Escaped slave who made new home in capital
William Hall was enslaved in the USA for 33 years. After an arduous escape, he made his way to Wales where he published his life story. Elizabeth Thomas reports
IN 1862, the life story of a man named William Hall was published for the first time.
Formerly a slave for 33 years, William assured his readers at the time: “Nothing has been introduced to give colour or effect to the narrative. It contains only a simple and true statement of the cruel and inhuman treatment to which I was subjected while under bondage.”
The result is a harrowing account of his cruel treatment as a slave in America and his arduous journey to the Welsh capital.
Thanks to the Special Collections and Archives at Cardiff University, William’s story can be accessed and read more than 100 years later, serving as a powerful reminder of the unimaginable conditions he faced, and his determination to start a new life despite all the odds.
Born in Tennessee, William was the son of an enslaved African mother and a father he described as an “Englishman”, the son of Dr Hall, owner of the plantation he was born on.
In his writing, he recalls being taken to a cotton press by his mother when he was around nine years old. There, his role was to assist the other children with “driving the mules at the gin”.
Tragically, however, William’s father moved his son away to a different plantation.
Writing in his 34-page pamphlet published in Cardiff, he describes how his mother “screamed aloud as if she would have broken her heart” when she realised that her son was being taken away. William was not even given the opportunity to say goodbye.
Put on a steamer, he describes how he missed his mother so much and was so depressed that he couldn’t eat for two days.
William stayed in Bedford County, Tennessee, for a year before moving into the country, where he writes he “raised a crop for his master”.
As a child, William was sold on to various “owners” and experienced cruel treatment. Beaten and shackled, he was even pursued with a loaded gun during his time as a slave.
When he eventually married, he asked one of his “masters” if he could go and see his wife twice a week but his request was refused. Some years after their marriage, his wife too was sold to another “master”.
Writing in his pamphlet, William explains that at around this time he made an agreement with a fellow slave to escape.
As the law at the time required free black men to carry a pass, William wrote two passes for himself and his companion before they tried to board a steamer, offering to work for the captain.
But when the captain became suspicious of them, they left the boat, instead travelling across Kentucky for nine nights in snow that was “10 inches deep”.
Unfortunately, both men were caught when they tried to take shelter at a house and were imprisoned before being taken back to the plantation.
On another occasion, after the death of one of his children, William decided to attempt to escape once more with another enslaved man. They were chased by dogs before being caught, imprisoned and sold.
William attempted to escape a few more times but was unsuccessful until, on one attempt, he was eventually able to escape an overseer and run away, crossing the Ohio River.
Despite suffering from hunger and illness, and accosted by men he met along the way, William travelled to Chicago, where he was able to find work.
After moving to Wisconsin, a friend advised him to go to Canada “at the first opportunity” to escape the danger of being sold back into slavery.
William took his friend’s advice and travelled to Canada, where, he writes: “My old feelings of dread left me and I felt that I was no longer a slave, but a free man.”
William stayed in Canada for a few years, where he was able to save enough money to buy “a small craft” to transport wood from Canada to Detroit. When William sold the boat to two men, however, they “decamped” before the payment was due, leaving him destitute.
It was at that point that a friend advised him to go to Liverpool or London, leading to him boarding a ship from Quebec to England.
Upon arriving there, he says he was “compelled to join a ship” to Mobile Bay in the US, where it was loaded with cotton before travelling to France.
William wrote that he was so badly treated that he left the ship and made his way from France to London. Unable to find work there, he made his way through Bristol to Cardiff, where he stayed and eventually wrote the pamphlet telling his life story.
“I went to Bristol, thence to Cardiff where I am still living and thankful for a residence in this glorious land of liberty, freedom, and religious privilege,” he wrote.
It is unclear whether William knew of Wales’ own links to slavery. Money made by slave owners and brought back to Wales helped to fund, among other things, the slate industry.
William’s story is now held in Cardiff University’s Special Collections and Archives – it’s believed to be one of just two surviving copies in the world.
Free to read and download online, the document was originally funded by people attending Cardiff’s Wesleyan chapels, and sheds light on historic support for the anti-slavery movement in the city.
When the pamphlet telling William Hall’s story was made available online, Alan Vaughan Hughes, head of Special Collections and Archives at Cardiff University, said: “Historic works by black authors – such as William Hall’s work – deserve a wider audience, and we’re proud to be able to share this with the public today through the internet archive.
“We’re also grateful to Professor William Jones and Dr David Wyatt for shedding light on this significant document through their research.”