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For several days in early March 1859, rains fell violently on the Ten Broeck race track in what is now west Savannah. During that time more than 400 enslaved people were sold to pay off the debts of plantation owner Pierce Mease Butler.  The rains only stopped after the last slave was sold. The auction would thereafter be known as The Weeping Time. “As the last family stepped down from the block, the rain ceased, for the first time in four days, the clouds broke away, and the soft sunlight fell on the scene. The unhappy slaves had [sic] many of them been already removed, and others were now departing with their new masters,” New York Tribune journalist Mortimer Q. Thomson wrote of the auction, which took place on March 2 and March 3, 1859.

United statesGreat swampSouth carolinaKwesi degraftSally walkerQk philander doesticksMortimerq thomsonKatie nussbaum savannahMease butlerJoseph bryanOrganization to commemorate enslaved african american nationalsSavannah salvation armySweeping timeSavannah morningCommemorate enslaved african american nationalsTen broeck