The Century; a popular quarterly. / Volume 39, Issue 5 Mar 1890
Bloodhounds and Slaves.

An interesting article on the English bloodhound, by Mr. Edwin Brough,in the June, 1889, number of THE CENTURY MAGAZINE, reminded me of the long-standing slander that the Southern master formerly used the bloodhound to run down his runaway slaves. Mr. Brough says that the English bloodhound “is quite different . . . from the Cuban bloodhound of slave-hunting notoriety.” We look at the article “Blood-hound,” in “Chambers’s Encyclopaedia” (J. B. Lippincott & Co., editions of 1884 and 1887). I find the following statements: “The Cuban bloodhound, which is much employed in the pursuit of felons and fugitive slaves in Cuba, differs considerably from the true blood-hound of Britain and continent of Europe, being more fierce and having more resemblance to the bull-dog....It is this kind of bloodhound which was formerly employed in the United States for the recapture of fugitive slaves.” It is not surprising that Englishmen should believe all this, as it is what we told them of ourselves. Laying aside the brutality, one would hardly think that an ordinarily sensible man would purposely select so ferocious a brute as the Cuban bloodhound is reputed to be to tear to pieces or maim a valuable chattel worth $1000 or $1200, especially as this animal, “resembling the bull-dog,” is very deficient in nose. This simple statement ought to show the absurdity of the slander. As to this Cuban blood-hound — so terrible to the morbid imagination — and its use in the Southern States, I have lived for many years in Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama, and I can count on the fingers of one band every one I ever saw. They were said to be fierce, and were used as guard dogs when used at all.

The dog used in the Southern States for tracking criminals and fugitives was the ordinary little fox-hound of the country, familiar to everybody. His nose is all but infallible, but he is very timid about attacking man. Consequently, while it was next to impossible to escape him, the master of the colored fugitive knew that his property was in no sort of danger.

To illustrate this when I was a boy living in Georgia I was fond of talking with an intelligent colored man who belonged to a neighbor. On one occasion he “took to the woods.’ Trained foxhounds were put on his trail with the usual result. I asked him after he was brought home if he had not been frightened when the dogs came up with him. He laughed at the question and said:, “I knew when they found me there was no use running, as they would follow; but they won’t trouble anybody. I just took up a little stick, and they stood off twenty or thirty yards barking.” The first time I ever knew of dogs being used to track any one illustrates their disregard for color or condition. A wealthy and respected man who lived near a Southern city took a fancy to increase his wealth by setting fire to his barn, which was insured. About daybreak the hounds were produced to find the criminal. To the surprise of everybody, the trail was carried to his front door by the dogs. No one prosecuted him for burning his own barn, but the canine evidence destroyed his standing in the community and prevented his getting the coveted security.

I suppose it will hardly be believed, but, as a fact, dogs were rarely used in the South for tracking human beings. I never knew of a case where they were used in Virginia, and I lived several years in the black belt of that State. I saw hut one pack in Georgia, where I lived many years, and I never heard of a pack in Alabama, where I spent a good deal of my youth in a planting community where the colored people predominated largely in numbers.

William N. Nelson.
-------------------------------

Bloodhounds and Slaves. The Century; / Volume 40, Issue 3, July 1890]

Bloodhounds and Slaves.

In the March CENTURY I notice an interesting article,” Bloodhounds and Slaves.” Many a Southerner will smile as he reads: “I suppose it will hardly be believed, but, as a fact, dogs were rarely used in the South for tracking human beings. I never knew of a case where they were used in Virginia.... I saw but one pack in Georgia,... and I never heard of a pack in Alabama.” This only shows what Mr. Nelson knew, saw, or heard, and proves nothing as to facts. His conclusions are misleading. I, too, lived many years in Alabama, and knew, saw, and heard of many packs that were kept and trained to follow the trail of runaway negroes, and I knew several men who made it their principal business to capture fugitives.
I have often seen dogs on the trail, and have seen the runaway brought in as the result of the hunt. These dogs were not bloodhounds, though often so called. Nor were they little foxhounds, from which there was no danger, but they would bite, and, as a pack, would tear a man down. Safety for the pursued was in taking to a tree.

KNOXVILLE, TENN. Observer.
___________________________

David Upton