Twelve Years a Slave - Enhanced Edition (33 page)

For six years from 1837-1843, Henry B. was clerk of the board of supervisors of Washington County, New York. In 1838 he received a master of arts degree from Middlebury and in 1839 became counselor of the New York State Supreme Court. Five years later, in 1844, he was made counselor of the New York Court of Chancery and in 1853 attorney and counselor of the United States Supreme Court. From 1847 to 1851 he was a district attorney and in 1856 was elected to the New York State Assembly. Henry B. and Electa had seven children. The oldest, Julia, was born in 1832 . . . the youngest, Edward, born in 1844. [See Wyckoff,
Autobiography . . .,
57]

Whether or not Mintus was the son of a white Northup cannot be ascertained, but the relationship among the black and white Northups lasted for generations. Wyckoff said that she did not know who his father was. Solomon is described as a “griffe,” defined by
Webster’s 3rd New International Dictionary
(1964) as “the offspring of a negro and a mulatto: a person of 3/4 Negro and 1/4 white blood.” Wyckoff used extensive family records of her family to write a book about the Northups and provide a genealogical chart. Her
Autobiography of an American Family
states that the first Northup, Stephen (ca. 1620), came to America with Roger Williams when he was returning from England where he had gone to get the first charter for the Providence plantations. Wyckoff continues:

After Stephen had been in Rhode Island for 11 years, he was granted 25 acres at a town meeting. This probably was not his first grant, for the record says that in 1654 he had already sold 60 acres, but it is the first time his name appears in a record as a land owner . . . He built a house close by the Moshassuck River. With all the other houses in the town, it was destroyed during King Philip’s War . . . In time he sold his land near Providence and moved to Kingstown, Rhode Island . . . The colony of Connecticut claimed jurisdiction over Narragansett country in which Stephen lived, ordered him to appear in court in Connecticut. Stephen said that if the government of Rhode Island ordered him to go to Connecticut he would, but he refused to accept any orders from Connecticut. [See Wyckoff,
Autobiography
, xvii]

7.
There has been some question raised about where Solomon was born. Mabel Jones, Town Historian, Minerva, New York, wrote a letter to the Editor of the
Washington Post-Star
on May 23, 1984, p. 5:

From reading the original book, and the comments on the second edition, I gathered these facts: Solomon Northup later in life reported that he was born in Minerva in 1808. There was no town by that name until 1817 when it was separated from Schroon, but a settlement was begun here in 1800 which was called Dominick Settlement because it was in Dominick Patent. Thanks to Louise Schroon, I have the 1810 Census of Schroon and from later records am able to pick out the people who lived in Dominick Settlement in that year, as they are all listed together. There is no Northup family on the list nor any Negro family. The population at the time was 137. It may be that the Northup family had by that time moved on to Granville. [See Wells to Eakin]

8.
Clark Northup was the half-brother of attorney Henry Northup, as shown in the genealogical chart in Wyckoff’s
Autobiography of an American Family
[See Wyckoff,
Autobiography . . .
chart].

9.
The name of the town Sandy Hill, a small port on Lake Erie, was changed to Hudson Falls in 1910. Originally the town was named Baker’s Falls [See Loding interview].

10.
Pulitzer-winning New York historian Carleton Mabee, an authority on black education in New York and author of
Black Education in New York State
, states:

In Northup’s
Twelve Years a Slave
, he appears to be literate but perhaps only on a moderate level. Your introduction [to 1968 edition] calls him ‘educated’ (p. x) and ‘literate’ (p. xvi). Northup at various times, as I understand it, was a carpenter, fiddler, rafter, canal or railroad or farm laborer, or hack driver, none of which would necessarily require significant literacy. But this work might have been facilitated if he was significantly literate. Northup ‘entered into contracts’ for rafting [p. 8, 1968 edition]. To do this effectively might well require the ability to read and understand the contracts. (See image of contract signed by Solomon Northup in photo gallery). [See Mabee to Eakin]

11.
The lowlands of the Bayou Boeuf area were unhealthy in the subtropical summer climate when rains caught in pools became stagnant water where mosquitoes bred. It wasn’t until 1907 when it was discovered that malaria was caused by anopheles mosquitoes, and effective treatment was developed. The 2,000 additional breeds of mosquitoes caused other fevers, sometimes deadly. Because of this, all who could afford to do so spent the warm months in shacks along the creeks running through nearby piney woods. In Cheneyville, Dr. Jesse Wright from Connecticut became a very important medical doctor for the area [See Stafford,
Three Pioneer Families
].

In the early settlement era in New York, health conditions under frontier conditions were no better:

Life expectancy in this period [1775-1825] was a fraction of its present figures. Disease ravaged the population almost unchecked and little understood. Disorders almost unknown today were commonplace. Smallpox left its scars upon thousands, while tuberculosis filled 20 times as many graves in proportion to the population as it did in 1967. Malaria, sometimes called ‘the shakes’ or ‘Genesee fever,’ riddled the frontier population. Typhoid and many other contagious diseases struck every community, and cholera hit the seaports. Only one-half the number of children born reached their fifth birthday—a sobering statistic in the light of modern advances. Medical attention, if available, was practically worthless. [See Ellis et al., 207]

12.
Solomon Northup would have been unusual among people, black or white, in upstate New York during this settlement period. The Bible and the
Farmer’s Almanac
were usually the only two books, if there were any, in homes in the newly settled country with a scattered population. There were no public libraries or schools. Upper New York State was at such a stage in its development during Solomon Northup’s early years. A graphic description from Cornell historians regarding New York applies equally to Louisiana, certainly to Bayou Boeuf, settled mostly after 1812:

The amount of improved farmland rose from about 1,000,000 acres in 1784 to 5,500,000 acres in 1821. These rough and impersonal figures cannot begin to describe the backbreaking task of hewing farms from the wilderness, an accomplishment which wore out at least one generation. The pioneer’s cabin, built from logs selected during the clearing process, was a temporary structure until the farmer could afford to erect a house made from boards, nails, and glass. [See Ellis et al., 163, 165]

13.
Fiddling, for those born talented, black or white, was a very special gift in the days before invention of radio and television; fiddling added much to everyday lives and was a valuable asset to the performer. Entertainments like dancing required music by the musically gifted, and fiddling or skill on other portable musical instruments brought distinction and, sometimes, a little money. Solomon was undoubtedly one of those who was in demand, often unpaid, but contributing grandly to enhancing the lives of himself and his peers.

Notwithstanding Northup’s description of his fellow slaves as “simple beings among whom his lot was cast,” many were skilled and extraordinary people, like William O’Neal and Old Hawk:

Old Hawk, the negro slave, was generalissimo around the stables and on the training track. He was said to have been one of the most astute trainers in the country at that period. [See Stafford,
The Wells Family of Louisiana and Allied Families...,
93]

The most famous horse he trained was Lecomte, who beat his half brother, Lexington, at the Metairie race track in New Orleans on April 8, 1854; thus, “the race crowned Lecomte champion of the American turf” [See Stafford,
Wells Family ...,
93]. Mallard, a slave in New Orleans, became one of the most famous cabinetmakers in the South. Outstanding cabinetmakers, seamstresses, cooks, inventors of farm equipment, and those with many other specialized skills were among Bayou Boeuf slaves [Davidson,
Three Centuries of American Antiques
, 263].

14.
A room at the Fort Edward House is furnished as nearly as possible to replicate one of the rooms of Solomon Northup when he and his family lived there [See
Historical Sketches of the Old Forthouse Museum,
15-16].

15.
The money Solomon used for the new business came from payment after a lawsuit against his earlier employer, Washington Allen. A suit filed July 13, 1838,
Solomon Northrop
[
sic
]
vs. Washington Allen
, was sent to the Court of Appeals. Northup signed a contract with Allen “to deliver 6 lockings containing each 2 cribs of Dock Sticks from White Hall to Gleason [?] lockes in Waterford on the Champlain Canal for the sum of $7.50 each crib.” Upon arrival at the designated destination, Allen discharged him “on account of intemperance and did the work himself, was compelled to hire other hands & sustained damage and paid expenses . . .” A trial was held in Saratoga County courthouse on June 25 and “a verdict rendered for the plaintiff of 50 dollars and judgment was rendered thereon for that sum and costs amounting to 55 Dollars in the whole.” Interestingly enough, James L. Prindle, who would testify for him after his rescue and return to New York, testified at this time. Prindle stated:

that the deft [defendant] said he had discharged Plff. [Plantiff] from the work when he had first undertaken it, because he the Plff, was intoxicated and had torn or would tear the cribs; that the witness saw him that day about that time he thot. [thought] Plff. had been drinking considerable, but not so much as to disqualify him for business: that Plff general character was that he was industrious and not in the habit of being intoxicated, tho [though] in the habit of drinking some. [See Solomon Northup vs. Washington Allen]

Other witnesses commented with varying perspectives on how much Solomon had been drinking:

The defendant introduced David Morehouse as a witness who testified that he saw Allen discharge Northup, and that Northup had been drinking & thought he was not competent to take charge of the rafts on account of his intemperance . . . Allen said he did not want him, but took charge of the raft at White hall . . . [See Solomon Northup vs. Washington Allen]

The verdict was rendered in Solomon Northup’s favor, probably because he had delivered the lumber, and the problems causing Northup’s suit against Allen occurred at the destination. The contract between Solomon Northup and Washington Allen involving rafting is filed at the Saratoga County Clerk’s Office, Box A33. Ms. Sonia Taub, retired librarian, Saratoga Springs, provided copies of these documents and other information.

16.
The Louisiana lumbermen were likely not formally educated, but they were professionals in their work, skilled and knowledgeable not only about the trees, but also the wildlife that lived there. Rafting was, and had been for many years prior to Solomon’s arrival, a daily part of their lives. Of course, Solomon Northup may have been the first to raft the circuitous route over the shallow streams which took him to Lamourie.

Even before the Europeans’ arrival, Indians lived in the Louisiana forests covering an estimated one-third of the state. They moved logs in a country laced with bayous, creeks, and big rivers. The forests allowed the colony what little commerce developed. Lumber, tar, and pine resin were manufactured [See Tarver interviews].

17.
Saratoga Springs was a most extraordinary resort city:

For most of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, Saratoga Springs, New York, enjoyed a national reputation as a leading summer resort. The waters of its myriad springs, reputed for their medicinal value, attracted outsiders as early as 1783 when Phillip Schuyler, Revolutionary War general, established Schuylerville as his country estate and began inviting his friends to partake of High Rock Springs in what is today called Saratoga Springs. The nation’s young aristocracy, eager to mimic the habits of its European counterparts, for whom regular visits to established spas were part of the regular social circuit, responded enthusiastically. [See Armstead et al., 27]

18.
The United States Hotel has an interesting history. In V
iews of American Cities
, Augustus Kollner writes:

By the 1840s the United States Hotel had become the most popular of the major hotels. Many distinguished people had been guests there: Joseph Bonaparte, former king of Spain and Naples, the Marquis de Lafayette, J. Fennimore Cooper, President Martin Van Buren, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Washington Irving. [See Kollner, 178]

A newspaper article in the
New York Herald
for August 21, 1847, reported:

The elite of Saratoga—the northern millionaires, the southern planters, and the fashionables, who comprise probably about a fifth of the five or six thousand visitors at the springs,—quarter at the magnificent United States Hotel . . . These people are many of them exceedingly profuse in their expenditures. Many of the ladies lavish a mine of wealth, and tax the ingenuity of all the modistes, on the costly splendor and variety of their dresses . . . The proprietors of this hotel realize a net profit of $20,000 to $40,000 during the season of three months, the sum varying according to the general prosperity of business in the country. This United States Hotel burned on June 18th, 1865. A new United States Hotel opened on the same place in June of 1874. [See Kollner, 178]

19.
According to Ellis et al.:

Apprenticeship, indentured servitude, and slavery lost ground because New Yorkers found free [meaning freemen] labor more efficient, reliable and flexible . . . Slavery, however, was losing ground during the last half of the 18th century. People found it generally cheaper to hire free labor than to maintain slaves during periods of idleness as well as usefulness. [See Ellis et al., 86-87]