Ashamed and outraged

Lately I've been back to focusing on Capt Jesse's brother Samuel.  Besides the information on the two of them in the war, the only other obvious mention of Samuel is in regards to the slave woman, Mary Postell.  In my searching I've spent a lot of time delving into slave records, stories, lots of information out there and none of it good. 

Some people say how "it was another time, not like things are today and we can't judge".  Yes, it was a different world then, but people were still people and it never fails to hit me like a punch in the gut to read the accounts of what these people went through.  Just today I was reading a list of a sale of slaves in East Florida in 1786.  Samuel is mentioned as a purchaser in this list.  I'm not sure yet if this is my Samuel, but it's a possible start.  

Sales of Slaves, Property of Major General Patrick Tonyn.

1796	Purchasers	Negroes Names	Appraised Value	Sold For
Sept 15	Samuel Gray	Piero, Charlotte, Johnny, Bella & Harry	225	225

There was a Pero in Nova Scotia around the same time as the Mary Postell stuff.  I don’t know if just a common name or if maybe it could be the same guy.  Reading through the list I get this overwhelming feeling of humiliation and shame … these were PEOPLE …. appraised as if they were a horse or wagon.  In this particular list most of them sold at or above their appraised value, some to other slave owners, some just for cash.  There are a few on the list that were appraised at $0.  How do you put a value on a person?  And how do you justify someone being worth absolutely nothing?

Yes, it was  another time.  Yes, things have changed a lot since then.  But neither of these facts change the hard truth that it was just plain wrong.  

It’s when I get to these parts of my research that I just feel ashamed and outraged that this was my family.