X   XXX




JOSEPH LEONIDES STAR AGE 81 BORN FREE KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE  TENN.#148
          "MY GRANDFATHER AND PAUL LAWRENCE DUNBAR'S GRANDFATHER WAS COUSINS. HE
WERE A MUCH YOUNGER MAN THAN I AM, FOR I WAS EIGHTY-ONE YEARS OLD THE TWENTY-SI
XTH OF DECEMBER, 1937. SO I RECKON I GIVE IT DOWN TO MY KIN-MAN. BUT IT SEEM TO
ME, THAT POETS IS JUST BORN THATAWAY. PO'TRY IS NOTHIN' BUT TRUTH ANYWAY, AND IT
'S TRUTH WAS SETS US FREE. AND THAT MAKES ME A FREE-BORN CITIZEN BOTHWAYS AND EV
ERYWAYS. I WERE BORN FREE. I WERE ALWAYS HAPPY-NATURED AND I EXPECT TO DIE THATA
WAY. ONE OF MY POENS IS NAMED, 'BE SATISFIED]' AND I SAY IN IT THAT A MAN'S GOT
SOMETHIN' TO EAT, AND TEETH TO BITE, HE SHOULD BE SATISFIED. YOU CAN'T TAKE YOUR
 GOODS WITH YOU. OLD-MAN ROCKEFELLER, WHnN HE DIED&HnrE& fH lEBACK, WENT AWAY F
ROM HERE 'THOUT HIS HAT AND SHOES. THAT'S THE WAY ITS GOIN' TO BE WITH ALL US, N
O MATTER WHAT OUR COLOR IS."
          "THE PEOPLE 'ROUND HERE CALLS ME "LEE" STAR, jND I6WjNT  O TnLL  OU,-L
EE STAR IS A FREE-BORN MAN. BUT OF COURSE, THINGS BEIN' AS THEY WERE, BOTH MY MO
THER AND FATHER WERE SLAVES. THAT IS FOR A FEW YEARS. THEY LIVED IN GREENVILLE,
 TENNESSEE. MY MOTHER, MARIA GUESS, WAS FREE'D BEFORE THE EMANCIPATION, BY THE G
OOD WORDS OF HER YOUNG WHITE MISTRESS, WHO TOLD ME ALL WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT TO DIE
, SHE WANTED 'EM TO SET MARIA FREE, 'CAUSE SHE DIDN'T WANT HER LITTLE PLAYMATE T
O BE NOBODY ELSE'S SLAVE. THEY WAS PLAYMATES YOU SEE. MY MOTHER WAS ELEVEN YEARS
 OLD WHEN SHE WAS FREED.
           WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT FOURTEEN AND MY FATHnR HnNRY DuNBjR WjNTED tO-MjRR
Y HE HAD TO FIRST BUY HIS FREEDOM. IN THEM TIMES A SLAVE COULDNT MARRY A FREE'D
PERSON. SO HE BOUGHT HIS FREEDOM FROM HIS MARSTER LLOYD BULLEN, AND A GOOD FRIEN
D OF ANDREW JOHNSON, THE PRESIDENT. MY FATHER AN' HIM WAS FRIENDS TOO. SO HE BOU
GHT HIS FREEDOM, FOR JUST A LITTLE OF SOMETHIN' I DISREMEMBER WHAT. 'CAUSE THEY
DIDN'T AIM TO MAKE HIM BUY HIS FREEDOM HIGH. HE MADE GOOD MONEY THOUGH. HE WAS A
 CARPENTER, BLACKSMITH, SqOE-MjKnR jND-KNOWED A-LOT-MORE tRAD b.HHSMASTER WAS
BROADHEARTED, AND GOOD TO HIS SLAVES, AND HE LET 'EM WORK AT ANYTHING THEY WANT
TO, WHEN THEY WAS DONE THEIR PART OF WHITE FOLKS CHOREWORK."
          "BOTH MY FATHER AND MOTHER WAS LEARNED IN THE SHOE MjKrN' tRADE. fHnN
THE COME TO KNOXVILLE TO LIVE, AND WHERE I WAS BORN, THEY HAD A GREAT BIG SHOE S
HOP OUT THERE CLOSE TO WHERE GOVERNOR BROWNLOW LIVED. KNOXVILLE JUST HAD THREE S
TREES, TWO RUNNIN' EAST AND WEST AND ONE RUN NORTH AND SOUTH. I WELL REMEMBER WH
EN GENERAL BURNSIDE COME TO KNOXVILLE. THAT WAS ENDURIN' THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE.
 BEFORE HE MARCHED HIS MEN OUT TO THE BATTLE OF FORT SAUNDERS, HE StOPPED HS2sO
LDIER BAND IN FRONT OF OUR SHOE SHOP AND SERENADED MY MOTHER AND FATHER. I WAS A
 LITTLE BOY AND I CLIMBED UP ON THE PORCH BANNISTnRS jND2bAT cHnrE&jnDLISSEN' T
O THAT MUSIC."
          "I REMEMBER ANOTHER BIG MAN COME HnRE-ONCE WHnN I f S&AB OY&jnDI SERV
ED THE TRANSIENT TRADE AT A LITTLE EATIN' PLACE RIGHT WHERE THE ATKIN HOTEL IS N
OW. JEFF DAVIS COME THERE TO EAT, WHEN HE STOPPED OVER BETWEEN TRAINS. THAT WAS
IN 1869. NO, I DISREMEMBER WHAT HE EAT OR HOW HE BEHAVE. HE DIDN'T SEEM NO DIFFE
RENT FROM ANY OTHER MAN. HE WAS NICE  LOOKIN' WORE A LONG TAIL COAT AND HIS BOOT
S WAS PLENTY BLACKED. HE FAVORED PICTURES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WAS ABOUT MIDDLE-H
EIGHT AND HAD SHORT, DARK CHIN-WHISKERS. I WERE VERY BUSY AT THE TIME, AN'
          "YES, I'VE SEEN MANY A SLAVE IN MY DAY. ONE OF MY BOY PLAYMATES WAS A
SLAVE CHILD. HIS NAME IS SAM ROGAN AND HE LIVES NOW AT THE COUNTY POOR FARM. I M
AKE IT A POINT NOT TO DWELL TOO MUCH ON SLAVE TIMES. I WAS LEARNED DIFFERENT. I'
VE HAD CONSIDERABLE SCHOOLIN', WENT TO MY FIRST SCHOOL IN THE OLD FIRST PRESBYTE
RIAN CHURCH. MY TEACHERS WAS WHITE FOLKS FROM THE NORTH. THEY GIVE US OUR EDUCAT
ION AND GIVE US CLOTHES AND THINGS SENT DOWN HERE FROM THE NORTH. THAT WAS JUST
AFTER THE SURRENDER. I DID SEE A TERRIBLE SIGHT ONCE. A SLAVE WITH CHAINS ON HIM
 AS LONG AS FROM HnRE tO THE StREET. HE W S&rN&jNOLE' BUGGY, AND FATHER WOULDNT
 LISSEN' TO ME TELL 'EM ABOUT IT WHEN I GOT HOME. AND I HOPE I FORGET EVERYTING
I EVER KNOWED OR HEARD ABOUT SLAVES. AND SLAVE TIMES."