I remember that on one occasion his boys killed a cow belonging to a man
by the name of Le Brun; soon after the meat was brought to the stable,
Le Brun rode up on horseback with a loaded shot gun and threatened to
shoot the party with whom the beef was found. Of course the negroes'
apartments were searched; but as that had been anticipated, Mr. Young
had made them put the meat in his apartment, and, as it was against the
law of South Carolina for a white man to search another's house, or any
apartment, without very strong evidence, the meat was not found. Before
searching among the negroes, Mr. Young said to Le Brun, "You may search,
but you won't find your beef here, for my boys don't steal." Le Brun
answered, "Mr. Young, your word might be true, sir, but I would trust a
nigger with money a great deal sooner than I would with cows and hogs."
Mr. Young answered, "That might be true, but you won't find your beef
here."
After their rooms and clothes had been searched, blood was found under
some of their finger nails, which increased Le Brun's suspicion that
they were of the party who stole his cow; but Mr. Young answered, "that
blood is from rabbits my boys caught today." Mr. Le Brun tried to scare
one of the boys, to make him say it was the blood of his cow. Mr. Young
said, "Mr. Le Brun, you have searched and did not find your beef, as I
told you that you would not; also I told you that the blood under their
finger nails is from rabbits caught today. You will have to take my
word, sir, without going to further trouble; furthermore, these boys
belong to Mr. Singleton, and if you want to take further steps you will
have to see him." Finding that he was not allowed to do as he wanted to,
Mr. Le Brun made great oaths and threats as he mounted his horse to
leave, that he would shoot the very first one of those boys he should
catch near his cattle. He and Mr. Young never did agree after that.
But poor Mr. Young, as good as he was to the negroes, was an enemy to
himself, for he was a very hard drinker. People who knew him before I
did said they never had seen him drink tea, coffee, or water, but rather
rum and whiskey; he drank so hard that he used to go into a crazy fit;
he finally put an end to his life by cutting his throat with a razor, at
a place called O'Handly's race course, about three miles from Columbia,
S.C. This was done just a few days before one of the great races.
Boney Young drank, too, but not so hard as Charles. He lived until just
after the late war, and, while walking one day through one of the
streets of the above named city, dropped dead, with what was supposed to
have been heart disease.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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