Martha
Browne
was born in Kentucky in 1808. Her father was an unknown white man
and her mother, a black slave owned by the Nelson family. On the death
of her master she was sold and was separated from her mother. Her
autobiography, Autobiography
of a Female Slave
was published in 1857.
(1)
Martha Browne, Autobiography of a Female Slave (1857)
I was born in one of the southern
counties of Kentucky. My earliest recollections are of a large, old-fashioned
farm-house, built of hewn rock, in which my old master, Mr. Nelson,
and his family, consisting of a widowed sister, two daughters and
two sons, resided. I have but an indistinct remembrance
of my old master. At times, a shadow of an idea, like the reflection
of a kind dream, comes over my mind, and, then, I conjure him up as
a large, venerable-looking man, with scanty, gray locks floating carelessly
over an amplitude of forehead; a wide, hard-featured face, with yet
a kindly glow of honest sentiment; broad, strong teeth, much discolored
by the continued use of tobacco.
I well remember that, as a token
of his good-will, he always presented us (the slave-children) with
a slice of buttered bread, when we had finished our daily task. I
have also a faint reminiscence of his old hickory cane being shaken
over my head two or three times, and the promise (which remained,
until his death, unfulfilled) of a good "thrashing" at some
future period.
My mother, Keziah the cook, commonly called Aunt Kaisy, was possessed
of an indomitable ambition, and had, by the hardest means, endeavored
to acquire the rudiments of an education; but all that she had succeeded
in obtaining was a knowledge of the alphabet, and orthography in two
syllables. Being very imitative, she eschewed the ordinary negroes'
pronunciation, and adopted the mode of speech used by the higher classes
of whites. She was very much delighted when Mrs. Woodbridge or Miss
Betsy (as we called her) began to instruct me in the elements of the
English language. I inherited my mother's thirst for knowledge; and,
by intense study, did all I could to spare Miss Betsy the usual drudgery
of a teacher. The aptitude that I displayed, may be inferred from
the fact that, in three months from the day she began teaching me
the alphabet, I was reading, with some degree of fluency, in the "First
Reader." I have often heard her relate this as quite a literary
and educational marvel.
(2)
Martha
Browne, Autobiography of a Female Slave (1857)
I was often mistaken for a white child; and in
my rambles through the woods, many caresses have I received from wayside
travellers; and the exclamation, "What a beautiful child!"
was quite common. Owing to this personal beauty I was a great pet
with my master's sister, Mrs. Woodbridge, who, I believe I have stated,
was a widow, and childless; so upon me she lavished all the fondness
of a warm and loving heart.
Miss Betsy, though a warm-hearted woman, was a violent advocate of
slavery. I have since been puzzled how to reconcile this with her
otherwise Christian character; and, though she professed to love me
dearly, and had bestowed so much attention upon the cultivation of
my mind, and expressed it as her opinion that I was too pretty and
white to be a slave, yet, if any one had spoken of giving me freedom,
she would have condemned it as domestic heresy.
(3)
On
the death of her master, Martha Browne was sold at auction.
A tall, hard-looking man came up to me, very roughly seized my arm,
bade me open my mouth; examined my teeth; felt of my limbs; made me
run a few yards; ordered me to jump; and, being well satisfied with
my activity, said to Master Edward, "I will take her." Little
comprehending the full meaning of that brief sentence, I rejoined
the group of children from which I had been summoned. After awhile,
my mother came up to me, holding a wallet in her hand. The tear-drops
stood on her cheeks, and her whole frame was distorted with pain.
She walked toward me a few steps, then stopped, and suddenly shaking
her head, exclaimed, "No, no, I can't do it, I can't do it."
I was amazed at her grief, but an indefinable fear kept me from rushing
to her.
"Here, Kitty,"
she said to an old negro woman, who stood near, "you break it
to her. I can't do it. No, it will drive me mad. Oh, heaven! that
I was ever born to see this day." Then rocking her body back
and forward in a transport of agony, she gave full vent to her feelings
in a long, loud, piteous wail. Oh, God! that cry of grief, that knell
of a breaking heart, rang in my ears for many long and painful days.
At length Aunt Kitty approached me, and, laying her hand on my shoulder,
kindly said: "Alas, poor chile, you mus' place your trus' in
the good God above, you mus' look to Him for help; you are gwine to
leave your mother now. You are to have a new home, a new master, and
I hope new friends. May the Lord be with you." So saying, she
broke suddenly away from me; but I saw that her wrinkled face was
wet with tears.
What could she mean by new friends and a new home? Surely I was to
take my mother with me! No mortal power would dare to sever us. Why,
I remember that when master sold the gray mare, the colt went also.
Who could, who would, who dared, separate the parent from her offspring?
Alas! I had yet to learn that the white man dared do all that his
avarice might suggest; and there was no human tribunal where the outcast
African could pray for "right!" Ah, when I now think of
my poor mother's form, as it swayed like a willow in the tempest of
grief; when I remember her bitter cries, and see her arms thrown frantically
toward me, and hear her earnest - oh, how earnest -prayer for death
or madness, then I wonder where were Heaven's thunderbolts; but retributive
Justice will come sooner or later, and He who remembers mercy now
will not forget justice then.
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