The Memories of Fifty Years: Containing Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the SouthwestSparks, W. H. (William Henry)
History
The Memories of Fifty Years: Containing Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the Southwest
Sparks, W. H. (William Henry)
Georgia -- History -- 1775-1865; Southwest, Old -- History; United States -- Biography
Jackson was a restless and enterprising man, embarking in many schemes
for the accumulation of fortune, not usually resorted to by
professional men, or men engaged in public matters. In business he was
cautious. He was a remarkable judge of human character, and rarely gave
his confidence to untried men. Notwithstanding the impetuosity of his
nature, upon occasion he could be as cool and as calculating as a
Yankee. The result was, that though he had many partners in the various
pursuits he at different times resorted to, he rarely had any pecuniary
difficulty with any of them. He was in the habit of trading with the
low country, that is, with the inhabitants of Mississippi and
Louisiana.
Many will remember the charge brought against him pending his candidacy
for the Presidency, of having been, in early life, a negro-trader, or
dealer in slaves. This charge was strictly true, though abundantly
disproved by the oaths of some, and even by the certificate of his
principal partner. Jackson had a small store, or trading establishment,
at Bruinsburgh, near the mouth of the Bayou Pierre, in Claiborne
County, Mississippi. It was at this point he received the negroes,
purchased by his partner at Nashville, and sold them to the planters of
the neighborhood. Sometimes, when the price was better, or the sales
were quicker, he carried them to Louisiana. This, however, he soon
declined; because, under the laws of Louisiana, he was obliged to
guarantee the health and character of the slave he sold.
On one occasion he sold an unsound negro to a planter in the parish of
West Feliciana, and, upon his guarantee, was sued and held to bail to
answer. In this case he was compelled to refund the purchase-money,
with damages. He went back upon his partner, and compelled him to share
the loss. This caused a breach between them, which was never healed.
This is the only instance which ever came to my knowledge of strife
with a partner. He was close to his interest, and spared no means to
protect it.
It was during the period of his commercial enterprise in Mississippi
that he formed the acquaintance of the Green family. This family was
among the very first Americans who settled in the State. Thomas M.
Green and Abner Green were young men at the time, though both were men
of family. To both of them Jackson, at different times, sold negroes,
and the writer now has bills of sale for negroes sold to Abner Green,
in the handwriting of Jackson, bearing his signature, written, as it
always was, in large and bold characters, extending quite half across
the sheet. At this store, which stood immediately upon the bank of the
Mississippi, there was a race-track, for quarter-races, (a sport
Jackson was then very fond of,) and many an anecdote was rife, forty
years ago, in the neighborhood, of the skill of the old hero in pitting
a cock or turning a quarter-horse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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