19 August 2010

Obituary: R. Holt Waterhouse, Jr.

Grandson
Richard Holt Waterhouse, Jr.
May 30, 1912
Jan 21, 1913
Macon Daily Telegraph
21 January 1913

DEATHS AND FUNERALS

R. HOLT WATERHOUSE, JR.

Following an illness of only a few days, R. Holt Waterhouse, Jr., the 7-month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Holt Waterhouse, died yesterday morning at 11:30 o'clock at the family residence on Ridge avenue, Crump's park. Friends of the parents extend sympathy to them.

The funeral will be held this morning at 10:30 o'clock from the residence, Rev. W. N. Ainsworth, pastor of the Mulberry Street Methodist church, officiating. Interment, Rose Hill cemetery.

16 August 2010

Little Child Found in a Lake

Macon Telegraph, Georgia
27 April 1902
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)

LITTLE CHILD FOUND IN A LAKE

Hanson Etheridge, the Little Son of Mrs. Dr. Etheridge, Has Narrow Escape From Death.


Little Hanson Etheridge, the 6-year-old son of Mrs. J. A. Etheridge, was found in the lake at Rose Hill cemetery yesterday afternoon, settling on the bottom to rise no more, the water being over his head. He was practically drowned when discovered, but he was drawn our of the water, and after a little more than a gallon of water had been shaken out of him signs of life returned, and he was sent home to his mother, where, at last accounts, he seemed safe from danger.

The little fellow was at the cemetery in charge of a friend of Mrs. Etheridge, and he got away from his party and strayed down to the lake. He was tempted by the wall around the lake, and he mounted this to walk on it, and lost his balance. Mr. J. S. McMurray happened to walk by the lake, crossing the ravine, and saw the little fellow's body settling towards the bottom, and he lost no time in dragging it out and calling for help.

14 August 2010

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond, Part IV (Finale)

[In 1872, thirteen years after the death of Joseph Bond, the following sketch was written as a "Letter to the Editor" to the Macon Weekly Telegraph by a friend of Mr. Bond. It is a very long article filled with much fluff I will break up into parts. It is an interesting read however, for a few reasons. The death of Mr. Bond was not natural, he was killed by an overseer from a neighboring plantation. This article tells of this incident while also speaking to the character of Mr. Bond and his relationship with his slaves. Go to Part I ~ Go to Part II ~ Go to Part III.]

Macon Weekly Telegraph
24 September 1872
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond [finale, Part IV]

"Cross Examination - Bond did not pause for a reply from prisoner. Witness does not think Brown had time to reply to Bond's remark about his whipping his negro. Brown was near the place he fell, after being struck, when he fired. Brown made no attempt to draw his pistol at the first or second blow given him. Witness was in the field near him and could have seen him if he had. Brown drew his pistol as he was getting up after receiving the third blow. Brown was in Beall's field attending to the hands who were at work -- he was overseeing for Beall. The place was across a lot of land from any public road. Bond's "Whitehill" place was some three miles from where the difficulty took place. [Stick exhibited as before.] If a walking stick, it was used by a short man; thinks it would take a very hard lick to kill a man with it. When Brown said 'come over here, Sellers,' he did not know whether prisoner meant to come over and help, or the separate them."

"Jesse Beall sworn: "Witness and prisoner were talking. Prisoner said that 'Cheek (Bond's overseer) had told Uncle Joe lies on him, and that if he could ever get the law on his side he would make a flutter down there,' or words to that effect. At the time, witness thought he had reference to Cheek. In a conversation between Brown and a negro on Friday night in the hearing of witness, in which Brown acknowledged owing the negro one dollar and a half, Brown remarked to the negro he had better come and get it on Sunday, as he might run away. After the whipping of Bond's negro on Tuesday, Brown told witness he was certain that Bond was mad with him for doing it. On Thursday night witness took tea over at Bond's, and on his return Brown asked him if he 'heard anything of that fuss;' thought Brown referred to his whipping the negro. After the negro was whipped -- thinks it was on Friday night before the killing -- Brown remarked to witness that he had taken more from Col. Bond than he would ever take from any man. Beall allowed all of Bond's negroes to visit his place, so that they behaved themselves. Brown, the overseer, did not allow some of them to come; among the rest a blacksmith who had a daughter belonging to Beall -- a house girl. They were favorite negroes of Bond's as he got them from his wife's father's estate; have heard Brown say often that Henderson and Wash (the girl's father and brother) should not come on the place. The negro whipped by Brown on Tuesday belonged on the Fowl Town place, and had drove the baggage wagon down to the White Hill place, from which he was returning; blacksmith shop on the road; one door opened on the road and the other into the yard."

I have quoted only enough of the evidence to show the cause of the difficulty, how it occurred, and the animus of Brown. His whipping the wagoner in the manner he did, without any fault or provocation on the negro's part; his conversation with Jesse Beall afterwards, on Thursday night, before the homicide which was committed on Saturday morning; asking him if he heard anything about that "fuss," on his return from tea at Bond's; his conversation with the negro in which he told him to come for his dollar and a half as he might run away; and then his remark to Jesse Beall on Friday night (the night before the homicide), in which he stated that "he had taken more from Colonel Bond than he would ever take any more from him or any man;" all goes to show that he was expecting just what took place. And, getting the law on his side, he intended to "make a flutter down there." That was the purpose he had in view when he whipped the negro at the shop on the roadside, to offer Col. Bond such provocation, as would induce him to make the attack. He knew that Col. Bond would be as good as his word, when he said to him, "if you whip one of my negroes again without cause, I will whip you."

And then the manner in which he armed and prepared himself was another and stronger evidence of his murderous intent. The pistol with which he committed the deed was not one of the common sort. It was a rifled pistol with barrel about six inches in length, carrying a large ball -- large enough to make a hole where it entered in the breast of the deceased, according to the evidence of one of the witnesses, the size of a silver half-dollar -- and self cocking; that it to say, it would fire by simply pulling the trigger.

It was very unfortunate, not only for Colonel Bond and his family, but also for the public, that he placed himself in such a position in this affair, as the assailant, that the law could not vindicate his death. Under the evidence in the case two successive grand juries ignored bills against his murderer. Counsel for the prosecution thought then, and still think, that a true bill for murder should have been returned into court and Brown put upon trial.

Mr. Bond was not a violent or law-breaking man in any sense of the word. On the contrary, he was a man of peaceful disposition. The difficulty which resulted so fatally to him was, so far as the writer knows, the only one in which he was ever engaged; and that was undoubtedly provoked by his slayer for a purpose. A trap was laid for him, into which he unfortunately fell, without sufficient caution or reflection. Arriving at home on Friday night, and then for the first time hearing of the outrage Brown had perpetrated upon his innocent and unoffending servant, on the Tuesday previous, taken in connection with Brown's previous conduct towards other servants, so inflamed his passion that he resolved, without imparting that resolve to any one, to punish him for it.

This resolve "leaned to virtue's side." One of his slaves, dependent upon him for protection, had been most brutally assailed and beaten by a person who had previously warned not to do so. If the master did not protect his own slave, who would? It was due to himself, as well as to his slave, that he should punish the perpetrator of the wrong in some way. But how? To have sued him at law for damages, would have amounted to nothing. Force was the only argument -- as he knew -- that Brown would appreciate, and hence he determined to employ that argument, without weighing and considering the fact that he might place himself at a disadvantage in making an attack upon him. Brave himself, and, as a brave man, above taking advantage of any one, it never entered his mind that Brown would coolly and deliberately lay a snare to take his life, without incurring the law's penalty. Mr. Bond thought that brute force should be met and repelled by brute force; that such was the only argument Brown would appreciate, and hence his course, which resulted so fatally to himself.

Requiescat in pace! The marble monument nor the green sod does not rest upon a form in our beautiful cemetery that, at one time, contained a soul so noble, so generous, so brave, and so true to the responsibilities of the hour as the soul of Joseph Bond. He was a MAN, in the true acceptance of the term, and we shall never look upon his like again. In this day, when the new order of things is popular both North and South; while there is no one in the South who would restore the old order of things if they could; when the institution of slavery is buried so deep that the hand of resurrection can never reach it -- in these States at least, it is refreshing to look upon the bright side of a picture, which, to some persons, appeared dark and dark only. Slavery had its evils, none will deny that. But there was a virtuous side to that system also. The affection for the master by the slave, manifested in so many ways, was one virtue. The care of the master for the slave, and his protection afforded to his slave, in loco parentis, as it were, as manifested by Col. Bond in the last act of his life, was another virtue. Oh how many of his former slaves would now gladly return to servitude under him, and rejoice once more to meet him and salute him as "Mass Joe." But the light which once shone on the "old plantation," and gave joy to the negro, the master and family, has been extinguished forever. No more shall we behold it. No more shall the sons of Africa experience its benefits, or feel its power. But, in the light of the far distant future, our posterity alone shall be able to judge whether the change has been beneficial to the one race or to the other. -- A TRUE FRIEND

09 August 2010

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond, Part III

[In 1872, thirteen years after the death of Joseph Bond, the following sketch was written as a "Letter to the Editor" to the Macon Weekly Telegraph by a friend of Mr. Bond. It is a very long article filled with much fluff I will break up into parts. It is an interesting read however, for a few reasons. The death of Mr. Bond was not natural, he was killed by an overseer from a neighboring plantation. This article tells of this incident while also speaking to the character of Mr. Bond and his relationship with his slaves. Go to Part I ~ Go to Part II.]

Macon Weekly Telegraph
24 September 1872
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond [continued, Part III]

He was brave and courageous beyond measure. He could not brook an insult, or submit tamely to a wrong, whether offered to himself or one of his dependents, and he at last, in the flower of his days and in the very prime of his manhood, yielded up his life for one of his slaves. Think of that, oh ye, who from ignorance or prejudice, could never believe there was any good in a slaveholder. Ah, those who knew nothing of that system of servitude, now numbered among the things of the past, never to be again revived on this continent, cannot understand how it was that master and slave were so closely linked together in the bonds of true affection, that one would lay down his life for the other. He yielded up his life in the field a few miles from where his family were then temporarily residing. He left them in the early morn, full of life, health and vigor. He returned to them ere the sun had reached the zenith, a lifeless clod, cold in the embraces of death. There is not an old slave of his now in life, though they may be scattered far from the "old plantation," but what remembers with fearful distinctness that terrible morning in March, 1859. They even now, never speak of their dead master, but with trembling accents of love and gratitude. The world should be again reminded of how he died, and what he died for. It is to rescue his name from oblivion that I pen this notice, imperfect as I know it to be, yet truthful what there is of it.

He had had in his employ an overseer by the name of Brown. For some cause, he discharged him, and thus incurred his enmity. Mr. Bond had a brother-in-law who owned a plantation adjoining his own ("White Hill") plantation. Mr. Beall, the brother-in-law, did not manage his farm interests himself, but entrusted everything to the overseer. Mr. Bond thought, that while Brown did not suit him, he would suit Mr. Beall, and in consequence of his recommendation, Brown was employed by Beall. Now, the "White Hill place" and the "Beall place" were stocked with negroes, who had been raised up by the same master, and many of them were related, and hence, Mr. Bond and Mr. Beall allowed them and encouraged them to visit each other, when time and opportunity permitted. After Brown took charge of Beall's place, he prohibited some of the Bond negroes from visiting with the negroes on the Beall place. Catching one of the forbidden Bond negroes on the Beall place, after he had issued this order, he gave him a severe whipping. As soon as Mr. Bond heard of the outrage, he rode over to see Brown and condemned his conduct in no measured or polite terms, informing him that it was his wish, and Mr. Beall's wish, that their negroes on the two plantations should visit; and that so long as they behaved themselves with becoming propriety, they must not be molested; and wound up by assuring Brown that if he ever whipped one of his negroes again, without cause of provocation, he Bond, would whip him. It is believed by those who were familiar with the fac's, that from that time Brown resolved that he would take the life of Mr. Bond. He knew, as well as he knew anything, that Mr. Bond did not deal in unmeaning threats or boasts, but that when he said he would do anything, he was certain to attempt it, and that he generally succeeded in what he undertook.

A few weeks after the interview with Brown Mr. Bond moved his family down from his Fowl Town plantation -- where they spent most of their time in the winter -- to the "White Hill" place. A favorite negro who drove a baggage wagon, which removed some of the household goods, on his return, stopped in at the blacksmith shop on the Beall place -- which was right on the road-side -- to get a drink of water. Brown being, at the time, some hundred yards off, started in a run as soon as he saw the wagon stop and the negro enter the shop, and reached the place just as the wagoner was returning to his wagon. In fact, I think the negro's statement was that he had got back to his wagon, and was in the act of driving off when Brown fell upon him in a fury, and gave him a terrible beating. This was done by Brown, no doubt, to induce Mr. Bond to attack him -- which he knew he would do -- that he might have an excuse for killing him, and thus evade the law.

The negro wagoner was whipped by Brown on Tuesday. Mr. Bond was absent from White Hill from that time until Friday. On that evening he heard of it for the first time. The next moring, Saturday, March 12th, he arose very early, and obtaining a small screw barrel pistol from his overseer, Mr. David Cheek, not longer than a man's finger -- the only weapon of the kind on the place -- mounted his horse and rode off in the direction of Mr. Beall's place. The encounter with Brown, we will relate in the language of the only white person who witnessed the homicide.

Wm. J. Sellers sworn, said: "Witness and Mr. Brown were together, saw a man approaching. On his coming nearer, saw it was Col. Bond; (they were in Mr. Beall's field) as he rode up Mr. Brown said, "good morning Colonel." Mr. Bond said, "good morning -- you are the rascal that whipped my negro," and struck him with a stick. The second lick he struck him, Mr. Brown either fell off or got off his horse, on the opposite side from Bond, and fell upon his knees and elbows. Mr. Bond got off his horse, caught hold of Brown, as he got up, pulled him down and struck him again. About that time, Brown called to witness to "come around there." Bond said, "no, stay where you are, this is our difficulty and we can settle it." After Bond struck Nrown the third lick, and as Brown was rising from the ground on one knee and one foot, he shot deceased. Bond, after being shot, struck Brown again with his stick, when Brown jerked loose from him and run -- he supposed about ten steps -- down Beall's fence, jumped over and run about fifteen steps into Walker's field. Bond followed Brown to where he jumped the fence and shot at Brown. He then turned and walked nearly to where witness stood, and remarked "I am a dead man" and fell. He then got up and fell again. Witness left Bond in care of Beall's negroes, before he died. Witness knew of no difficulty between Brown and Bond personally. Never knew that Brown had whipped one of Bond's negroes, until he heard Bond tell him so. Witness and prisoner were talking about the new ground, in which witness was then rolling logs. As Mr. Bond was riding up, and after Brown had said who it was, witness said, "he is a man I have seen, but never had any acquaintance with. I suppose he was once your master;" alluding to prisoner's having once overseed for Bond.

"As Bond rose up, Brown turned his horse around, passing Bond, so as to have Bond on his right hand. Brown's horse's rump was to witness. After Bond struck Brown on the ground, in the scuffle, both were down. Bond recovered first; was on his feet, but not straight when Brown shot. Brown drew his pistol with left hand from behind. Witness did not know he had a pistol until he saw him drawing it; did not cross the fence into Beall's field; saw Mr. Bond fall twice. Witness did not cross the fence because Bond had forbid him to do so; did not cross the fence because he was excited. Witness ran to the house to tell Mr. Walker. When they separated, Bond had hold of prisoner. Bond had a small hickory stick about two feet long, and not such a weapon as witness would think likely to produce death. If a man were to be killed with such a stick, witness would think it an accident. When Bond said to prisoner: "You are the rascal that whipped my negro," prisoner did not deny that he had whipped the negro. Prisoner said nothing at all. Immediately after making the remark, Bond rode up by the side of prisoner and struck him. Took place in Beall's field on the 12th day of March, 1859, about 8, or between 8 and 10 o'clock in the morning. (A stick exhibited to witness which he supposed may have been the stick used by Bond -- judging from its appearance he would think it was -- (a small hickory stick about two feet long and five-eighths of an inch in diameter at the big end.) When Bond struck Brown, on the ground, the third blow, he had hold of Brown. Witness does not thin, with such a stick, and in the position of the parties, a very severe blow could have been inflicted. As Brown jumped or fell from his horse his hat was about half off.

~ Go to Part IV.

03 August 2010

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond, Part II

[In 1872, thirteen years after the death of Joseph Bond, the following sketch was written as a "Letter to the Editor" to the Macon Weekly Telegraph by a friend of Mr. Bond. It is a very long article filled with much fluff I will break up into parts. It is an interesting read however, for a few reasons. The death of Mr. Bond was not natural, he was killed by an overseer from a neighboring plantation. This article tells of this incident while also speaking to the character of Mr. Bond and his relationship with his slaves. Go to Part I.]

Macon Weekly Telegraph
24 September 1872
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond [continued, Part II]

The only office he ever held was that of an aid-de-Camp to the Governor of Georgia, which conferred upon him the title and rank of Colonel. I think it was under the administration of Geo. W. Crawford, and that was conferred upon him without solicitation on his part.

Owning such a number of slaves and cultivating so many different plantations, of course he was compelled to employ subordinates to aid him, but these subordinates were simply his lieutenants. They originated nothing, except as to inferior details. They simply were expected to obey orders emanating from him. Like a competent and successful military commander, he exacted the most implicit obedience to his orders as commander in chief of all the forces on his farms. He superintended the pitching of his crops in the early spring, designated the fields which should be planted in cotton and other crops, and directed how it should be done; prescribed the mode and method of cultivation during the entire season, as well as the gathering and preparation for market of such as were sold, and the preservation of such products as were to be consumed on the place. It was said of him, that so perfect was his system, and so thorough was his knowledge of his business, that he could sit in his mansion on the hill in Macon, over one hundred miles from any of his farms, and tell with certainty what field on each farm the hands were at work in at any given time.

All of his farms were the most fertile in the section in which they were located, and models of neatness in all of their appointments. The houses in which his slaves were lodged were all of the best description -- neat framed houses with brick chimneys, properly ventilated and always kept scrupulously clean and neat. Once a year they were whitewashed inside and out, and all trash and garbage of every kind under and around them cleaned up and carted away. An abundant supply of water was provided by wells dug in the negro quarter, convenient of access to all, and provided with an easy-working windlass, good bucket and rope. A nursery was provided on each place. This was a large house surrounded by an abundant shade, and kept under the care of an aged, competent and trustworthy "mammy" or "granny," to which all the small children, including the sucklings in their cradles with their nurses, were taken each morning, when the mothers went to the field. And this mammy, or granny, was responsible for their care, good treatment and safe keeping during the absence of their mothers. With the help of their nurses and the older children -- but too young to perform any other labor -- their food was prepared and distributed by her during the day; and her long switch was often called into requisition to preserve order among the older ones, and to awe them into obedience to her mandates. Her rule over them was similar to that of the village pedagogue over his pupils -- despotic but mild -- because her responsibility to the master, and in his absence to the overseer, with the oversight and watchfulness of the parents for their children's welfare, operated as a constant check upon her, and secured her little charge against either cruelty or neglect.

A hospital was also established on each place, to which all the sick were taken immediately. If attacked in the field, they were ordered to report there at once; if at their houses during the night, as soon as the fact was ascertained the same course was pursued. An experienced nurse was assigned to each, and held strictly accountable to himself to carry out the orders of the physicians, while of the latter none but the best within reach were employed by him. A good supply of medicines, such as were usually given for the cure of diseases incident to the climate and locality, were kept constantly on hand. This nurse, generally a female, was also supreme in her sphere. If medicine was prescribed by the physicians for a patient, and ordered to be given at stated intervals, it had to be followed to the letter. If the patient was refractory, the nurse could call in as much help as she needed to compel obedience, and administer the dose however nauseous it might be.

His mules were all of the best quality, selected with great care, and adapted to the work of the farm. As soon as one became so far advanced in years as to be unable to keep up with the rest of the team, it was sold and its place at once supplied by younger and more vigorous stock. Wagons, harness and all plantation equipments, were models of their kind. Fences were kept in perfect order, put up in straight lines, with the ends of the rails on the outside, even from top to bottom they were close enough to keep out pigs, and high enough to turn any larger animal of the jumping kind. Gates were provided at all places necessary to facilitate communication through the farms. Gin houses, packing screws, barns, cribs and shelters of the best and most convenient patterns were provided. A lock upon any building except the smoke house, dairy and workshops, was not thought of.

He owned a corps of carpenters who went from place to place, as necessity required, to build, repair, renew and keep everything in perfect order. Blacksmiths and wheelrights, and the best of their color that could be procured, were always kept in sufficient numbers to do the work of his various plantations.

A hog feeder, an aged and trustworthy man, was kept on each place, who was furnished with a mule and cart, and whose daily business it was to look after that stock and keep it in good condition. The result was, that an abundant supply of good wholesome meat, raised at home, was always in his smoke houses, and often -- in fact nearly every year -- he had a large surplus for sale. Stocks of cattle, and some of them of the purest breeds, furnished not only beef in its season, but an abundant supply of milk for the small children under the care of granny, and often for anyone who liked it, while an ample supply of butter for use at the plantation house in the various places, as well as for his own family consumption in Macon, was also produced. The milk and butter department in each place was also committed to the care and responsibility of one person.

He was a dear lover of fine stock of every kind, and one of the best judges of all kinds of stock, I ever knew. No jockey, however keen at a bargain, could put off on him an inferior animal, but if it came up to his standard, he would pay a good price. He kept a few of the finest horses, of purest blood, and as fleet of foot as any in the State. It was no uncommon thing for him to ride ten or fifteen miles an hour, in going from one plantation to another.

He was passionately fond of athletic sports, and encouraged them among his slaves. Often would he cause them to assemble in the yard of the plantation house to engage in wrestles and foot races, giving a prize of some kind to reward the victor and induce a spirited emulation among them. In his early days he often took part himself. He was very fleet of foot, and to his weight and size, could cope with any son of Africa in a foot race, wrestle, or at the end of a hand spike. He would often get off his horse in the log rolling season and amuse himself, as well as encourage the hands, by lifting with them. At the end of each year his cribs and barns were filled with corn, fodder, peas and pumpkins, his smoke houses groaned under their load of bacon, and his cotton bales were counted by the thousand. He was kind-hearted, noble and generous in the extreme. He did not belong to the codfish aristocracy. He was one of nature's noblemen. With him "worth made the man -- the want of it the fellow." The poor but deserving man, whose crop had failed, and who was in want of corn or meat, had but to make that want known, and his cribs and smoke houses were at his command until that want was supplied; but for the lazy and the thriftless he had no sympathy and no charity. He delighted to do a favor when he knew it would be appreciated by one who was deserving, but he did not hesitate to refuse bounty to one of the contrary character. He was a good judge of human nature, and took in at a glance the points of character, as by intuition, of whoever was clothed in white skin or a black one.

~ Go to Part III

01 August 2010

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond, Part I

[In 1872, thirteen years after the death of Joseph Bond, the following sketch was written as a "Letter to the Editor" to the Macon Weekly Telegraph by a friend of Mr. Bond. It is a very long article filled with much fluff I will break up into parts. It is an interesting read however, for a few reasons. The death of Mr. Bond was not natural, he was killed by an overseer from a neighboring plantation. This article tells of this incident while also speaking to the character of Mr. Bond and his relationship with his slaves. To be perfectly honest, I find some of the words regarding this relationship laughable, if not offensive. Nonetheless, it does give us an account of this period in Southern U.S. history.]

Macon Weekly Telegraph
24 September 1872

Sketch of the Life of the Late Joseph Bond [Part I]

Editors Telegraph and Messenger: In Rose Hill Cemetery, upon a lofty eminence overlooking the placid waters of the Ocmulgee, surrounded by monarchs of the forest and creeping vines, which lend their shade in summer and cast their mournful shadows in winter, athwart the resting place of the dead, a massive monument rears its magnificent proportions, inscribed in large letters with the name of "BOND;" also, with the full name and date of birth and death of the subject of this notice. To the ordinary passer-by this monument receives only a thought. To those ignorant of the history of Joseph Bond, it teaches no lesson and produces no impression. To many it doubtless calls to mind the words of Byron:

"The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of woe,
And storied urns record who rests below;
When all is done upon the tomb -- is seen,
Not what he was, but what he should have been."

Not true of him of whom I now speak. The writer of this knew him well; saw him often, conversed with him often, and perhaps knew him and understood him as well or better, than any one now living, outside of his own immediate family. His many noble qualities of mind and heart, which were ever so manifest to those who were intimate with him, were hidden from the outside world. After the lapse of over thirteen years, one who did so know him, one who did truly appreciate him; one who remembers with gratitude his many acts of kindness, would speak of him in terms of just commendation, and lay upon that tomb, which rises so solemn and so grand, so magnificent and yet so lonely over his last remains, this tribute as a grateful offering. His family, which he loved so much, and which he provided for so magnificently, is now scattered far and wide. Time has made its mark and wrought its changes upon their fortunes, as well as upon the great mass of Southern people. They are now, comparatively speaking, poor and friendless, and some of them, strangers in a strange land, far from the ancestral home and the broad acres, over which he exercised control. It may, and doubtless will be, gratifying to them to hear from one who knew him, something of his character as a man of business, and as a successful one in his sphere, as a citizen, a master and friend.

Joseph Bond was a slaveholder. He counted his slaves by the hundred. Yet, while he was one, and a rigid disciplinarian, he was also a kind master. No man understood the responsibilities growing out of the relation of master and slave, better than he did. No man was more true to duty in that respect, than he was. His laws for their government were eminently just and proper. They were framed by him, after he had, by practical experience, acquired a thorough knowledge of the character of the negro slave and after he understood the wants and necessities of each, growing out of the relation of master and slave.

His rules were all framed with a view,
First -- To promote the best good of the slave, and,
Second -- To insure the greatest pecuniary benefit to the master.

It was the pride of his servants to say, "I belong to Joe Bond." They were always well clad, well fed, and well cared for in health and in sickness. They were protected by him in the enjoyment of every right which belonged to them, in that peculiar relation; and, in return for that care and protection, he demanded of them implicit obedience and faithful service, which, as a general thing, they rendered willingly and cheerfully, because they loved as well as feared him. They knew his laws were as immutable as the laws of the Medes and Persians; that what he ordered was just and right, and had to be obeyed. So just were his rules for their guidance, and so uniform and perfect was his entire system, that there was during the later years of his life, scarcely a jar in his whole machinery of government. There was no perceptible friction, but on the contrary, all worked smoothly and profitably to himself, and to the promotion of the best interests of the slaves.

Not like some masters, he did not commit his negroes to the charge of ignorant and oftimes, brutal overseers, and leave them to take care of themselves as best they could; but he exacted the same rigid accountability from his overseers or managers that he did from the slaves. His ear was ever open to their just complaints, and they knew better than to go to him with a tale that was untrue. In all difficulties between the slave and the overseer, he dealt out even-handed justice according to the facts. If the negro was right and the overseer in the wrong, the negro was protected and the wrong repaired, or the overseer discharged. Of the latter class, he did not knowingly employ any but men of superior acquirements. He paid good wages to a competent man, and if after a trial he suited him, he might count upon a home and employment as long as he wished. If he did not suit he was discharged, and told to seek employment elsewhere. His success in planting was great, perhaps greater than any other planter in the whole South, and the reason was, that he thoroughly understood the business in all its details -- controlled and directed everything. His knowledge was not theoretical only, but practical. He held no diplomas as a graduate of any college. After completing his academic course, his father, who was a man of wealth, wanted him to go through college and study a profession, but he had already chosen his occupation in life, and had determined to be a planter. His father gave him his choice, either to enter college or go to one of his plantations and become and overseer. He joyfully accepted the latter position, and by doing so he acquired that practical knowledge which was so useful and so profitable to him in after life.

While he was not a scholar in the true acceptation of the term, he knew much more than many who held the sheep-skin evidence of having gone through the regular curriculum of learning at our colleges and universities, because what he knew, he knew well. He had a contempt for superficial knowledge. He mastered every subject he studied. In the current literature of the day, in politics and religion he was well posted, and kept up with the advancement of the age in all things necessary to a thorough understanding of the position of affairs. He was no pretender. If he did not understand a subject which was being discussed, he was a silent listener. If he did understand it he would enter into the discussion with zeal, and in such cases never failed to throw light upon it.

He was not a professor of religion, but there was no one who had a greater respect or veneration for true than he had. He owned some three or four preachers of the Gospel, whom he always encouraged in their work. He did all he could to promote religious intelligence among his slaves, and was a liberal contributor to the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcpoal Church, who came around statedly to preach to the slaves on his different plantations. In faith he was a Presbyterian. His preference was for that Church. He understood its system of doctrines, and attended statedly, when at home, the ministrations of the Gospel in that Church, and, had his life been prolonged a few years, there is no doubt but that he would have united with it. Though not a member, he was liberal in his contribution for the support of the Church, and, without knowing it to be a fact, I have no doubt but that the Church in Macon has reason to remember his munificence.

In politics he was a Whig. Well do I remember how cordially he supported Clay and Frelinguhysen in 1844. Though no politician, and no office-seeker, he studied and understood the theory of our Government, and cast his vote and influence on the side which he thought would best promote the good of the whole country. He was eminently conservative in his political opinions. In 1850, when there was so much excitement in Georgia on account of the compromise measures, growing out of the admission of California into the Union, he sided with the majority of his party in this State, and lent the aid of his influence and of his purse in favor of acquiescence in those measures. He deprecated the agitation of the slavery question in Congress and out of Congress. He felt that it was a question that should be left exclusively to the States in which it existed. His idea was that slavery should be quiescent, not aggressive; that it would go wherever it could be made profitable, and that it was the veriest nonsense to contend for the right -- the bare right -- to carry the institution where reason and common sense told us it would never go. Hence, he was not in sympathy with the Kansas Nebraska movement. He thought the repeal of the Missouri compromise an ill-timed, useless and disastrous measure. Time and experiance have demonstrated that he was right.

~ Go to Part II


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