Daniel Goddard
From:
South Carolina
Project #1855
Stiles M. Scruggs
Columbia, S.C.
DANIEL GODDARD
EX-SLAVE 74 YEARS OLD.
"My name is Daniel Goddard. I was born in Columbia, S.C. Feb. 14, 1863,
to slave parents. You know I recall no contacts I made in slavery for I
was too young during that period. You know too, if I had been born in
Massachusetts, for example, I should have been free, because all slaves
in the United States had been set free when President Lincoln, shortly
before my birth, January, 1863, struck the shackles from bondage.
"The Confederate states had seceded from the Union and they paid no
attention to the freedom proclamation during the war. So the slaves in
the South, generally speaking, stayed on until the Confederacy collapsed
in April, 1865, and even then, some of the slaves were slow to strike
out for themselves, until the Federal government made ample preparations
to take care of them.
"Now you ask, if I heard about escapes of slaves. Sure I did and I heard
my parents discuss the efforts of slaves to shake off the shackles. This
was probably true because my father's brother, Thomas, was a member of
the slave ship which was taking him and 134 others from Virginia to New
Orleans. A few miles south of Charleston, the slaves revolted, put the
officers and crew in irons, and ran the ship to Nassau.
"There they went ashore and the British Government refused to surrender
them. They settled in the Bahama Islands and some of their descendants
are there today. That was about 1830, I think, because my Uncle Thomas
was far older than my father. I heard about the other slave revolts,
where that African prince, one of a large number of slaves that were
kidnaped, took over the Spanish ship L'Amada, killing two of the
officers. The remaining officers promised to return the slaves to Africa
but slyly turned the ship to port in Connecticut. There the Spanish
minister at Washington demanded the slaves, as pirates. Appeal was made
to the courts and the United States Court ruled that slavery was not
legal in Spain and declared the slaves free.
"The Nat Turner insurrection in Virginia and the Vesey uprising in
Charleston was discussed often, in my presence, by my parents and
friends. I learned that revolts of slaves in Martinique, Antigua,
Santiago, Caracas and Tortugus, was known all over the South. Slaves
were about as well aware of what was going on, as their masters were.
However the masters made it harder for their slaves for a while.
"I have a clipping, now worn yellow with age, which says the Federal
census of 1860, showed there were 487,970 free Negroes and 3,952,760
slaves in the United States at that time. I am not at all surprised at
the number of free Negroes. Many South Carolina families freed a number
of their slaves. Some slaves had the luck to be able to buy their
freedom and many others escaped to free areas. The problem of slavery as
a rule, was a question of wits, the slave to escape and the master to
keep him from escaping.
"I once talked with Frederick Douglass, perhaps the most eminent Negro
to appear so far in America. He told me he was born a slave in Maryland,
in 1817, and that he served there as a slave for ten years. He escaped
to Massachusetts, where he was aided in education and employment by the
Garrisons and other abolitionists, and became a leader of his race. He
was United States Minister to Haiti at the time I met him and was
eminent as an orator. He died in 1895.
"You ask, what do I think of the Presidents. Well, I have always been
such an admirer of Andrew Jackson, a South Carolinian, that I may be
prejudiced a little. The reason I admire him so much, is because he
stood for the Union, and he didn't mean maybe, when he said it. He
served his time and God took him, just as he took Moses.
"Then Lincoln was raised up for a specific purpose, to end slavery,
which was a menace to both whites and blacks, as I see it. And President
Wilson kept the faith of the fathers, when he decided to put the German
Kaiser where he could no longer throw the world into discord. But there
has only been one President whose heart was touched by the cry of
distress of the poor and needy and his name is Franklin D. Roosevelt. He
is one white man who has turned the bias of the Negroes from the bait of
partisan politics.
"Yes, sir, I recall the reconstruction period here in Columbia. My
parents lived until I was about grown and we kept the middle of the
road, in the matter of selling out to the Federal soldiers and
carpet-baggers on the one hand, or to designing politicians on the
other. But my father was an admirer of General Hampton, because General
Hampton owned many Negroes at one time and had treated them well.
Between Hampton and Chamberlain for governor, in 1876, most of my Negro
friends voted for Hampton.
"What have I been doing since I grew up? Well, I have been busy trying
to make a living. I worked for various white folks in this community and
sometime for the railroads here, in a minor capacity. My younger years
were spent in the quest of an education. For the past thirty years I
have been the porter for the State Paper Company, Columbia's morning
newspaper. As I became proficient in the work, the Gonzales boys grew
fond of me. While the youngest one, Hon. William E. Gonzales, was absent
in the diplomatic service in Cuba and in Peru for eight years for
President Wilson, I looked after the needs of Mr. Ambrose Gonzales.
Shortly before he died, Hon. William E. Gonzales returned. He has since
been editor and publisher of the 'State', as well as principal owner.
"You ask, if I have applied for an old age pension. No, I have not. I am
old enough to qualify, I guess, but I understand, you cannot get a
pension if you have a job. If that is so, I shall never enjoy any
pension money. I would not leave serving my friend, Captain William E.
Gonzales, for any pension that might be offered me."
N.B. This man is well educated, speaks no dialect. He received his
education from Northern teachers in Freedman aid, equal to the modern
high school curriculum. He afterward studied in Boston. He reads,
writes, and speaks excellent English.
Address: 1022 Divine Street, Columbia, S.C.
Next:
Ellen Godfrey
Previous:
Hector Godbold
Pet Stories.ca - Download the EBook Cat Stories
Informational
