Not long after obtaining my own freedom, I began seriously to think about
purchasing the freedom of my family. The first proposition was that I
should buy my wife, and that we should jointly labor to obtain the freedom
of the children afterwards as we were able. But that idea was abandoned,
when her master, Mr. Smith, refused to sell her to me for less than one
thousand dollars, a sum which then appeared too much for me to raise.
Afterwards, however, I conceived the idea of purchasing at once the entire
family. I went to Mr. Smith to learn his price, which he put at _three
thousand dollars_ for my wife and six children, the number we then had.
This seemed a large sum, both because it was a great deal for me to raise;
and also because Mr. Smith, when he bought my wife and _two_ children, had
actually paid but five hundred and sixty dollars for them, and had
received, ever since, their labor, while I had almost entirely supported
them, both as to food and clothing. Altogether, therefore, the case seemed
a hard one, but as I was entirely in his power I must do the best I could.
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