Thanks. Something was telling me as I typed the original comment that I should re-read the account.
One thing I didn't pick up on in the original reading is that "Captain Anthony" was something of a slave owning sharecropper to Col. Lloyd. To help make ends meet, Captain Anthony would occasionally sell one of his slaves.
Anthony either sold his land ownings, lost them, or never had any and his slaves were acquired as an inheritance.
Whatever the case, Capt. Anthony couldn't make it on his own, he had to work for Col. Lloyd.
Douglas doesn't tell us much but in modern parlance, Captain Anthony seemed to have a bit of autism going on.
Yes, it sounded like Captain Anthony had some mental issues. Might have been autism, or some form of dementia, maybe that kind you get from a life of heavy drinking.
I suppose I’m reacting to “fake but accurate” modern journalism when I wonder how much of Douglass’s narrative is factually true. On the other hand, 19th century journalism wasn’t overly concerned with absolute factual truthiness, when there was a story to sell or an agenda to promote ...