Annotations

The following annotations to A Narrative of Some Remarkable Incidents in the Life of Solomon Bayley were compiled in the fall of 2014 by Amara Jordan and Jalyn Gatling, first-year students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as a class project in Professor William L. Andrews's First-Year Seminar on Slavery and Freedom in African American Literature and Film. We welcome any corrections, additions, or suggested revisions of these annotations. Send feedback to docsouth@listserv.unc.edu.

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Page iii

Wilmington — A city in northern Delaware.

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Page v

Camden — A city in southern New Jersey.

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Page 1

doth — do.

leach — teach (printer’s error).

State of Delaware — a colony and later one of the original United States. Delaware is the only state that depended on Africans (rather than Native Americans) for enslavement from the start of Delaware’s existence.

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Page 2

State of Virginia — a colony and later one of the original United States.

Richmond — the capital of Virginia.

waggon — wagon.

Father of all mercy — the Christian God.

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Page 3

"They that trust in the Lord, shall never be confounded" — Psalm 22:5.

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Page 4

dysentery — a disease, sometimes fatal, that causes loss of blood, severe diarrhea, and increase mucus intake that leads to infection.

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Page 5

Maker of heaven and earth — God.

persimmon — an orange fruit found in an eastern American tree.

Though he is high . . . goodness and his power — Psalm 138:6.

the river — the James River running east-west through Richmond.

Petersburgh — A town in Virginia south of Richmond.

providence — plan of God.

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Page 6

"Let all the world . . . power can shew." — From a hymn in J. and C. Wesley's Collection of Psalms and Hys. 1789.

"Miracle of grace . . . able to abase" — Daniel 4:37.

Chesapeake Bay — a body of water off the coast of Maryland and Virginia.

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Page 7

loom — the shaft of the rowing stick.

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Page 8

Dover — the capital of Delaware.

Almighty — God.

Camden — a town in Delaware south of Dover.

Portly — somewhat overweight.

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Page 9

Petersburgh — a town in Delaware southwest of Camden.

sally — a sudden charge out of a besieged place.

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Page 10

Creator of all things — God.

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Page 11

Surveyor's rod — a device used for measurement of lengths.

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Page 12

H’ant — hasn’t.

“Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord" — Exodus 14:13.

Israel when at the Red Sea — fleeing Hebrew slaves rescued by God by the parting of the Red Sea. See Exodus 13:17-14:29.

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Page 14

"The ox knoweth . . . doth not consider" — Isaiah 1:3.

“Now unto the king immortal . . . ever. Amen.” — Timothy 1:17.

Word or phrase — Definition of word or phrase.

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Page 15

his majesty — God.

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Page 17

7th Mo. 24, 1799 — July 24th, 1799.

shew — shew.

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Page 18

forty pounds bond and security — forty pounds in British currency as payment for freedom.

sold me my time for eighty dollars — Bayley’s master let him hire himself out to work for wages, provided he paid the master 80 dollars.

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Page 19

whetted — to make something sharper or stronger (Source: www.merriam-webster.com/doctor).

the burning lake — hell.

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Page 20

Jonah — Old Testament prophet whose life is recounted in the Book of Jonah.

black crew — condemned sinners “black” because of their damnation.

methodist — an evangelical sect of Protestant Christianity.

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Page 21

Built on the sand — allusion to a parable of Jesus in Matthew 7:24-27.

my maker — God.

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Page 22

"they that resist . . . damnation" — Romans 13.2.

"believe on the . . . be saved" — Acts 16:31.

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Page 23

"Let the wicked . . . all that is passed." — Isaiah 55.7.

“Ask . . . shall find” — Matthew 7:7.

Jot or tittle — a small amount.

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Page 24

Servant Israel — Isaiah 44:1.

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Page 25

"Oh! that all may taste and see… "Would all mankind embrace!" — From a hymn by Charles Wesley published in Wesley’s Hymns and Sacred Poems (1849).

Ye — Plural of “you.”

back countries — a western rural area far away from Bayley.

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Page 26

One class-paper — Bayley and his wife’s master were members of the same Methodist church.

“He that loveth . . . not worthy of me” — Matthew 10:37.

that power which cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon — Isaiah 51:9.

Meeting day — A Sunday.

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Page 27

thirty one pounds Virginia money — At this time currency issued by various states was still in circulation.

pence — Plural of penny.

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Page 28

“. . . he took pet . . .” — Became peevish or sulky..

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Page 29

manumitted — To be released from slavery.

the war in America — The war of 1812, when a British army invaded the U.S..

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Page 30

crier — A town crier, who announces rulings of a court of law..

shilling — A form of currency.

West Indies — Islands in the Caribbean heavily involved in slavery, particularly for the production of sugar..

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Page 31

“this is their hour and the power darkness” — Luke 22:53.

Ring — Area where people stood to auction slaves.

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Page 35

“in his name . . . for ever be exalted.” — Psalm 89:16.

“Then should their sun in smiles decline,/ And bring a peaceful night;” — Interpolation of a hymn written by Welsh composer Aaron Williams.

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Page 37

Sion’s hill — Zion’s Hill, the easternmost hill upon which Jerusalem was built.

Connexion — alternate spelling of connection.

the society of friends — Also known as Quakers, a Protestant Christian sect that advocated the abolition of slavery.

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Page 38

Guinea — a country on the west coast of Africa.

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Page 39

Long Island — an island in the Bahamas.

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Page 40

Hagar — servant of Biblical patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah, who bore a child, Ishmael, for them. After Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she banished Hagar and Ishmael.

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Page 41

Paul Cuffee — An African American Quaker sea captain and abolitionist.

canse — Cause (printer’s error).

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Page 43

prodigal son — central figure in a parable of Jesus in Luke 15:11-32.

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Page 47

“God works in a mysterious way” / “His wonders to perform” — allusion to a hymn by British poet William Cowper in 1773.

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