Chapter 8: May 1st, 1841

It was not far from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that an event was about to take place. Fredrick Jules was with his friend Albert Smith as they stood in a moderately big open-ended wooden building. This place was typically used for some plays but sometimes doubled up as an auctioning room to sell various valuable items and even slaves.

Fredrick, a white man in his mid-twenties, inherited his small farm and plantation after the loss of his parents. With no other brothers or sisters, this left him alone with a farm except for one thing.

His sideburns coupled with a tophat, dark frock coat, trousers, and comfortable shoes depicted a typical gentleman. His friend Albert Smith, another slave owner, was with him as they discussed the events of the day.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Smith commented to Fredrick. “Why are you here?”

“I came here to just watch the events take place.”

“Hmmm, you know what this is right,” Smith questioned him.

The room had a series of chairs in rows as a small white podium was placed at the center. The spring heat was already starting to kick in for the afternoon. The room itself was packed with about ten other men and one woman. It wasn’t hot, but the feel of the rising temperatures in the place was becoming apparent.

Frederick turned his head to the left as he saw the poster mounted up by the door. It read on the sign, “Slave Auction. Negros for sale today. Four Bucks between the age of twenty and twenty-six. Two Wenches, one at around the age of twenty and another at the age thirty-eight, master cook. Followed afterwards auctions for books, fine clothing, and rare farming tools...”

It was a dark time in United States history. Slavery would not end until the American Civil War, and the 13^th Amendment in the US Constitution dominated the Southern United States landscape and parts of the Northern Landscape. Frederick would be an everyday witness to such events. It was a time, much like many places globally, where people bought and sold other disposable people.

Albert took a look at the other people in the room and turned his head to Frederick. “Well ... it looks like nobody from the Harrison family is here for this auction,” Smith explained. “I’m actually surprised with them being one of the largest plantations with slaves that they would not be here to buy more. Looks like it will be easier for us to get the slaves we want to get.”

“Hmm...,” Frederick commented. “I don’t really need to buy any slaves; you did kind of pull me into this.”

Smith turned and gave him a questioning look. “Not really. You were the one that showed up here and sat next to me. You don’t have to be here, you know?”

“Perhaps I should leave. I don’t know why I bothered to come here.”

“You were the one that let go of all but one of your slaves. I swear you put yourself into the poorhouse with that decision. You have none to take care of your farm. I’ve already criticized your actions before, but you seemed adamant in releasing your slaves. Maybe you are here because you want to replace your numbers. Just don’t come begging me to give you money to go and buy more slaves for you just to release them. What would your father think of all this?”

Frederick thought about it for a little bit. Perhaps he was right. His farm needed the extra hands, but slaves were the easier labor to buy. It was falling apart. Maybe seeing his friend here and the fact that he could get a slave to work at his farm drove him to here.

“So, how goes the search for a misses Jules?” Smith asked him.

“You know that I’m not searching for any romance at this time.”

“I know. I just hate seeing you single. You are a kind gentleman, sir. Even your own slaves appreciated your actions when you gave them their freedom.”

Frederick sighed. “Yeah ... thank you. How is your wife?”

“Doing rather well. She thinks she might be pregnant. Don’t tell my parents yet. We are only speculating at the moment. There is nothing confirmed if she is or not.”

“Third child ... man, you have been busy.”

“Runs in the family, what can I say,” Smith commented.

“Well, early congratulations for you, the wife, and the kids. I know you have been a good father to them.”

“Thank you.”

There was a calmness in the room. Some of the men were talking to one another in conversations. Others were smoking a pipe of tobacco while another man read one of the posters on the wall.

“I swear I feel like I have too many slaves at the moment,” Albert broke the silence again with Frederick. “My wife feels otherwise. We just bought this young girl. She must be eight or seven. She doesn’t know what to do as the other slaves have to train her in just about everything. My wife thinks I made a bad investment, so she told me I should go and make sure I bring home a buck to work my farm.”

“Well ... you do what you need to do,” Frederick commented.

Before they were able to continue their conversation, another gentleman dressed in the most formal of wear came out of one of the rooms that led into the main room where they sat. He carried a small wooden gavel where he proceeded to the podium. The other men of the room had small smiles on their faces as they watched him perch by the stand with his gavel.

“Welcome all to the monthly auction here at Toddville,” the auctioneer spoke to the room and audience in a gravelly voice. We have a nice assortment of slaves today. Following our slave auction, we will be auctioning off some rare books and rare farming equipment to bolster your farming needs. The last but not least, we will be auctioning off some of the finest clothing for you, gentleman.”

“About time,” one man behind Frederick responded quietly. “Tired of all the damn waiting in this heat.”

“We want to make sure we establish the first set of rules for today,” the auctioneer continued. “First, all auctions are final. Cash payment is taken upfront after the auction ends. Failure to be able to pay for the items will mean going to the second-highest bidder and you being barred from coming to future auctions here,” then he smiled, “so make sure you are ready to pay for this auction. I guarantee you that you will not regret it. Second, this goes to those that are offering their items for sale at the auction. There were allegations in the last auction that we engaged in shill bidding. We guarantee you that the family responsible for that action has been properly dealt with by the law. We do not allow shill bidding here.”

“I swear the Johanin family was going to catch hell for that one,” the man behind Frederick commented to another. “They had two of their distant cousins’ no one knew about come in here and purposely jack up the bids. Thankfully one of their enemies that had been scammed by them in the past spotted it and pointed it out to the press.”

“Now, without any further delays, let us get started with the first auction for the day,” the auctioneer said with much enthusiasm.

An African male at around the age of thirty came through the door with a white man close to him. The slave was chained up with a collar wrapped around his neck and handcuffed. He was dressed in white shaw-like clothing as he was led next to the podium.

“Now, I wanted to present our first buck for the day. This fine specimen of a man is strong and has no illnesses. Capable of being a good farmhand, he also a capable breeder as well. He is currently around the age of thirty. The previous owner was going bankrupt and wants to move away. He is currently missing his left middle finger due to an accident, but the former owner claims he more than capable of doing all his prescribed tasks. I will start the opening bid at forty dollars. Do I have forty dollars!?”

Smith was rubbing his chin as he thought about it. Then he looked over at Frederick.

“Do you think I should bid on it?” he asked.

Frederick could care less of the situation. He was reminded why he did not enjoy these events more and more every time it happened. To him, it felt degrading and disgusting of a practice. The buying and selling of humans to be used as forced labor were a little too much. He sighed and shrugged as he looked back.

“Do what you need to do,” Frederick replied. “You have more money than I do anyway.”

“Forty!” yelled Albert.

“I have forty. Do I have fifty?” the auctioneer started his auctioneering jargon.

Another man raised his hand behind him.

“Fifty, do I have sixty?”

“Sixty,” Smith yelled.

“Sixty, do I have seventy? Seventy for this prized buck?”

The man behind Albert was determined to win the auction. He yelled, “ninety.”

“Ninety! My word, we are getting up there. Is there anybody that can beat that number, folks? Do I have one hundred?”

“Not this time Albert. He is mine,” the man behind Smith once again raised his hand and looked at him.

“One hundred! One hundred dollars. Do I have one hundred and ten dollars?”

Frederick sighed as he watched the man in chains looked down at the floor with a sad and discouraged look on him.

“Damn ... well, that is too rich for my blood,” Albert said as he slapped his knees.

“Do I have one hundred and ten dollars? Going once ... going twice ... sold to the gentleman with a black-red top hat!” he concluded as he slammed the gavel on the podium.

The man behind Albert nodded his head and smiled. Frederick was getting to the point that he was ready to walk out of the auction. The bought slave was brought back to the room he came from to be paid for after the auction.

As the door closed, it reopened again as the next white man brought out an African woman with a darker complexion than most of the slaves. She was chained up just like the other man before her. She was marched by the podium. She stood and looked at the audience with neither a frown nor happiness on her face.

“Here we have a wench at around her early twenties,” the auctioneer explained. “Young and quite possibly fertile. She has no illness and nothing missing on her. She has no injuries and is fair and nubile for any Negro to breed.”

Frederick, for some reason, lost his disgust as he began to look at her face. He noted that she had these two black moles on her left cheek. Her hair was short and curly. It was also difficult to tell from his range, but he could swear that she had blue eyes. She was not tall, being slightly over five feet in height. While she did not turn her head around, her eyes would dart around the room. She was looking at each of the men in the room that were eyeing her over.

“Nah ... I need a buck, not a wench,” Smith said quietly.

Some of the men were shaking their heads. However, a couple of the men were nodding. One even had a look of hungry lust and desire on his face.

“I will start the opening bid at thirty dollars,” the auctioneer continued. “Do I have thirty dollars?”

One of the men raised his hand.

“Thirty dollars, do I have forty dollars?”

Frederick continued to watch the woman’s face with wonder. He had a look of curiosity that appeared on his face. He had seen African women more than enough times, but this woman grabbed his attention.

Another man raised his hand.

“Forty dollars do I have fifty?”

The other man that bided for thirty raised his hand.

“Fifty! Do I have sixty?”

“Eighty! Beat that Jenkins,” the man looked at the other bidder.

“I have eighty. Do we have ninety?”

The other men in the room were shaking their heads as they looked at her. Frederick, on the other hand, had a burgeoning desire the longer he looked at her. Finally, her eyes that were scanning the room met with his. For a short bit, her eyes continued to look around a little bit more, but now her attention was focused on Fredrick. Her gaze was relentless as she continued to look at him. She continued to hold any semblance in her reactions or looks.

“I must have her...” Frederick said quietly but loud enough for Albert to hear. “Ninety!” he raised his hand.

“Ugh...” one of the bidders said.

“I could certainly take a woman like that,” Frederick could hear one of the other men talking behind him say quietly to another. “I bet that fine Nubian of a specimen would be good in bed.”

“We have ninety dollars,” the auctioneer yelled. “Do we have one hundred dollars?”

The slave woman was starring at Frederick holding his facial reactions, as did hers. She was no longer looking at anything but his.

“Ninety dollars, final call for one hundred. Going once ... Going twice...” One of the bidders took his hand and rubbed the back of his neck as the auctioneer looked at him and thought he saw him raise his hand. “One hundred do we have one hundred and ten?”

Frederick started to tense up. The price was getting too high, and he barely had enough to pay for her.

“Wait a minute!” The bidder that was rubbing his neck stood up and yelled. “I was just rubbing my neck. I was not bidding on her!” he struggled to say.

Frederick calmed down as he was prepared to bid again.

The auctioneer and some of the bidders started to chuckle a bit. “That is alright. We are getting jumpy at the auction today. Do I have one hundred dollars? Going once ... going twice ... sold to the man with the sideburns!”

Frederick had a sigh of relief as the African woman held her gaze at him. He swore there was a faint sign of relief in her face that he could not explain. She cooperated with the white men as they led her back to a room to pull the next slave for the auction block.

Albert leaned over to look at Frederick. “Well ... I am surprised you went and bought a slave for the first time. Didn’t you originally inherit all your previous slaves from your father?”

He nodded. “Yes ... I don’t know why I bought her.”

“You needed a buck more than anything else to tend to your fields. She will not be as good as the others. You are spending more than you need for a wench like that. Unless...”

“What?” He looked at Albert with a questioning look.

“You don’t plan on breeding her yourself, are you? I know plenty of men that...”

“Stop...” Frederick interrupted him. “That’s not what I am thinking with her, I swear.”

“Hmmm ... that coming from a friend that I know that is looking for a wife...”

Frederick slapped his knees, flustered from his friend’s words. He shook his head but was happy he won her.

The auctions concluded as most of the people got what they were looking for. Smith did not luck out in purchasing any additional slaves.

“Damn, everyone outbid me,” Albert explained. “I feel that I should have bided on that wench you got, Frederick. My wife will not be happy that I am not getting any additional slaves.”

“Are you sure you have enough to pay for that Negro?”

Frederick nodded his head as he was unfolding the cash that was in his pocket. He was happy to finally be gone with such a lump sum amount of money in his pocket. The other men that won the various items bought in the auction were each paying for their winnings. Slaves purchased from winning bidders received a receipt and a title showing that the slave they were holding was theirs.

Frederick finally stepped forward to the table not far from the door. He placed the money on the table along with the winning ticket showing that he won the bid for this particular item or slave.

“Well ... it is time for me to go home. Have fun, my friend,” Smith patted Frederick on his shoulder.