One very cold morning in the month of March, I came from home without washing my face, and Mr. Young made two of the slave boys take me down to a pond where the horses and mules used to drink; they threw me into the water and rubbed my face with sand until it bled, then I was made to run all the way to the stable, which was about a quarter of a mile.  This cruel treatment soon hardened me so that I did not care for him at all.

A short time afterwards I was sent with the other boys about four or five miles from home, up the public road, to practice the horse, and they gave me a very wild animal to ride, which threw me very often.  Mr. Young did not go with us, but sent a colored groom every morning, who was very faithful to every task alloted him; he was instructed to whip me every time the horse threw me while away from home.  I got many little floggings by the colored groom, as the horse threw me, a great many times, but the floggings I got from him were very feeble compared with those of the white man; hence I was better content to go away with the colored groom than to be at home where I should have worse punishment.

But the time was coming when they ceased to whip me for being thrown by horses.  One day, as I was riding along the road, the horse that I was upon darted at the sight of a bird, which flew across the way, throwing me upon a pile of brush.  The horse stepped on my cheek, and the head of a nail in his shoe went through my left cheek and broke a tooth, but it was done so quickly that I hardly felt it.  It happened that he did not step on me with his whole weight, if he had my jaw would have been broken.  When I got up the colored groom was standing by me, but he could not whip me when he saw the blood flowing from my mouth, so he took me down to the creek, which was but a short distance from the place, and washed me, and then taking me home, sent for a doctor, who dressed the wound.

When Mr. Young saw my condition, he asked how it was done, and upon being told he said it ought to have killed me.  After the doctor had dressed my face, of course I went home, thinking they would allow me to stay until I got well, but I had no sooner arrived than the groom sent for me; I did not answer, as my jaw pained me very much.  When he found that I did not come, he came after me himself, and said if I did not come to the stable right away, he would whip me, so I went with him.  He did not whip me while I was in that condition, but he would not let me lie down, so I suffered very much from exposure.

When mother came that night from the farm and saw my condition, she was overcome with grief; she said to father, “this wound is enough to kill the child, and that merciless man will not let him lie down until he gets well:  this is too hard.”  Father said to her, “I know it is very hard, but what can we do? for if we try to keep this boy in the house it will cause us trouble.”  Mother said, “I wish they would take him out of the world, then he would be out of pain, and we should not have to fret about him, for he would be in heaven.”  Then she took hold of me and said, “Does it hurt you, son?” meaning my face, and I said, “Yes, mamma,” and she shed tears; but she had no little toys to give me to comfort me; she could only promise me such as she had, which were eggs and chickens.