Ladies of Oakwood: the Power of the So-called Powerless

180 Pages·2003·13 MB·English

by  Sepuilveda, Ciro, Hardy, Lea

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The Power of the So-called Powerless
Edited by Giro Sepulveda with Lea Hardy

The
Ladies
Oakwood
of
The Power of the So-called
Powerless
OakwoodCollegePress
Huntsville,Alabama
©
Copyright GiroSepulveda2003
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStates
ISBN #1-888867-16-7
The
Ladies
Oakwood
of
The Power of the So-called
Powerless
Edited by Ciro Sepulveda with Lea Hardy

Content
Introduction 7
Chapter One 13
AnnaKnight
GiroSepulveda,withTiaGravesand DeJuanKnight
Chapter Two ' 31
EvaB. Dykes
Giro Sepulveda
Chapter Three 45
Chessie Harries
NataUe A. Griffin
Chapter Four 55
C. E. L. Baskerville
GamiliaRogers
Chapter Five 69
,
Inez Booth
SenecaVaught
Chapter Six 83
AlmaBlackman
LeeR. Gort
"
Chapter Seven 91
JannithLewis
^'
^ ; ; .'..; LaviniaBaxter
ChapterEight ' '" , ' ; ^ ' 111
WilliemaeErving
AnitaDupree
ChapterNine 124
MineolaDixon
LaviniaBaxter ,- ,
Chapter Ten 137
Artie Melancon
^^ NackechaMaddix ..>
^•.. ". "
ChapterEleven : 150
Eurydice Osterman
AngelaWarden
'"^ 5
Epilogue 163
Index 167
TheLadiesofOakwood
Introduction
WhenJohnKnight, elderlyownerofasmallplantationinthe
pineyhillsofsouthcentralMississippi,arrivedonhorsebackinAu-
gusta, Georgia, inthe springof 1856, the small settlementboasted
two stores, ablacksmith shop and acottongin, with anoldcourt-
houseatthecenteroftown.Onahighbluffabovethelanding,shaded
byrows ofsycamores andfragrantcedars, stoodthe inn atwhich
Knightstayed. Itwasthetrading seasoninAugusta, anddozens of
visitorswalkedthroughthestreets,takinginthesightsandsoundsof
abrightspringmorning.
Thetwostoresintownhadpreparedfortheseasonbybringing
inunusualitems to attractmorecustomers. One storehadahorse
tradershowingoffhisstalHonsandmares.Theotherwasdominated
byaslavetrader. Itseemedasifacountryfairwasabouttobegin.
Theslavetrader,asmalltimebusinessmantryingtomakeitbig,
hadherdedhis slavesintotownthedaybeforeJohnKnightarrived.
InthebiggercitieslikeNewOrleansorMobile, slavesweresoldon
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TheLadiesofOakwood
New
auctionblocks atthelocalslavemarket. Inthe 1850's, Orleans
hadthelargestslavemarketinthenation. Everyyear,thousands of
slavesinchainstraveledtoNewOrleansdowntheMississippiRiver,
becausethehighestpricesforslavescouldbeattainedinthatcity.The
largeslave-tradingcompaniesmaintainedteamsofrepresentativesin
many northern slave states, who purchased, transported and sold
slaves.InthesmalltownofAugusta,theitinerantslavetraderavailed
himselfofanyopportunitytosellhishumans.
Inthe 1850's, the price ofslaves was higherthan ithad ever
beeninthehistoryoftheUnitedStates. Althoughitvariedwiththe
economicconditionsofthetimes,slaveryinthedeepSouthwaspassing
throughitsgoldenage. AndattheheartoftheAmericanslavetrade
was "KingCotton."Whencottonincreasedinprice, slavepricesin-
creased, andwhencottonpricesfell, slaves couldbeboughtatrela-
tivelycheaperprices.
Themostexpensiveslaveswerestrongyoungblackmaleswho
couldworkinthefields. Light-skinnedslaves,especiallyiftheywere
white enoughto "pass," werelowerinprice, because theyusually
createdtoomuchtroublefortheirowners. Manyofthelight-skinned
slaveswereconstantlyrunningawayortakingtheirownerstocourt,
arguingthattheywerefreemen. However,ifthehght-skinnedslave
hadatradesuchas blacksmithingorstoneworking,thepricecould
behigher. Light-skinnedwomen slaveswere anothermatter. They
werehighlyvaluedbecauseinthedeepSouthandparticularlyouton
thefrontier,theycouldbeusedasbarmaidsorprostitutes.
Whenheheardthecommotion acrossthe street. Knightwas
justmountingabeautifulwhite-stockingedsorrelmarewhichhehad
boughtfromthehorsetrader.He sawthatthe slavesalewasaboutto
begin.Thebeardedtradercrackedhiswhip,tossingprofanitiesinthe
airto attract attention andcustomers. Ababy cried. Somepeople
ploddedtowardtheauctionwhileothershurriedaway,uncomfort-
able withthe scene ofgrief. Two husky blackmenrolled away a
barrelofcidertomakeroomforthedisplayofhumanflesh.AsKnight
arrived,thewhipcrackedonceagainovertheheadofayoungslave
who carried a baby in her arms. The baby was light-skinned and
appeared to be about a year old as the mother clutched her, tears
streamingdownherface.
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