He was represented to be a very pious soul, being a deacon of a Baptist church.

As the regulations, as well as public opinion generally, were against slaves meeting for religious worship, I thought it would give me a better opportunity to attend to my religious duties should I fall into the hands of this deacon.
So I called on him and tried to show to the best advantage, for the purpose of inducing him to buy me and my family.

When I approached him, I felt much pleased at his external appearance--I addressed him in the following words as well as I can remember: "Sir, I understand you are desirous of purchasing slaves ?" With a very pleasant smile, he replied, "Yes, I do want to buy some, are you for sale ?" "Yes sir, with my wife and one child." Garrison had given me a note to show wherever I went, that I was for sale, speaking of my wife and child, giving us a very good character of course--and I handed him the note.
After reading it over he remarked, "I have a few questions to ask you, and if you will tell me the truth like a good boy, perhaps I may buy you with your family.

In the first place, my boy, you are a little too near white.

I want you to tell me now whether you can read or write ?" My reply was in the negative.
"Now I want you to tell me whether you have run away?
Don't tell me no stories now, like a good fellow, and perhaps I may buy you." But as I was not under oath to tell him the whole truth, I only gave him a part of it, by telling him that I had run away once.
He appeared to be pleased at that, but cautioned me to tell him the truth, and asked me how long I stayed away, when I run off?
I told him that I was gone a month.
He assented to this by a bow of his head, and making a long grunt saying, "That's right, tell me the truth like a good boy." The whole truth was that I had been off in the state of Ohio, and other free states, and even to Canada; besides this I was notorious for running away, from my boyhood.
I never told him that I had been a runaway longer than one month--neither did I tell him that I had not run away more than once in my life; for these questions he never asked me.
I afterwards found him to be one of the basest hypocrites that I ever saw.