Among the more reliable private observations were these 1850s diary entries
of General John Hartwell Cocke, of Albemarle County, whose manuscript diary
is preserved in the John Hartwell Cocke Papers, Box 188, MSS 640, in the
Special Collections Department at UVA.
*[January 26 February 15[note 1], 1853]*
The Rev. Lemuel Hatch late of No[rth] Carolina informed me, that *two
wealthy friends* of his of the old No[rth] State has lately each sent away
from their premises a slave woman with quite a large number of children the
illegitimate spawn of the *Institution*, begotten in social contact with
their lawfull wives and white children. The one sent his to Ohio. The other
to our Northern Cities, a sample of the moral and social blessing of The
Institution corruptions it will be answered by the advocates of the system
but it is too well known they are not few, nor far between. I can
enumerate a score of such cases in our beloved An[cien]t Dominion that have
come in my way this life, without seeking for them. Were they enumerated
with the statistics of the State, they would be found by hundreds. Nor is it
to be wondered at, when Mr. Jefferson's notorious example is considered.
Sustained by other such dignitaries of the Republic as Rich[ar]d M. Johnson
of K[entuck]y cum multis aliis[note 2] politicians of high standing. While
the monstrous doctrine finds men in all other respects respectable, who
assert, that Slavery is a moral, Social, and political blessing. They must
be confronted with the undeniable facts however disgusting the exhibit.
*[April] 23 [1859]. [Cocke is traveling in Alabama]*
Cold enough for Frost this morning. Called up at 1 pm of and embarked an
hour afterwards in the Dalmuca[note 3] Steamer, Capt. Burkly. A very rich
planter named Nixon,[note 4] Batchelor, of Lounds Co. [i.e., Lowndes County]
opposite Venon[note 5] has built a splendid ma[n]sion costing about $100 000
including a picture Galery and lives in known connection with a Mulatto
Girl. There [are] many fine mansions building now in Ala[bama] but this is
the first of the splendid sort I have heard of inhabited by a Mulatto Slave
Mistress. The defenders of the Institution omit to look at this feature,
that all Batchelors, or a large majority at least, keep as a substitute for
a wife some individual of the[ir] own Slaves. In Virginia this damnable
practice prevails as much as any where, and probably more, as Mr.
Jefferson's example can be pleaded for its defense. I have known this excuse
for the vice alledged with evirtuation[note 6], and our Northern Brethren
are abused as more culpable than ourselves Because of the Brothels to be
found in her Great Cities.
NOTES
1 The previous entry is dated Jan. 26, 1853, and this entry immediately
follows the words: "Availed myself of the good weather in the early part of
Feby to visit" several people. The next entry in the diary is dated Feb. 15.
2 *Cum multis aliis*: Latin for "with many others."
3 Reading of this word uncertain jk.
4 "named Nixon" added at foot of page jk.
5 Reading of this word uncertain jk.
6 *Evirtuation* appears to Cocke's coinage from *evirtuate* (*OED :* (i.e.,
"to take away the virtue of, to deprive of authority, power, or strength").
Cocke's assertion seems to be that southerners used Jefferson's example to
evirtuate Northern criticism of slavery. Alternative readings from the
manuscript could be *eventuation* or (less likely) *enervation*.
--
Jon Kukla
www.JonKukla.com <http://www.jonkukla.com/>
On Wed, May 14, 2008 at 12:50 PM, Ray Bonis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Look, Mr. South, T. Jefferson brought this on himself by OWNING SLAVES....
>
> SO GET OVER IT
>
>
> [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
>> "including Thomas Jefferson" is a fact not in evidence, but is beginning
>> to be accepted by some as a fact since it is so often repeated by those who
>> seem to wish it to be true for some reason.
>> J South
>>
>>
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