A Dilemma

This is perhaps the most captivating story I have ever heard. I Heard it this morning and wow. It is the same problem that we each have to battle. 

There is a book about this man written by Charles Daudert which you can get on Amazon, and also find more about him on Google.

Dr. Andrew Dunford, passed away July 12th. He was 60 years old. This was before the Civil War perhaps 1830. He a respected doctor to rich plantation owners, and also slaves. He practiced medicine in Plaque Mines Parish about 30 mi south of New Orleans. He also owned a sugar plantation which was named St Rosell.

The plantation was a beautiful property on the west side of the Mississippi enclosed by a bend in the Mississippi River. He had originally purchased the plantation for $77,000 so he was quite well to do. When they read his last will and testament, he had not freed any of his slaves except for one, Albert. He also left a huge sum of $2,000, for Albert’s education. It was pretty well known that Albert was Dr Dunford’s son, by his housekeeper, 27 years his junior, who was also slave.

The good doctor was a tormented man. He did not believe in enslaving ones fellow man, but he still owned 95 slaves. He simply didn’t want to give up the income from his plantation. This operation required slaves, so he rationalized his entire life. He believed all men have been born free, but he cherished the success he had in society. Good men sometimes compromise.

The good doctor said, “l hope a day will come that I will be able to do better.” He who sees the remotest part of a man’s heart knows that I mean well. Someone has said that slavery is not a white problem, it is a people problem. For you see the man that exploited 95 black men for his own gain was himself black

The next time we meet, The Human Condition.

—James Neuhouser