NARRATIVE
OF
WILLIAM W. BROWN,
A
FUGITIVE SLAVE.
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven,
Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man
Who gains his fortune from the blood of souls?
COWPER.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED AT THE ANTI-SLAVERY OFFICE,
NO. 25 CORNHILL.
1847.
William W. Brown.TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
TO WELLS BROWN, OF OHIO.
Thirteen years ago, I came to your door, a weary fugitive from chainsand stripes. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was hungry, and youfed me. Naked was I, and you clothed me. Even a name by which to beknown among men, slavery had denied me. You bestowed upon me your own.Base indeed should I be, if I ever forget what I owe to you, or doanything to disgrace that honored name!
As a slight testimony of my gratitude to my earliest benefactor, I takethe liberty to inscribe to you this little Narrative of the sufferingsfrom which I was fleeing when you had compassion upon me. In themultitude that you have succored, it is very possible that you may notremember me; but until I forget God and myself, I can never forget you.
Your grateful friend,
WILLIAM WELLS BROWN.
LETTER From
EDMUND QUINCY, ESQ.
DEDHAM, JULY 1, 1847.
TO WILLIAM W. BROWN.
My Dear Friend:—I heartily thank you for the privilege of reading themanuscript of your Narrative. I have read it with deep interest andstrong emotion. I am much mistaken if it be not greatly successful andeminently useful. It presents a different phase of the infernalslave-system from that portrayed in the admirable story of Mr. Douglass,and gives us a glimpse of its hideous cruelties in other portions of itsdomain.
Your opportunities of observing the workings of this accursed systemhave been singularly great. Your experiences in the Field, in the House,and especially on the River in the service of the slave-trader, Walker,have been such as few individuals have had;—no one, certainly, who hasbeen competent to describe them. What I have admired, and marve