Houston-Pulaski County GaArchives News.....Clarke, Dempsey & Bristow [Story of Two Slaves] February 22, 1889
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Clifton D. Cardin cliftondcardin@juno.com September 23, 2009, 12:30 pm

The Salem Daily News (Ohio) Pg3/4  Feb 22, 1889 February 22, 1889
THE STORY OF TWO SLAVES

   "It is a strange fact," said a gentleman in Hawkinsville, GA, the other day 
to a St. Louis Globe-Democrat correspondent, "yet it is true, the negroes who 
were most persistent in their efforts to elude masters whom they hated and who 
were commonly called "runaway niggers" are the very best citizens we now have. 
I have watched many of them, and it has always turned out that way. Negroes 
usually didn't run away because of work, but because of ill treatment or of 
natural dislike, and when they once took an aversion to their master he might 
as well make up his mind to sell them to some on whom they liked, or to keep a 
pack of hounds for the purpose of capturing them every time he gave them a 
chance to get away.
    "Did you see that old colored man in that buggy driving around the corner? 
Well, that is old Dempsey Clarke, and he is to-day one of the richest negroes 
in Georgia. He lived for three years in the swamps of Georgia because he hated 
his master, and suffered untold hardships fighting for existence, yet he never 
did give himself up until his master, in despair, sold him to a neighbor named 
Brown, who was good to his slaves. Then Dempsey and his brother came out of the 
woods and went to work on Mr. Brown's plantation, where they worked until the 
war was over.
   "I remember the day that Dempsey and his brother Bristow were brought in to 
Hawkinsville. There was a big sale that day and several thousand slaves were 
brought in by the slave traders. When Dempsey and Bristow were put upon the 
block, they were bid in by Mr. Coley, an old planter who was rich in land and 
slaves. When Mr. Coley bid them in, Dempsey said; "We don't lack yer, Mr. 
Coley, an' yer needn't buy us, 'kase we ain't er gwin ter live wid ye."
   "Oh well," Mr. Coley repled, "I've got plenty of dogs," which meant that if 
they ran away he would capture them with the keen-scented hounds kept for that 
purpose."
   The trade was consumated and Dempsey and Bristow were set to Mr. Coley's 
plantation. True to their word, the third day after their arrival at the 
plantation Dempsey and Bristow took to the woods. They were captured once, but 
before they were brought back to the plantation, they again made their escape, 
and this time for good, as they swore that they would die before they would 
ever be taken back to Coley's plantation.
   "I remember on one occasion a party of negro hunters struck the trail of 
Bristow and Dempsey and chased them into the cypress jungle, and among the 
lagoons just below big creek near where the creek runs into the Okmulgee. The 
swamp was almost impenetrable, but the hunters followed their dogs and 
approached within fifty yards of the 'runaway nigger.'
    "When they were cornered, the two slaves opened fire upon their pursuers, 
and as it was getting late in the evening, there was nothing left fo them to do 
but to retreat, which they did. After trying to recapture his slaves for three 
years, Mr. Coley finally gave up in despair and sold them in the woods to a Mr. 
Brown, of Houston County, and as soon as it became generally known that he had 
bought them, Dempsey and Bristow, the two slaves made their appearance in the 
village and gave themselves up to Mr. Brown.
   "I will never forget how they looked when they came out of that swamp. Their 
hair and whiskers had not been cut, until they fairly met, and it seemed to me 
that nothing was visible of the face exceet two black eyes that looked wildly 
at me. I never saw two men so nearly like wild men in my life, and their 
clothing served to strengthen the impression made by the first glance at their 
face. Mr. Brown gave them clothes and care for them, and in a short while they 
were perfectly at home on this plantation, where they remain until after the 
war.
   "I don't know where Bristow is, but I am told he is in Colorado, where he 
went after the war, and that he owns large mining interests there. He was a 
very bright negro, and always would accumulate, even as a slave. Demspey 
remained in Houston County after the war and followed farming for a living. He 
has accumlated a large fortune, which consists principally in lands and live 
stock. His wife, whom he married as a slave, is still living, and his daughters 
are off to college. As a faithful slave of the old type, a good citizen and an 
honest and upright business man, Dempsey has the respect of all who know him."


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