Rather than be punished the way Colonel Burwell punished his servants, he took his own life.
When I was eight, Mr. Burwell's family consisted of six sons and four daughters, with a large family of servants.
A. Burwell, was somewhat unsettled in his business affairs, and while I was yet an infant he made several removals.
While living at Hampton Sidney College, Prince Edward County, Va., Mrs. Burwell gave birth to a daughter, a sweet, black-eyed baby, my earliest and fondest pet.
At last Mr. Burwell determined to reward my mother, by making an arrangement with the owner of my father, by which the separation of my parents could be brought to an end.
Colonel Burwell at one time owned about seventy slaves, all of which were sold, and in a majority of instances wives were separated from husbands and children from their parents.
One of my uncles, a slave of Colonel Burwell, lost a pair of ploughlines, and when the loss was made known the master gave him a new pair, and told him that if he did not take care of them he would punish him severely.