Celia, A Slave

Chapter Three, “Inquisition,” describes the search for Robert Newsom, which began on the morning of Sunday, June 24, when his daughters missed him at breakfast.  Soon, they asked for help from the neighbors, in particular William Powell, a neighboring slave owner who McLaurin surmises would have been especially interested in finding out what happened to Newsom, given the similarity of their circumstances.  The Newsom sons also joined the search, and George was brought in for questioning, since the family was aware of his relationship with Celia.  George denied knowing anything about Newsom’s whereabouts but implicated Celia by suggesting that the last place Newsom walked was the path between his house and hers.  The search party then confronted Celia, with Powell taking the lead in her questioning.  She steadfastly denied knowing where Newsom was, but after repeated questioning and pressure from Powell, she admitted only that Newsom came to her window and that she hit him and he went away.  After still further questioning, she said she would tell Powell what happened to Newsom if he sent Newsom’s sons out of the room.  She then admitted to Powell that she accidentally killed Newsom by hitting him on the head with a stick and, upon realizing he was dead, burned his body in her fireplace.