Lewis Charlton (slave)

Lewis Charlton was an American slave.

Early life

Lewis Charlton was born in 1814 on a farm in Frederick County, Maryland. The farm was located in between the city of Frederick and Point of Rocks. His mother and father were both slaves. His father was sold shortly after the childs birth to a man living in Georgia. His mother lived on the farm of Mr. Ignatius Davis. Ignatius Davis was a good man. But his wife was a horrible and tyrannical woman. She would go as far as to tieing up salves and whiping them until they fainted, then she would wash them with salt water and force them to go back to work in the fields. This woman would lock Lewis in a quarter house from 4 in the morning until 9 at night with no food, water, companionship, or clothing for warmth. Lewis was forced to do this for 14 months. One particularly cold night he had kicked off his blankets from his feet, like many children, when his mother returned she found that her son’s feet had frozen. Trying to salvage all she could she placed the blanket over them. The next morning she removed the blanket and his toes came right off with it. Imagine if you will the pain that Lewis’ mother was forced to go through when she couldn’t even keep her son’s feet warm enough. Lewis was forced to deal with this horrible woman until the age of seven. When he was seven Mr. Ignatius Davis passed away and he was sold to a man that wanted to teach him to be a Cooper, but before he could start learning the trade, his master’s wife passed away and he was sold again. He was sold to a man by the name of Mr. Fornistock. Mr. Fornistock was a very disagreeable man and this was amplified when he was drunk. When he would drink he would be willing to commit any crime. Lewis said “He feared neither God, man, nor Satan.” Mr. Fornistock was a tanner by trade. He would force Lewis to spread heavy hides, hides that were so heavy that he would fall into the vats, he would then be beaten because he hadn’t yet acquired the strength of a man. Eventually Mr. Fornistock’s land was sold at a Sheriff’s sale. Lewis was sold to a man called Mr. Getinger. Mr. Getinger new neither night nor Sunday. If you worked for him you worked all the time. Lewis worked for Mr. Getinger for 3 years. On the last of three years, Getinger kept Lewis out in the woods cutting logs. His legs froze so thoroughly that he was not able to walk for 9 months after that. Once he had regained his ability to walk he was immediately sold to. At this point he was only fifteen years old. He was sold to man by the name of James Davis. As James’ slave Lewis endured three years of hard, backbreaking field labor. His legs were in such bad shape that if he were to hit himself in the legs his shoes would fill up with blood. After three years with Davis Lewis was sold to Mr. Richardson. Up until this point he was fortunate enough to stay with his sister but when Lewis was sold to Mr. Richardson his sister was not. Lewis stayed with Mr. Richardson until he reached the age of 28.

Adulthood

At this point he was able to attain his freedom. Lewis did not know what to do with his new found freedom so he decided to go and live with a man called George Burroughs who was a stone cutter by trade. He lived and worked with him for one year, but after this he relocated to Hartford County Maryland. Here Lewis worked alongside Mr. Isaac Rogers, a large iron manufacturer. While in the service of Mr. Rogers, Lewis was treated worse than a slave. After 16 years of mistreatment Lewis mustered up the courage to leave once more. He moved to the residence of William Gladding. He worked as a farm hand for three years earning a wage of $16 a month with housing supplied. Lewis continued working for him until he married. At the end of his term of service Mr. Gladding owed Lewis $235, but wanted to compromise for $0.03. Lewis took him to court but lost and was made to look like a fool by the judge. He had already bought a house with the money that Mr. Gladding owed him. With the money he needed not there he was forced to go back to work. He lived in this house for three years until he was cheated out of it by a man named Thomas. In 1862 Lewis moved to a town named Westminister, he does not mention what state this town was located in. Here he worked as a mason. After settling in he decided that the black youth in the surrounding area needed a place to be guided and taught. He did not have the funds to build a place to accomplish this so he went to Baltimore to try and raise some. In Baltimore he was met by a cold reception so in 1866 he traveled to Boston. Here he acquired nearly $1000 and a teacher, named Mr. Whitmore, that was willing to travel to Westminister and teach black youth. He, with others, made the first black schoolhouse and church in Westminister. The school prospered for 4 years, two under Mr. Whitmore and two under Miss Mary Cleveland. He ran out of funds and was forced to go out again and raise funds. When he returned the hatred towards him and the school was so great that he was forced to shut down the school.

Lewis Charlton was a man, born of hard times, who grew to be great. Meeting many interesting characters and building many undying friendships. He saw the injustices and hypocrisy of the United States Government and informed others of these things. He is an incredible man that is nearly unknown to history, but we should remember him for his many accomplishments.

All information acquired from [http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/charlton/charlton.html His biography]