Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1859 — A Noble Act. [ARTICLE]

A Noble Act.

I From the Cleveland Leader.

Emancipation of Two Daughters by their Father.

In the summer of 1857, James Oldham, a "free white citizen” of Coahoma county, Mississippi, left his plantation near Friar’s .Point, with his two beautiful daughters, one of whom is now twelve and the other fifteen years of age, for Oberlin, Ohio, whither he came fcr the double purpose if emancipating and educating the girls, for they were his slaves. He was accompanied by Miss Hattie Oldham, a near relative, who came to assist in locating-the daughters in their new condition. At Memphis, the yo .nger daughter, Cyrena, having been the pet of the family, and preferring the known ease of her sunny home to the fancied trials and the dreaded restraints of school, could not he persuaded to come any further on the journey, and her kind father was induced to permit her to return to the plantation, while the balance of the party came on and arrived at Oberlin in August. The next day after their arrival, B-r. Oldham was attacked with typhoid dysentery, and was soon reduced to a critical condition, in which he lingered for some three weeks, and died. Having formed an acquaintance with Dr. R. L. Rea, of Oxford, Butler county, Ohio, und having great confidence in his skill as a physician, at Mr. Oldham’s request the Doctor came to his bed side, watched over him until death ended his lu'- Hngs, and then accompanied his trmt::' ‘cu.auia back to his desolate home in 3; >i,i. When Mr. Oldham became convinced that he must die, his concern for the freedom of his youngest d;.tighter was intense. The eldest, Emeline, was with him in Ohio, and was therefore free; but the younger by lingering amid the loved scenes of her childhood, was exposed to be inventoried among the other chatties of the estate, and sold at a high price because of her light complexion her beautiful ringlets, and her graceful iorm, ; and the dying father knew it, and bitter an- ; guish stung his soul. i He knew too that the laws of Mississippi forbid emancipat.on within her borders, and further, that he could not by his will make her free to be sent out of the State, nor ! could he will her in trust to another for the ! purpose of making her free, neither yet I could he sell her to any one forthat purpose. Thus was the dying parent beleaguered on i every hand by the monstrous cruelty of the law, hedging up as it does every way by which he might procure freedom to his child I .and thus save her from a dreadful fate. In i this strait he applied to Hon. Phiiemun Bliss, of Elyria, for counsel, whose clear ] head and warm heart were soon enlisted in ‘ what would seem the hopeless task of ena- ■ bling a wealthy father to free his own child j 'rom eternal slavery. A t will was soon executed, ir. which the i facts of the parent’s earnest wish were clear- . ly set forth, and by the terms of which the ' daughters were made free, and the sum of : four thousand dallars bequethed sot their : support and education, and the noble Dr. Rea was appointed Executor of the will. It was also provided that the whole of the above sum should be expended, if necessary, 1 to secure the freedom of the youngest girl, should an atteinpDbe made to prevent it by the heirs under the law of Mississippi, which wise provision, with the energy and firmness of Dr. Rea, proved more than a match for slaveiiolding cupidity and slaveholding law, as is shown in the fact that both Emeline and Cyrena are now safe in Oberlin, where their wants will be supplied and their education provided for under the direction of Dr. Rea. But all this has not be?n accomplished without a severe struggle, every point being warmly contested by greedy heirs with wicked laws on one side, and the determined Doctor and righteousnes on the oth t. For a time it seemed almost certain that the cormorants would succeed, and that the money as well as the liberty of Cyrena would be lost; indeed, so sure were they of success, that the heirs bid Dr. Rea a bold defiance. At length a point was decided by the Sui preme Court of Mississippi in a case involving some important ones in this, and the controversy was brought to a close by a compromise, in which the Doc or secured the freedom of the girl and three thousand dollars of the money. Turpentine Liniment.—The best and cheapest liniment for general and family purposes is what we call turpentine liniment. To make it, put a pint of spirits of turpentine in a bottle, and add as much gum camphor as the turpentine will dissolve by frequently shaking the bottle. T’. i i.i li.e entire process, and it is one of t : ■ i niments for man and beast that '■ n be de at a like cost. — Kentucky Fam, >. Q27'-I°hn Underwood, of Virgin.a, io was recently fined $250 for speaking gainst slavery, was last week elected n member of the House of Delegates by a majority vote, in the place of his residence, in the neighborhood of Mt. Vernon.