The Transplant

THE TRANSPLANTThe Biography of a Former Slave Who Live to be a 137-years-oldDr. Sherman Clifton ByrdThe Transplant is the true story about the "other side of the coin" of slavery days in America. The Transplant derives its name from the actual experience of a twelve-year-old African boy who, in the year 1977, was once hundred and thirty-five years old.From his experience the facts reveal that he was uprooted from the shores of Liberia, West Africa, placed on Captain Legree's wooden slave ship, and transplanted to American shores in 1854. This African lad, who almost did not survive the sea voyage, was rejected for sale three times when placed on the New Orleans slave-auction block.He was finally purchased by a wealthy Texas rancher. The events that were to take place in the life of this transplanted lad, whose name was M'Icha Watkins, were indeed unique, revealing the "other side of the coin" of the American slave system. M'Icha is a walking, living history book. From his lips flow the many rare adventures he lived before the freeing of the slaves and during and after Reconstruction. His relationship with his owner was unique. It was of such an unusual nature that his name was changed to his owner's at the owner's request. He was reared as a son of his master, and though he never was a field hand, he was never unaware of the bad times slavery imposed upon his brothers and sisters. He was one of the first if not the first Black cowboy in the pioneer days. He describes his riding days with Jesse James, Billy the Kid, as a bounty hunter, United States detective, and in many, many other escapades that characterize the real Charlie Smith, the "Transplant."Never before in the history of America have the American people had the privilege of listening to an account of a person who is also a living testimony to the entire role of the slave system, from the time the African was captured until the days of freedom and Reconstruction days up to modern times. Only Charlie Smith, who is alive today, can tell the story. This is not a story based on something passed from generation to generation but a one-hundred-thirty-five-year-old story from a man who was there and was involved when it was happening.