Louis Hughes, was one of the many enslaved African Americans who experienced the horrors of slavery in the United States. Hughes’ story, recounted in his memoir Thirty Years a Slave, reveals the cruelty of a system that dehumanized African Americans and treated them as mere property.
Born around 1832 in Charlottesville, Virginia, Louis Hughes was the product of the systemic violence that characterized slavery in America. His mother, an enslaved African woman, was raped by her enslaver, a Euro-American plantation owner, as was tragically common during this period. Hughes’ birth was a result of this exploitation.
At a young age, Hughes was torn from his mother and passed through the hands of various slave owners until he was bought by Mr. McGee of Pontotoc, Mississippi, in December 1844, around the age of 12. He was purchased as a “Christmas gift” for his wife, Madam McGee. This was not an uncommon practice during this era, when enslaved Africans were treated as property and often purchased and presented as gifts.
Hughes would spend the next two decades in the McGee household, enduring grueling conditions but also acquiring knowledge that would shape his future. As a child, he worked as an errand boy, performing various menial tasks. But by 1850, when the McGees moved to a new home outside of Memphis, Hughes was promoted to butler. This role allowed him to observe the daily lives of his enslavers, providing him with insights into the workings of a society built on slavery.
As a house servant, a position that was often considered somewhat privileged, Hughes’ life was still filled with hardship. Madam McGee was known for her cruelty, subjecting Hughes to frequent and random beatings. As Hughes later recalled, “Some weeks it seemed I was whipped for nothing, just to please my mistress’ fancy.” The emotional toll was as brutal as the physical punishment, and Hughes’ memoir describes his struggles with a system that could not see him as a human being.
Despite the unimaginable hardships of slavery, Louis Hughes found love and companionship in Matilda, a fellow slave in the McGee household. The couple married and later welcomed twin daughters into the world, offering a brief moment of joy amidst their oppression. Tragically, their happiness was short-lived. Matilda, weakened and scarred by the relentless physical abuse inflicted upon her by Madam McGee, was unable to produce breast milk to nourish their babies. The lack of adequate care and nourishment led to the twins’ deaths. This loss deeply affected Hughes, who deeply blamed the Madam for their children’s fate.
Hughes’ desire for freedom grew as he witnessed the brutalities of slavery firsthand. He made several attempts to escape, each of which resulted in severe beatings that left permanent scars on his body and soul. However, in June 1865, just as the Confederacy was collapsing and the Civil War was drawing to a close, Hughes successfully escaped slavery and made his way to freedom.
After his escape, Hughes settled in Milwaukee with Matilda, who had also fled with him. Together, they started a successful laundry business, and Hughes pursued a career in nursing, using medical knowledge he had acquired while enslaved. The couple also had four children born free, though the memory of their lost twins remained a painful chapter of their lives.
In 1897, thirty two years after his escape from slavery, Louis Hughes published Thirty Years a Slave, a powerful memoir documenting his experiences. The book became a significant contribution to the understanding of slavery, especially in western Tennessee. It provided offered firsthand accounts about the complex relationships between slaves and masters, along with graphic accounts of the physical abuse slaves endured, and details about slave markets, slave religion, and the organization of plantation work.
Hughes died in 1913 at the age of 81 in Milwaukee and was laid to rest beside his wife, Matilda, at Forest Home Cemetery.
Sources:
Hughes, Louis, Thirty Years a Slave: From Bondage to Freedom, Montgomery, AL: NewSouth Books, 2002.
https://archive.org/details/thirtyyearsslave01hugh/page/n2/mode/1up
https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/hughes/summary.html
