Ladies and Gentlemen,

I saw this on Afrigeneas, anyone care to confirm or deny the story's 
accuracy?  Any comments?

Karen E. Sutton

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Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 01:20:49 -0600 (CST)
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Jefferson nephew chops a Black man to pieces

FYI ... this comes from another ListServ.  Interesting but not 
surprising to
me!  Sources follow the story.

Please read this shocking account written by a white man about Lillburn
Lewis, nephew of Thomas Jefferson of Livingston County, Kentucky:

> Lillburn Lewis (nephew of Thomas Jefferson, the penman of the 
> Declaration of
> Independence), of Livingston County, Kentucky, was the owner of about 
> fifty
> Slaves, whom he drove constantly, fed sparingly, and lashed severely.  
> The
> consequence was that some of them were in the habit of running away.  
> This
> gave Lewis great anxieties until he found them, or until they starved 
> out
> and returned.  Among the rest was a boy named George, about seventeen 
> years
> of age, who, having just returned, was sent to a spring for water, and 
> let
> fall a pitcher breaking it.  This was the occasion.  It was night.  
> Lewis
> then collected all the slaves into an out house, and ordered a rousing 
> fire
> to be made.  When the door was secured, that none might escape, either
> through fear or sympathy, Lewis opened the design of the meeting, 
> namely,
> that they might be effectually taught to stay at home and obey his 
> orders.
> All things being now in train, he called up George, who approached his
> master with the most unreserved submission.  He bound him with cords
, and aid him on a meatblock, and seizing a broad axe, proceeded to 
chop him
> into pieces, commencing at the ankles.
> In vain did the unhappy victim call upon his Master to forgive him.
  In vain did he scream.  Not a slave durst interfere. Casting the feet 
into the
> fire, he lectured the Slaves at some length.  He then chopped off 
> below the
> knees, and admonished them again, throwing the legs into the fire.  He 
> then
> chopped off above the knees, tossing the joints into the fire, 
> lecturing as
> he proceeded.  The next two or three strokes severed the thighs from 
> the
> body.  These were also committed to the flames.  And so were the arms, 
> head
> and trunk, until all was in the fire.  Still protracting the intervals 
> with
> lectures, and threatenings of like punishment, in case of disobedience 
> and
> running away.  The Slaves were then permitted to disperse.
>
> When the monster returned to his house, Mrs. Lewis exclaimed, Oh!  Mr.
> Lewis where have you been, and what have you done!  She had heard a
> strange pounding, and dreadful screams, and had smelled something like
> fresh meat burning!  He replied that he had never enjoyed himself at a 
> ball
> so well as he had enjoyed himself that evening.
>
>

According to scholars, Jefferson, an enslaver of 154 Africans, would 
never
confront the murder in any of his writings. Reprinted in Tingba Apidta, 
The
Hidden History of Washington, DC: A Guide for Black Folks (Roxbury, MA:
Reclamation Project, 1996); William Loren Katz, editor, The Suppressed 
Book
About Slavery (New York: Arno/New York Times, 1968), pp. 199-200.


Peace, blessings, favor and grace, Alta

"I have learned that no one can experience true love, or a joyful 
presence,
or create an optimal future until one makes peace with one's past. 
Genealogy
heals the soul!"


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