1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Hello, and Happy Saturday. So the Bib family has popped 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: up a couple of times in recent episodes, and we 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: actually talked about this family and its legacy in our 4 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: episode where we also covered the development of the variety 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: of lettuce named after them, the Bib Lettuce. That episode 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: ran on July fifth, twenty twenty two. During that episode, 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: we referenced the work of Lenay O'Neill, and she recently 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: published a book about the story and her connection to it, 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: titled Bib Country Unearthing My Family, Secrets of Land, Legacy 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: and Lettuce. That book is out now and it is 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: in my audiobook Q. I am very much looking forward 12 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: to reading it. And we are rerunning that twenty twenty 13 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: two episode on The Bib Family today. Enjoy Welcome to 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 15 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm 16 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson. Tracy. This episode was supposed to be 17 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: another installment of eponymous food. Yeah, it went a different 18 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: way though it is not. It is little, but as 19 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: I got into the story of one of those foods, 20 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: it really unfurled quite quickly into a much bigger and 21 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: much more important story about the family of a man 22 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: who cultivated lettuce in his later life just as it 23 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: hits up. I promise there's another eponymous food coming at 24 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: some point, but it's not today. This story is I think, 25 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 1: really important because it offers a snapshot of a very 26 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: rich person's choice to emancipate his enslaved workforce, the way 27 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: his family received that information, and how their legacy, both 28 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: good and bad, is all tied to having enslaved people 29 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: building their familial wealth. Heads up, We're going to read 30 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,559 Speaker 1: a lot from writings that were composed in the eighteen hundreds, 31 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: so of course some of the language there is a 32 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: bit outdated. Uh. But first we are going to talk 33 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: about bib lettuce and the man who cultivated it. Yes, 34 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,679 Speaker 1: I love it when episodes go in totally different directions 35 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: from what they were playing, just a hard left. So 36 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: John Bigger bib who was born on October twenty seventh, 37 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine, in Prince Edward County, Virginia. His parents, 38 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: Richard Bibb and Lucy Booker bib moved from Virginia to 39 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: Kentucky when John was about nine years old. We're going 40 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: to get back to Richard in a moment and talk 41 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: about him a lot more. They shifted around Kentucky for 42 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,399 Speaker 1: a bit. First they lived in Fayette County and then 43 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: in Bullet, where Richard Bibb purchased assault works. Then they 44 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: went to Logan County and established a large and successful farm. 45 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: Bib's early education was largely under Joshua fry That was 46 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: a fellow Virginia who had moved to Mercer County, Kentucky. 47 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: Fry is a pretty interesting figure in Kentucky history because 48 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: when he moved there, he didn't think there was an 49 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: adequate educational system, so he opened up a school out 50 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: of his house, and then a lot of prominent people 51 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: in Kentucky's history were educated by Joshua Frye. After his 52 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: primary education, John Bibb studied law under Judge HP. Broadnacks. 53 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: But before he could get his law career underway, the 54 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: War of eighteen twelve began and the twenty three year 55 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: old bib joined the fourth Kentucky Volunteer Brigade. He began 56 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: as a private and was promoted to the rank of 57 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: major after the Battle of Thames in October of eighteen thirteen. 58 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: Although the war continued into eighteen fifteen. John Bibb was 59 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: discharged just a month after his promotion and returned to Kentucky. 60 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: And it's a little unclear, at least in the documents 61 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: that I had available to me, why he was discharged 62 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: so soon after being made major. It very well might 63 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: have been a health issue, though this is supported by 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: the fact that although he passed the bar right after 65 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: returning to Kentucky and opened his practice, he closed it 66 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: down just a couple years later in eighteen sixteen, due 67 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: to poor health. In eighteen twenty seven, bib ran for 68 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives as a 69 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: Whig and one. He was re elected in eighteen twenty 70 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: eight and then ran for the Kentucky Senate one again. 71 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: He served in the state Senate for four years, from 72 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,359 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty to eighteen thirty four. During that time, he 73 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: also married Sarah P. Horseley. Their wedding was on August 74 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: twenty fourth of eighteen thirty one. Bib was an amateur horticulturist, 75 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: and in eighteen forty five he purchased land to support 76 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: his hobby. He built his home, Gray Gables, on a 77 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: property in Frankfurt Kentucky on Wapping Street. That's usually touted 78 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: as he built it for his wife, and it included 79 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: a large greenhouse, and there was a substantial garden, and 80 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: today that's known as the Bib Burnley House and it 81 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: has a historical marker, and it was there that he 82 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: started working with lettuce. Over time, Bib developed something he 83 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,239 Speaker 1: called limestone lettuce. It was a lettuce that grew well 84 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: in Kentucky's limestone rich soil. It was naturally resistant to 85 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: a number of pests, including plant lice. It's also really tender, 86 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: and it grows in a pretty compact head. And Bib 87 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: was not cultivating this crop for profit. He gave most 88 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,119 Speaker 1: of it away and it actually was not renamed Bib 89 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: Lettuce and commercially sold until decades after his death, which 90 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: happened in eighteen eighty four. He had during his late 91 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: lifetime given away both lettuce and seeds. That was in 92 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: the latter half of the nineteenth century, and subsequently area 93 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: farmers had started growing limestone lettuce for themselves. In nineteen nineteen, 94 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: the green Wine Greenhouse of Louisville was the first to 95 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: sell the lettuce with the name Bib attached to it. 96 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: So that's the pretty benign story of where bib Lettuce 97 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: came from. Now we have to take a look at 98 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: the deeper legacy of slavery within the bib family and 99 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: John B. Bibb's role within that. To do that, we 100 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: have to go back to his father, Richard Bibb. So 101 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: there's a historical marker outside of Major Richard Bibbs townhouse 102 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: in Russellville, Kentucky. It was placed there by the Kentucky 103 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: Historical Society in nineteen seventy five, and that marker reads 104 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: quote bib a Revolutionary War soldier, was born in Virginia 105 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty two. He came to Lexington, Kentucky in seventeen 106 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: ninety eight, moved to Logan County the next year, where 107 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: he built Bibb's Chapel. Later erected this house for his wife. 108 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: Major bib freed twenty nine of his slaves in eighteen 109 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: twenty nine and sent them to Liberia. He died in 110 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty nine, and his will provided for the release 111 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: of his other slaves and gave them land. Here's the 112 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: more detailed story. Richard was born in Goochland County, Virginia, 113 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: on April thirteenth, seventeen fifty two. His parents were John 114 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: Bib and Susannah Bigger Bib, and during the Revolutionary War, 115 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: Richard joined the Continental Army and rose to the rank 116 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: of major. When Richard moved his family to Kentucky, he 117 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: brought with them a large number of enslaved people. He 118 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: had actually been the second largest slaveholder in Prince Edward County, Virginia. 119 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventeen, the American Colonization Society was formed in 120 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: the US. Its goal was to provide an alternative to 121 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: emancipation within the US for black enslaved people when the 122 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: option of being shipped to Africa. This has come up 123 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: in several previous episodes, most recently in our episode on 124 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: Paul Cuffey. There were supporters of this idea who believed 125 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: that it would truly be a viable option for free 126 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: black people. There were also people who just saw this 127 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: as a solution from a racist standpoint, it would get 128 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: those free black people out of the United States. Both 129 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: abolitionists and pro slavery white people used similar rhetoric about 130 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: free black people never truly a similating into white society. 131 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: So for the pro slavery crowd, this was seen as 132 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: a condition of emancipation. The emancipated person would then leave 133 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: the country, did not matter if they had been born 134 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: and raised in the United States and had no real 135 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: ties to Africa at this point, and Major Richard Bibb 136 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: so again. Lettuce John Bibb's father, had at some point 137 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: in his later life, realized that the institution of slavery 138 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: was wrong. This was a position that is usually attributed 139 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: to his religious studies and becoming a minister. There are 140 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: some versions of his life story that indicate that one 141 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: of the people that he enslaved had been the one 142 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: to encourage him to become a Methodist minister, after he 143 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: had initially been on a path to be an Episcopalian minister, 144 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: and he had connections to the American Colonization Society. He 145 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: was friends with Henry Clay, who was one of the 146 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: society's founders. Richard eventually decided that the plan to relocate 147 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: emancipated black peace people to Africa was a good idea, 148 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: so in eighteen twenty nine, he announced that he was 149 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: emancipating one third of his enslaved workforce on the condition 150 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: that they would be sent to Liberia. There is a 151 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: little bit of fractured logic about why only one third 152 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: were going to be manumitted, and it's sometimes cited as 153 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: Major Bib's reasoning here. He had just short of one 154 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: hundred enslaved people working for him in eighteen twenty nine. 155 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: Some of those were entire families self contained within the 156 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: bib Families' holdings, but many were married to enslaved people 157 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: who were owned by other families. So, according to this logic, 158 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: he selected thirty one that no other white family could 159 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: claim ownership over, believing that that would be better than 160 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: breaking up families. Yes, there is some logic to that, 161 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: but it also conveniently ignores the fact that Major Bibb 162 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: almost certainly possessed the wealth to purchase and manument any 163 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: number of enslaved people had he wanted to keep families together. 164 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: The one exception to this whole scenario was a man 165 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: named Richard Morton. He had been owned by Bibbs's son 166 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: in law, doctor Bonarogos Roberts, and he was married to 167 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: a woman named Hannah, who was part of Major Bibb's 168 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: enslaved workforce. According to a number of accounts, the enslaved 169 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: people that Bibbs selected were ones who also wanted to 170 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: go to Liberia rather than remain enslaved, although there is 171 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: no way to verify that, and sometimes it reads very 172 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:29,319 Speaker 1: conveniently in retellings of this story. We're going to talk 173 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: about the only account of Bibb's emancipation of an announcement 174 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: by a person who was there in just a moment first, though, 175 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:48,319 Speaker 1: will pause for a quick sponsor break. So there is 176 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: an account of that announcement that this group of enslaved 177 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: people would be emancipated, and it is the only first 178 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: hand account that we have. It is not without problems, 179 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that in a moment. This account 180 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: was given by a formerly enslaved man named Andrew Bibb, 181 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: who related to a reporter in late eighteen ninety seven. 182 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 1: Andrew would have been seventy three at the time, and 183 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: he would have been five in eighteen twenty nine when 184 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: the events that he recounted took place. And we're going 185 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: to read this account, but before we do, please know 186 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: that it is really very romanticized. It puts Major bib 187 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: in a very very kind light. So this account reads, 188 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: in part quote, in the center of the yard stood 189 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,599 Speaker 1: an old gentleman with uplifted hands, and beside him was 190 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: a barrel on ends, on top of which was placed 191 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: a Bible and a hymn book. In front and around 192 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: him were nearly one hundred slaves. Twenty nine of these 193 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: were about to start as free men and women in 194 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: the land of their fathers in far off Africa, after 195 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: several generations of servitude in America. The old man asked 196 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: a divine blessing upon them. Since his youth he had 197 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: cared for them, and before that they or their parents 198 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: had belonged to his father. He believed slavery was wrong, 199 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: and was taking the initial step toward putting into execution 200 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: a long cherished plan. He was about to send one 201 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: third of his slaves to Liberia, the others he intended 202 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: to liberate at his death. He had read a chapter 203 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: in the Bible and had given out a hymn, And 204 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: when his prayer was finished, many a blackface was bathed 205 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: in tears, and the slaves gathered about and shook old 206 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: Master's hand for the last time and heard the accent 207 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: of his kindly voice. This goes on to say that 208 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: the people chosen for the journey were quote shiftless and refractory, 209 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: obstinately resistant to authority or control, unruly. So that last quote, 210 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: of course, contradicts the framing that bib was selecting the 211 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,319 Speaker 1: people who wanted to go to Africa. So Andrew Bibb's 212 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: story was published in the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky. 213 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: It was written by a reporter named M. B. Morton. 214 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:02,319 Speaker 1: Sometimes this story, as it's relayed, is told as though 215 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 1: it's a direct quote from Andrew. I don't think that 216 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: was ever the intention. It's a direct quote of mb 217 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: Morton about the story as told to him, And we 218 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: don't know if the account was edited or altered, although 219 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: it certainly seems likely. I don't know anybody who speaks 220 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: in such prosy, you know what I mean. I mean nobody. 221 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: Mb Morton, we should say, kind of made a career 222 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,920 Speaker 1: out of talking about slave narratives. He went on to 223 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: write extensively about Kentucky's enslaved population, including in a book 224 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: he wrote called Kentuckians Are Different that didn't come out 225 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: until nineteen thirty eight, so almost forty years later. That's 226 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: also a book that he dedicated to the state's enslaved population. 227 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: As his educators so there's a lot to unpack there. 228 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: I just want to acknowledge sort of what was going 229 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: on with it. We do know that it took several 230 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: years for the plan to move all of those people 231 00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: to actually be executed. They were taken to Clarksville, Zuri 232 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: by wagon, then boarded a steamship for New Orleans. In 233 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: New Orleans, they were taken aboard a brig called the 234 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: Ajax on April twentieth, eighteen thirty three. The oldest member 235 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: of the group bibsent was a man in his thirties 236 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: named Andrew, and the youngest was just a little over 237 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: six months old. All of them, according to research done 238 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: by Michael Morrow, museum director for the Sikh Museum that 239 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: now exists on Bibb's former property, all the people Bib 240 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: emancipated for this journey were the direct descendants of enslaved 241 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: people known by the names Lucy and Keziah. That couple 242 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: had been enslaved by the Bib family going all the 243 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: way back to Virginia. We also don't know exactly why 244 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: it took two and a half years to get them 245 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: onto this ship after the announcement. That's all a little 246 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: unclear in these retellings, and there doesn't seem to be 247 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: like a journal or anything kept by any of the 248 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: wagon drive anybody that explains why that took two and 249 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,359 Speaker 1: a half years. Even then, that seems like an extraordinarily 250 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: long time. The voyage of the Ajax was paid for 251 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: with funding from the American Colonization Society and the Kentucky 252 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: Colonization Society. And in addition to Lucy and Keziah's family 253 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: from the Bib properties, there were one hundred eighteen other 254 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: enslaved people being emancipated through this journey. They were mostly 255 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: from Kentucky. There was also a white missionary and an 256 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: agent of the Tennessee Colonization Society named H. D. King. 257 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: This journey was really rough. There was a cholera outbreak 258 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: on the ship which killed several dozen people. Those numbers 259 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: are usually quoted as between thirty and forty, but it's 260 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: not one hundred percent clear. A Black minister named Abel 261 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: Long visited Liberia years later, and he reported that he 262 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: was unable to make contact with any of the people 263 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: from the Bib group, although he was told that two 264 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: of the women had survived and had gone into the 265 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: jungle to live. That account is very strange. I read 266 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: it in one newspaper, and it's also very sensationalized. There's 267 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: language I did not care to include here. The rest 268 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: of the people who went appeared to have died when 269 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: Major Bibb died, as was indicated on that historical marker 270 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier. He did as promised, emancipate his remaining 271 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: enslaved workforce. He once again indicated a desire for some 272 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: of them to go to Liberia, and he also offered 273 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: an alternate plan. Here's the pertinent passage from his will. Quote. 274 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: I do hereby emancipate all of my slaves from and 275 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: after the first day of January next after my death, 276 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: and desire that all of them who have not wives 277 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: or husbands in bondage, be sent to Liberia. I give 278 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 1: to my slaves hereby emancipated five thousand dollars, to be 279 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: divided out among them, and paid out to them from 280 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: time to time according to the discretion of my executors. 281 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: And all of my stock of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, 282 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: farming tools, wagons and carts, and crops made the year 283 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: of my decease, or that may be on hand. And 284 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: each slave hired out to the hire do for the 285 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: year in which I shall decease. I also give to 286 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,640 Speaker 1: said slaves all my lands which are unsold or undisposed 287 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: of in the County of Grayson of this state. The 288 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: land in the County of Logan conveyed to me by 289 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: Benjamin Tompkins, Ralph E. Nourse, and Robert Norse is to 290 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: be divided among them at the discretion of my executors. 291 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: And also the land in Logan conveyed to me by 292 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: Mark Harden, and about thirty acres adjoining it, conveyances to 293 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,640 Speaker 1: be made by my executors or either of them, And 294 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,199 Speaker 1: they are hereby authorized to sell and convey any of 295 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: the land or either property hereby given to my emancipated slaves, 296 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: and divide or lay out the money for their benefit. 297 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 1: I give to my Errand the house and lots on 298 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,479 Speaker 1: which he lives in Russellville, and his carpenter tools, as 299 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 1: his portion of the legacies left my emancipated slaves. I 300 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: give to my woman Clarissa's is that part of most 301 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: remote from the dwelling house, to include the smith's shop. 302 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,919 Speaker 1: Major bib then included a long list of names of 303 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: the emancipated enslaved. They are listed only by first name. 304 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,919 Speaker 1: This part of the will then concludes with quote, I 305 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: give to my slaves by this will emancipated my two 306 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: lots under the Knob near M. B. Morton's and two 307 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 1: fractional lots in Saunders, addition to Russellville near James Bell's stable, 308 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: and a fractional lot near William Duncan's and William First's 309 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: near the Public Square, to be divided and conveyed to 310 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 1: them at the discretion of my executors. When Major bib died, 311 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: his son John wrote two letters to his older brother, 312 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,679 Speaker 1: George M. Bibb, who had been a US Senator and 313 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: was serving as a judge of the Jefferson County Court 314 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: of Chancery when their father died. The first letter informed 315 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:04,399 Speaker 1: George of the Major's passing, and then the second asked 316 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: for George's thoughts on the will because George's expertise and 317 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: wills and trusts was just unmatched. George's response was twelve 318 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: pages long, and he did not agree with his father's wishes, 319 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: but he also knew he couldn't really contest the will. 320 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: Although the advice that he gives to his brother is 321 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: not in the interest of the people that Major Bib 322 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: named for emancipation. We're not going to read this whole 323 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: thing again. It is twelve pages long. That would be 324 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:37,400 Speaker 1: the whole podcast. Really. We'll read some excerpts of it, though, 325 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: to show how George Bib made the case to his 326 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,160 Speaker 1: brother that he could hang on to assets that were 327 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: mentioned in the will for as long as possible. Yeah, this, 328 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,199 Speaker 1: I have feelings about this letter. George's letter opens with 329 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: some niceties towards John discusses that their father has died, 330 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: and early on it includes this passage quote, what a 331 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: in fact the experiment our father has made in sending 332 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,640 Speaker 1: negroes to Liberia, and in setting out some to work 333 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: for themselves near him, might have had in changing his 334 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: mind upon the subject of emancipation. I did not know. 335 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: The will which he has left shows that his mind 336 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: was unaltered. It is done poor, as I am struggling 337 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: at my time of life, by the most intense application 338 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: to the duties, which does not afford any surplus at 339 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 1: the year's end above the expenses of my family. Yet 340 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: I would not for the property bequeathed by the will 341 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: for all the Negroes nor the value ten times told, 342 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:39,159 Speaker 1: insult the memory of our father by and attempt to 343 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: set aside the writing he has published as his last 344 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 1: will and testament. Whoever suggested an intention on my part 345 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: to oppose the will or to endeavor to break it, 346 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 1: did but little understand my thoughts or temper, spoke at 347 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,199 Speaker 1: random without color of authority from me, and did me 348 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: great injustice. At this point in his life, George had 349 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:05,160 Speaker 1: enjoyed a lot of success, but he had, for reasons 350 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: that are kind of nebulous, gotten to the point where 351 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: his finances were pretty lean by the time his father died. 352 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: The only reasons he cites when discussing his financial problems 353 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: were the banking system and quote my own confiding temper. 354 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: So while you might understand his dismay and his father 355 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: giving so much land and money towards his emancipation provisions, 356 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: and why people expected that he would try to contest 357 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: the will, It's also reported that Major Bib left his 358 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: children well cared for financially. It was even mentioned in 359 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: his death announcement. Yeah, I'm always suspicious of anyone who's 360 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,879 Speaker 1: like even though I am in the worst position, I 361 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: would never try to do anything like when that's you're open, 362 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,879 Speaker 1: I'm going to lean back. Aside from insisting that he 363 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: would never insult his father's memory, George makes his opinions 364 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 1: pretty clearly known in this letter about how he believed 365 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 1: the will should be executed, And we are going to 366 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: dig into all of that after we first take a 367 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: little break and hear from the sponsors that keep stuff 368 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: you missed in history class going. George Bibb makes clear 369 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: in his letter that he believed his father was wrong 370 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: in emancipating slaves. He did not side with abolitionists. This 371 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: writing is for me infuriating to read, and it includes 372 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: the following quote, The emancipation of a large number of negroes, 373 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: male and female, helpless and infirm, old and young, would 374 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,160 Speaker 1: provide a nuisance to society as well as an injury 375 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,919 Speaker 1: to the Negroes. And he hints that the key to 376 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 1: managing the situation in the way he thinks would avoid 377 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 1: problems is in the executor's hands, although he also adds 378 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: quote the extent of discretionary powers given to his executors 379 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:02,119 Speaker 1: is not clear of difficulty. So remember, George Bibb was 380 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 1: an expert in wills. He had practiced law was able 381 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 1: to build a case, and as he continues with this, 382 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: it definitely seems like he's trying to show his brother 383 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: John that there is just so much gray area in 384 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: the will when it comes to the specifics of the apportionment. 385 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: So he continues quote to apply these rules to the will. 386 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: I give to my slaves hereby emancipated five thousand dollars 387 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: to be divided out amongst them, and paid out to 388 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:32,439 Speaker 1: them from time to time according to the discretion of 389 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: my executors. The extent of the discretion which the executors 390 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: are to exercise under the clause respects first the division 391 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 1: amongst these collegiatearies, second the time of the payments. The 392 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: important question is may the executors divide the money in 393 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 1: unequal shares? If the shares are to be equal, share 394 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 1: and share alike to each legatary. If the executors cannot 395 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 1: exercise a discretion by giving five shillings to one and 396 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: eighty dollars to another from time to time, graduated by 397 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: the incapacities, families and infirmities which enter into the question 398 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: of the respective abilities or inabilities to labor for self support, 399 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 1: there the sentence would be no more operative by the 400 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: presence of those words divided out amongst them, than if 401 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: those were expunged and the Testament left with the words 402 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 1: to be paid to them from time to time according 403 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 1: to the discretion of my executors. By denying a discretionary 404 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: power to the executors to make the division amongst the 405 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,800 Speaker 1: collegiatearias and unequal portions, the one member of the sentence 406 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: would be made expletive with no effect whatever, contrary to 407 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 1: the rule that every word shall have effect if consistent 408 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,960 Speaker 1: with the other parts of the Testament. After this, George 409 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: invoked a seventeen ninety four law that Kentucky had passed 410 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: regarding provisions for emancipating enslaved people. That law stipulated that 411 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: anyone trying to manument an enslaved person had to quote 412 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: writing under his or her hand and seal a test 413 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: had improved in the county court by two witnesses, That 414 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: paperwork had to be filed with the court, and the quote. 415 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: Court shall have full power to demand bond and sufficient 416 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 1: security of the emancipator, his or her executors or administrators, 417 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: as the case may be, for the maintenance of any 418 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: slave or slaves that may be aged or infirm, either 419 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 1: of body or mind, to prevent their becoming chargeable to 420 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: the county. So, in short, if someone wanted to manument 421 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: a person, they had to promise and make provisions to 422 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,479 Speaker 1: ensure that the manumented person would not become a burden 423 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 1: on the state. George wrote of the law and reminded 424 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,399 Speaker 1: his brother John that this responsibility fell to him as executor, 425 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: and that it cost money just to file the paperwork. 426 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,800 Speaker 1: He noted that for every certificate of emancipation, the law 427 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 1: authorizes the clerk to charge a fee of five shillings. 428 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: Then he reminds his brother that there are fifty four 429 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: people named in the will for emancipation. Yeah, you can 430 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,400 Speaker 1: see him building his case of like this is a 431 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: huge burden on you. We got to protect you. And 432 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: he follows up by trying to show John that maybe 433 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,199 Speaker 1: their father really didn't think the money part through in 434 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: other ways writing quote. But then again in another part 435 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 1: of the Testament, to each slave hired out, the higher 436 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: due for such slave for the year ensuing the death 437 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: of the testator is specifically devised to that slave, which 438 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: shows the equality of legacies to each slave emancipated was 439 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: not in the mind or will of the testator, but 440 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: that emancipation was the general object of the will, and 441 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: not the fund of money. As well as the lands 442 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: placed at the discretion of his executors, was not for 443 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: the purpose of a quality of legacies to each slave, 444 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 1: but an absolute and unconfined discretion to be exercised by 445 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: his executors for support of the many, according to circumstances, 446 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: such as he himself would have exercised if he in 447 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: this lifetime would have emancipated them and come under the 448 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: positive engagement to the courts to keep them from becoming 449 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: a charge to the county. Next, George bib warns John 450 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: that being the executor of their father's fortune is going 451 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:25,439 Speaker 1: to bring out the worst in people, adding quote, you 452 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: and your brother Richard are to have some trouble in 453 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,120 Speaker 1: the execution of the trust, in all probability by reason 454 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: of the interference of low minded ignorance and interested knavery 455 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 1: by persons who will stimulate the negroes and speculate upon 456 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:45,399 Speaker 1: their interests and poverty. If you do not have so 457 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: such you are fortunate above the condition of society here 458 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: in Louisville. Then he talks about how the funds have 459 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 1: to be carefully managed in a way then ensures that 460 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 1: all the desires of the testator have been met as 461 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: the executor sees best, and that if all the assets 462 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: are distributed, then the executor is left on the hook 463 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,880 Speaker 1: for any additional funds that are needed because of any 464 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: emancipated people aging or no longer being able to work, 465 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: because that's an injustice. He literally uses that word. This 466 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: all sums up to a man urging his brother to 467 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: not distribute everything, but instead to hold the funds in 468 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 1: reserve to manage and dole out over time. The implication 469 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,720 Speaker 1: here is that the emancipated people wouldn't handle the money 470 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: they were given properly, and then the bib family would 471 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:35,720 Speaker 1: be on the hook to make good financially with the 472 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: county and state. He spells this out pretty clearly in 473 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 1: this passage quote. The time of payment and applications of 474 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: the sum of five thousand dollars specifically denoted being left 475 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: by the will uncertain to be judged by the executors. 476 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: According to the circumstances, The executors cannot be chargeable for 477 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: interest unless for manifest delay and abuse. Contrary to the 478 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: trust if the executors exercise the power of selling the lands, 479 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: such funds so raised as shall not be divided or 480 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 1: intended to be divided in their discretion presently after received, 481 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: ought to be put out to interest until such divisions 482 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: shall become proper. We're going over this document and quoting 483 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: it so closely because it's an important example of how 484 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: anti abolitionists could make a case that it was in 485 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: everyone's best interests not to give enslaved black people full 486 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: emancipation or assets, even when it was somebody's will that 487 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: they do so. It's also important because it informed decisions 488 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: that shapes an entire community and in ways that are 489 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: still felt today. John B. Bib did take in this 490 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: letter and he did start manumitting his father's enslaved workforce 491 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: in waves, starting in February of eighteen forty. It was 492 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: about a month after that emancipation was supposed to start 493 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: according to the will. The first group was ten. They 494 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: went as a group to the Logan County Courthouse for 495 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: their freedom papers and they did get them, and these 496 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 1: were followed by additional groups. None of the emancipated people 497 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 1: chose to go to Liberia. Many of them moved to 498 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: the land that had been set aside for them in 499 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: Major Bib's will. It's an area that became known as Bibtown. 500 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: That's actually two communities, Upper Bibtown and Lower Bibtown. But 501 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: even so, the actual deeds to those lands were not 502 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: fully granted until the late eighteen seventies, so nearly forty 503 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: years after Major Bib had died. Presumably some of those 504 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: people that had been emancipated had died. In that interim 505 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: forty years other people left the area and moved to 506 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: larger cities like Louisville or out of the state entirely. 507 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: And it's important to remember that even once those who 508 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 1: stayed had been emancipated and were living on land that 509 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: had been set aside by Major Bib, even if they 510 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 1: didn't own that land outright, these were still free black 511 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: people living in a slave state. For the Civil War, 512 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: it was not safe for them. There was always a 513 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 1: risk of being re enslaved or being targeted with violence. 514 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: And we have to go back to the lettuce because 515 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: in having been left very comfortable when his father passed, 516 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 1: John b. Bib was able to have leisure time with 517 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: which to cultivate his plants. And develop that limestone lettuce 518 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,600 Speaker 1: listen no shade to Bib Lettuce I like it, but 519 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: that inheritance that afforded all of that was possible due 520 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: to the work of the hundreds of enslaved people his 521 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 1: father had owned over the years and who had worked 522 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: on his land, enabling him to amass a huge amount 523 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: of wealth. Major Bib is often cited as one of 524 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: the richest men in Kentucky. Today. Major Bib's home is 525 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: a museum, the Sikh Museum, which stands for Struggles for 526 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: emancipation and Equality in Kentucky. It's actually spread out among 527 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: six buildings on two sites. The buildings have been restored 528 00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 1: in The museum's mission is to tell the stories of 529 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: the enslaved people emancipated by Major Richard bibb. In twenty nineteen, 530 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: there was a reunion at that museum and anyone who 531 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 1: was related to Bib, both black and white, was invited 532 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 1: to attend. And that's because it is highly likely and 533 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: widely believed that some of the enslaved children on the 534 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 1: Bib property prior to Major Bib's death had absolutely been 535 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: fathered by him. There are quite a few articles written 536 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: about that reunion a lot of them are very feel good, 537 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 1: but I would recommend one by journalist Linney O'Neil, which 538 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: was written for the Site and Scape, and it's titled 539 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: The Bitter Harvest of Richard Bibb, a descendant of slavery 540 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,360 Speaker 1: confronts her inheritance. It is a very frank piece of 541 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,239 Speaker 1: writing about the pain of such scenarios, things like this 542 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: big feel good reunion for some of the black attendees. 543 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: There's another reunion planned this ball. It's twenty twenty two. 544 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: This is in September for Bibb's descendants, and there'll be 545 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 1: a new documentary debut at that one titled Invented Before 546 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: You Were Born, which examines the issues of the Bibs 547 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: story and its legacy. And you can get more information 548 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: about that at seek museum dot org. That's see k 549 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: Museum dot org. Yeah, man, not about Lettuce, sort of 550 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: about Lettus. I just it's one of those things where 551 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: you realize, like, oh, this cute story about food is 552 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: really about the people that made it possible for a 553 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: white guy to have leisure time to make that food. 554 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If 555 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: you'd like to send us a note our email addresses, 556 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can subscribe 557 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 558 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:44,680 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.