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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 April 2017
Much like Quamino, Dick Melick survived the hardships of eighteenth-century rural Northern slavery by navigating cautiously around whites, while at the same time embracing the perilous responsibilities of father, husband, and protector under bondage. In a manner similar to, yet different, from Quamino, Dick shows that not all bondmen embraced Yombo's strategy of overt resistance. Still, in his own way, as the consummate family man, Dick was a strong and resilient bondman. This was no small feat when considering that he was as “dark” as Yombo (whose skin color was “coal black”), and probably had a larger physique than either Yombo or Quamino. Whites would have thus been as aware of Dick's physical presence (and the potential threat that it represented) as they were of the “black” bodies of his two compatriots. But, despite this and numerous other hardships, Dick coveted his role as a dedicated family man.
Andrew Mellick provides a rather imaginative account of Dick and his family's arrival at Aaron Malick's Bedminster Township farmstead “in the spring of 1798”:
In fancy we see these colored people as they reach their new home, and stand a little abashed and nervous while receiving welcome from their new mistresses. Dick is of a good dark color, heavy-set and dignified in appearance, courteous and quiet in demeanor, while Nance does the talking and laughing for the family through thick lips which partially cover a full set of white teeth. She is lighter in color than her husband, and very short—not to say fat. You know where her waist is because you see her apron strings, but with that feminine badge removed, to locate her zone would be like establishing the equator—a matter of calculation rather than visual certainty. Her breadth affords a good cover for her three frightened children, who peer shyly from behind her ample skirts at the new “white folks,” at the same time taking curious note of Daniel's flock who form a background to their mother and grandmother…. A few pleasant words, emphasized with cookies, soon calm their agitation, and it is not long before parents and youngsters are at their ease and taking kindly to their new surroundings.
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