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21 - Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup · Twelve Years a Slave

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty one of Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. I am
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  Speaker 1: indebted to mister Henry B. Northup and others for many
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  Speaker 1: of the particulars contained in this chapter. The letter written
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  Speaker 1: by Bass, directed to Parker and Perry, and which was
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  Speaker 1: deposited in the post office in Marksville on the fifteenth
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  Speaker 1: day of August eighteen fifty two, arrived at Saratoga in
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  Speaker 1: the early part of September. Some time previous to this,
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  Speaker 1: Anne had removed to Glen's Falls, Warren County, where she
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  Speaker 1: had charge of the kitchen in Carpenter's Hotel. She kept house, however,
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  Speaker 1: lodging with our children, and was only absent from them
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  Speaker 1: during such time as the discharge of her duties in
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  Speaker 1: the hotel required. Messrs Parker and Perry, on receipt of
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  Speaker 1: the letter, forwarded it immediately to Anne. On reading it,
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  Speaker 1: the children were all excitement, and without delay hastened to
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  Speaker 1: the neighboring village of Sandy Hill to consult Henry bay
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  Speaker 1: Be Northup and obtain his advice and assistance in the matter.
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  Speaker 1: Upon examination, that gentleman found among the statutes of the
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  Speaker 1: State an Act providing for the Recovery of free citizens
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  Speaker 1: from slavery. It was past May fourteenth, eighteen forty, and
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  Speaker 1: is entitled and act more effectually to protect the free
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  Speaker 1: citizens of this State from being kidnapped or reduced to slavery.
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  Speaker 1: It provides that it shall be the duty of the Governor,
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  Speaker 1: upon the receipt of satisfactory information that any free citizen
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  Speaker 1: or inhabitants of this State is wrongfully held in another
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  Speaker 1: state or territory of the United States, upon the allegation
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  Speaker 1: or pretense that such person is a slave, or, by
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  Speaker 1: colour of any usage or rule of law, is deemed
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  Speaker 1: or taken to be a slave, to take such measures
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  Speaker 1: to procure the restoration of such person to liberty as
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  Speaker 1: he shall deem necessary, and to that end, he is
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  Speaker 1: authorized to appoint and employ an agent, and directed to
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  Speaker 1: furnish him with such credentials and instructions as will be
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  Speaker 1: likely to accomplish the object of his appointment. It requires
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  Speaker 1: the agent so appointed to proceed to collect the proper
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  Speaker 1: proof to establish the right of such person to his freedom,
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  Speaker 1: to perform such journeys, take such measures, institute such legal proceedings, etc.
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  Speaker 1: As may be necessary, to return such person to this state,
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  Speaker 1: and charges all expenses incurred in carrying the act into
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  Speaker 1: effect upon monies not otherwise appropriated in the treasury see
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  Speaker 1: Appendix A. It was necessary to establish two facts to
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  Speaker 1: the satisfaction of the Governor, first that I was a
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  Speaker 1: free citizen of New York, and secondly, that I was
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  Speaker 1: wrongfully held in bondage. As to the first point, there
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  Speaker 1: was no difficulty or the older inhabitants in the vicinity
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  Speaker 1: being ready to testify to it. The second point rested
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  Speaker 1: entirely upon the letter to Parker and Perry, written in
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  Speaker 1: an unknown hand, and upon the letter penned on board
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  Speaker 1: the brig or Leans, which unfortunately had been mislaid or lost.
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  Speaker 1: A memorial was prepared, directed to his excellency, Governor Hunt,
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  Speaker 1: setting forth her marriage, my departure to Washington City, the
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  Speaker 1: receipt of the letters, that I was a free citizen,
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  Speaker 1: and such other facts as were deemed important, and was
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  Speaker 1: signed and verified by Anne. Accompanying this memorial were several
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  Speaker 1: affidavits of prominent citizens of Sandy Hill and Fort Edward
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  Speaker 1: corroborating fully the statements it contained, and also a request
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  Speaker 1: of several well known gentlemen to the Governor that Henry B.
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  Speaker 1: Northup be appointed agent under the Legislative Act. On reading
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  Speaker 1: the memorial and affidavits, his Excellency took a lively interest
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  Speaker 1: in the matter, and on the twenty third day of
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  Speaker 1: November eighteen fifty two, under the Seal of the State
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  Speaker 1: constituted appointed and employed Henry B. North Of esquire an
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  Speaker 1: agent with full power to affect my restoration Anne to
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  Speaker 1: take such measures as would be most likely to accomplish it,
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  Speaker 1: and instructing him to proceed to Louisiana with all convenient
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  Speaker 1: dispatch see Appendix B. The pressing nature of mister Northup's
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  Speaker 1: professional and political engagements delayed his departure until December. On
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  Speaker 1: the fourteenth day of that month, he left Sandy Hill
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  Speaker 1: and proceeded to Washington. The Honorable Pierre Soulay, Senator in
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  Speaker 1: Congress from Louisiana. Honorable Mister Conrad, Secretary of War, and
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  Speaker 1: Judge Nelson of the Supreme Court of the United States,
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  Speaker 1: upon hearing a statement of the facts and examining his
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  Speaker 1: commission and certified copies of the memorial and affidavits, furnished
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  Speaker 1: him with open letters to gentlemen in Louisiana, strongly urging
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  Speaker 1: their assistance in accomplishing the object of his appointment. Senator
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  Speaker 1: Soulay especially interested himself in the matter, insisting in forcible
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  Speaker 1: language that it was the duty and interest of every
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  Speaker 1: planter in his state to aid in restoring me to freedom,
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  Speaker 1: and trusted the sentiments of honor and justice in the
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  Speaker 1: bosom of every citizen of the Commonwealth would enlist him
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  Speaker 1: at once in my behalf. Having obtained these valuable letters,
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  Speaker 1: mister Northup returned to Baltimore and proceeded from thence to Pittsburgh.
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  Speaker 1: It was his original intention, under advice of friends at Washington,
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  Speaker 1: to go directly to New Orleans and consult the authorities
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  Speaker 1: of that city providentially. However, on arriving at the mouth
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  Speaker 1: of Red River, he changed his mind. Had he continued on,
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  Speaker 1: he would not have met with Bass, in which case
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  Speaker 1: the search for me would probably have been fruitless. Taking
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  Speaker 1: passage on the first steamer that arrived, he pursued his
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  Speaker 1: journey up Red River, a sluggish, winding stream flowing through
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  Speaker 1: a vast region of primitive forests and impenetrable swamps, or
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  Speaker 1: most wholly destitute of inhabitants. About nine o'clock in the
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  Speaker 1: forenoon January first, eighteen fifty three, he left the steamboat
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  Speaker 1: at Marksville and proceeded directly to Marksville Courthouse, a small
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  Speaker 1: village four miles in the interior. From the fact that
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  Speaker 1: the letter to Messrs Parker and Perry was postmarked at Marksville,
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  Speaker 1: it was supposed by him that I was in that
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  Speaker 1: place or its immediate vicinity. On reaching this town, he
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  Speaker 1: at once laid his business before the Honorable John P. Waddill,
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  Speaker 1: a legal gentleman of distinction and a man of fine
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  Speaker 1: genius and most noble impulses. After reading the letters and
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  Speaker 1: documents presented him, and listening to a representation of the
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  Speaker 1: circumstances under which I had been carried away into captivity,
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  Speaker 1: mister Waddill at once proffered his services and entered into
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  Speaker 1: the affair with great zeal and earnestness. He, in common
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  Speaker 1: with others of like elevated character, looked upon the kidnapper
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  Speaker 1: with abhorrence. The title of his fellow parishioners and clients
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  Speaker 1: to the property which constituted the larger proportion of their wealth,
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  Speaker 1: not only depended upon the good faith in which slave
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  Speaker 1: sales were transacted, but he was a man in whose
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  Speaker 1: honorable heart emotions of indignation were aroused by such an
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  Speaker 1: instance of injustice. Marksville, although occupying a prominent position and
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  Speaker 1: standing out in impressive italics on the map of Louisiana,
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  Speaker 1: is in fact but a small and insignificant hamlet. Aside
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  Speaker 1: from the tavern kept by a jolly and generous boniface,
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  Speaker 1: the courthouse inhabited by lawless cows and swine in the
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  Speaker 1: seasons of vacation, and a high gallows with its dissevered
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  Speaker 1: rope dangling in the air, there is little to attract
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  Speaker 1: the attention of the stranger. Solomon Northup was a name
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  Speaker 1: mister Waddill had never heard, but he was confident that
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  Speaker 1: if there was a slave bearing that appellation in Marksville
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  Speaker 1: or Vicinity, his black boy Tom would know him. Tom
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  Speaker 1: was accordingly called, but in all his extensive circle of acquaintances,
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  Speaker 1: there was no such personage. The letter to Parker and
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  Speaker 1: Perry was dated at bay U birth at this place, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: the conclusion was, I must be sought, But here a
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  Speaker 1: difficulty suggested itself of a very grave character. Indeed, by you.
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  Speaker 1: Birth at its nearest point was twenty three miles distant,
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  Speaker 1: and was the name applied to the section of country
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  Speaker 1: extending between fifty and one hundred miles on both sides
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  Speaker 1: of that stream. Thousands and thousands of slaves resided upon
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  Speaker 1: its shores, the remarkable richness and fertility of the soil
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  Speaker 1: having attracted thither a great number of planters. The information
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  Speaker 1: in the letter was so vague and indefinite as to
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  Speaker 1: render it difficult to conclude upon any specific course of proceeding.
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  Speaker 1: It was finally determined, however, as the only plan that
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  Speaker 1: presented any prospect of success, that Northup and the brother
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  Speaker 1: of Waddill, a student in the office of the latter,
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  Speaker 1: would repair to the Bayou, and, traveling up one side
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  Speaker 1: and down the other its whole length, inquire at each
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  Speaker 1: plantation for me. Mister Waddile tendered the use of his
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  Speaker 1: can carriage, and it was definitely arranged that they should
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  Speaker 1: start upon the excursion early Monday morning. It will be
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  Speaker 1: seen at once that this course, in all probability, would
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  Speaker 1: have resulted unsuccessfully. It would have been impossible for them
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  Speaker 1: to have gone into the fields and examine all the
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  Speaker 1: gangs at work. They were not aware that I was
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  Speaker 1: known only as Platt, and had they inquired of Epps himself,
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  Speaker 1: he would have stated truly that he knew nothing of
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  Speaker 1: Solomon Northup. The arrangement being adopted, however, there was nothing
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  Speaker 1: further to be done until Sunday had elapsed. The conversation
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  Speaker 1: between Messrs north Up and Waddill, in the course of
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  Speaker 1: the afternoon, turned upon New York politics. I can scarcely
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  Speaker 1: comprehend the nice distinctions and shades of political parties in
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  Speaker 1: your state, observed mister Waddle. I read of soft shells
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  Speaker 1: and hard shells, hunkers and barn burners, wooly heads and
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  Speaker 1: silver grays, and am unable to understand the precise difference
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  Speaker 1: between the pray what is it? Mister Northup, refilling his pipe,
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  Speaker 1: entered into quite an elaborate narrative of the origin of
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  Speaker 1: the various sections of parties, and concluded by saying, there
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  Speaker 1: was another party in New York known as free soilers
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  Speaker 1: or abolitionists. You have seen none of those in this
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  Speaker 1: part of the country, I presume, mister Northup remarked, never
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  Speaker 1: but one, answered Waddill laughingly, we have one here in Marksville,
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  Speaker 1: an eccentric creature who preaches abolitionism, as vehemently as any
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  Speaker 1: fanatic at the North. He is a generous, inoffensive man,
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  Speaker 1: but always maintaining the wrong side of an argument. It
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  Speaker 1: affords us a great deal of amusement. He is an
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  Speaker 1: excellent mechanic and almost indispensable in this community. He's a carpenter.
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  Speaker 1: His name is Bass. Some further good natured conversation was
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  Speaker 1: had at the expense of Bass's peculiarities, when Waddill All
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  Speaker 1: at once fell into a reflective mood. And as for
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  Speaker 1: the mysterious letter again, let me see, let me see,
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  Speaker 1: he repeated thoughtfully to himself, running his eyes over the
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  Speaker 1: letter once more. By you Birth August fifteen. August fifteen,
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  Speaker 1: postmarked here he that is writing for me. Where did
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  Speaker 1: Bass work last summer? He inquired, turning suddenly to his brother.
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  Speaker 1: His brother was unable to inform him, but Rising left
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  Speaker 1: the office and soon returned with the intelligence that Bass
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  Speaker 1: worked last summer somewhere on by you birth. He is
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  Speaker 1: the man bringing down his hand emphatically on the table.
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  Speaker 1: Who can tell us all about Solomon Northup, exclaimed Waddile.
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  Speaker 1: Bass was immediately searched for, but could not be found.
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  Speaker 1: After some inquiry, it was ascertained he was at the
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  Speaker 1: landing on Red River procuring a conveyance. Young Waddile and
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  Speaker 1: Northup were not long in traversing the few miles to
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  Speaker 1: the latter place. On their arrival, Bass was found just
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  Speaker 1: on the point of leaving to be absent a fortnight
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  Speaker 1: or more. After an introduction, Northup begged the privilege of
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  Speaker 1: speaking to him privately. A moment they walked together towards
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  Speaker 1: the river, when the following conversation ensued. Mister Bass said, Northup,
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  Speaker 1: allow me to ask you if you are on by
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  Speaker 1: you birth last August. Yes, sir, I was there in August.
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  Speaker 1: Was the reply. Did you write a letter for a
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  Speaker 1: colored man at that place to some gentleman in Saratoga Springs.
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  Speaker 1: Excuse me, sir if I say that is none of
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  Speaker 1: your business, answered Bass, stopping and looking his interrogator searchingly
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  Speaker 1: in the face. Perhaps I am rather hasty, mister Bass.
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  Speaker 1: I beg your pardon, but I have come from the
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  Speaker 1: state of New York to accomplish the purpose the writer
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  Speaker 1: of a letter dated the fifteenth of August, postmarked at Marksville,
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  Speaker 1: had in view. Circumstances have led me to think that
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  Speaker 1: you are perhaps the man who wrote it. I am
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  Speaker 1: in search of Solomon Northup. If you know him, I
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  Speaker 1: beg you to inform me frankly where he is, and
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  Speaker 1: I assure you the source of any information you may
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  Speaker 1: give me shall not be divulged if you desire it
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  Speaker 1: not to be. A long time Bass looked his new
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  Speaker 1: acquaintance steadily in the eyes, without opening his lips. He
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  Speaker 1: seemed to be doubting in his own mind if there
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  Speaker 1: was not an attempt to practice some deception upon him. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: he said, deliberately, I have done nothing to be ashamed of.
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  Speaker 1: I am the man who wrote the letter. If you
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  Speaker 1: have come to rescue Solomon Northup, I am glad to
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  Speaker 1: see you. When did you last see him? And where
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  Speaker 1: is he? Northup inquired? I last saw him Christmas a
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  Speaker 1: week ago. Today. He is the slave of Edwin Epps,
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  Speaker 1: a planter on by U birth near Holmesville. He is
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  Speaker 1: not known as Solomon Northup. He is called Platt. The
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  Speaker 1: secret was out. The mystery was unraveled. Through the thick
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  Speaker 1: black cloud. Amid whose dark and dismal shadows I had
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  Speaker 1: walked twelve years, broke the star that was to light
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  Speaker 1: me back to liberty. All mistrust and hesitation were soon
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  Speaker 1: thrown aside, and the two men conversed long and freely
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  Speaker 1: upon the subject uppermost in their thoughts. Bass expressed the
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  Speaker 1: interest he had taken in my behalf, his intention of
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  Speaker 1: going north in the spring, and declaring that he had
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  Speaker 1: resolved to accomplish my emancipation if it were in his power.
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  Speaker 1: He described the commencement and progress of his acquaintance with me,
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  Speaker 1: and listened with eager curiosity to the account given him
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  Speaker 1: of my family and the history of my early life.
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  Speaker 1: Before separating, he drew a map of the Bayou on
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  Speaker 1: a strip of paper with a piece of red chalk,
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  Speaker 1: showing the locality of EPP's plantation and the road leading
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  Speaker 1: most directly to it. Northup and his young companion returned
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  Speaker 1: to Marksville, where it was determined to commence legal proceedings
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  Speaker 1: to test the question of my right to freedom. I
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  Speaker 1: was made plaintive, Missed Northup, acting as my guardian and
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  Speaker 1: Edwin EPP's defendant. The process to be issued was in
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  Speaker 1: the nature of Replevin directed to the sheriff of the parish,
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  Speaker 1: commanding him to take me into custody and detain me
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  Speaker 1: until the decision of the court. By the time the
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  Speaker 1: papers were duly drawn up, it was twelve o'clock at night,
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  Speaker 1: too late to obtain the necessary signature of the judge,
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  Speaker 1: who resided some distance out of town. Further business was
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  Speaker 1: therefore suspended until Monday morning. Everything apparently was moving along
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  Speaker 1: swimmingly until Sunday afternoon, when Waddill called at Northup's room
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  Speaker 1: to express his apprehension of difficulties they had not expected
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  Speaker 1: to encounter. Bass had become alarmed and had placed his
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: affairs in the hands of a person at the landing,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: communicating to him his intention of leaving the state. This
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: person had betrayed the confidence reposed in him to a
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  Speaker 1: certain extent, and a rumor began to float about the
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  Speaker 1: town that the stranger at the hotel, who had been
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: observed in the company of lawyer Waddill, was after one
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  Speaker 1: of Old Epps's slaves over on the Bayoux. Epps was
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  Speaker 1: known at Marksville, having frequent occasion to visit that place
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  Speaker 1: during the session of the courts, and the fear entertained
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  Speaker 1: by mister Northup's adviser was that intelligence would be conveyed
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  Speaker 1: to him in the night, giving him an opportunity of
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  Speaker 1: secreting me before the arrival of the sheriff. This apprehension
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: had the effect of expediting matters considerably. The sheriff, who
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: lived in one direction from the village, was requested to
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: hold himself in readiness immediately after midnight, while the judge
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  Speaker 1: was informed he would be called upon at the same time.
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  Speaker 1: It is but justice to say that the authorities at
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  Speaker 1: Marksville cheerfully rendered all the assistance in their power as
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: soon after midnight as bail could be perfected and the
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  Speaker 1: judge's signature obtained. A carriage containing mister Northup and the Sheriff,
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  Speaker 1: driven by the landlord's son, rolled rapidly out of the
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  Speaker 1: village of Marksville on the road towards by u Birth.
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  Speaker 1: It was supposed that Epps would contest the issue involving
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  Speaker 1: my right to liberty, and it therefore suggested itself to
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: mister Northup that the testimony of the sheriff describing my
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: first meeting with the former might perhaps become material on
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: the trial. It was accordingly arranged during the ride that
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: before I had an opportunity of speaking to mister Northup,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: the sheriff should propound to me certain questions agreed upon
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: such as the number and names of my children, the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: name of my wife before marriage, of places I knew
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: at the north, and so forth. If my answers corresponded
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: with the statements given him, the evidence must necessarily be
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: considered conclusive at length. Shortly after Epps had left the
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: field with the consoling assurance that he would soon return
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: and warm us, as was stated in the conclusion of
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: the preceding chapter, they came in sight of the plantation
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: and discovered us at work, alighting from the carriage and
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: directing the driver to proceed to the Great House, with
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  Speaker 1: instructions not to mention to anyone the object of their
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: errand until they met again north up and the sheriff
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  Speaker 1: turned from the highway and came towards us across the
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: cotton field. We observed them on looking up at the carriage,
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  Speaker 1: one several rods in advance of the other. It was
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: a singular and unusual thing to see white men approaching
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: us in that manner, and especially at that early hour
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: in the morning, And Uncle Abram and Patsy made some
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: remarks expressive of their astonishment. Walking up to Bob, the
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: sheriff inquired, where's the boy? They call Platt. There he is, Massa,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: answered Bob, pointing to me and twitching off his hat.
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  Speaker 1: I wondered to myself what business he could possibly have
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  Speaker 1: with me, and, turning round, gazed at him until he
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: had approached within a step. During my long residence on
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: the bayou, I had become familiar with the face of
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: every planter within many miles. But this man was an
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: utter stranger. Certainly I had never seen him before. Your
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: name is Platt, is it? He asked, Yes, Master, I responded,
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  Speaker 1: pointing towards north. Up Standing a few rods distant, he demanded,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: do you know that man? I looked in the direction indicated,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: and as my eyes rested on his countenance, a world
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: of images thronged my brain. A multitude of well known faces,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Anne's and the dear children's, and my old dead father's,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: all the scenes and associations of childhood and youth, all
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: the friends of other and happier days, appeared and disappeared,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: flitting and floating like dissolving shadows before the vision of
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: my imagination, until at last the perfect memory of the
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: man recurred to me, and, throwing up my hands towards heaven,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: I exclaimed, in a voice louder than I could utter
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: in a less exciting moment, Henry B. Northup, Thank God,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Thank God. In an instant, I comprehended the nature of
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: his business and felt that the hour of myne my
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: deliverance was at hand. I started towards him, but the
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Sheriff's stepped before me. Stop a moment, said he have
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: you any other name than Platt? Solomon Northup? Is my name? Master,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: I replied, Have you a family? He inquired? I had
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: a wife and three children. What were your children's names, Elizabeth,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Margaret and Alonzo? And your wife's name before her marriage,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Anne Hampton? Who married you? Timothy Eddy of Fort Edward.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Where does that gentleman live again, pointing to north Up,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: who remained standing in the same place where I had
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: first recognized him. He lives in Sandy Hill, Washington County,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: New York, was the reply. He was proceeding to ask
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: further questions, but I pushed past him. Unable longer to
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: restrain myself, I seized my old acquaintance by both hands.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I could not speak, I could not refrain from tears. Saul,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: he said, at length, I'm glad to see you, I essayed,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: to make some answer, but emotion choked all utterance, and
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: I was silent. The slaves, utterly confounded, stood gazing upon
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: the scene, their opening mouths and rolling eyes indicating the
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: utmost wonder and astonishment. For ten years I had dwelt
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: among them, in the field and in the cabin, born
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: the same hardships, partaken the same fare, mingled my griefs
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: with theirs, participated in the same scanty joys. Nevertheless, not
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: until this hour, the last I was to remain among them,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: had the remotest suspicion of my true name, or the
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: slightest knowledge of my real history been entertained by any
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: one of them. Not a word was spoken for several minutes,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: during which time I clung fast to Northup, looking up
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: into his face, fearful I should awake and find it
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: all a dream. Throw down that sack. Northup added, finally,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: your cotton picking days are over come with us, to
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: the man you live. I obeyed him, and, walking between
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: him and the sheriff, we moved towards the Great House.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: It was not until we had proceeded some distance that
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: I had recovered my voice sufficiently to ask if my
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: family were all living He informed me he had seen Anne, Margaret,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: and Elizabeth but a short time previously, that Alonzo was
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: also living, and all were well. My mother, however, I
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: could never see again. As I began to recover in
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: some measure from the sudden and great excitement which so
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: overwhelmed me, I grew faint and weak in so much
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: it was with difficulty I could walk. The sheriff took
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: hold of my arm and assisted me, or I think
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: I should have fallen. As we entered the yard, Epps
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: stood by the gate, conversing with the driver. That young man,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: faithful to his instructions, was entirely unable to give him
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the least information in answer to his repeated inquiries of
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: what was going on. By the time we reached him,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: he was almost as much amazed and puzzled as Bob
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: or Uncle Abram. Shaking hands with the sheriff and receiving
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: an introduction to mister Northup, he invited them into the house,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: ordering me at the same time to bring in some wood.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: It was some time before I succeeded in cutting an armful,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: having somehow unaccountably lost the power of wielding the axe
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: with any manner of precision. When I entered with it.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: At last, the table was strewn with papers, from one
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: of which Northup was reading. I was probably longer than
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: necessity required in placing the sticks upon the fire, being
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: particular as to the exact position of each individual one
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: of them. I heard the words the said Solomon Northup,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: and the opponent further says, and free citizen of New
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: York repeated frequently, and from these expressions understood that the
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: secret I had so long retained from Master and Mistress
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Epps was finally developing. I lingered as long as prudence permitted,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: and was about leaving the room when epsongs platt. Do
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: you know this gentleman? Yes, Master, I replied, I have
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: known him as long as I can remember. Where does
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: he live? He lives in New York. Did you ever
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: live there? Yes, Master, born and bred there, you was free?
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Then now you damned nigger, he exclaimed, Why did you
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: not tell me that when I bought you, Master Epps,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: I answered, in a somewhat different tone than the one
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: in which I had been accustomed to address him, Master Epps,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: you did not take the trouble to ask me. Besides,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: I told one of my owners, the man that kidnapped me,
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: that I was free, and was whipped almost to death
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: for it. It seems there's been a letter written for
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: you by somebody. Now, who is it, he demanded authoritatively.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: I made no reply. I say who wrote that letter?
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: He demanded again. Perhaps I wrote it myself? I said,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: you haven't been to Marksville Post Office and back before light?
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I know he is insisted upon my informing him, and
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: I insisted I would not. He made many vehement threats
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: against the man, whoever he might be, and intimated the
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: bloody and savage vengeance he would reek upon him when
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: he found him out. His whole manner and language exhibited
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: a feeling of anger towards the unknown person who had
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: written for me, and of fretfulness at the idea of
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: losing so much property. Addressing mister Northup, he swore, if
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: he had only had an hour's notice of his coming,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: he would have saved him the trouble of taking me
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: back to New York, that he would have run me
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: into the swamp or some other place out of the
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: way where all the sheriffs on earth couldn't have found me.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: I walked out into the yard and was entering the
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: kitchen door, when something struck me in the back, and Phoebe,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: emerging from the back door of the Great House with
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: a pan of potatoes, had thrown one of them with
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: unnecessary violence, thereby giving me to understand that she wished
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: to speak to me. A moment confidentially running up to me,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: she whispered in my ear with great earnestness, Laura, mighty plat,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: what do you think them two men come after you
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: heard them? Tell Massa you free got wife and three
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: children back there where you come from. Go in with them, fool,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: if you don't wish I could go, and Aunt Phoebe
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: ran on in this manner at a rapid rate. Presently
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Mistress Epps made her appearance in the kitchen. She said
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: many things to me, and wondered why I had not
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: told her who I was. She expressed her regret, complimenting
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: me by saying she had rather lose any other servant
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: on the plantation. Had Patsy that day stood in my place,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: the measure of my mistress joy would have overflowed. Now
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: there was no one left who could mend a chair
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: or a piece of furniture, no one who was of
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: any use about the house, No one who could play
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: for her on the violin, and Mistress Epps was actually
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: affected to tears. Epps had called to Bob to bring
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: up his saddle horse. The other slaves, also overcoming their
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: fear of the penalty, had left their work and come
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: to the yard. They were standing behind the cabins, out
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: of sight of Epps. They beckoned me to come to them, and,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: with all the eagerness of curiosity, excited to the highest pitch,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: conversed with and questioned me if I could repeat the
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: exact words they uttered with the same emphasis, if I
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: could paint their several attitudes and the expression of their countenances,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: it would be indeed an interesting picture. In their estimation,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: I had suddenly arisen to an immeasurable height, had become
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: a being of immense importance. The legal papers having been
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: served and arrangements made with Epps to meet them the
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: next day at Marksville, North Up and the sheriff entered
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: the carriage to return to the latter place. As I
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: was about mounting to the driver's seat, the sheriff said,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: I ought to bid mister and missus Epps goodbye. I
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: ran back to the piazza where they were standing and
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: taking off my hat, said goodbye missus. Goodbye, Platt, said
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: missus Epps kindly goodbye. Master. Ugh, you dan't nigger, muttered Epps,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: in a surly malicious tone of voice. You needn't feel
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: so cussed tickled. You ain't gone yet. I'll see about
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: this business at Marksville tomorrow. I was only a nigger
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: and knew my place, but felt as strongly as if
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: I had been a white man, that it would have
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: been an inward comfort had I dared to have given
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: him a parting kick. On my way back to the carriage,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: Patsy ran from behind a cabin and threw her arms
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: about my neck. Oh, Platt, she cried, tears streaming down
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: her face. You're going to be free. You're going way
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: off yonder where we'll never see you anymore. You've saved
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: me a good many whippings. Plat. I'm glad you're going
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: to be free. But oh, dear lord, dear lord, what'll
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: become of me? I disengaged myself from her and entered
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: the carriage. The driver cracked his whip and away we rolled.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Looked back and saw Patsy, with drooping head half reclining
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: on the ground. Missus Epps was on the piazza. Uncle
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Abram and Bob, and Wiley and ant Phoebe stood by
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: the gate, gazing after me. I waved my hand, but
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: the carriage turned a bend of the bayou, hiding them
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: from my eyes forever. We stopped a moment at Carey's
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: sugar House, where a great number of slaves were at work,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: such an establishment being a curiosity to a northern man.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Epps dashed by us on horseback at full speed, on
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: the way, as we learned, next day, to the pine
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Woods to see William Ford, who had brought me into
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: the country. Tuesday, the fourth of January, Epps and his council,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: the Honorable H. Taylor Northup, Waddill, the Judge and Sheriff
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: of avoyel and myself met in a room in the
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: village of Marksville. Mister Northup stated the facts in regard
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: to me and presented his commission and the affidavits accompanying it.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: The sheriff described the scene in the cotton field. I
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: was also interrogated at great length. Finally, mister Taylor assured
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: his clients that he was satisfied and that litigation would
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: not only be expensive but utterly useless. In accordance with
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: his advice, a paper was drawn up and signed by
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the proper parties, wherein EPs acknowledged he was satisfied of
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: my right of freedom, and formally surrendered me to the
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: authorities of New York. It was also stipulated that it
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: be entered of record in the Recorder's Office of avoyel
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: see Appendix C. Mister Northup and myself immediately hastened to
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: the landing, and taking passage on the first steamer that arrived,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: were soon floating down Red River, Up which, with such
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: desponding thoughts, I had been born twelve years before end
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: of Chapter twenty one.