The Unstoppable Eliza Haycraft by Diana Dempsey

Author:Diana Dempsey [Dempsey, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780990696469
Publisher: Bramerton Press

Only a few days have passed when Noah comes early to Poplar Street to tell me news of Hester, who I now know to call Hester Williams. He was right to be hopeful. “She is out of the jail, and her children, too. She has sued for her freedom.”

I do not wish to appear ignorant but do not understand what that means. “Who has she sued? Norcom?” I know it is possible for a slave to purchase his freedom, if his owner will allow it—as Chantal’s mother did—but that is all I know on the matter.

Noah nods. “She went to the Courthouse and did it.”

“How can Hester manage such a thing?”

“She can do it with the help of Reverend Jordan Early.”

There is pride as Noah speaks that name. “This Reverend Early has a church?” I ask.

“He preaches at many Negro churches. He has a fruit store.”

I learn this store is on Green Street and think I would like to pay a visit. For I wish to understand what this reverend and Hester have done.

Noah and I go in the gig, for I have one now—simple, with a single horse, not a phaeton like the bawdy ladies in New Orleans had. We have a groom, too, to care for the horse. Today the winter sky is clear, but the wind blusters so that it will cut through my thickest shawl like scissors.

At the shop I load my basket with apples and bananas and we are happy to find Reverend Early there. He is a young man, thin and small, but from his throat comes a large voice, which might be why he was called to the pulpit. I do not know if it is God who gives him confidence that glows like a torch. He is a free man and Noah has told me he was able to make free his wife and oldest boy, too.

I wonder if Reverend Early is one of the free Negro men in our city who can be called prosperous. I do not have to be told the powers-that-be are not happy about it; neither are the likes of Bridget. The higher-placed free Negro men often are stewards on steamboats or own barbershop emporiums or shops, like Reverend Early. Truth to tell, I feel a kinship with them. They are men, but I am white, so we both have a plus and a minus in this world that white men run.

“I have known Hester Williams for some years,” I tell the reverend, “and her daughter Priscilla, too. Mr. Moberry tells me she has sued Norcom, with your help. He is not a friend of mine.”

Reverend Early gestures to Noah and me to follow him outside. This is no topic to discuss amid the pears and oranges. “Frederick Norcom,” he says, “will soon learn that we in the Negro community are far from powerless to help one another. Hester Williams is a churchgoing woman. When I heard of her plight, I knew it was my duty before God to help her.

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