“Their clothing consisted of a pair of trowsers and jacket, made of ‘negro cloth.’  The women a petticoat, a very short ‘short-gown,’ and nothing else, the same kind of cloth; some of the women had an old pair of shoes, but they generally went barefoot.”

Mr. Lemuel Sapington, of Lancaster, Pa., a native of Maryland, and formerly a slaveholder.

“Their clothing is often made by themselves after night, though sometimes assisted by the old women, who are no longer able to do out-door work; consequently it is harsh and uncomfortable.  And I have very frequently seen those who had not attained the age of twelve years go naked.”

Philemon Bliss, Esq., a lawyer in Elyria, Ohio, who lived in Florida in 1834 and 35.

“It is very common to see the younger class of slaves up to eight or ten without any clothing, and most generally the laboring men wear no shirts in the warm season.  The perfect nudity of the younger slaves is so familiar to the whites of both sexes, that they seem to witness it with perfect indifference.  I may add that the aged and feeble often suffer from cold.”

Richard Macy, a member of the Society of Friends, Hudson, N.Y., who has lived in Georgia.

“For bedding each slave was allowed one blanket, in which they rolled themselves up.  I examined their houses, but could not find any thing like a bed.”

W.C.  Gildersleeve, Esq., Wilkesbarre, Pa., a native of Georgia.

“It is an every day sight to see women as well as men, with no other covering than a few filthy rags fastened above the hips, reaching midway to the ankles. I never knew any kind of covering for the head given.  Children of both sexes, from infancy to ten years are seen in companies on the plantations, in a state of perfect nudity.  This was so common that the most refined and delicate beheld them unmoved.”

Mr. William Leftwich, a native of Virginia, now a member of the Presbyterian Church, in Delhi, Ohio.

“The only bedding of the slaves generally consists of two old blankets.”

Advertisements like the following from the “New Orleans Bee,” May 31, 1837, are common in the southern papers.

“10 DOLLARS REWARD.—­Ranaway, the slave SOLOMON, about 28 years of age; BADLY CLOTHED. The above reward will be paid on application to FERNANDEZ & WHITING, No. 20, St. Louis St.”

RANAWAY from the subscriber the negress FANNY, always badly dressed, she is about 25 or 26 years old.  JOHN MACOIN, 117 S. Ann st.

The Darien (Ga.), Telegraph, of Jan. 24, 1837, in an editorial article, hitting off the aristocracy of the planters, incidentally lets out some secrets, about the usual clothing of the slaves.  The editor says,—­“The planter looks down, with the most sovereign contempt, on the merchant and the storekeeper.  He deems himself a lord, because he gets his two or three RAGGED servants, to row him to his plantation every day, that he may inspect the labor of his hands.”