"I have seen men beaten until they dropped in their tracks or knocked
over by clubs, women stripped down to their waist and cowhided.
"I have heard it said that Tom Ashbie's father went to one of the cabins
late at night, the slaves were having a secret prayer meeting. He heard
one slave ask God to change the heart of his master and deliver him from
slavery so that he may enjoy freedom. Before the next day the man
disappeared, no one ever seeing him again; but after that down in the
swamp at certain times of the moon, you could hear the man who prayed in
the cabin praying. When old man Ashbie died, just before he died he told
the white Baptist minister, that he had killed Zeek for praying and that
he was going to hell.
"There was a stone building on the farm, it is there today. I saw it
this summer while visiting in Virginia. The old jail, it is now used as
a garage. Downstairs there were two rooms, one where some of the
whipping was done, and the other used by the overseer. Upstairs was used
for women and girls. The iron bars have coroded, but you can see where
they were. I have never seen slaves sold on the farm, but I have seen
them taken away, and brought there. Several times I have seen slaves
chained taken away and chained when they came.
"No one on the place was taught to read or write. On Sunday the slaves
who wanted to worship would gather at one of the large cabins with one
of the overseers present and have their church.
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