We were never allowed to congregate after
work, never went to church, and could not read or write for we were kept
in ignorance. We were very unhappy.
"Sometimes Negro slave runaways who were apprehended by the patrollers,
who kept a constant watch for escaped slaves, besides being flogged,
would be branded with a hot iron on the cheek with the letter 'R'."
Simms claimed he knew two slaves so branded.
Simms asserted that even as late as 1856 the Constitution of Maryland
enacted that a Negro convicted of murder should have his right hand cut
off, should be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from the
body, divided into four quarters and set up in the most public places of
the county where the act was committed. He said that the slaves pretty
well knew about this barbarous Maryland law, and that he even heard of
dismemberments for atrocious crimes of Negroes in Maryland.
"We lived in rudely constructed log houses, one story in heighth, with
huge stone chimneys, and slept on beds of straw. Slaves were pretty
tired after their long day's work in the field. Sometimes we would,
unbeknown to our master, assemble in a cabin and sing songs and
spirituals. Our favorite spirituals were--_Bringin' in de sheaves_, _De
Stars am shinin' for us all_, _Hear de Angels callin'_, and _The Debil
has no place here_. The singing was usually to the accompaniment of a
Jew's harp and fiddle, or banjo.
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