. Garner │ Aug. 2│Do. Friday, Aug. 9. ═════════════╧══════════════════╧════════╧═════════════════════════════

CLASS No. 2.

_Comprises those prisoners who were found guilty and sentenced to death, but recommended to the mercy of the Executive, by the Court of Magistrates and Freeholders._

☞ They have been respited to the 25 day of October, 1822, with a view to the commutation of their punishment to banishment beyond the limits of the United States.

CLASS No. 3.

_Comprises those prisoners who were found guilty and sentenced to death, but since respited by the Executive, until the 25th of Oct. with a view to the commutation of their punishment, to banishment beyond the limits of the United States._

CLASS No. 4.

_Comprises those prisoners who were found guilty and sentenced to be, transported, beyond the limits of the United States, by their masters, under the direction of the City Council._

─────────────┬──────────────────┬────────┬───────────────────────────── _Prisoners │ _Owners’ Names._ │_Time of│ _How Disposed of._ Names._ │ │Commit._│ ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── William │John Paul │ May 31│Confined in the W. House. Edwin │ do. │ June 24│ 〃 ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Monday │John Gell │ 27│Do. and Sentenced to death, │ │ │ commuted to banishment out │ │ │ U. S. Charles │Hon. J. Drayton │ July 2│ 〃 Harry │David Haig │ 5│ 〃 ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Frank │Mrs. Ferguson │ June 27│Confined in the W. House. George │— Theus │ July 6│ 〃 Perault │— Strohecker │ 10│ 〃 Billy │S. Bulkley │ do. │ 〃 John │— Enslow │ 13│ 〃 Scipio │Wm. Sims │ do. │ 〃 Agrippa │Mrs. Perry │ 19│ 〃 Nero │David Haig │ 23│ 〃 Sam. Bainsill│— Bainstill │ do. │ 〃 Dembo │J. N. Martin │ 25│ 〃 Adam Bellamy │J. H. Merritt │ Aug. 3│ 〃 Jack │Wm. Cattell │ 5│ 〃 George │— Evans │ 6│ 〃 Harry │— Butler │ do. │ 〃 George │Sam. Parker │ do. │ 〃 Pompey │Richd. Lord │ 5│ 〃 ═════════════╧══════════════════╧════════╧═════════════════════════════

CLASS No. 5.

_Comprises those who were found guilty and sentenced to be transported, beyond the limits of the State of South-Carolina._

─────────────┬──────────────────┬────────┬───────────────────────────── _Prisoners │ _Owners’ Names._ │_Time of│ _How Disposed of._ Names._ │ │Commit._│ ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Prince Graham│A free black man │ July 21│Sentenced to be imprisoned │ │ │ one month in the W. House, │ │ │ and then transported beyond │ │ │ the limits of the State. ═════════════╧══════════════════╧════════╧═════════════════════════════

☞ This man will go out of the U. States at his own request, under the direction of the City Council.

CLASS No. 6.

_Comprises those prisoners who were acquitted by the Court, their guilt not being fully proved. The Court, however, have suggested to their owners, the propriety of transporting them beyond the limits of the United States._

─────────────┬──────────────────┬────────┬───────────────────────────── _Prisoners │ _Owners’ Names._ │_Time of│ _How Disposed of._ Names._ │ │Commit._│ ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Buonaparte │Francis Mulligan │ July 11│Acquitted by Court, master │ │ │ desired to transport, and │ │ │ now in the work-house │ │ │ Charleston. Abraham │Dr. Poyas │ June 22│ 〃 Butcher │Jas. L. Gibbes │ July 11│ 〃 John │Mrs. Taylor │ 13│ 〃 Prince │Miss Righton │ 19│ 〃 ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Quash │A free black man │ 29│—By arrangement with Council, Harleston │ │ │ gone out of the U. S. ─────────────┼──────────────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────── Harry Purse │Wm. Purse │ not│Arranged with owner to be │ │arrested│ transported. Panza │— Mitchell │ 〃 │ 〃 Liverpool │Mrs. Hunt │ 〃 │ 〃 ═════════════╧══════════════════╧════════╧═════════════════════════════

CLASS No. 7.

_Comprises those prisoners who were acquitted by the Court of Magistrates and Freeholders—and discharged._

CLASS No. 8.

_Comprises those prisoners who were discharged after their arrest by the Committee of Vigilance, the testimony against them not being sufficient to bring them to trial._

RECAPITULATION.

Number of Prisoners executed 35 Number of Prisoners respited until the 25th October, 1822, with a view to the commutation of their punishment 12 Number of Prisoners sentenced to be transported by their owners under direction of the City Council 21 Number of Prisoners sentenced to be transported beyond the limits of the State 1 Number of Prisoners acquitted, propriety of transportation suggested to their owners, and those whose masters have agreed to transport without trial 9 Number of Prisoners acquitted and discharged by the Court 27 Number of Prisoners acquitted and discharged by Committee of Vigilance 25 ——— Whole number arrested 131

_Respectfully submitted by_ FRED. WESNER, THO. D. CONDY, THO. NAPIER, SAMUEL _Com. of BURGER, EDWARD P. SIMONS, Vigilance_

SENTENCE.

_9th July, 1822._—_JACK, a slave, belonging to Paul Pritchard, commonly called GULLAH JACK, and sometimes COUTER JACK, was brought up, and, sentence pronounced by_ L. H. KENNEDY, _Presiding Magistrate_.

JACK PRITCHARD—The Court, after deliberately considering all the circumstances of your case, are perfectly satisfied of your guilt. In the prosecution of your wicked designs, you were not satisfied with resorting to natural and ordinary means, but endeavored to enlist on your behalf, all the powers of darkness, and employed for that purpose, the most disgusting mummery and superstition. You represented yourself as invulnerable; that you could neither be taken nor destroyed, and that all who fought under your banners would be invincible. While such wretched expedients are calculated to _inspire_ the confidence, or to alarm the fears of the ignorant and credulous, they excite no other emotion in the mind of the intelligent and enlightened, but contempt and disgust. Your boasted Charms have not preserved yourself, and of course could not protect others. “Your Altars and your Gods have sunk together in the dust.” The airy spectres, conjured by you, have been chased away by the superior light of Truth, and you stand exposed, the miserable and deluded victim of offended Justice. Your days are literally numbered. You will shortly be consigned to the cold and silent grave, and all the Powers of Darkness cannot rescue you from your approaching Fate! Let me then, conjure you to devote the remnant of your miserable existence in fleeing from the “_wrath to come_.” This can only be done by a full disclosure of the truth. The Court are willing to afford you all the aid in their power, and to permit any Minister of the Gospel, whom you may select to have free access to you. To him you may unburthen your guilty conscience. Neglect not the opportunity, for there is “no device nor art beyond the tomb,” to which you must shortly be consigned.

SENTENCE _pronounced on DICK, BACCHUS, WILLIAM, NAPHUR, ADAM, BELLISLE, CHARLES, JEREMY and DEAN, by L. H. KENNEDY, Esq. PRESIDING MAGISTRATE._

The Court, on mature deliberation, have pronounced you guilty; the punishment of that guilt is DEATH. Your conduct, on the present occasion, exhibits a degree of depravity and extravagance, rarely paralleled. Your professed objects were to trample, not only on the laws of this state, but on those of humanity; to commit murder, outrage and plunder, and to substitute for the blessings we enjoy, anarchy and confusion in their most odious forms.—The beauties of nature and of art, would have fallen victims to your relentless fury; and even the decrepitude of age and the innocence of childhood would have found no other refuge than the grave!

Surely, nothing but infatuation could have prompted you to enter into a plot so wild and diabolical. A moment’s reflection would have convinced you, that disgrace and ruin must have been its consequence, and that it would have probably resulted in the destruction and extermination of _your race_. But if, even complete success had crowned your efforts, what were the golden visions which you anticipated? Such men as you, are, in general, as ignorant as you are vicious, without any settled principles, and possessing but few of the virtues of civilized life;—you would soon, therefore, have degenerated into a horde of barbarians, incapable of any government. But, admitting that a different result might have taken place, it is natural to inquire, what are the miseries of which you complain? That we should all earn our bread by the sweat of our brow, is the decree which God pronounced at the fall of man. It extended alike to the master and the slave; to the cottage and the throne. Every one is more or less subject to control; and the most exalted, as well as the humblest individual, must bow with deference to the laws of that community, in which he is placed by Providence. Your situation, therefore, was neither extraordinary nor unnatural. Servitude has existed under various forms, from the Deluge to the present time, and in no age or country has the condition of slaves been milder or more humane, than your own. You are, with few exceptions, treated with kindness, and enjoy every comfort compatible with your situation. You are exempt from many of the miseries, to which _the poor_ are subject throughout the world. In many countries the life of the slave is at the disposal of his master; here you have always been under the protection of the law.

The tribunal which now imposes this sentence, through its humble organ, affords a strong exemplification of the truth of these remarks. In the discharge of the painful duties which have devolved on them, the members of this Court have been as anxious to acquit the innocent as determined to condemn the guilty.

In addition to the crime of treason, you have on the present occasion, displayed the vilest ingratitude. It is a melancholy truth that those servants in whom was reposed the most unlimited confidence, have been the principal actors in this wicked scheme. Reared by the hand of kindness, and fostered by a master who assumed many of the duties of a parent, you have realized the fable of the Frozen Serpent, and attempted to destroy the bosom that sheltered and protected you.

You have, moreover, committed the grossest impiety: you have perverted the sacred words of God, and attempted to torture them into a sanction for crimes, at the bare imagination of which, humanity shudders. Are you incapable of the Heavenly influence of that Gospel, all whose “paths are Peace?” It was to reconcile us to our destiny on earth, and to enable us to discharge with fidelity all our duties, whether as master or servant, that those inspired precepts were imparted by Heaven to fallen man. There is no condition of life which is not embraced by them: and if you had searched them, _in the spirit of truth_, you would have discovered instructions peculiarly applicable to yourselves—“_Servants_ (says St. Paul) _be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ: not with eye-service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart._” Had you listened with sincerity to such doctrines, you would not have been arrested by an ignominious death.

Your days on earth are near their close and you now stand upon the confines of eternity. While you linger on this side of the grave, permit me to exhort you, in the name of the ever-living God, whose holy ordinances you have violated, to devote most earnestly the remnant of your days, in penitence and preparation for that Tribunal, whose sentence, whether pronounced in anger or in mercy, is eternal.

_The above Sentences is selected out of the many passed on this occasion, with a view, to give the reader a general idea of them._

POSTSCRIPT.

Since these sheets have been put to press, it affords him, who has been engaged in their preparation, much gratification to be able to correct one mistake, as it places the fidelity of the slave who first gave the intelligence of the intended insurrection, on much higher ground. On conferring with his master and the free man of colour, whose advice he sought, it appears that the slave in question communicated the conversation at the Market to his young master, before he consulted his friend, (the free man of colour,) and that the advice of the latter was that as “his young master was a youth, that it would be best for him _immediately, without delay_, to tell his mistress, that his master might receive the information the instant he came to town.” _Vide_ page 5.

* * * * *

PRINTED AND SOLD BY A. E. MILLER, NO. 4, BROAD-STREET.

_Price 25cts. each; discount by the hundred._

Footnote 1:

It would be a libel on the liberality and gratitude of this community to suppose that this man can be _overlooked_ among those who are to be rewarded for their fidelity and principle.

Footnote 2:

The purport of this letter will be seen by reference to the trial of Abraham Poyas.

Footnote 3: