APPLETON, Wis. — The exhibit, "A Stone of Hope: Black Experiences in the Fox Cities," includes the story of Horace and Bercina Artis.
They married in secret as slaves and were freed during the Civil War.
“Horace, like many slaves at the time, flocked to Union lines,” said Dustin Mack, chief curator at the History Museum at the Castle. “They didn’t want to be enslaved. They didn’t want to support the Confederacy. He ran away from the plantation where he was being held and joined the Union army.”
Behind the scenes of the display, Mack and other historians dug through historical documents and tell the story of what it was like for the married couple to escape slavery and settle in the north.
One document they have is a copy of Horace Artis’s enlistment papers to the Union Army.
“Initially, they weren’t paid as well as white soldiers were,” Mack said. “They often got lesser provisions and uniforms. By all reports, they fought incredibly bravely with a lot of passion.”
According to various records, Horace Artis was present when confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered.
“Which is a tremendous experience in his life and a tribute to all of the African-Americans soldiers who fought as part of their struggle for freedom,” said Mack.
After the war, Horace and Bercina eventually settled in Appleton. There isn’t a known picture of Bercina, but there is one of their daughter Nettie, along with two of the Artis’ grandchildren.
“We always have more information about him than we do about her but this newspaper article is a fascinating look at her life,” said Mack. “The great thing about it is, it’s through her own words.”
Bercina Artis recalled her life in slavery for the local newspaper.
“Her earliest recollections are of kicks, blows, and the whipping post,” read Mack.
He said accounts like hers were eye-opening for many northerners.
“It showed the brutality of slavery, the harshness of it, and just the constant pain that these people were in,” Mack said. “Being separated from their loved ones, the physical toll, the mental toll that this took on people, Bercina’s story is very much in line with other slave narratives at the time of what they experienced.”
Horace and Bercina Artis were buried at Riverside Cemetery in Appleton. They were two freed slaves, on the front lines of history, who called Appleton home.
