July 25, 2025 • 9 mins
Delve into the captivating life of an American Bondman, as lovingly presented by his daughter, Josephine Brown. This biography not only revisits the significant experiences documented in her fathers own narratives, but also introduces fresh anecdotes and her unique perspective on his life. While the book draws heavily from previously published autobiographical accounts, it is enriched by a narrative style brimming with humor and wit. As observed by Andrews, the biographys exceptional contribution to the legacy of William Wells Brown is the insights it provides into the rhetorical strategies employed by both father and daughter in their united stand against slavery.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seven and eight of Biography of an American Bondman
by his Daughter by Josephine Brown. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Chapter seven, give me my child,
a mother cried, my sweet, my lovely boy, give me
(00:21):
my child. The rocks replied, or else my life destroy.
Want of money induced doctor Young to hire William out again,
and this time the young slave was placed in the
hands of Walker, the Negro trader of whom we have
made mention in a preceding chapter. This speculator had noticed
(00:42):
William's activity and usefulness as a waiter on the steamboat,
and being always on the lookout for valuable slaves, called
on Doctor Young and offered a high price for the
peace of property. The doctor, however, declined selling, whereupon the trader,
wanting a man too after his slaves that he took
to market, resolved to hire William for the period of
(01:05):
one year, with the hope of buying him at the
expiration of the term. Walker was an uncouth, ill bred
man with little or no education. Before embarking as a
Negro driver, he had been a dray driver in Saint Louis,
and had earned by his own hard labor the capital
with which he commenced in trade. Money was the only
(01:27):
god he worshiped, and he knelt at no altar, but
that erected at the expense of suffering humanity. William shuddered
at the idea of having such a man for a master,
but there was no alternative. In no situation could he
have been placed to give him an opportunity of witnessing
more scenes of cruelty and outrage than this. The trader
(01:50):
had a number of slaves on hand, and immediately prepared
to start with his human cattle for the New Orleans market.
Between sixty and seventy men and women chained in pairs
with here and there a mother with a young child
unchained made up the first coffel. The speculator advertised in
(02:11):
the Natchez, Vicksburg and the New Orleans papers that he
would be there at a given time with a lot
of healthy negroes between fifteen and twenty five years of age.
He seldom, however, took down a gang of slaves without
having some who were further advanced in years. Soon after
leaving Saint Louis, William had to commence preparing the slaves
(02:33):
for the market. The old men's gray hairs were plucked
from their heads and their whiskers shaved off clean, and
where the white hairs were too numerous, hair dye was
used to bring about the desired color. These old men
and women were also told how old they were to
be when undergoing an examination by those who might wish
(02:54):
to purchase. Not less than four lots of slaves were
purchased by the monster in human shape and resolved further
south during the year that William was with this soul driver.
On the arrival of the trader at New Orleans with
his merchandise, swarms of planters and small speculators might be
(03:15):
seen making their way to mister Walker's slave penn. Once,
when marching his gang of slaves from Saint Charles to
Saint Louis by Land, the trader had among them a
woman with a sick child, which cried during the most
of the first day. Walker repeatedly told the mother if
she did not stop the child, he would. On the
(03:36):
second morning, as they were leaving the tavern where they
had put up overnight, the infant again commenced crying. The
speculator at once took the child from its mother's arms,
turned to the landlady, who was standing in the doorway,
and said, here, madam, permit me to present this little
nigger to you. It makes such a noise that it
affects my nerves. The landlady received the babe from the
(03:59):
hand of the Negro trader with a smile and said,
I'm exceedingly obliged to you, sir. Indeed, I take this
present as a token of your kindness and generosity. Frantic
with grief, the mother fell upon her knees before the
inhuman trader and besought him to give her back her child,
promising that she would keep it from crying. Walker bade
(04:21):
the woman returned to the gang with the other slaves,
or he would flog her severely. But not until the
heavy Negro whip was applied to her shoulders did the
almost heartbroken mother leave her dear little child. A few
days after, and while on the steamer going to the
New Orleans market, this outraged American woman threw herself from
(04:42):
the deck of the boat into the waters of the Mississippi,
never to rise again. This heartless, cruel, ungodly man, who
neither loved his maker nor feared Satan, was a fair
representative of thousands of demons in human form that are
in gaged in buying and selling God's children. The more
(05:03):
William saw of slavery while with Walker, the more he
hated it and determined to free himself from its chains.
The love of freedom is a sentiment natural to the
human heart, and the want of it is felt by
him who does not possess it. He feels it a reproach,
and with this sting this wounded pride, hating degradation and
looking forward to the cravings of the heart. The enslaved
(05:25):
is always on the alert for an opportunity to escape
from his oppressors and to avenge his wrongs. What greater
injury and indignity can be offered to man than to
make him the bond slave of his fellow man. End
of chapter seven, Chapter eight, The hounds are baying on
(05:47):
my track, Oh Christian, do not send me back. After
a year spent in the employment of the slave driver Walker,
William was sent home to his master, where new scenes
were open to him. Although hard pressed for money, doctor
Young declined selling William to the slave speculator, for he,
no doubt had some conscientious scruples against allowing his young
(06:10):
kinsman to be taken to the cotton fields of the
far south. He therefore gave his nephew a note permitting
him to find a purchaser who would pay five hundred
dollars for him. With this document, the young slaves set
out for Saint Louis, about four miles distant from the farm. Elizabeth,
William's sister, who had been sold a few days previous,
(06:32):
was still in the Saint Louis jail, and on arriving
in the city, his first impulse was to visit her,
to whom he was tenderly attached. He called at the prison, and,
after being twice refused admission, succeeded in seeing his sister
for the last time. She was sold to a slave
trader and taken to the southern market, and was never
(06:52):
heard of again by William. From the jail, the poor
young slave went to his mother and persuaded her to
fly with him to Canada. Was scarcely food enough for
three days. William and his mother crossed the river one
dark night and started for a land of freedom with
no guide but the North Star. Again and again they
looked back at the lights as they wended their way
(07:14):
from the city. Not knowing whether they would succeed in
their arduous undertaking or be arrested and taken back. They
well knew that the runaway slave could find no sympathy
from the people of Illinois, and therefore did not travel
during the day. Night after night did these two fugitives
come out of their hiding place, and, with renewed vigor,
(07:35):
whend their way northward. No one can imagine how wearily
the hours passed during the days they remained in the woods,
waiting for night to overshadow them. Most truly has the
poet entered into the slave's feelings when he says, Star
of the North, while blazing day pours round me its
full tide of light and hides thy pale but faithful ray,
(07:58):
I too lie hid and long for night. The anxiety
of the fugitives may be conceived from the following remarks
of mister Brown in his published narrative. As we traveled
towards a land of liberty, my heart would at times
leap for joy. At other times, being as I was
almost continually on my feet, I felt as though I
(08:20):
could go no further. But when I thought of slavery,
with its democratic negro whips, its republican chains, its well
trained bloodhounds, its pious evangelical slaveholders. When I thought of
all this American hypocrisy, false democracy and religion behind me,
and the prospect of liberty before me, I was encouraged
(08:43):
to press forward. My heart was strengthened, and I forgot
that I was either tired or hungry. But the fugitives
were not destined to realize their heart's fondest wishes. On
missing the runaways, this slaveholders put advertisements in the Saint
Louis newspapers, which had an extensive circulation in Illinois, besides
(09:05):
sending printed handbills by mail to the postmasters in the
towns through which it was expected the fugitives would pass.
On the tenth day, William and his mother determined to
travel by day, thinking that they were out of the
danger of being apprehended. They had, however, been on the
road but a short time when they were overtaken by
(09:27):
three men and arrested. None but one who has been
a slave and made the attempt to escape and failed
can at all enter into the feelings of the fugitive
who is caught and return to the doom from which
he supposed he had escaped. William and his mother were
carried back to Saint Louis and safely lodged in prison
(09:48):
until their masters should take them out. End of Chapter
eight
Chapter seven and eight of Biography of an American Bondman
by his Daughter by Josephine Brown. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Chapter seven, give me my child,
a mother cried, my sweet, my lovely boy, give me
(00:21):
my child. The rocks replied, or else my life destroy.
Want of money induced doctor Young to hire William out again,
and this time the young slave was placed in the
hands of Walker, the Negro trader of whom we have
made mention in a preceding chapter. This speculator had noticed
(00:42):
William's activity and usefulness as a waiter on the steamboat,
and being always on the lookout for valuable slaves, called
on Doctor Young and offered a high price for the
peace of property. The doctor, however, declined selling, whereupon the trader,
wanting a man too after his slaves that he took
to market, resolved to hire William for the period of
(01:05):
one year, with the hope of buying him at the
expiration of the term. Walker was an uncouth, ill bred
man with little or no education. Before embarking as a
Negro driver, he had been a dray driver in Saint Louis,
and had earned by his own hard labor the capital
with which he commenced in trade. Money was the only
(01:27):
god he worshiped, and he knelt at no altar, but
that erected at the expense of suffering humanity. William shuddered
at the idea of having such a man for a master,
but there was no alternative. In no situation could he
have been placed to give him an opportunity of witnessing
more scenes of cruelty and outrage than this. The trader
(01:50):
had a number of slaves on hand, and immediately prepared
to start with his human cattle for the New Orleans market.
Between sixty and seventy men and women chained in pairs
with here and there a mother with a young child
unchained made up the first coffel. The speculator advertised in
(02:11):
the Natchez, Vicksburg and the New Orleans papers that he
would be there at a given time with a lot
of healthy negroes between fifteen and twenty five years of age.
He seldom, however, took down a gang of slaves without
having some who were further advanced in years. Soon after
leaving Saint Louis, William had to commence preparing the slaves
(02:33):
for the market. The old men's gray hairs were plucked
from their heads and their whiskers shaved off clean, and
where the white hairs were too numerous, hair dye was
used to bring about the desired color. These old men
and women were also told how old they were to
be when undergoing an examination by those who might wish
(02:54):
to purchase. Not less than four lots of slaves were
purchased by the monster in human shape and resolved further
south during the year that William was with this soul driver.
On the arrival of the trader at New Orleans with
his merchandise, swarms of planters and small speculators might be
(03:15):
seen making their way to mister Walker's slave penn. Once,
when marching his gang of slaves from Saint Charles to
Saint Louis by Land, the trader had among them a
woman with a sick child, which cried during the most
of the first day. Walker repeatedly told the mother if
she did not stop the child, he would. On the
(03:36):
second morning, as they were leaving the tavern where they
had put up overnight, the infant again commenced crying. The
speculator at once took the child from its mother's arms,
turned to the landlady, who was standing in the doorway,
and said, here, madam, permit me to present this little
nigger to you. It makes such a noise that it
affects my nerves. The landlady received the babe from the
(03:59):
hand of the Negro trader with a smile and said,
I'm exceedingly obliged to you, sir. Indeed, I take this
present as a token of your kindness and generosity. Frantic
with grief, the mother fell upon her knees before the
inhuman trader and besought him to give her back her child,
promising that she would keep it from crying. Walker bade
(04:21):
the woman returned to the gang with the other slaves,
or he would flog her severely. But not until the
heavy Negro whip was applied to her shoulders did the
almost heartbroken mother leave her dear little child. A few
days after, and while on the steamer going to the
New Orleans market, this outraged American woman threw herself from
(04:42):
the deck of the boat into the waters of the Mississippi,
never to rise again. This heartless, cruel, ungodly man, who
neither loved his maker nor feared Satan, was a fair
representative of thousands of demons in human form that are
in gaged in buying and selling God's children. The more
(05:03):
William saw of slavery while with Walker, the more he
hated it and determined to free himself from its chains.
The love of freedom is a sentiment natural to the
human heart, and the want of it is felt by
him who does not possess it. He feels it a reproach,
and with this sting this wounded pride, hating degradation and
looking forward to the cravings of the heart. The enslaved
(05:25):
is always on the alert for an opportunity to escape
from his oppressors and to avenge his wrongs. What greater
injury and indignity can be offered to man than to
make him the bond slave of his fellow man. End
of chapter seven, Chapter eight, The hounds are baying on
(05:47):
my track, Oh Christian, do not send me back. After
a year spent in the employment of the slave driver Walker,
William was sent home to his master, where new scenes
were open to him. Although hard pressed for money, doctor
Young declined selling William to the slave speculator, for he,
no doubt had some conscientious scruples against allowing his young
(06:10):
kinsman to be taken to the cotton fields of the
far south. He therefore gave his nephew a note permitting
him to find a purchaser who would pay five hundred
dollars for him. With this document, the young slaves set
out for Saint Louis, about four miles distant from the farm. Elizabeth,
William's sister, who had been sold a few days previous,
(06:32):
was still in the Saint Louis jail, and on arriving
in the city, his first impulse was to visit her,
to whom he was tenderly attached. He called at the prison, and,
after being twice refused admission, succeeded in seeing his sister
for the last time. She was sold to a slave
trader and taken to the southern market, and was never
(06:52):
heard of again by William. From the jail, the poor
young slave went to his mother and persuaded her to
fly with him to Canada. Was scarcely food enough for
three days. William and his mother crossed the river one
dark night and started for a land of freedom with
no guide but the North Star. Again and again they
looked back at the lights as they wended their way
(07:14):
from the city. Not knowing whether they would succeed in
their arduous undertaking or be arrested and taken back. They
well knew that the runaway slave could find no sympathy
from the people of Illinois, and therefore did not travel
during the day. Night after night did these two fugitives
come out of their hiding place, and, with renewed vigor,
(07:35):
whend their way northward. No one can imagine how wearily
the hours passed during the days they remained in the woods,
waiting for night to overshadow them. Most truly has the
poet entered into the slave's feelings when he says, Star
of the North, while blazing day pours round me its
full tide of light and hides thy pale but faithful ray,
(07:58):
I too lie hid and long for night. The anxiety
of the fugitives may be conceived from the following remarks
of mister Brown in his published narrative. As we traveled
towards a land of liberty, my heart would at times
leap for joy. At other times, being as I was
almost continually on my feet, I felt as though I
(08:20):
could go no further. But when I thought of slavery,
with its democratic negro whips, its republican chains, its well
trained bloodhounds, its pious evangelical slaveholders. When I thought of
all this American hypocrisy, false democracy and religion behind me,
and the prospect of liberty before me, I was encouraged
(08:43):
to press forward. My heart was strengthened, and I forgot
that I was either tired or hungry. But the fugitives
were not destined to realize their heart's fondest wishes. On
missing the runaways, this slaveholders put advertisements in the Saint
Louis newspapers, which had an extensive circulation in Illinois, besides
(09:05):
sending printed handbills by mail to the postmasters in the
towns through which it was expected the fugitives would pass.
On the tenth day, William and his mother determined to
travel by day, thinking that they were out of the
danger of being apprehended. They had, however, been on the
road but a short time when they were overtaken by
(09:27):
three men and arrested. None but one who has been
a slave and made the attempt to escape and failed
can at all enter into the feelings of the fugitive
who is caught and return to the doom from which
he supposed he had escaped. William and his mother were
carried back to Saint Louis and safely lodged in prison
(09:48):
until their masters should take them out. End of Chapter
eight
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