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AN

OF THE

TRIALS OF SUNDRY NEGROES,

WII'H JJN .,1TTE.H PT TO R.AJSE

IN THE STATE OF SOUTH:.CAROLINA:

PRECEJ)li: D DY A11'

. N'1'\lODUC'1'\0N .S\ND NaR.R.l\'1'\VE, Al'D

IN AN APPENDIX,

A REPORT OF THE TRrALS OF

FOUR WHITE PERSONS, ON IXDICTMEN'!S FOR ATTEMPTING ro EXCITE THE SJ.AVES 'J' O

IN'Sl.iRRECTlON.

Preparerl and P11blisl1erl at tlie request of tlte Court.

BY LIONEL 11. KENNEDY & THOl\IAS PARKER, ,liemhcN of tlie C/wrlesw Ba r, om/ the Presi,Eng Jl111git1ateo of t/1,:; Court:

C/1.llRL~STO~V: rRJNTED Bl' J.'.~l&S It. SCHE;:S(;K0 23, BltOAllSTRf.ET

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District of Smith-Carolina.

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BE IT REMEMBERED, Tbat ou the twenty-sccoml day of Oetober, Anno Domino 1822, and i,i the fo11y-se ,e11tb year of thr. Jndependl'flcr. of tJ,e Unitod StatP of AmP.rica, J.1010:1 . H I(~1111EDY and TeoH,U P A1t10 : 11, Esquires, depo sited in this of-fice th e title of a book, the ri ght wher eof they d11in1 a, authol's and propri etors, in the words {ollowing , To wit :

AN Official Rep ort of the Trial, of Sundry N,grocs, chai !l"ed wir.h nn at-tempt to raise au In sur rection in the state of Soutb-Caroliua: Pr~ccdcd by "" Introduction and Narrative ; aud in a.n A ppe1ulix , a Report of the Trials of four \Vhite Persons, on indictments for att.empti ng-1 excite th e Slaves to In-arrection. Prcpnred and publishod 111 the reqnst of thr Court, by LTONEl . H. K ENNED Y and T110MA S P Al

WE, the subscribers, who, with L1oxn H. KrNNEDY and Tuo-MAS PARKER, Esquires, compost>cl the llr-'lt Court organized for the trial of Slaves and other Persons of Colour, charged with attempt-ing to raise an Insurrection, do hereby ee1tify, that the following Introduction, Nanati\e and Rcpol't were prepared for publication by request, at a meeting of the memhel's of the said Court; that tlw same were submitted to us ind ividually for our approbation, and that we unanimously approve of and sanction the publication of the same. \Ve further certify, that the Report of the Trials contain~ the Evidence glven in each case.

WM. ORA YTON, :\'ATHL. HEYWARD, J. R. PRINGLE, .f AS. LEGARE, ROIH;RT J . TURNBULL, HENRY DEAS.

Tm: account published by the authori1y or the City Council of Charleston, prcs('11ts the prominent features of the lute contemplated insul'rectiou, but it. docs nor profess to lie foll and com11lnc, and is inge-nuously characterized, as furnishing " a very brief ahst1act of the testimony offered fo the cases brought before thr Court.'' As the public had not an opportu-nity of lvitnrssing these proceedings, in consequence oft he pec11 lia1 nature of the i nvesriga tions, w h.ich oc-cu piecJ the attention of the Court, anrl as a very general desire has been expressed to be informed of the detail of the plot, as for, as it has been developed; the pre-fiiding Magistrates of the first Court, in whose pos-sesion are all the original documents, at the request and under the sanction of the whole Court, huve un-dertaken the present publkation. The whole evi~ dcncc has been given, in each particular case, in the order of it's trial, and wherever any additional, or incidf:'ntal testimony has been disclosed against any criminal subsequently to his con v1ction, sentence or execution, it has been duly noticed. The evidence is

.in most cases preserved, as it was odginaUy taken, without even changing the phraseology, whil'b was generally in the very ,,ords used by the witnesses.

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Although a different style might have been more agrecahlc to the ear, it was supposed, that this report would be considered more authentic and satisfactory, if this method were adopted. It will be pcl'ccivcd, in several instances, that hearsay communkations have been recorded, and it may be imagined, that thcv had sumc influence on the minds of the Court .

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S11C'h commnnications were only admitted under the belief, thar they might lead to further discovel'ies, but they had no effect whatever on the decision of the cases; and. being preserved, it was thought advisc-able. to lay before the public, the whole Narrative, as it was given by the witnesses, and not to suppress any J}{tl't of it

It frequently happened, in the investigation of this plot, that information was communicated, which, as it did not involve the guilt or innocence of any of the crimiuals, was uot recorded ; liut which in conjunc-tion with various fac1s and anecdotes, uot com milted to \vriting, and within the knowledge, perhaps, of the Court alone, would be very interesting to the com-munity. In addition therf'fore, to a me,e report of the trials, and al the Sil g:ge stioH of many ; an histo-1ical account of the iutendcd insurrection, embraring all such informa1ion, is insel'ted in this publication, under a separate article.

l On Tuesday, the 18th of .lune, the Intendant of Charleston, informed the authors, that there we1e several coloured persons, in confinement, charged with an attempt '' to excite an insul'rection among the blacks against the whites," and requested them to take the necessary steps to organize a Court for the trial of those criminals. The Intendant at the same time,

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suggested the names of five gentlemen, as freehoMrrs, who, posspssiog in an ('mineut drgrcl', the confidence of chc community, anl'm prescribed by lavv, to assemble the next duy., at 12 oc.lt>ck. The Freeholders co11\cned at the l'imc and place appoi med, when the following; oath, containe

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bad bPen organizr:rl under a i.tfltnte of a peculiar and locril character. anri intend ed lcJr the government of a distinct dass of flf'rsons in the cornm nnity ~ they were leonnd to conform their proceedin~s to its pro-visions, which depart in many essential features, from the principles of the comrnon law, and some of the settled rules ef evirlence. The Court however, deter-mined to adopt those rul

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After thr execution of thP. first six criminals, anti the conviction and passing i-cntence on fiyc more, two of the laHcr made di-do sures, which ca11-;ed the arrest of such considerable nurn bers, that the Court were induced to 'lay down certain rules of dis-crimination, iu the guih of the parties, and to adopt two classes of offences. U mkr die first class w, "rc included those who atten{!cd the mee1ings al' Den-mark Vcsey's, at Bu lkk y's Farm, or at iippointed meetings in Monday GcU's shop, for the purpose of obtaining and communicating intdligpnce of the progress of the conspiracy; all those, who aided antl abetted in the contribution of money, rrrms or am-mu11itio11 ; all 1 lwsr, n:Jm per c,uaded or hers to Join ; all those, who were employed us couriers, to com-municate iutelligenci:.', or co11vey orders; and gene-rally, those, who, from thcil' nets or declarations, indicated a hearty concurrnwe in the plot ; and all those, who, after rhc condemuation of the first six, endeavoured to keep np tlw spirit of insurrection, to promote, oi endeavoured to promote or exci1e a party to rescue 1hc prisoners to be executed. Those who were embraced i11 this cla.~s wen, upon conviciion, to be punished with death. U ndcr the second class were included those, who had merely consented to join in the plot, without taking any active part.-Those, who wi~re induded uuder this class, were to be transported beyond tile limits of the U uited States, not to retmu therein, uuder the penalty of death.

As the Act of the Le~islamre, under which the Court were organiz er!, may not he g~ne1ally known abroad, it is deemed ad\liseablc to extract not only

such parts of it, as rt>latc immediatdy to these trials, but so much thereof, as rnay cxhibi1 its general out-1-ines, With this view the following sections are in-serted:

9. And wlwrcas natnral justice foruills, that any person of whal co11

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shall bf'al' the acru~atinn whiC'h s'rnll be brought against s11ch sla\ 'C, and his or her defonce, an : slrnll proceed to thf' examination of witnesses and 01her evidence, and shall finally hear and determine the matter brou~ht before 1hcm, in the most summary and cxpcdi1ious manner ; and in case the offenrler shall be convicted of any cl'ime, for which by law the offender ought to suffer death, the said J nstif'.CS shall givejudgmcnt, and award and cause execution of their sentence to be done, by i11tlic1iug such man~ ne1 of death, and at such time as the said Justices, by and with the consent of the Freeholders, shall direct, :md which they shall judge will be most cf .. fectual to deter others from offending in the Uke manner.

10. If any crime or offence not capital, shall be committed by any slave, such slave shall be proceed-ed against and tried for snch offence, in the manner herein before directed, by any one Justice of the Peace, and any two Freeholders of the county where the offence shall be committed, and can be most conveniently assembled; and the said Justice and Fl'eeholdms shall be summoned, assembled~ and called together, and shall proceed upon the trial of any slave who shall commit any offence, not capital, in like manner as is herein before directed for trying of capital cases : And in case any slave shall be con-victed befo1e them of any offence not capital, the said one .J usticc, by and with the consent of the said Freeholders, shall give judgement, for the inflicting any corporal punishment, not extending to the taking away life or member, as he and they, in their discrc. tiot1 shall think fit ; and shall aw~rd aud cause exe-,

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cution to- be done accordingly. Prouided, That if the said one justice and two freeholders, upon ex~ aminatiou of any s~avc charged or accused before-them, for an offence not capital, shaU find' the same to be a greater offence, a:ad may deserve death, they shall with all convenient speed, summons and re-quest the assistauce of another ju stie, and one .oi-more freeholders, not exceeding thre 2" ~ which said justice and freeholders newly assembled, shall join "'ith t'he justice and fred1olders first assembled, and sha11 proceed in the trial, and unto fina1 judgmentnnd execution, if the case shall so require, in manner as is herein-above directed for the trial of capital offences .

11. And be it furtlter enaeted, That two justices and one freeholder, or one justice and two freehol-ders of the said two justice s and three freeholders, shall make a Quorum, and the conviction or ac~ quittal of any slave er slaves by such a Qnorum of them, shall be final in all capilal cases ; bat on, the trial of slaves fol offences not capital,, it sha:Jlt and may ~e sufficient, if before sentence or- judg-ment shall be given, fm inflicting a corporal pun 4 ishment not extending to life or member, that one justice and any one of tfae freeholders shalJ agree, that the slave accused is guilty of the offence with which he shaU be cha1gcd.

12. So soon as the ju stice or justices and frehoJ~. de.rs shaU be assemb1ed as aforesaid, in pursuance o( the direction of this act , the said justices shall admin-ister to each other the follo,ving oath:

I, A. B. do solemnly swear in tlte presence, of Al mighty God, That I will truly aud impartially try anit aqjudge the prisone, or prisonfJ!t's, who sltttll lJe br

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before me, upon his or their tried, and honestly a,ul. d,ul!J, on m.y pltr t, pat in execution on tkis trial an act, entitled, Au act for the !Jetter or

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ancl offences committed by free negroes, Indians, ( except us before excepted) mulattoes or mestjzos, shall be proceeded in, heard, tried, adjudged and de-termined by the justices and freeholders appointed by this act for the trial of slaves, in like manner, order and form as is hereby directed and appointed for the proceedings and trials of crimes and offences commit-ted by s[a\'es, any law, statute, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

15. If any slave in this Province shall commit any ciime or offence whatsoever, which by the laws of England, or of this Province, now in force, is or has been made felony without benefit of the clergy, and for which the offender hy law ought to suffer death; every such slave, being duly convicted a:ccmding to the directions of this act, shall suffer death, to be in-flicted in such manner as tbe justices, by and with the advice and consent of the frccho1ders, who shall give judgment on the convict ion of such slave, shaU direct and appoint.

17. Any sJan~ who shall he guilty of homicide of any sort, upon any white person, except by misad-venture, or in defence nf his master or other person under ' whose care at1d go\ -ernmcnt such slave shall be, shall upon conviction thereof as aforesaid, suffet death. And every slave who shall rnise or atterript to raise an insurrection in thi s Province, [ or shall en~ dcavour to de)nde or entice any slave to nm mvay and leave this Province;]* every such slave andsluvcs, and his and their accomplices, aiders and abettors, shall upon conviction as aforesaid, suffer death. Pro~

That. part of this section altered by A. A. 17th May, 1751, which is in brackets.

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vide ,l alwa11s, TJiat it s1?a11 and may he lawful to a.nd for tbej sticrs who shaJI pronounc e sentence against such slaves, by and with tl1c advice and consent of the freehol

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person injured lJy such offence for which such sla'\"'e shall suffer death.

19. And the said justices, or any offh em,are hereby authorised, empnwercd and required to summons and compel aH persons whatsoevr r , to appear and to give evidence upon the trial of any sla, e; and if any person shall neglect or ref ,is~ to appear, or appearing, shaH refuse to give evidence ; or if any master or othe1 person who bas the care and government ofany slave, shaU prevent or hinder any slave under bis charge or government , from appearing or giving evi-dence in any matter depending before the justices and freeholders aforesa id; the said justices may 1 and they are hel'eby folly empowered and required to bind every such person offending as afmesaid, by re-cogn izance, with one or more sutncicnt sureties, to appear at the next general sessions, to answer sucll their offences and contempt; and for default of find-ing sureties, to commit such offender to prison.

53. This act and alt clauses therein contained ' shall be constmcd most largely and ben eficially for

the promoting and carrying into execution this act, and for the encouragement and justification of all persons to be employed in the execution thereof, and no record, warrant, precept or commitment, to be made by virtue of this act, 01 the proreediugs there~ upon, shall be 1eversed, avoided or in any ways im-peached by reason of any default in form.

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OF THE

Conspfracy and Intended .lnsurrect'ion, AMONGST A PORTION

OF TUE

Ntntotrs tu tlJt St~tt of Sottt1J:::~,n:.olhu1t \n the veai \82'!..

AT the head of this conspiracy stood Denmark Vesey, a free uegro; with him the idea undoubtedly originated. For several years before he disclosed his intentions to any one, he appears to have been constantly and assiduons]y engaged in endeavoring to embitter the minds of the colored populatiou against the white. He tender ed himself perfectly familiar with all those parts of die Scripturcst which he thought he could perver t to his purpose; and would readily quote them, to prove that slavery was con- trary to the laws of God; tbn.t slaves were bound to attempt their emancipation, however shock ing aml bloody might be the consequences, nnd thut such efforts would not only be pleasing to the Almighty, but were absolutely enjoined, aud their success pre~

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dieted in the Scriptures. His favorite texts wl1cn he addressed his own color ,vete, '' Zechariah, chapter 14th, verses 1, 2 and 3*, and Joshua, chapter 4th, verse 21 t ; and in all his conversations he identified their situation with that of the Israelites. The num-ber of inflamatmy pamphlets on slavery brought into Charleston from some of our sister states 1 within the last four years,+, (and once from Siera Leone) and distributed amongst the colored population of the city, for which there was a great facility, in conse-qcncc of the unrestricted intercourse allowed to per-sons of color between the different States in the .

" Behold the day of the Lor d cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the mirl1;t of rlire. For I w,11 gatlwr all naiio1Js aguiust Jerusalem to battle; and thr city shall be tukca, and tl1c women ravished; and half of the tity shall go foi th iuto captivity; and tlte residue of the people shall not he cut ofT from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth , am! fight aguinst those 1mtions, as when he fought in the ngcr on board 1 imme

Union; and the speeches in Congress of those op .. posed to the admission of Missouri into the Uuion, perhaps garbled and misrepresented, fumished him with ample means for inflaming the minds of the colored population of this state; and by distorting certain parts of those speeches, or selecting from them particular passages, be persunded but too many that Congress had actually declared them free, and that they were held in bondage contrary to tl1c laws of the land. Even whilst walking through the streets in company with another, he was not idle ; for if his companion bowed to a white person he would 1ebukc him, and obsctvc that all men were born equal, and that he was surprised that any one would degrade himself by such conduct; that he would never cringe to the whites, nor ought any one who had the feelings of a man. When answered, We are slaves, he would sarcastically and indignantly reply, "You dcsene to remajn slaves;'' and if he were further asked, What can we do, he would remark, " Go and buy a spelling book and read the fable of Hercules and the Waggoner;'' which he would then repeat, and apply it to thei1 situation. He a]so sought every opportunity of entering into conversa-tion witb white t>ersons when they could be over-heard by negroes near by, especially in gtog-shops ; during which conversation he would artfully intro-duce some bold remark on slavery; and sometimes., when from the character he was conversing with he found be might be still bolder, he ,vould go SO far, that had not his declarations ln such situations been cleal'ly proved, they would scarcely have : been c1e--dited. He continued this course, u.otil .. &ometi.-me

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after the commencement of the Jast winter; by which time he had not only obtained incredible influence amongst persons of color, but many feared him more than thPir owners, and one of them dedared, . even more than his God.

At this pe1fod he soundcrl Rolla and Ned-, two slaves of his ExccUency Thomas Bennett, and find-ing them ready to acquiesce in bis schemes, he made the same proposals to Jack, belonging t

at one place in particular on Charleston Neck, about two miles and a half from the city. Besides his five principal otlicers already mentioned, he had other recruiting agents, though on a smaller scale, amongst whom were William Palmer, Wrn. Garner, Charles Drayton and Peirault Strohecker. In order to in-duce the colored population to join t.hcm, every prin-ciple which could operate upon the mind of man was artfully employed: Religion, Hope, Fear, Decep-tion, were resorted to as occasion required. All wel'C told, and many bclieveu, that God approved of their designs; those whose fears would have re-strained them, were forced to yir.lrl by threats of death; those whose prudence and foresight induced them to pause, were cheered with the assurance that assistance from St. Domingo and Africa were at hand; whilst those upon ,vhom none of these prin-ciples operated, were excited from despair on heing

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_ informed, that the whites, perceiving thcv were be-coming too numerous, had resolved to create a false alarm of fire, and as they came out in the dead of the night to kill them, in order to thin their nnm bers. And strange as it may appeai, yet vast num-bcrs of ,the Africans firmJy believed that Gullah Jack was a sorcerer ; that he could nejther be killccl nor taken; and that whilst they retained the charms which he had distributed they would themselves be invulnerable. Add to all this, their belief that Con-gress had emancipated them, and we may readily Cledit the declaration of Monday Gell and Perault, that they never spoke to any person of color on the subject, or knew of any one who had been spoken to by the other leaders, who had withheld his i as- /.;

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sent. Vesey being 11 free man encountered uone of those obstac1es which would have been in the way of a slave~ bis time was at his own disposal, and he could go wherever he pleased, without interruption; qualifications and advautages absolutely necessary for the Chief in u Conspiracy, and which enabled him to travel so much about the country as he did.

On perusing the testimony, the declaration of one or two of the witnesses that this plot had been in agi-tation for four years will strike the observation of e,-ery one ; but it must not be supposed the1efrom, that recruiting or enlisting had bean progressing for that time ; or that, for that time there existed any direct proposal from Vesey or any one else for such a mea-sure. Such was not. the case. No active measures were taken until uear last Christmas. In speaking of this att~mpt being in agitariou fol' four years, allu-sion was had to Vesey's conduct and language durjng that time; and to the dissatisfaction which appeared since, to exist amongst the coloured population. This was about the time that the African congregation, (so called from its being composed wholly of persons of colour and almost entirely of IJ]acks.) was formed, and their Church built in Hampstead;* of which

- Vesey had been a membcrt and df which his princi-pal associates, Gullah Jack, lVIonday, Ned and Peter, were also members ; and the t,vo last, were class leaders. It was also about this tiwc, that class me~t-ings of the coloured people had become so common as they now are; each class ha,,ing a coloured prea-

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A part of the suburbs of Charleston.

cher or leader as they were termed, na01ed by the Minister of the Churcb to which he belonged; at which meetings, held usually at night in some r~tired building, avowedly for religious instruction and wor-ship, no white persun attended. That inflamator.y and inslll'rectiouary doctrines, without any direct proposal for such an attempt, were inculcated at these meetings or some of them, was positively proved; and further, that they were to be used as places of rendezvous and rallying points, for commu-nicating to all, the exact night and hour, on which tho first blow was to be struck. The great imptopriety of allowing meetings of any kind to be held solely by slaves, and at such times and places, must fOl'cibly strike every reflecting mind. The African co:vgrega tiou above meationed was not only composed alto-gether of coloured persons, but their .Ministers were also coloured ; and were stated ro have been regu-larly ordained Bishops aad Ministers of the Gospel. The influence which such men and class leaders must ucccssarily acquire ovcl' the minds of the ignorant blacks is evident ; and if a d.isposition exists in them ;to obtain for theh own co]our and themselves, the freedom .and privileges enjoyed by the whites, by en-listing into their cause perverted religion and fanat-icism, that desperation is kindled in their bearers, the consequences of which are but too wen known. Is it to be wondered at that, under all the fOl'egoing cir-cumstances, an attempt to create an insurrection should be contemplated !

Vesey perceiving that so far every thing bad an-swered his most sanguine expectations, himself in

"poss.ession of vast influence over his own colow, and

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their minds poisoned and rrnbittcrrcd against the white population, began about Christmas 1821, to probe those whom he had selected as leaders; and found as be expected a ready acquiescence in his measures by all of them except .Monuay GcH, who wavered fot some time before hejoincrl. In the sc~

: lection of his leaders, V cscy shewe

joined their company or band. As Monday did not join until the business of enlisting had considerably progressed, and proceeded very prudemly himself, he had but few on his list, according to his own confession only forty-two; but Jlctcr who had con-sented as soon as spoken to, and was bold and ac-tive in bis exertions, had six himdred names on his \ . list; whom he had engaged in Charleston, from that division of the city in which he resided, which ,vas South-Bay. Peter also had in his possession another list of names, or as the witness afterwaids explained bimsclf, a memorandum of the whole number enga-ged, and who amounted as the witness was told to nine thousand, partly from the country and partly from the city. It is tr.ue that the witness who made these asscl'tions did not see the lists himself; but he heard it from one who \Vas in dailv communication

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with Peter, and who was then endeavouring, an succeeded in inducing the witness to join ; and as Peter wrote a good hand and was active throughout the whole aflair, it is impossible to doubt hut that he had such lists; but ,vhether the numbers mentioned were really engaged m not, there is no mode of as-certainirig ; and it is mme than probable that they were greatly exaggerated, and perhaps designedly so. , That Peter was engaged in enlistin g, wa s positively proved; but so scrupulously and resolutely to the last did he obs.crvc his pledge of secre cy to his ass9ciatcst that of the whole number arrested and tried, not ont: of , them belonged to Peter's company. Monday acknon :-ledged tha.t he had kept a list, but had he not become state's evidence, hut hcid diecl without disclosinp; as Peter did, as well might we hayc

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.kept a list." In the course of the trials it was also sta-ted, that Vesey bud a variety of papers and books re-

_ lating to this transaction, wlzich lte biirnt when the discovery of the intended attempt was rnade. Monday also burnt his list, and probably so did Peter at the same time.

As these Jeaders only communicated to each othel' the numbers, and not the names of those whom they had engaged, and who constituted their company ; and as with the exception of Monday, none of them betrayed their associates; the companies of Vesey, Petel, Ned, Rolla and Gullah Jack have escaped de-tection ,and punishment; with the exception of a few of Gullah Jack's band, who ,vere discovered in con-sequence of one of his men l,etraying such of his com-

' panions as he knew, together with his leader. In enlisting men the great cautjon observed by the

leaders was remarkable. Few if any domestic ser-vants were spoken to, as they were distrusted; and aU who were consulted were told, that death would ~erta,inly await them if they informed; and Peter whilst he urged one of his agents to speak to others and solicit them to join, at the same time gave him this charge, " but take care and don't mention it to those waiting men who receive presents of old coats, &c. from their masters, or they ' ll betray us; I will spea/c to them." The enlistments appear to have been principally confined to Negroes hired 01 workiug out, such as Carters, Draymen, Sa,vycrs 1 Porters, Labourers, Ste, idores, Mechanics, those employed in

- lumber yards, and in short to those who had certain allottc

'27 marle to any one to join, such argmnent!I or t11real8 were made nse of as would ensure success, and which the leaders had been cautious to prepare before hand, Ewd s:1it to the diffe1cnt tempers and dispositions they wou! d have to deal with.

,h Vesey, from whom all orders emanated, and pl'rhaps to whom only all important information was ceinveyed,

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28 execution, it would be an easy matter for them in the cour se of the preceding day, or within a few hours of their taking their own departure, to induce many others whose minds were already poisoned to pro-ceed with them. In St. John's Parish fom entire plantations of ncgtocs were engaged uy Frank Fcr-gu.son, as he declared to one of the witoesses; and his statement l'Cccives great strength, from the lette1 of his owner to one of the authors, in reply to one from him requesting certain informat ion in writing.i(

Conclt1sion of Thomas Parker's letter of 15th September, 18221 addresse

29 It was principally for the attempt of Jesse, (one of the conspirators) to go to Mr. Ferguson's plantation in St. John's, to inform t.he negrnes of the night and

Jesse's evidtnce as regards 1.he country negroes, wn,; ; that he was lo have gone to 1mmmon them down; that ~11 his anival he was to have asked for John and Pompey, that John wa~ cull~d John 0-and that one was a cooper; and that he wa, not to be ~cen by the drive l'; t!wse directions were givoJn l1i1u by Fl'ank. Upun examin ing Frank a

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$0 hour they wr.re to be in Charleston, that he was exe-cuted; though tbe declarations made by him inde-pendently of this act, shewed that he had heartily em-

men on the plantation ; but neither from them, nor from thl' otl1crs could I get any confession th ,tt they \Vere at :tll cof!nizant of the in-tended plot. 1 gave or

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bniked in the plot. It was in testimony thnMhe In surgents " were trying all round thP country, frmn Georgetown and Santee, ro'l,l,nd about to Conibahee to get people,'1 an

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32 pike beads and bayonets, one hundred were said to have been made at au early day, and by the 16th June, as many as two or three hundred, and be~ tween tbrce and four hundred daggers. Atone timet Gullah Jack \Vas seen by several ,vitncsscs with six of the pike heads, which he safrl, he hadjn st brought from the blacksmith's; and a buu

33 carried another and a pistol to V csey, together with a keg of powder, that was afterwards made up into fixed ammunition, and which he had stolen from his owner; and that some of the arms of the Revenue Cutter had been stolen, yet none of these arms were found. A dagger rudely mad e, \Vas found in Rolla's truuk; a quantity of slow match which was supposed to have been stolen out of the Arsenal by Lot was found concealed on one of the wharves, with which the City was to have been fired; and a very considerable num-ber of mmiket balls were accidemly discovered. con-cealed under water in one of the docks. But the means which the insurgents had in their power of mmiug themscJves \Vere ample. On King-street road, be-yond the limits of the city considerably, though within the lines, in a common wooden store, unguar-ded, were deposited the arms of the Neck Company of i'vlilitia, amounting to between two und tluce hun-dred muskets and bayonets, aod a few swords ; the door of which store was to have been opened by Bacchus Hammett immediately as the lnsurgrnts appeared before it, which a party were to have done at the appointed hour. Mr Duri~rcron's store on King street road, also beyond the li-mits of the City, and but a short distance below the lm1t mentioned store, were deposite

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which they could rcsmt; especially the stores of those Gun -Smiths, with ,.vliom thr. arms of some of the militia companies are depo.sited for the purpose cf being kept in order. B11t in a

going to the North, or to SuUivan's-Island, or into the upper parts of the State to spend th.e summer, generally before that time dcpm't; a circmnstauce whkh had not escaped the obse1vation of Vesey.-Howcvel', in consequen:cc of the discoveries made on the 30th May, and the apprehem;ion of Peter and Mingo Harth the day after, (but who afrer being ex-amined were discharged) Vesey thought it prudent to tix upon an earlier day for the attack, and changed it some time after to the uight of Sunday the 16th of June, which change, though he was able to commu-nicate to his associates in the city, it would appear from his sending messengers into the country for that purpose, as late as the very day preceding the night on which the attempt was to be made, that he had not had sufficient time, or found some difficulty in communicating to his followers in the country; which accounts for their not generally appearing in the city on the night of the 16th of June. Twenty or thirty men however in a canoe did reach the city, and im-mediately had their arrival reported to V csey ~ and with this view may many ofthosewho came into the city on Saturday night and during Sunday have visit-ed Chadeston, on which day, great numbers, (cer-tainly above a thousana as wiH presently be shewn) invariably repair to the city; but the preparations made by the whites, and the number of troops on duty that night, convinced him and l1is foHowers that their plot was discovered and the whites Qn chek guard ; and as their hope of success was founded on effecting a supprise, Vesey sent them word to depart from the city as soon as possible and wait for furthe1

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36 orders ; " and the conspirators finding the whole town encompassed at 10 o'clock by the most vigilant patrols, did not dare to shew themselves, wha tever might ha ,,e been their plans. In the progress of the iincstigation, it was distinctly in proof, that but for tl10se miHtary dP-monstrations, the effort would un questionably have been made; and that a meeting took place on Sundayafternoon,thc 16th at 4o'clock, of several of the ringleaders at Denmark Vesey's, for the purpose of making their preliminary arrangc-ments.n

l 'hc plan of attack as originally formed was still adhered to, with the exception of the change of time before mentioned. It was to commence precisely at 12 o'clock on the njght of Sunday the 16th of J nne;: at ,vhich hour every one was to move, and the attack at every point to be made at the sume moment.-Peter was to lead a party which \\'as to assemble on South *Bay, and to be joined by a force from James' Island ; he was then to march up and seize the Arse-nal and Guard House opposite St. .Michael's Church and secure the arms. From this force, a party was to be detatchcd, whose duty it would be to prevent the Citizens from assembling at their alarm posts, by cutting them off as they arrived. A second body con-sisting partly of negrocs from the country and from the Neck, was to assemble on 1he Neck, under the' command of Ned, and to seize the Arsenal there. A third to assemble at Bennett''- Mills, to be headed by RoUa, and, after murdering the Govcrno1 aud Inten dant, to mar ch through the City, or take his station at Cannon's Bridge, and dms prevent the inhabitants of Cannonsborough from entering the City. A fourth,

37 partly from the country t and partly from that portio11 of the city, was to rendezvous on Gadsden's wharf, march and attack the upper Guard~ House. A fifth, of country and Neck negroe.; 1for ,vhom in particular the pikes which were made had been provided, was to as~ semble at Bulkley's farm, about two miles and a half from the City, and seize the powder magazine, three miles and a half from town , and then march into the City ; and a sixth to assemble at Vesry 's, and under his command, to march dmvn to the Guard House. Vv'hilst these attacks were going on, a number of them on hmseback were to ride through the streets, and kill C'\'ery person they might meet, and prevent them rrom assembling, or exteudiug the alarm. Battean was to join andmarch down with Vesey; and Gullali Jack with another body, which was to assemble in Boundarystreet at the head of King-street, was to take possession of the atms of the Neck Company, ,vhich were deposited in a store as before-mentioned, and also those in Mr. Duquercron's store. Arms being thus from these different source s provided, the City was to have been fired> and an indiscriminate slaughter of the whites to commence, and also of those of their own colour who had notjoined them, or did not immediat ely dQ so. It was determined that no one should he neuter; " he that is not with me is against me."* was their creed, The lead ers\ appeared to have no doubt but that those slaves who had not been particularly spoke11 to would join them, as soon as the Insurrection had fail'ly commenced, and the most partial success had been attained. " Let

41 Pth Chapter of St. Luke, 23d verse.

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1 us assemble a sufficient number to commence th6 work witb spirit and we'll not want men, they'll fall in behind us fast enough.". Amongst tho se unacqnai11ted with the employmentst

habits and customs of the inhabitants of Charleston and the country and Islands immediately surl'ounding it, a doubt might arise, how the Insurgents were to pro-vMe themselves with horses in the City~ and how the negrues from the Islands anrl the opposite sides of Ashley and Cooper rivers would find a C"onveyance t.o town. In neither of these respect s however, ,vas these the least dilliculty. There were four sources from which they intended to obtain horses~ the three first not only feasible but certain, the last more dillicult, but by no means i11surmountablc. }.'irst, numbers of the draymen and carter s of rhe city, who are all persons of colour, and many of whom have their horses both day and night under tlwir contrnul, (those who arc fr~ keeping them in thcil' own yards, and many of the slaves keeping their horses out of their owner's) were to act as horsemen ; so were, secondly, some of the butcher's boy's, who could ,vith ease provi(lc themselves wilh horses ; thirdly, the slaves at some of the public livery stables were engaged in the plot, and were a short time be-fore the appointed hour to have the horses sad~ dlerl, and at the hour to open the stable doors, and thus provide their comrades with horses ; and fourthly, some of those whose owners were attached to either of the corps of cavalry in the city, were to endeavor to seize and bring of with them their own-ers horses. As to the means which those on the ls1ands &c. would have to reach Charleston, they

were abunclont. The immense number of canoes of various sizes 1 (many of whicb could transport up-wards of one hundred men) employed in bringing to the Charleston market, vegetables, stock of every kind and the staple of the counny, would have af-forded conveyance for thousands. As a matter of in formation and precaution, the Intendant of Charles ton during the aials, and investigations of the plot, when negl'Ocs were rather fcru-ful of coming into town, directed the numbers of those who came over in such boats on Sundays from the Islands to be counted, when even at that time, upwards of five hundred entered the city on one Sunday. ]

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hair cfrcsscr, was employed to make a number of wigs an

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but of the character, extent and importance of the, correspondence, no satisfactory information has been obtained, and perhaps by no other person but Vesey could this have been given.

What were the views .ind plans of the J nsurgents after they bad taken Charleston, had they succeeded in doing so, does not satisfuctOrily appear; aud it is probable they had formed none, but intended to re gulatc themselves according to circum stances; but they appeared confident, that they would have been jojned by such numbers from the country, as to have been able, at that particular season of the year, and with the fortifications on 'the N eek and around the Harbour, to have retained possession of the city, as long as they might deem it expedient. One or two of the Insurgents said, that V cscy, after robbing the Banks of specie, and plundering the city of all that was most valuable, intended to sail for St. Domingo with bis ptincipal adherents ; but the informants thcmsch ,cs spoke of it more as a suggestion, than a fixed plan.

The character and condition of most of the Ins~1r- gents were such, as rendered them ol~ects the least liable to suspicion. It is a melancLoly truth, that the general good conduct of all the leaders, except Gullah Jack, had secured to them not only the un-limited confidence of their owners, but they had bceu indulged in every comfort, and allowed every privi Jcdge compatiuic with their situatfon in the comn;m-nity; and although Gullah Jack ,vas not rerp.arkable for the correctness of his deportment, he by no means sustained a bad charactel'. V escy himself was free, and had amassed a considerable estate for one of his.

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tolour; he was in good business as a carpc111e1, and enjoJed so much the confidence of the whites, that when he was accused, the charge ,vas not ouly dis-credited, but he was not even mrcsted for several days after, and not until the proof of his guilt hatl be-come too strong to be doubted.* It is di1Ucult to

The following sketch of his life is copied from the accrnmt of the intended .insurrection published by the authority of the Cor pora tion of Charleston.

"As Denmark Vesey has occupied so large a place io the con spiracy 1 a brief notice f him wlH, perlrnps, be nut devoid of inter est. Th e followiog a.necdOLe \viii shew how near he wa~ to the chance of being distinguish ed in the hloorly events of San Domingo.

' DuriTig the rev olntion ilry wa r7 Capta in Vesey, now ;m old r~itlcnt of this city, commanded a ship that traded betw een St. 'fhorna~ ' and Cape Francais ( San Domi11go.) He was engaged in supply ing the French of that bland with Slaves. fo tl1e year I. 781, ho took on board at 5t. Thomas' 3UO slaves and sailed fur the Crtpc ; on the passage, he anrt his oi!Jccrs were struck with the beauty, alert1wss and intc!lig cucc of a hoy about 14 years of age, whom they rnatnrned on his h,Luds, as the plan ter, who had purchased him, represented him unsouml, and subject u,.epilec:tic fits. Acconliug to the custom of trade in that place, the boy was placed i11 the hanrls of the king's physician, who decided that he was unsound, and Captain Vesey was compelled to take him back, of which he had no occasion to repent, as Denmark pro ved, for 20 years a most faithful slave. In 1800, Denmark drew a prize Of $1500 in the East-Bay-Street Lottery, with which he ptlrchased his

.freedom from h~s master 7 :i.t i.i.x hundi'eii dollar;S, much less tho.n h1s

wnc.ciYC \,;hat motive he had to enter into such e. plot., (unles.', it was the one mentioned by one of the witncsscs 1 who said, that Vesey had several children who were slaves, aml that he said on one occasion he wished to scethemfree;)as hehimselfartfully remarked in his defence on his trial; yet with him it unques-tio11ahlv oriainated and by him ,vas hraded. Rolla

1:1 ' was the confidential servant of his ma sier; so much so, that when his master's public duties rcquh~d his nbsence from his family, they ,vere left under the protection of that slave .; and yet that very man, un-dertook to head a party, whose first act was to be, the murder of that master, who had reposed such con-fidence in biIU, und had treated him with great kind ness. Ned was also a confidential servant, and bis general good condLLCt \Vas commendable. " Peter

real value. Frum that period to the (fay oi his apprehension he bas been working us ii. carpenter in this ciry, distinguished for great ;;trcngth an

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was a sla:vc of great value, and for his colour, a first 1ate ship carpenter. He possessed the confidence of his master, in a remarkable degree, and had been treated with indulgence, liberality and kinc.luess.n "Monday enjoyed all the substantial comforts of a free man ; (he was) much iuclulgcd and trusted by his master; his time awl a large proportion of the profits of his labour wc1c at his owJl disposal. He even kept his master' s arms and sometimes his mo-ney.:' '' He is a most exccUcnt harness-maker, and kepl his shop in Meeiing-strcet." " l\Jomlay is an Ebo, and is now in the prime oflife , having been in the ('Ountry l.5or20 ycars.i' But not only were the leaders of good character and much indulged by thrir owners, but this was vcty genera lly the case with aJl who ,vere convicted, many of the~ possess~ ing the highest confidence of their owners, and not one C!f bad cltamctn .

~A not her charact er istic of this plot was, that a deci-ded majority of the Insurgents, either did or had be-longed to the African Congregation; amongst whom tlic in!istmrnts Wcl'e prin

45 interesting to ninny. When Vesey was tried, he fol-ded his arms aud seemed to pay great attention to the tcst1mony ginn against him, but with his eyes fixed on the floor. Jn this situation hr re1m,incd im-moveable, until the 1-vitncsses had been exarniucd by the Cou1t and cross-examined by his counsel; when he requested to be allmved to examine the wi1ucsses himself. H c at first questioned 11.J.cm in the dictutorial1 despotic manner, in wliicb lw was probably accus-tom!!d to address them; but this not pro(lucing the desired effect, hr question:;!d them ,vith afiectcd sur-pl'ise and concern for bearing false lCstimon)' against him; still failing in bis purpose, he then examined them strictly as to dates, but could not make them contradict themselves. The evidence hcing closed, he addressed the Court ut consi

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further explained to him, assumed with wonderful adroitness, astonishment and surprise. Ile was re-markable thronghont hi~ trial, fot g1eat presrince c\ml composure of mind. \Yhcn he -..n1s informed he '\

41 the impl'ession which the trial, defence and appear-au.ce of Gullah Jack made 011 those who witnessed the workings of his cun ning and rude a

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of punishment Lcing effectually altaincd by these ex-amples, and rhc 1-ing-lcadcrs being convicted, the ar-rests stopped here.

One who '>ms not a member of the Court, cannot well conceive the effect produced by the threats used, in preventing a discovery of rhe plot. 'fhc culist-mcnts had been going on nnd the preparations making actively siuce Christmas, yet it was not until the 30th May, that the least suspicion was cntcnaincd by the whites. Had h not been that one, not author-ised by Vesey or the othc1 leaders, and evidently unfit for such a purpose, undr.nook to enlist, no dis-covery might have been made ; for though the infor-mation received ou 1he H,th J unc, was infinitely more extensive and in detail, ttnd from a very diffcrellt (Juartcr, yet the first com m1111ication and the excite~ ment it occasioned, might have had cousidernble ef-fect in clkiting lhc olh er. Tile .information rccci\cd on the 30th May, how ever, so far from leading to a

,f d;scovcry of the plot, \Vas ~vcntnally disbelieved; so thac the detection was not ieally made, until two ni;hts preceding the iotcndc

49

versation which had taken place at the market on the Sat,mlay preceding, between 1ffimself and a black man; which afforded strong reasons for believing that a revolt aud insurrection were in contemplation among a proportion at least of our black population. The Corpora(ion was for1hwith summoned to meet at 5 o'clock, for the purp :1~~ of hcuriug the narrative of the slave who had gire11 this information to his maste1, to which meeting the attendance of His Ex-cellency the Govcrno1 was solicited; with which in-vitation he pmmptly complied. Between however, the hours of Band 5 o'clock, the gentleman who had conveyed the information lo the Jnten

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from "hich I observed a small vc.;;1iel in 1he. .s!rc-u1n wi th a singular .fh,g; whih;t looking at this oluect, a black man, (J\"Ir . Paul's ,Vil!iam) came up to me an

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lose a moment in so doing.* I took his advice nnd not waiting, eHn for the return of my must.er to town, I mcntionc(l it to rny mistr ess and young mao;;ter -On the arrival of my ma stc1, he examined me as to what had passed, and I stated to him what I ha, 1c mentioned to yo11tsclres. ,

" On this witness being dismissc

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52 Uove) on \vhich occ:asion hr, a,tmittrd all the conver-sation which he had held at the fish-market, with the witness bef

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about him a charn'.I which rendered hiin iuvulnera~ lifo."

" Three or four days now elapsed, and notwith~ stamling all our efforts, we could obtain no confir-mation of the disclosures of William, on the contral'y, they seemed to ha\ c susta ined some invalidation, from the circ umstance, of one of the individuals (Ned Bennett) whom he named as a p('rson who had in-formation in relation to the insmTc c1ion, coming vo-luntarily to the Intendant, and solici cing an exami-nation , if he was an object of suspicion. 1n this stage of tbc busines s, it was not deemed advisable prematurely to pre ss these examinations, as it might have a tendency to arrest any forthel' devclopc-ments.

"On the night, howev er, of Friday the 14th, the information of William was amply confirmed, and details infinitely more abundant and interesting af-forded. At 8 o'clock on this evening, the Intendant received a visit from a gentleman, who is advantage-ously known in this community for his worth and respectabil ity.

i This gentleman, with an anxiety, which the oc casion was well calculated to beget, stated to the In~ tcndaut, that~ hu, ,ing the most unbounded confidence in a faithful slave belongi11g to his family, who was distinguished alike fol' his uncommon intelligence _and Integrity, he was induced rn juform him 1 that rumours were abroad of an intended insurrectfon of the blacks, and that it was said, that this movement had been traced to some of the coloured members of Dr. Palmer's church, in which he was known to he a class lcadcr.-On being strongly e11joincd to co1i,..

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ceal nothing, he, the next day, Friday the U.th, came to his master, and infom1ed him, that the fact was really so, that a pub]ic disturbance was contemplated by the blacks, ancl not a moment should he lost in informing the constituted authorities, as the succeed-ing Sunday, the 16th, at 12 o'clock, at night, was the period fixed for the rising, which, if not prevent-ed, woultl inevitably occm at that hmu-. This slave, it appears, was in no degree connected with the plot, but he ha

a very strong guaul on duty, am! ,by 10 o'clock the whole town was snrt'Ounded by the most vigilant pa-trols; they therefore dared not s.hew themselves.

Notwithstanding the

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fiom the slnv

57 o.nrl that of John Horry, Harry Haig and Gullah Jack.

"On the 9th of July, howt!\'Cr, tl:ec::e five men, were caJled before the Court to receive SL'Htencc, and of-ter it had been pronounced, with the most impl'essive s lem,iity, they were ,vithdrawn to a common wal'd in the WOlk-House, for half an hour, until separate c< h co;1ld be provided for tbcm. It was at this tn0 ;)1ent that Charles Drayton, overwhelmed with terror and guilt, went up to Mun.Jay and reproached him with having induced him to join in a scheme which had placed him in such a miserable and perilous situation. To this appeal Monday not only confessed his guilt, but observed co Charles-that their present fate was justly and preci sely what they had a right to expect, after the it detected and defeated project. On which lhcre immediately ensued between them a conversation on the extent of the guilt of others, iu which Monday gave Charles the names of many uc-compliccs whom he had 11ot pre, im:sly known in the plot ; the arri ml of the blacksmith to iron the con-vict~, and the turnkey to con\"cy them to separate ~ell~, interrupted the conversation.

uchal'les, dming the uigbt ot the 9th, sent for Mr. Gonion, who has charge of the Work -House, and in-formed him that he was extremely anxious to see the Intendant, as he had some important disclosures to make. By day-light, on the morning of the 10th, this message was conveyed to the person for whom it was intended, and Charles was visited at sun-rise. He was founcl, in a state of the most lamentable de-pression and pauic, and he seemed pieparcd to make the most nmplc decla.rations from the fear of death

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58 and the consequences of an herr:,ifta, if he went uut of the world without l'C\'Caling aH that he knew, iu relation to the Conspiracy, in which he had been so actfre an agent. Before his tHll-ra1ive ,vas l'eceived, be was most specially pnt on his guard, drnt no promi-ses could be made to hjm of a rever sal of his fate, but that he might rest satisfied, his condition could not be \\.orsc by his coming out with a full disclosure of all that he knew. He then stated mm1y paiticuia,~, that had come to his own knovdedge, proving a much wider diflbsion of the plot than, at that period, was imagined; and, aftc1 giving up the nam es of several ofhi9 comrades, he 1-pcntioncd the cotl\'ersalion which had been commenced and b!'oken off, in the com mun ward of the "\Vnrk-llouse, between Monday Gell arnl himself. As Monday, at this period, did not seem dispo sed to make any co11fessious to others, whatever he might be inclined to do to his friend Charles, it was considered important, that the conversation bc-tnTcn them, shoutd be rellcwcd, and they were brought wgcthcr iu the same cell, and lc:ft t'or twenty four horns alone ; but some little stratagem was cm-pley

59 resp1tcd by His ExccUency, the Governor, at the rC:,-quest o[ the Court) and Charl es, on his re-examina-t ion afforded mucl1 important information, which he had dcTived from Monday. On Monday's having all this brought to his vie ... v, he coufcsscd his own guilt, as well as rhe trnth of the statements which he ha

60 whilst the plantations in the lo\.vcr country would have been disorganized, and the agriculturul interest s have sustained an enormous loss.

MEJ\IORA:\DU:Vf. A Gentleman or re9pectabil ity, thl' owner or on~ of the Slfl.v~,

deeply engaged in the Conspira.cy, stated to the Court , prcyiou sly to his Servant's guilt being ascertained, thnt he was a K1gro in whoi;e honesty and veracity he confided, and whose attachment and fiddity to him had been great. That this Negro had b!'en twic:e in the Northern States vith him, where he had every re nson to hf'licvc tlm.t attempts were made to indm:e this Slave not to rNnrn to Chark stun. He further said he had owned him since l SOG or I S07 , during al! which time he had behaved himself wc]I. It thus appears t.hat Hen a Servant whose att achment to his owner w :1s so great, th a t he l'elli sed to avail himself of the means of lawfully attaiuiu g his freedom', (the laws of the State, or tuc frienu .ly feelings of its inlrnbit an1s, where he then wa.sJ putting that in his power, ) could not resist the arguments or threats of the Conspirators , even though he kn ew that they aimed at nothing , less than the murder of his JU.toter aml family,

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THE CouRT oro-anized.for the trial of sundry Ne-groes apprehende~l and charged " with attempting to raise cm Insurl'ection amongst lhc Black.s against 1/ie Whites," and of such others as might be brought before them on lhc sa me charge, met on ,vednesday, the 19th June, 182'.2, and consisted of the following Cendemen 1 viz:

u } :Magistrates. L10NEL H. K.::ernov, Q. TnolltAS PARKER, J. r. WILLIAM DRAYTON~ l NATHAN HE\ 'W ,\RD, JA111~s R. Ptt.INCLE, ~ Freeholders. lAJl[f,S LEG.\RE, I RonE.RT J. Tu,,rnuLL, J

T rrn TRIAL of ROLLA, a ncgro man, tI1e slave of His Excellency, Governor 13ennect-Jacob Axson, sq. altcmling as Counsel for his owner.

EVIDENCE,

\VnN1~ss No. l*-A negro man testified as fol-lows :-1 know HoJJa, belonging to Mr. Thomas Benn ett, we arc intimat e friclld s; all that I know of the in tende d Insurrection r go t from him. About lhree ItlOJJths ago he asked me to join with him .in slaying the wbitcs, I asked him to give me time to consider

* This witness came forward voluntarily, a11d i::ave i11lo1mation of 1iie iuwnc!cd Insurrection, an d of the pl.ice~ and th ose concl'rned, as lilr as his informatio11 exten ded, pn 1iousb; to lhe appoint~tl day, and only asked that his 11a111c; wvuld not br. cievulgcd, which the Court pll'dged tl1~msclve.s to coaccul a:; far as it rlependcd on them. His name is therdore .suppressed-Ile i~ i,i ,w way inculpated.

62 of it; a week afrcr he put the same qnestion to me, and at the end of ano ther \\'eek he ugai11 came to me on the same sul~jcct. I told him " take care, God says w e must uot kil] ;n you arc a coward he said and laughed at me. Tlc said he would tell me how it was to he douc. There urc said he, while meu who ha vc comf' from off, nnd who say that St. Domingo ancl Africa \Viii assist us to get our liberty if we will only mnke 1hc motion first. I a.ddscd him to let it aloue, and told him I would oppose them if they came to kill my owner, ,vhcn he agaiu laughed at me as a cowanl-Ile summoned me to go to their mectinrrs where sai d he you will licar what is going on and be better i11formcd; f told him HS, I would go-Friday night about three weeks ago he appointed to take me ,vith him to their meeting; at that Hight he came to me and again summo ned me to go to the rneeting, I wmna,, ay from him, J went out ofhis way. The next lfaY he c.:une to me and said the meeting had been ex~ peering me and l must send my name to-he put clown as one of the Band-This thing has been g()it1g on fot four months . He told me that at tbe meeting it ,vas .said that :,ome whiic men said Congress fwd set 1rs free, 1trul that ow white people here wonld not let 1ts be so, and that St. Domingo and Africa wouM come over aJH] cut up the whitP people if \Ve only made tile rnot:ion here tirst-dmt las t Satunla,v night (the 15th .June,) might be 1he last he had to live, as they were dNennined to break ope11 the thing on Sunday nigh t (the Hith J tme)-I told him it could HOS h(: do11c, it ,vould 11ot Slll"t:ced, that om parents for generat ions buck bad been slaves, and we had bettL'l' he contented-He desitetl me to tcll-(\\ 'it-JW"" No. 2) to go up to hiui, that he ,vishcd to see him-No . '2 ,vent in the evening-Rolla told No. 2 in my presence what he was going to

G3 '2 to sound the ,tlarm. and if he did not I would-l asked Holla what wa~ to be done with the women and children ? he said, " 1vlun we have done will, the j,:l/ows, we know what to do with the wenche..,,;_ He said t/Jcre

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present situation ; if I remembered the fable of llcr-culcs nnd the Wa~fToocr whose wa~~on was staJlcd, ~ 0 ... _ and he bc~an to pray,and Hrrcu_lcs ~uid, you fool put vom shoulders to the wheel, whip up the horses arnl your waggou wi ll be pulled out; !hat if wc diu not put our hand to the \vork and dehvf'r ourselves, we should ncnr come out of slavery: that Congress /tad made usfra. l know rliat he is intimately ac(_Juainted with Rolla-Rolla told me that there had been a sort of clisag1ccmcnt and confusion at their plac~ of meet-ing, and that they meant to meet at Vcsey's-Vesey told me that a larg;c army from St. Dorn.ingo and Africa were comin~ lo help us, and we must not stand ,vith our hands in 0111 pockets ; he was bitter towards the whites. Samho who live~ on 1\Irs. La Roache's plantation (on John's Island) sent word down to Holla that he would be in town on Sunday night last-HoHa said that they would han~ a coun-tc1sign to be known to their friends, and .in the ac-tion, those blacks who couhl not give it wot1ld be kille

6& people ; that 111.: wm, ask.ell to join hut tlmt he ask-ed for time to con sider; that he \Vas told to tell me t:o go out of town ; that at 12 o'clock on Sun-day (the lGth June) the rising would take place.-I told him I would t.cH rnv master and he said he would do the same. On 1.\iday (the 14th of June) ,vitncss No. I, and myscJftold my master every thing. I went up to Holla as he requested, and saw him, who complained of his hard living; l found that he wns at something wrong and my heart got so full that I wept. Rolla never cold me in expre ss words that he was going to join in the rising to kill 1he whites. Witness No. l, ,vas present when Rolla and myself wer e speaking and heard most of what pas- scd ~ H.olf u's last words were 'ti:; g one too far now to be stopprd." Thou,h Holla said uuthi11g; expressly to me auont insurrection, yet we seemed to under-stand each other pcrfoctly,.and that such was in con-templation-Rolla told me that un Suu

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G6 to rise against thC' whites, ' twas on l.tst Saturday ( Llic 2",th o(J 1111c) ; he n:..kcd me to join him to raise an a1111y against the whites; I rcfusctl and went away; ht: said I ,vas a fool.

'\VrTN!l:SS No. 7, a ncgrn man gave the followin g evidencc-1 resitlc on John's Island. About a month ago Holla advisc rl me to joi11 tlw blacks a:.;;ai11st the wltitcs, I told him it ,v,1s min ; he told me to come to town on Saturday week last (ll1c 15th of June ). Ue ~aid he would let me know what duv to be

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oug!it to . rise up and fight against the whites for our lilJe1'lits ; he wa s tl1e first to ri se up and 8peakt and he 1eatl to nsfrmn the Bible, liow lite Ckildren of . l,mel Wt:r(! delit~l!rPil out

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Oorl commmul,:.rl, that fill should be cut op: both men,. wonun and cftildrn1, and said, he believed, ii 1ws no sin for H.

69 'fm;; TnrAL of BATTEAU, a Negro Man, th,>.

slave of His E:i.:cd1cucy Govcr11nr lle11ncn.-Jucob i Axson, E.-;q. atte11di11g as Counsel for the 1;wner. ,

EVIDENCE,

WITNESS No. 3*-A Negro, about 18 years of age testified as folJuws :-f kuow Battcati, he belongs to .Mr. Bennett-Sunday before last he met me , stop-ped me and told me something very grc\'ious--l1c asked me if l i,rnuld go as one of the anuy-1 told :h:m I could not, as I was so bomul to my father that l could not go out withont his !cavc- notbing; more tl1cn took place as I irnn1cdiatdy left him-I have not seen him si11cc-Crns:-;-Exumincd-.13attcau told me this army 'tnl.s to rait-Je t l1c blacks against the whites-he said the arn1,v was to act last Sunday uigbt (rhc 16th J unc)-beforc lie c01mt1cnccd speak-ing to me be took me 011c shlc and th ,~n spoke low to me - my brother (witness No . 4) U!Jd myself after-,van.b spoke together on this hnsiness, aml he said that Batrcau ha d likewise spoken tu him about it.

\V1TKl-:SS No. 4t - A Negro about 20 years of age gave the following cYhlcnce:-I know Batteau, hr, belongs to Mr. Bennet, he once said to rnc that he ,vamerl me to agree to joill them with as many hlal'ks as I could get to kill the wllitcs-This wns last Sunday week in the afcenioon after Church-I said I could not attempt such a t.hing-hc t.l"ied to J>1Hsua1k me co join hut I l'efused---hc said he could raise ar-mies dircrtly---that he was one at the head---that they would put one fo1ce at the Bridge and anoth~r in town---that he cxpec1cd some aid from the coufl t1y---the last time I saw witness, No. 3, was last Sfl,-turday night --Batteau said the l'ising would be last

* Ag::tinst this witnes .~ there wa.~ no chare:e in relation to the fo. surrecti .on-~ecrery as to his name was pledged to him.

t This wime~s is in the precise situation, and had tilt' same plcdg"' gi VCll him US .'.\" O. 3,

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Sunday night (the 16th .June)- ,-Cl'oss-F:xamincd.---On the Sunday nfternoon I Sa\v Battcau, 'twas neai the Hcv. Mr. Bachman':-: not far from Cannon's Bridge, he was ta1king with a woman---hc ca lled to me and took me one si'dc and bcg;a11 the connrsation, speaking lcnv so that no one could hear him---hesaid if 1 could raise men cnou.:h 'twixt Saturday and Sunday next to meet him to kill the white pcoplc---/tc said tluy could get. ,inns 1:nou.~h---he is called B.ttteau and llottcau--My brother ( witness No. 3) and myself afterward . .;; spoke to~ccher on this suqjcct, and he said that Battcau had spoken to him too.

Tt-n.: Couwr mwninwus(IJ fou11d llattcau Gun.TY, and on the 28th J u11e passed upon him the sentence of Dt:,uH ..

On die first day of .Tul.v, the follO\ving letter was rcceivc

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hf' infor1cd. And even admitting the truth of tbeiF evidence, it would not appear that-he is equally guiJty with the others. Jr so the benignant provisions of that act would sanctfon the rcqucsr 1muk. .......... -

I ask this Gentlemen, as an irnljvidual inct1rring a sc,'....erc and

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to assist us wHl you join---1 oskcd him hmv do :you mcan---he said, why to break the yokc----1 replied I don't knmv---hc asked me suprosc you were to hear that the whites were going to kill you would you defend yourself'.---1 reply'd Pd try to cscapc---he Rsked have you lately seen Den.mark Vesey, and has he spoken to you particularly-I said no-"cll then said he that's at! now, but call at the shop to-morrow after knocking off work and l will tell yon more-we then parted. I met him the next day ac-cording to appointment, when he said to me, ,~e in-tend t.o see ifwe can't (lo something for ourselves, we can't live so-.J asked him where lie 1vould gl'.!t men --he said we'll find them fast enough, ,ve have got enough-Vile e'.\pect menfromcounl(y and town. Bnt how said I will you nmnage it-why we ,vill /;!:ivc them notice said IH', and thev wiJl mat'ch down ~.nd camp round the cicy---but ,,1har said I will they dll for arms-he answered they will find arms enough, they wilt bring down their lwcs, axes, &c.-1 said that won't do to fight with here-he said stop; let us ~ct candidates from town n-irh arms, and we wHI then take the Gttard-Ilouse aud Arscr1al in town, the Ar-senal on the Ne ck and the upper Guard -House, and supply the country people wiih arms-how said I will you approach these Arsc11als &c. for they arc guarded-yes said he, I know that, but what me rhosc guards, one man here and one man there, we won ' t let a man pass before us-\Vdl said l but how will the black people from the country and those from th!'! Islands know when you are to begin; or how will you get the town people together-why said he we wi !l have prayer meetings al night and there nutify them when to start and as the c!ork strikes 12 all must rnovc--But said I, the whites in the back country, Vit-ginia, &c. ,vhcn t hf:y hear the nev.s wi II turn to aml kilJ you all, aud beflides you may be betraye

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a dead time qf ni:ahl they won 't know what is the matter, and 011r HrJrse Comp anies '1!cill go about the Jtreets anti prevem the wkitesfrom assembli1l/],'- l ask-ed him where wjJJ you get horsc s-,vhy saia he there are many lmtcher ho.vs with hors es, and there are the public Livery Stables, whcrr we have several can-didates and the waici11g men belonging to the white people of the Horse Compan ies will he told to take away their maste1's horse s-he asked me if my mas-ter was not a horseman-I said yes-has he not got :J,rms in bis house-1 answered yes--can't they be got at--I said yes-then said he 'tis good to have tl1cru--I asked him what was the plan--why said he after we have taken the A.r~cual and Guard Houses, then we ,vill set the town on fire in cliOrl'

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said he take care and don't mention it to those wait .. ing men who recein~ pre;;;enls of old coats ,S,.c. j,om their masters or they'll betray us; I will speak to them. We the11 parted and l have not since conversed with .him-he said the rising was to take place last Sun-d rty night ( l Gth June )-that qny of the coloured peop pie who said a word aboul t!tis matter would be killed b.lJ thP others- 'J'lie little man who can't be killed, sltot or taken is named Jack, a GuHah nc~ro-Peter said there was a French company in tuw11 of 300 men ful-ly armt?d-tlmt he vvas to sec Muuday Gell about ex-peditin g the rising. I know that .l\i iugo \\.'cnt often to iV[r. Paul 's to see Edwin, Lrnt dou't knO\V if he spoke with \,Villiam-Pt:t,:r said lie liad a sword and I ought to get 011c-he saicl he hall

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class leaders in the African Cl~urch. The African Association have also a Clrnr ch in Anson-street and one in Cow-alley, where they have service. Ming:o sairl that Peter would tell me when the rising wouM take place. He sai

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,ailed on me aftenvards--I was not at home. Peter Poyas l'okt'me also that they had force enough, that i-ome \Vould come from J amcs' lslaud a11d J olins' Island 1 und some from Chri~l Church Pilri .sh, whe1t~ he generally went over to a meeling 10 h:1\c a talk, and that he had some about aud nhout hi wwn , the number of which he would shew me from the Society llooks if I would ouly come to the Socicty--hc saii.l they were to figl1t tl1c whites and keep on fighting ~till the English came to help them-Harry llaig told me the same thing. [Sec also Fruuk Ferguson's ccs-timouy agninst Dc1n11ark Vc~ey, who told him that "himself, Ned, Peter mid lVfonciay Gell were the pr.incipal men, and him~clf tlic head man, &c. "J

--@+>-Al\HIERST, a Negro Man belonging to Mrs.

Linin~, was next tried. Tbc strongest part of the tcstimouy against him was, his requesting his cluss leader on Sunday, the J 6th June to pn1y for him, as it might be the last day he had to live. Amherst ad-mitted that lie hud said ~o, and that he alluded to the intended insurrection, whicb he had that

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boys were taken up for the other day-1 replied i\'o, bnt some say 'twas for stealing-N ed askf'd me if 1 was sure I had never said any thin g co the whit es about what Pct.er Poyas had ~pokcnLto me about-I replied No--says P etei you never tlid-No 1 an sweted- savsNed to me how do you staud ---at which I struck the " tree box vrith my k1;uckle s and suid, ns firm as this box, I'll never say u11e ,vord against you -~ cd then s1niled and noi\ 1 lefl hi~ head and said, that will do, when \.Vr all srparatcd . P eter toloyas, f\cd Bcunett, and Charles .'::Shuhdck, aud that Ned Ben -nett and Charles Shubri ck, arc on1cers. My follow servant Edwin told me he knclV the purti cs and that the thing was going on well-that all the African Con gre gation were engaged in it and Pct.er Poya s and N cd Il en11ett.

-WITNESS No. 1, testified, that Rolla said, Ned and Mathias were concerned.

FRANK a Negro Man, the slave of Mrs. Ferguson, gave the following evidence :-Ve sey told me that Ned Bennet and Pote r Poya s wer e concerned with him, and that th ey were to go abont and tell the biacks that they wel'e free an

Ned Bennett, :Monday Gell and others at Vesey)st Where they were tnlkfog about this bu~iness.

THE CouR'r u.nanim,.Yusly found Ned Uu1LTY, and passed upon him the sentence of D r,:ATH .

. h::ssE in his confession to the Hev. Dr. Hall said, "at another meeting at Denmark Vesey's 1 Ned Ben~ nett and Peter Poyas and several others were " pre-sei1t, and in conversation" about this business, &c.

--=le!ti@IC:S--

TnE TnrAt, of JESSE, a N~gro Man, the Slav~ of ]\fr. Thomas Blackwood .=-His owner attending. '

./ EVlllE.'/CE.

SALLY, n Negro Womm, the Sluve of Mr. Alex-anckr Howard, gave the follmviui:?; evidence ;-I know Jesse and heard him speak scverci.l times about it----One day in particular he was anxious to see his broth"r who has my mother for his wife, and wafr ed until he came, when rhcy conv ersed tog ether-Je ss(! said he had got a hor,;e to g o into r!t11 country to bring down men to fight the white pPople ; that he was nllowcrl to pass by two parr.ic.s of the patrole on the road, but that a 1hinl party had brought him back and that if thP.rc wele bnt five men like him lhey would destroy the r.ity- rhis was on las t Sunday weck 1 (the 16th .June)-he said that before 3 o'clock on that night all the whit.:: people would be kiHcd-that if any pcrsotl informed or would not jom in the fig ht, such person would be killed or poisoned_..,;hc frequently came into the yard to sec his brother, and I threatened to inform if he came there, and spoke in that way to get us all into troubl e-W e nev er had ooy quarrel.

Lo'r, a Negro Man, the Slave of l\fr. Forr ester, testified as foilows :-l know Jesse-he met me last Sunday week (16th June) at the corner ofBoundary-street, as I was coming i11to town-he said be wa s going to get a horse to !{O into the co1mtr11-From \'drnt my master had told me the Thur sday before I

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80 distrusted his errand and ~ave him somctl1ing of a caution when us l was :oing: down into town towards Mr. lliLbcn's Ferry Slip, an

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:Ferguson opposite Liberty-street, and u/e an three "'alkcd up to Vesey's house. Says !

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82 ing by saying, he had an important secret to commu-nicate to us, which we must not c.li:;close to any one, and if we did, we should be put to instant deatl1. He said, we wete deprivtd of our rights aml privileges by the white people, aml that om Church was shut up, so that we could not use it, aud that it ,~.,as high time for us to seek for our rights, and that we were fully able to conquer the whites, if we were only unanimous und courageous, as the St. Domingo peo-ple ,vcre~~ He then proceeded to explain his plan, by sayi11g, that th'y intended lo make the attack hy set-ting the Gmcrnor 1s Mills on fire, a11d nlso i,;omc hou~ se:i: ucar the warcr, aud as soo11 as the IJi::lls Legan to J'ing for fire, that 1hcy should kill every man as he came out of Iii~ door, and that the servants in the yard should do it, and that it should be done with axes and clubs, and afterwards they should murder the women and children, for he s~id, God had so comrnuu

i-nry miu11.0 dl'ath, except the Captains. For said iw, ii will not b,_. safe to stay in Charleston, for as soon, as 1 hey had got all the money out of the Banks, and the goorls om of the stores on board, they inten-ded to sail for Saint Domingo, fo1 he had a promise lhat they would rccci vc and protect them. This J cssc as;crtcd to me, was the truth. whilst the tears were nrnning dmvn his checks, a11d he appeared truly peui{c11t, and 1 have rcGsou to hope, that he obtain-{'d pardu11 from God, through the nwrits of Christ, ,w

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who heard him. Samuel Guifford afterwards rc--peated to me what Hadden had said .

THE CouRT were satisfied that the expressions charged had been used by the prisoners, but from their youth and other circumstances, they considered them as rather the effect of puerile boasting, than as evidencing a conspiracy on their part. The prison~ ers were therefore unanimously.found N oT Gu IL TY ,but ordered to be retained in custody charged with a minor offence. They were afterwards whipped in the Work House and discharged.

-=\0l~!Ol=--

MATHIAS, the Slave of Governor Bennett; i\foNuo the Slave of Mr . James Poyas; R.1c11ARO an

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Abraham for several days denied that the folio,.,.. lng words in that letter, viz :-"fear noi"-" All that I ,infonn agreP-d"-were written by him, say-ing, that they must have been added by some one--Thi s, however, wa s evidently false, as he himsdt"in a day ot two afterwards admitted, but not befor e Pe-ter Poyas had stated to the Court that every word in the letter was there when he received it. On Peter 'i:; being asked to explain the meaning of the letter, he said, it alluded to the Negroes in Abraham's neigh-bourhood, n..-!10 had all a:rced that Abraham should be permitted to change liis Church and join theirs-Abl'aham, how ever, gave a difforcnt meaning to it, and said, it related to his having two wives. Dr. Poya s, however, stated to the Court, that Abraham had s11bse11uently giv en fo him the same cxplanatjou of the letter that Peter had done. Althou;h this 1et-ter taken in connertion wjth his conduct was ex-tremely suspicious, yet there heiug no other 1cstin10-ny against .Abraham, he was found NoT GutLTY,

THF. TRIAL of DENMARK VESEY, a free black man- Col. G. W. Crnss attending as _his Counsel.

F.VlDENCE,

Wn,LIAM, the Slave of Mr. Paul, testified as fol-lows :-.Mingo Harth told me that Denmarlc Vesey was the cliitfest man, and more concerned than an.11 one else-Denmark Vesey is an old man in whose yard my master's ncgro woman Sarah cooks-he was her fathcl' in law, haYing married her mother J3eck, and though they hav e been parted some time, yet he visited her at her house near the Intendant's, (M~jor Ham ilr.on) where I have often heard him speak of the rising-He said he would not like to have fl white rnan in his presence-that he had a great hatred for tlie whites, an

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against the whites, and tried to imluce me to _Jom-' I he tries to induce all hisacqunintances--this has been

his chief study and delight fot'a consi

87 that they would take the Magazines and Guard-Houscs, nnd the city and hr. free-that he was ~oing to send into tlw cu1rntry to inform the pcop)c there too -he said he wanted me to join them-I suid l could not answer-he said H" I wottld uot go into the country for him he could get otlwrs---he said himself, Ned Bennet, Peter Po.yus and Monday GcH were the prin-cipal men and himself the head man. He said they were the principal men to go about and inform the poople and Cix: 1hem, &c. that o,w pnrty would land on South -R,ty, uru: abont W(t]'J!00 1 tmd nbout the.farms -that the party which was rn land 011 South-Bay was to take the Guard-f-lonse and ge1 arms and then they would be able to go 011-that tlw ~lltack wa,;; to co111mcuce abont 1 ':!. o'clock at night-tlwt great numbers 'IOOuld comejimn alt rrfJOut, and it must suc-ceed as 50 many were cugage d in i r-that they would kill alJ the whites-that thev would leave their mas-ter' s houses and ass11nble 'toge lhc~r near the lines, march clown and nwet the party which would land on Soutli-Bay-tbat lie wa s going to send a rnan into the cou.ntry ou n horse to brin,J{ down lite country peo-ple und t.hat he vvonld pay for I he horse. J-J e gave S':2 to J cscc to get th e hor :sc on Saturday week last; (15th June) about 1 o'clock in the day, and myself nntl No. 8, also put in 25 ccncs a piece, and he told J cssc, if he could not go he 111 usl semi some one else. J have seen Ned Be1111ett at Vcscy's-l one night m et at Vesey's a great number of men , and as they came in each handed him some money. Vesey said there \vas a little num named lu ck, ,vlw ('ould not be killed, an

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ton to Africa, because he had not a will, he u;a.nted to stay anJ sec ~vhat lwcoul,l do for his follow- creatures--I met Ned, .Monday and others m Denmark Vesey's ,vhcrc they were talking about the lrnsi11css. The first iimc I spoke with Monday Gell 'twas one night at Denmal'k Vescy's house, wlwre I herird Vesey tell Monday that he must send .~mne one into the country Jo bring the people dow11- _;_\fo11rlny sairl /u had sent up .faclt and told him to tell ihe people lo comr. down and y"oin in the.fight aga1n1st the whites and also to ascertain and inform him how manv people he coulrl get. A few davs after I met Vesev, "Monday and Jack, in the streets, under Mr. D~ncan's trees at night, where Jack slated that he had b,:rn into the c01u1try round by Goose-Creelc and Dorchester, and that he had spoken to 6,600 persons l\ ho had agreed to join. Monday said to Vesey, that if Jack had so many men they had bctlcr wait no longer bm begin the business at once, and others would join. The first time I saw Monday at Vesey\,, he was going a,vay early, \,hen Vc.scy asked him lo s1ay, to which Monday replied, h G expected that night a meeting at his house to fix upon and matur e the pkm, &.c. an

countrv, who told me he had set off, but had been hl'ougl;t back by the pacrole ; that !tf'. was going up zo bring domt t/ie black 7>eople lo ia&e lkis country

from the wkite1>-I have been at Vesey's house and there it was l met the man .vho was to go into the country, he was a yellowish man-the witness point-ing at Jesse said, that is the man who was to go iuto the country. ,

See the CoNF1::ss10N n,, .T r.ssi:: to the Court in p. $0 Bc1~jamin Ford, a ':hilt: fad, about 15 or 16 years

of age, deposed as Julluws :-Denmark Vesey fre-quently came into our shop which is near his house, and a l wuys e.unpluiucd of the hardships of the blacks -he sa.id the laws ,vc1c very rigid and strict and that the blacks had nut 1hcir l'ights-lhat every 011e h?d his time, and that his would come l'OLttHI too-/tis gen,eral c, nversalion wali aboue religion which he would apply to sliwery, as fol' instance, he would speak o( the creation of the world, iu \.\.hich he \.vould say aU men had e(Jnal rights, blacks as well as \\'hires, &c. all !tis religiuu., remllrks were mingled witlt slavery.

Tim Co owr unan.im01tsly found Denmark 'Vesey GutLTv, and pmscd upon him the sentence of DEATH. After his co11viction1 a good deal of test1mony was given against h1rn during the succeeding trial:s.-Amongst others

W1~ss No. 9. a ucgro mau testified as follows:-Denmark Vesey has frequently spoken lo me about the intended insurrection, antl endeavoured to pt!r-suade me to join them-He e11quircd of me if 'Jil'!f maste1 lwd not iir-ms fn kis house, an,l tried to persuade me to get them Joi him. The blacks stand in great ftar of him, and I so much so, that [ always endea-voured to avoid him .

EDWIN, a ncgro man belonging co l\fr. Paul, guvc the following evide11ce :-Charles Drayton told me that Denmark Vc~cv anrl l\fouday Gell knew about tbc insurrection of the h!acks, n1:Hl that my follow servant William, in cunsequence qf iv/wt he fwd said.

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90 'I } 'WOllld run great risque of his fife if he m ,11{ out-I , have heard every body, evcu the womcu 1:iay, when

several were apprehended al first, that !ht'y wonder-ed Denmark Vesey and 1\louduy Gell were uot taken up.

Sec CoNFESSlON of hssc to the He\', Dr. Ha.11, inpagc 81.

THE TRrAr, of MOf\DA Y, a Negro Man, the S luve -~ of M1. John Gell. Col. \Y m. House as his friend, \ ~uul J acob Axon, Esq. Counsel for his mvncr attend-, rng.

l:VIDENCE.

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Frank, belonging to l\lrs. Ferguson, testified as follows :-T'hc lirst time I spoke \Villi Mo11day Gell, was one night at Vest~y's l1ouse, where I heard v csey tell Monduy he musl send some one into the coun-try to bring lhe people dow1i- l\lo11day said he lwd sent itp Jack, flud told him to oriug the people dowu, and t:::11 them to co1m down and join in the fight against tlie whi1es, aud to asceriain and in~ form hi~u Jiow many people he could get. ~\ few days alter I met \ csey, I\londay an.I, I

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ness. J heard Gullah Jack say, he n,oulcl pay no more wages, he was too busy in seeing about this in-i11surrection; besides what would the whhc people waut with wa;cs they woul

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92 the whites; he asked me to .iom; I asked him his plan aud his numbers; he sai

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93 who had asked him, that he haJ nothing t.o do in this affair; vvhich was a lie. \iViJliam Colcock ,ame to my shop once and said a brother told him !hat fiyc hundred !11en were making up for the sam~ p, .rpose. Frank saul he was to send to Hcll-Ilole !:;wamp to get men.

Perault Strohecker is engaged; he used to go of a Sunday on horse back up the road to a man he knows on the same crraml. One Sunday he asked me to go with him; I ,ve11t and Smart Ander.'

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I told Charles Drayton what uproar there was about this busines!

the business myself. Isaac Harth told me once that he ha

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9G troes. He requested me to inform V cscy, that lie would call on him that evening, and gh'e l1irn un account of his opr.rations in the counfr.1J,-l went to Jack Purcell and requested him to carry the message for me, being busy-On my return l;ome, iu the evening, I met Vcsey1s Son-in-law, at my door, who said, that V esc.r wished to see me-I ac-companied him to Vesef s, and there found Peter Pova:s, Ned Bennett, Gullah Jack, Frank and his fellow servant, Adam Ferguson. Frank then in-formed Vesey , he had collected four plnntarions ofne-groes, and said he would start on Saturday the 15th of .J ur1e, to bring them to town, on the J G1h. He ~

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at the time--V csev asked William the cook, if he would curry the fottcl' for hirn, aud he consented to

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98

uticrwnrds changed it to the 1G1h of .Tune. Afrer the plot was uiscovered, V cscy said, it was all orcr unless an attempt was made to rescue those who 1nigltt be rnndemned; hy rushing 011 the people, and sa\iug the pti.soners, or all dyiog rogechcr. Vesey said, that as Petel' and Nc

99 of the offences with whirh thev have been P.hm'!(eil : but undel' the impression thnt "they w. ,1tld ultim~ rp]y have their lives spared, they have mad e to us dis-dosures not ouly important in the dct l'ctioH of thP genernl plan of the conspiracy, but enabl ing the Court to convict a uumbet of the principal of-fenders. Having used these i"ndiddu~ls as wit-nesi;es and obtained from them the knowJedge they could eommuuicate, we deemed it unccssarily harsh and amounting almost to treachery, afterwards to sacrifice their Ii ves. l II add it ion to this induce-ment, we regard it to he politic that I.he N cgroes sho11l

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100

PATRICK, a Negro Man bclo11giug to Miss Datty, testified as follO\vs :_.._J know Charles Drayton, who asked me in the streets about five months ago if I would join with him-I asketl him what-He~ said we want to make up a conipany-I asked for what --he said for some respectable brown n:ian coming here from abroad--) :mid I

101 Charles Drnywn, nm! gthcl's whose names I don't recollect or irnn'\!v-dlis was after cbe 16th June-thcre 'twas said they would come against the white people.

J Essc's CoNFF.SSioN* see latter part of it~ p. 81. T1rn Co urn unani11wusly found Charles GUILTY,

and passed upon him the sentence ofDATH. Subsequently to his conviction he nrnde the fol-

fowing CoNF .Ess10;,. :-1 have seen Pieruult Strohck-er talking with 1\fonday Gdl in his sbop-J ack Pur-celJ saicl to me just befure I was taken up, that he had gone into the country to gather the people's mind on this subject, but the overseer was so watchful that Jae had no chance of speaking to the people.

I heard William Palmer say in Monday Gell'sshop, that he was one. 1 met Pharo Thompson at Mon-day GcU's-hc said what he would do when they commenced-that he had no si..vord, but that he had a part of a saw which he would have ground into a sword-that be was one-he bragged of what he would do with his :;word. Mingo Harth came once to .Monday Gcll's wheu I was there, and he then spoke to the effect that he was one of them, but I can't rP.collect his words-his brother also told me that Mingo had joined. Lewis the mattrass maker suid to me one day that he had somethint; particular to say to me, of what was going to happen here, but that as he was a country born they did not choose him-I took his meaning.

Lewis Rewuussin tuld me one day, that \\'hen if

The Court consi1lered Jesse's conff'ssion good evidence, because. it wits voluntarily made uncle1 th court did not think the principle of the