Austin
Steward was
born a slave in Prince William County, Virginia,
in 1793. His master, William
Helm, owned over a hundred slaves. When Steward was eight years old
he became a house slave at Helm's mansion.
Helm sold his plantation and moved to Bath in Steuben County. In financial
difficulties, Helm
had to hire his slaves out to local farmers. Some of these men treated
him very badly and eventually he escaped. Steward reached Canada in
1815 where he joined the Wilberforce Colony that had been established
by the Society of Friends. Steward's autobiography,
Twenty-Two
Years a Slave
appeared in 1857 and is considered one of the best slave narratives
available. Austin
Steward
died in 1860.
(1)
Austin Steward, Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)
Our
family consisted of my father and mother - whose names were Robert
and Susan Steward - a sister, Mary, and myself. As was the usual custom,
we lived in a small cabin, built of rough boards, with a floor of
earth, and small openings in the sides of the cabin were substituted
for windows. The chimney was built of sticks and mud; the door, of
rough boards; and the whole was put together in the rudest possible
manner. As to the furniture of this rude dwelling, it was procured
by the slaves themselves, who were occasionally permitted to earn
a little money after their day's toil was done.
(2)
Austin Steward, Twenty-Two Years a Slave
(1857)
The amount
of provision given out on the plantation per week, was invariably
one peck of corn or meal for each slave. This allowance was given
in meal when it could be obtained; when it could not, they received
corn, which they pounded in mortars after they returned from their
labor in the field. The slaves on our plantation were provided with
very little meat. In addition to the peck of corn or meal, they were
allowed a little salt and a few herrings. If they wished for more,
they were obliged to earn it by over-work. They were permitted to
cultivate small gardens, and were thereby enabled to provide themselves
with many trifling conveniences. But these gardens were only allowed
to some of the more industrious. Captain William Helm allowed his
slaves a small quantity of meat during harvest time, but when the
harvest was over they were obliged to fall back on the old allowance.
(3)
Austin Steward,
Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)
It was usual for men and women to work side by side on our plantation;
and in many kinds of work, the women were compelled to do as much
as the men. Captain William Helm employed an overseer, whose business
it was to look after each slave in the field, and see that he performed
his task. The overseer always went around with a whip, about nine
feet long, made of the toughest kind of cowhide, the but-end of which
was loaded with lead, and was about four or five inches in circumference,
running to a point at the opposite extremity. This made a dreadful
instrument of torture, and, when in the hands of a cruel overseer,
it was truly fearful. With it, the skin of an ox or a horse could
be cut through. Hence, it was no uncommon thing to see the poor slaves
with their backs mangled in a most horrible manner. Our overseer,
thus armed with his cowhide, and with a large bull-dog behind him,
followed the slaves all day; and, if one of them fell in the rear
from any cause, this cruel weapon was plied with terrible force. He
would strike the dog one blow and the slave another, in order to keep
the former from tearing the delinquent slave in pieces, - such was
the ferocity of his canine attendant.
(4)
Austin Steward,
Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)
It
was the rule for the slaves to rise and be ready for their task by
sun-rise, on the blowing of a horn or conch-shell; and woe be to the
unfortunate, who was not in the field at the time appointed, which
was in thirty minutes from the first sounding of the horn. I have
heard the poor creatures beg as for their lives, of the inhuman overseer,
to desist from his cruel punishment. Hence, they were usually found
in the field "betimes in the morning," (to use an old Virginia
phrase), where they worked until nine o'clock. They were then allowed
thirty minutes to eat their morning meal, which consisted of a little
bread. At a given signal, all hands were compelled to return to their
work. They toiled until noon, when they were permitted to take their
breakfast, which corresponds to our dinner.
On our plantation, it was the usual practice to have one of the old
slaves set apart to do the cooking. All the field hands were required
to give into the hands of the cook a certain portion of their weekly
allowance, either in dough or meal, which was prepared in the following
manner. The cook made a hot fire and rolled up each person's portion
in some cabbage leaves, when they could be obtained, and placed it
in a hole in the ashes, carefully covered with the same, where it
remained until done. Bread baked in this way is very sweet and good.
But cabbage leaves could not always be obtained. When this was the
case, the bread was little better than a mixture of dough and ashes,
which was not very palatable. The time allowed for breakfast, was
one hour. At the signal, all hands were obliged to resume their toil.
The overseer was always on hand to attend to all delinquents, who
never failed to feel the blows of his heavy whip.
(5)
Austin Steward,
Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)
The usual mode of
punishing the poor slaves was, to make them take off their clothes
to the bare back, and then tie their hands before them with a rope,
pass the end of the rope over a beam, and draw them up till they stood
on the tips of their toes. Sometimes they tied their legs together
and placed a rail between. Thus prepared, the overseer proceeded to
punish the poor, helpless victim. Thirty-nine was the number of lashes
ordinarily inflicted for the most trifling offence. Who can imagine
a position more painful? Oh, who, with feelings of common humanity,
could look quietly on such torture? Who could remain unmoved, to see
a fellow-creature thus tied, unable to move or to raise a hand in
his own defence; scourged on his bare back, with a cowhide, until
the blood flows in streams from his quivering flesh? And for what?
Often for the most trifling fault; and, as sometimes occurs, because
a mere whim or caprice of his brutal overseer demands it. Pale with
passion, his eyes flashing and his stalwart frame trembling with rage,
like some volcano, just ready to belch forth its fiery contents, and,
in all its might and fury, spread death and destruction all around,
he continues to wield the bloody lash on the broken flesh of the poor,
pleading slave, until his arm grows weary, or he sinks down, utterly
exhausted, on the very spot where already stand the pools of blood
which his cruelty has drawn from the mangled body of his helpless
victim.
Nor is this cruel punishment inflicted on the bare backs of the male
portion of slaves only. Oh no! The slave husband must submit without
a murmur, to see the form of his cherished, but wretched wife, not
only exposed to the rude gaze of a beastly tyrant, but he must unresistingly
see the heavy cowhide descend upon her shrinking flesh, and her manacled
limbs writhe in inexpressible torture, while her piteous cries for
help ring through his ears unanswered. The wild throbbing of his heart
must be suppressed, and his righteous indignation find no voice, in
the presence of the human monster who holds dominion over him.
(6)
Austin Steward,
Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)
When eight years
of age, I was taken to the "great house," or the family
mansion of my master, to serve as an errand boy, where I had to stand
in the presence of my master's family all the day, and a part of the
night, ready to do any thing which they commanded me to perform. My
master's family consisted of himself and wife, and seven children.
His overseer, whose name was Barsly Taylor, had also a wife and five
children. These constituted the white population on the plantation.
Capt. Helm was the owner of about one hundred slaves, which made the
residents on the plantation number about one hundred and sixteen persons
in all. One hundred and seven of them, were required to labor for
the benefit of the remaining nine, who possessed that vast domain;
and one hundred of the number doomed to unrequited toil, under the
lash of a cruel task-master during life, with no hope of release this
side of the grave, and as far as the cruel oppressor is concerned,
shut out from hope beyond it.
(7)
Austin Steward,
Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)
Some have attempted
to apologize for the enslaving of the Negro, by saying that they are
inferior to the Anglo-Saxon race in every respect. This charge I deny;
it is utterly false. Does not the Bible inform us that "God hath
created of one blood all the nations of the earth?" And certainly
in stature and physical force the colored man is quite equal to his
white brother, and in many instances his superior; but were it otherwise,
I can not see why the more favored class should enslave the other.
True, God has given to the African a darker complexion than to his
white brother: still, each have the same desires and aspirations.
The food required for the sustenance of one is equally necessary for
the other. Naturally or physically, they alike require to be warmed
by the cheerful fire, when chilled by our northern winter's breath;
and alike they welcome the cool spring and the delightful shade of
summer. Hence, I have come to the conclusion that God created all
men free and equal, and placed them upon this earth to do good and
benefit each other, and that war and slavery should be banished from
the face of the earth.
(8)
Austin Steward,
Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)
Mrs. Helm was a very
industrious woman, and generally busy in her household affairs - sewing,
knitting, and looking after the servants; but she was a great scold,
- continually finding fault with some of the servants, and frequently
punishing the young slaves herself, by striking them over the head
with a heavy iron key, until the blood ran; or else whipping them
with a cowhide, which she always kept by her side when sitting in
her room. The older servants she would cause to be punished by having
them severely whipped by a man, which she never failed to do for every
trifling fault. I have felt the weight of some of her heaviest keys
on my own head, and for the slightest offences. No slave could possibly
escape being punished - I care not how attentive they might be, nor
how industrious - punished they must be, and punished they certainly
were. Mrs. Helm appeared to be uneasy unless some of the servants
were under the lash. She came into the kitchen one morning and my
mother, who was cook, had just put on the dinner. Mrs. Helm took out
her white cambric handkerchief, and rubbed it on the inside of the
pot, and it crocked it! That was enough to invoke the wrath of my
master, who came forth immediately with his horse-whip, with which
he whipped my poor mother most unmercifully-far more severely than
I ever knew him to whip a horse.
(9)
After escaping from
slavery, Austin Steward settled in Canada.
The Society of Friends
at this time, however, with commendable sympathy for the oppressed
and abused colored residents of Cincinnati, and with their proverbial
liberality, raised a sum of money sufficient to purchase eight hundred
acres of land of the Canada Company for the benefit of the colony.
The funds were placed in the hands of one of their number, Frederick
Stover, who went to Canada as their agent, purchased the land, and
settled colored people upon it, which comprised nearly all of the
Wilberforce settlement.
The settlers in Wilberforce, were in general, industrious and thrifty
farmers: they cleared their land, sowed grain, planted orchards, raised
cattle, and in short, showed to the world that they were in no way
inferior to the white population, when given an equal chance with
them. In proof of this let me say, that it was uniformly the practice
of persons traveling from London to Goderich, to remain in our settlement
over night, in preference to going on to find entertainment among
their own class of people. And we believe that the whites are bound
to admit, that the experiment of the Wilberforce colony proves that
the colored man can not only take care of himself, but is capable
of improvement; as industrious and intelligent as themselves, when
the yoke is taken from off their necks, and a chance given them to
exorcise their abilities. True, many of them had just escaped from
cruel task-masters; ignorant of almost every thing but the lash, -
but the air of freedom so invigorated and put new life into their
weary bodies, that they soon became intelligent and thrifty.
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