FootNote
The new kid on the block, FootNote is known for digitizing historical
documents... many of which are genealogical gems. With naturalizations,
city directories, war records, newspapers, town records, etc... this new
kid is quickly being recognized as an alternative to Ancestry.
While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
The death of Dr. Morton, on the third day of
his illness, came like a shock upon his wife
and daughters. The corpse had scarcely been
committed to its mother earth before new and
unforeseen difficulties appeared to them. By
the laws of the Slave States, the children
follow the condition of their mother. If the
mother is free, the children are free; if a
slave, the children are slaves. Being
unacquainted with the Southern code, and no
one presuming that Marion had any Negro
blood in her veins, Dr. Morton had not given
the subject a single thought. The woman whom
he loved and regarded as his wife was, after
all, nothing more than a slave by the laws
of the State. What would have been his
feelings had he known that at his death his
wife and children would be considered as his
property? Yet such was the case. Like most
men of means at that time, Dr. Morton was
deeply engaged in speculation, and though
generally considered wealthy, was very much
involved in his business affairs.
After the disease with which Dr. Morton had
so suddenly died had to some extent
subsided, Mr. James Morton, a brother of the
deceased, went to New Orleans to settle up
the estate. On his arrival there, he was
pleased with and felt proud of his nieces,
and invited them to return with him to
Vermont, little dreaming that his brother
had married a slave, and that his widow and
daughters would be claimed as such. The
girls themselves had never heard that their
mother had been a slave, and therefore knew
nothing of the danger hanging over their
heads.
An inventory of the property of the deceased
was made out by Mr. Morton, and placed in
the hands of the creditors. These
preliminaries being arranged, the ladies,
with their relative, concluded to leave the
city and reside for a few days on the banks
of Lake Ponchartrain, where they could enjoy
a fresh air that the city did not afford. As
they were about taking the cars, however, an
officer arrested the whole party the ladies
as slaves, and the gentleman upon the charge
of attempting to conceal the property of his
deceased brother. Mr. Morton was overwhelmed
with horror at the idea of his nieces being
claimed as slaves, and asked for time, that
he might save them from such a fate. He even
offered to mortgage his little farm in
Vermont for the amount which young slave
women of their ages would fetch. But the
creditors pleaded that they were an "extra
article," and would sell for more than
common slaves, and must therefore be sold at
auction.
The uncle was therefore compelled to give
them up to the officers of the law, and they
were separated from him. Jane, the oldest of
the girls, as we have before mentioned, was
very handsome, bearing a close resemblance
to her cousin Clotelle. Alreka, though not
as handsome as her sister, was nevertheless
a beautiful girl, and both had all the
accomplishments that wealth and station
could procure.
Though only in her fifteen year, Alreka had
become strongly attached to Volney Lapie, a
young Frenchman, a student in her father's
office. This attachment was reciprocated,
although the poverty of the young man and
the extreme youth of the girl had caused
their feelings to be kept from the young
lady's parents.
The day of sale came, and Mr. Morton
attended, with the hope that either the
magnanimity of the creditors or his own
little farm in Vermont might save his nieces
from the fate that awaited them. His hope,
however, was in vain. The feelings of all
present seemed to be lost in the general
wish to become the possessor of the young
ladies, who stood trembling, blushing, and
weeping as the numerous throng gazed at
them, or as the intended purchaser examined
the graceful proportions of their fair and
beautiful frames. Neither the presence of
the uncle nor young Lapie could at all
lessen the gross language of the officers,
or stay the rude hands of those who wishes
to examine the property thus offered for
sale. After a fierce contest between the
bidders, the girls were sold, one for two
thousand three hundred, and the other for
two thousand three hundred and fifty
dollars. Had these girls been bought for
servants only, they would in all probability
have brought not more than nine hundred or a
thousand dollars each. Here were two
beautiful young girls, accustomed to the
fondest indulgence, surrounded by all the
refinements of life, and with the timidity
and gentleness which such a life would
naturally produce, bartered away like cattle
in the markets of Smithfield or New York.
The mother, who was also to have been sold,
happily followed her husband to the grave,
and was spared the pangs of a broken heart.
The purchaser of the young ladies left the
market in triumph, and the uncle, with a
heavy heart, started for his New England
home, with no earthly prospect of ever
beholding his nieces again.
The seizure of the young ladies as slaves
was the result of the administrator's having
found among Dr. Morton's papers the bill of
sale of Marion which he had taken when he
purchased her. He had doubtless intended to
liberate her when he married her, but had
neglected from time to time to have the
proper papers made out. Sad was the result
of this negligence.
Clotelle or The Colored Heroine, A tale
of the Southern States
