MORRIS SHEPPARD  AGE-85.  SLAVE IN                       . OKLA. #34
     OLD MASTER TELL ME I WAS BORNED IN-NOVEMBE, `85:, AT ,HE OLD8HOME PLACE
ABOUT FIVE MILES EAST OF WEBBERS FALLS, MAYBE KIND OF NORTHEAST, NOT FAR FROM TH
E EAST BANK OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER.
     MASTERS NAME WAS JOE SHEPPARD, AND HE WAS A CHEROKEE INDIAN.  TALL AND SLIM
 AND HANDSOME.  HE HAD BLACK EYES AND MUSTACHE BUT HIS HAIR WAS IRON GR Y AND EV
ERYBODY LIKED HIM BECAUSE HE WAS SO GOOD NATURED AND KIND.
     I DO NOT REMEMBER OLD MISTRESS NAME.  MY MAMMY WAS A CROSSLAND NEGRO BEFORE
 SHE CAME TO BELONG TO MASTER JOE AND MARRY MY PAPPY, AND I THINK SHE COME WITH
OLD MISTRESS AND BELONGED TO HER.  OLD MISTRESS WAS SMALL AND MIGHTY PRETTY TOO,
 AND SHE WAS ONLY HALF CHEROKEE.  SHE INHERITED ABOUT HALF A DOZEN SLAVES, AND S
AID THEY WERE HER OWN AND OLD MASTER CAN NOT SELL ONE UNLESS SHE GIVE HIM LEAVE
TO DO IT.
     THEY ONLY HAD TWO FAMILIES OF SLAVES WITH ABOUT TWENTY IN ALL, AND THEY ONL
Y WORKED ABOUT FIFTY ACRES, SO WE SURE DID WORK EVERY FOOT OF IT GOOD.  WE GOT T
HREE OR FOUR CROPS OF DIFFERENT THINGS OUT OF THAT FARM EVERY YEAR, AND SOMETHIN
G GROWING ON THAT PLACE WINTER AND SUMMER.
     PjPPYS NAME WAS CAESAR SHEPPARD AND MAMMYS NAME WAS EASTER.  THEY WAS BOTH
RAISED AROUND WEBBERS FALLS SOMEWHERE.  I HAD TWO BROTHERS, SILAS AND GEORGE, TH
AT BELONGED TO MISTER GEORGE HOLT IN WEBBERS FALLS TOWN.  I GOT A PASS AND WENT
TO SEE THEM SOMETIMES, AND THEY WAS BOTH TREATED MIGHTY FINE.
     THE BIG HOUSE WAS A DOUBLE LOG WITH A BIG HALL AND A STONE CHIMNEY BUT NO P
ORCHES, WITH THWO ROOMS AT EACH END, ONE TOP SIDE OF THE OTHER.  I THOUGHT IT WA
S MIGHTY BIG AND FINE.
     US SLAVES LIVED IN LOG CABINS THAT ONLY HAD ONE ROOM AND NO WINDOWS SO WE
KEPT THE DOORS OPEN MOST OF THE TIME.  WE HAD HOME MADE WOODEN BEDS WITH ROPE
SPRINGS, AND THE LITTLE ONES SLEPT ON TRUNDLE BEDS THAT WAS HOME MADE TOO.
     AT NIGHT THEM TRUNDLES WAS JUST ALL OVER THE FLOOR, AND IN THE MORNING WE S
HOVED THEM BACK UNDER THE BIG BEDS TO GET THEM OUT OF THE WAY.  NO NAILS IN NONE
 OF THEM NOR IN THE CHAIRS AND TABLES.  NAILS COST BIG MONEY AND OLD MASTERS BLA
CKSMITH WOULD NOT MAKE NONE EXCEPTING A FEW FOR OLD MASTER NOW AND THEN, SO WE U
SED WOODEN DOWELS TO PUT THINGS TOGETHER.
     THERE WAS SO MANY OF US FOR THAT LITTLE FIELD WE NEVER DID HAVE TO WORK HAR
D.  UP AT FIVE OCLOCK AND BACK IN SOMETIMES ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE EVENING,
LONG BEFORE SUNDOWN, UNLESS THERE WAS A CROP TO GET IN BEFORE IT RAINED OR SOMET
HING LIKE THAT.
     WHEN A CROP WAS LAID BY THE SLAVES JUST WORKED ROUND AT THIS AND THAT AND K
EPT TOLERABLY BUSY.  I NEVER DID HAVE MUCH OF A JOB, JUST TENDING THE CALVES MOS
TLY.  WE HAD ABOUT TWENTY CALVES AND I WOULD TAKE THEM OUT AND GRAZE THEM WHILE
SOME GROWN UP NEGRO WAS GRAZING THE COWS SO AS TO KEEP THE COWS MILK.  I HAD ME
A GOOD BLAZE FACE HORSE FOR THAT.
     ONE TIME OLD MASTER AND ANOTHER MAN CAME AND TOOK SOME CALVES OFF AND PAPPY
 SAID OLD MASTER TAKING THEM OFF TO SELL.  I DID NOT KNOW WHAT "SELL" MEANT AND
I ASKED PAPPY, " IS HE GOING TO BRING THEM BACK WHEN HE GETS THROUGH SELLING THE
M?"  I NEVER DID SEE NO MONEY NEITHER, UNTIL TIME OF THE WAR OR A LITTLE BEFORE.
     MASTnR-JOE WAS SuRE A pOGD-PROVIDnR, AND WE ALWAYS HAD PLENTY CORN PONE,
SOW BELLY AND GREENS, SWEET POTATOES, COW PEAS AND CANE MOLASSES.  WE EVEN HAD B
ROWN SUGAR AND CANE MOLASSES MOST OF THE TIME BEFORE THE WAR.  SOMETIMES COFFEE,
     THE CLOTHES WAS NOT NO WORRY NEITHER.  EVERYTHING WE HAD WAS MADE BY MY FOL
KS.  MY AUNT DONE THE CARDING AND SPINNING AND MY MAMMY DONE THE WEAVING AND CUT
TING AND SEWING, AND MY PAPPY COULD MAKE COWHIDE SHOES WITH WOODEN PEGS.  THEY
WAS FOR BAD WINTER ONLY.
     OLD MASTER BOUGHT THE COTTON IN FORT SMITH BECAUSE HE DID NOT RAISE NO COTT
ON, BUT HE HAD A FEW SHEEP AND WE HAD WOOL MIX FOR WINTER.
     EVERYTHING WAS STRIPEDY CAUSE MAMMY LIKE TO MAKE IT FANCY.  SHE DYED WITH C
OPPERAS AND WALNUT AND WILD INDIGO AND THINGS LIKE THAT AND MAKE PRETTY CLOTH.
I WORE A STRIPEDY SHIRT TILL I WAS ABOUT ELEVEN YEARS OLD, AND THEN ONE DAY
WHILE WE WAS DOWN IN THE CHOCTAW COUNTRY OLD MISTRESS SEE ME AND NEARLY FELL OFF
 OF HER HORSE]  SHE HOLLERED:"EASTER, YOU GO RIGHT NOW AND MAKE THAT BIG BUCK OF
 A BOY SOME BRITCHES]"
     WE NEVER PUT ON THE SHOES UNTILL ABOUT LATE NOVEMBER WHEN THE FROST BEGAN
TO HIT REGULAR AND SPLIT OUR FEET UP, AND THEN WHEN IT GOT GOOD AND COLD AND THE
 CROP ALL GATHERED IN ANYWAYS, THERE WAS NOTHING TO DO EXCEPTING HOG KILLING AND
 A LOT OF WOOD CHOPPING, AND YOU DO NOT GET COLD DOING THOSE TWO THINGS.
     THE HOG KILLING MEANT WE GOT LOTS OF SPARE RIBS AND CHITLINGS, AND SOMEBODY
 jLWAYS pOT SICK EATING TOO MUCH OF THA FRESH PORK.  I ALWAYS PICKED A WHOLE PA
SSEL OF MUSKATINES FOR OLD MASTER AND HE MADE UP SOUR WINE, AND THAT HELPED OUT
WHEN WE GOT THE BOWEL COMPLAINT FROM EATING THAT FRESH PORK.
     IF SOMEBODY BAD SICK HE GOT THE DOCTOR RIGHT QUICK, AND HE DID NOT LET NO N
EGROES MESS AROUND WITH NO POULTICES AND TEAS AND SUCH THINGS LIKE CUPPING HORNS
 NEITHER]
     US CHEROKEE SLAVES SEEN LOTS OF GREEN CORN SHOOTINGS AND THE LIKE OF THAT,
BUT WE NEVER HAD NO GAMES OF OUR OWN.  WE WAS TOO TIRED WHEN WE COME IN TO PLAY
ANY GAMES.  WE HAD TO HAVE A PASS TO GO ANY PLACE TO HAVE SINGING OR PRAYING, AN
D THEN THEY WAS ALWAYS A BUNCH OF PATROLLERS AROUND TO WATCH EVERYTHING WE DONE.
  ,H(Y WOULD COME UP IN A BUNCH OF ABOUT NINE MEN ON HORSE\, AND  OOK AT ALL6OUR
 PASSES, AND IF A NEGRO DID NOT HAVE NO PASS THEY WORE HIM OUT GOOD AND MADE
HIM GO HOME.  THEY DID NOT LET US HAVE MUCH ENJOYMENT.
     RIGHT AFTER THE WAR THE CHEROKEES THAT HAD BEEN WITH THE SOUTH KIND OF PEST
ERED THE FREEDMEN SOME, BUT I WAS SO SMALL THEY NEVER BOTHERED ME; JUST THE GROW
N ONES.  OLD MASTER AND MISTRESS KEPT ON ASKING ME DID NIGHT RIDERS PERSECUTE ME
 ANY BUT THEY NEVER DID.  THEY TOLD ME SOME OF THEM WAS BAD ON NEGROES BUT I
NEVER DID SEE NONE OF THEM NIGHT RIDERS LIKE SOME SAID THEY DID.
     OLD MASTER HAD SOME KIND OF BUSINESS IN FORT SMITH, I THINK, CAUSE HE USED
TO RIDE IN TO THAT TOWN ABOUT EVERY DAY ON HIS HORSE.  HE WOULD START AT THE CRA
CK OF DAYLIGHT AND NOT GET HOME TILL WAY AFTER DARK.  WHEN HE GOT HOME HE CALLED
 MY UNCLE IN AND ASKED ABOUT WHAT WE DONE ALL DAY AND TELL HIM WHAT WE BETTER
DO THE NEXT DAY.  MY UNCLE JOE WAS THE SLAVE BOSS AND HE TOLD US WHAT THE MASTER
 SAY DO.
     WHEN THAT CIVIL WAR CAME ALONG I WAS A PRETTY BIG BOY AND I REMEMBER IT GOO
D AS ANYBODY.  UNCLE JOE TOLD US ALL TO LAY LOW AND WORK HARD AND NOBODY BOTHER
US, AND HE WOULD LOOK AFTER US.  HE SURE STOOD GOOD WITH THE CHEROKEE NEIGHBORS
WE HAD, AND THEY ALL LIKED HIM.  THERE WAS MISTER JIM COLLINS, AND MISTER BELL,
AND MISTER DAVE FRANKLIN, AND MISTER JIM SUTTON AND MISTER BLACKBURN THAT LIVED
AROUND CLOSE TO US AND THEY ALL HAD SLAVES.  THEY WAS ALL WITH THE SOUTH, BUT TH
ERE WERE A LOT OF THEM PIN INDIANS ALL UP ON THE ILLINOIS RIVER AND THEY WAS WIT
H THE NORTH AND THEY TOOK IT OUT ON THE SLAVE OWNERS A LOT BEFORE THE WAR AND DU
RING IT TOO.
     THEY WOULD COME IN THE NIGHT AND HAMSTRING THE HORSES AND MAYBE SET FIRE TO
 THE BARN, AND TWO OF THEM NAMED JOAB SCARREL AND TOM STARR KILLED MY PAPPY ONE
NIGHT JUST BEFORE THE WAR BROKE OUT.
     I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DID IT FOR, ONLY TO BE MEAN, AND I GUESS THEY WAS
DRUNK.
     THEM PINS WAS AFTER MASTER ALL THE TIME FOR A WHILE AT THE FIRST OF THE WAR
, AND HE WAS AFRAID TO RIDE INTO FORT SMITH MUCH.  THEY CAME TO THE HOUSE ONE TI
ME WHEN HE WAS GONE TO FORT SMITH AND US CHILDREN TOLD THEM HE WAS AT HONEY SPRI
NGS, BUT THEY KNEW BETTER AND WHEN HE GOT HOME HE SAID SOMEBODY SHOT AT HIM AND
BUSHWACKED HIM ALL THE WAY FROM WILSONS ROCK TO THEM WILDHORSE MOUNTAINS, BUT HE
 RUN HIS HORSE LIKE THE DEVIL WAS SITTING ON HIS TAIL AND THEY NEVER DID HIT HIM
.  HE NEVER SAW THEM NEITHER.  WE TOLD HIM ABOUT THE PINS COMING FOR HIM AND HE
JUST LAUGHED.
     WHEN THE WAR CAME OLD MASTER SAW HE WAS GOING INTO TROUBLE AND HE SOLD OFF
MOST OF THE SLAVES.  IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR HE SOLD MY MAMMY AND MY AUNT
THAT WAS UNCLE JOES WIFE AND MY TWO BROTHERS AND MY LITTLE SISTER.  MAMMY WENT T
O A MEAN OLD MAN NAMED PEPER GOODMAN AND HE TOOK HER OFF DOWN THE RIVER, AND PRE
TTY SOON MISTRESS TELL ME SHE DIED CAUSE SHE CANT STAND THE ROUGH TREATMENT.
     WHEN MAMMY WENT MISTRESS TOOK ME TO THE BIG HOUSE TO HELP HER, AND SHE WAS
KIND TO ME LIKE I WAS PART OF HER OWN FAMILY.  I NEVER FORGET WHEN THEY SOLD OFF
 SOME MORE NEGROES AT THE SAME TIME, TOO, AND PUT THEM ALL IN A PEN FOR THE
TRADER TO COME AND LOOK AT.
     AFTER THE WAR WAS OVER, OLD MASTER TELL ME I AM FREE BUT HE WILL LOOK OUT A
FTER ME CAUSE I AM JUST A LITTLE NEGRO AND I AINT GOT NO SENSE.  I KNOW HE IS RI
GHT, TOO.
     WELL, I GO AHEAD AND MAKE ME A CROP OF CORN ALL BY MYSELF AND THEN I DO
NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT.  I WAS AFRAID I WOULD GET CHEATED OUT OF IT CAUSE I
CAN NOT FIGURE AND READ, SO I TELL OLD MASTER ABOUT IT AND HE BOUGHT IT OFF OF
ME.
     WE-NEVnR HAD-NO SCqOOL rN sLAVnRY jND       IT WAS AGAI ST ,HE L W6FOR
ANYBODY TO EVEN SHOW A NEGRO THE LETTERS AND FIGURES, SO NO CHEROKEE SLAVE COULD
 READ.
     WE ALL COME BACK TO THE OLD PLACE AND FIND THE NEGRO CABINS AND BARNS BURNE
D DOWN AND THE FENCES ALL GONE AND THE FIELD IN CRAB GRASS AND COCKLEBURRS.  BUT
 THE BIG HOUSE AINT HURT EXCEPTING IT NEED A NEW ROOF.  THE FURNITURE IS ALL GON
E, AND SOME SAID THE SOLDIERS BURNED IT UP FOR FIREWOOD.  SOME OFFICERS STAYED I
N THE HOUSE FOR A WHILE AND TORE EVERYTHING UP OR TOOK IT OFF.
     MASTER GAVE ME OVER TO THE NATIONAL FREEDMANS BUREAU AND I WAS BOUND OUT TO
 A CHEROKEE WOMAN NAMED LIZZIE MCGEE.  THEN ONE DAY ONE OF MY UNCLES NAMED WASH
 SHEPPARD CAME AND TRIED TO GET ME TO GO LIVE WITH HIM.  HE SAID HE WANTED TO GE
T THE FAMILY ALL TOGETHER AGAIN.
     HE HAD RUN OFF AFTER HE WAS SOLD AND JOINED THE NORTHERN ARMY AND DISCHARGE
D AT FORT SCOTT IN KANSAS, AND HE SAID LOTS OF FREEDMEN WAS LIVING CLOSE TO EACH
 OTHER UP BY COFFEYVILLE IN THE COOEESCOOEE DISTRICT.
     I WOULD NOT GO, SO HE SENT ISAAC AND JOE VANN THAT HAD BEEN TWO OF OLD CAPT
AIN JOES NEGROES TO TALK TO ME.  ISAAC HAD BEEN YOUNG JOES DRIVER, AND HE TOLD M
E ALL ABOUT HOW RICH MASTER JOE WAS AND HOW HE WOULD LOOK AFTER US NEGROES.
THEY KEPT AFTER ME ABOUT A YEAR, BUT I DID NOT GO ANYWAYS.
     BUT-LATnR-ON&I&pOT&A&oREEmmjNS jLLOtMnNT UP IN THAT-PjRT lLOSE TO COFFEYVIL
LE, AND I LIVED IN COFFEYVILLE A WHILE BUT I DID NOT LIKE IT IN KANSAS.
     I LOST MY LAND TRYING TO LIVE HONEST AND PAY MY DEBTS.  I RAISED ELEVEN CHI
LDREN JUST ON THE SWEAT OF MY HANDS AND NONE OF THEM EVER TASTED ANYTHING THAT
WAS STOLEN.  WHEN I LEFT MISTRESS MCGEES I WORKED ABOUT THREE YEARS FOR MISTER S
TERLING SCOTT AND MISTER RODDY REESE.  MISTER REESE HAD A BIG FLOCK OF PEAFOWLS
THAT HAD BELONGED TO MISTER SCOTT AND I HAD TO TAKE CARE OF THEM.
     WHITE FOLKS, I WOULD HAVE TO TROMP SEVEN MILES TO MISTER SCOTTS HOUSE TWO O
R THREE TIMES A WEEK TO BRING BACK SOME OLD PEAFOWL THAT HAD GOT OUT AND GONE BA
CK TO THE OLD PLACE.
     POOR-OLD-MASTER AND MISTRESS ONLY LIVED A FEW YEARS AFTER THE WAR.  MASTER
WENT PLUMB BLIND AFTER HE MOVED BACK TO WEBBERS FALLS AND SO HE MOVED UP ON THE
ILLINOIS RIVER ABOUT THREE MILES FROM THE ARKANSAS, AND THERE OLD MISTRESS TAKE
THE WHITE SWELLING AND DIE AND THEN HE DIED PRETTY SOON.  I WENT TO SEE THEM LOT
S OF TIMES AND THEY WAS ALWAYS GLAD TO SEE ME.
     I wOuLD STAY AROUNF ABOUT A WEEK AND HELP THEM, AND THEY WOULD TRY TO GET M
E TO TAKE SOMETHING BUT I NEVER WOULD.  THEY DID NOT HAVE MUCH AND COULD NOT MAK
E ANYMORE AND THEM WAS SO OLD.  OLD MISTRESS HAD INHERITED SOME PROPERTY FROM HE
R PAPPY AND THEY HAD THE SLAVE MONEY AND WHEN THEY TURNED EVERYTHING INTO GOOD M
ONEY AFTER THE WAR THAT STUFF ONLY COME TO ABOUT SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS IN GOOD
MONEY, SHE TOLD ME.  THAT JUST ABOUT LASTED THEM THROUGH UNTIL THEY DIED, I RECK
ON.
     BY AND BY I MARRIED NANCY HILDEBRAND WHAT LIVED ON GREENLEAF CREEK, ABOUT F
OUR MILES NORTHWEST OF GORE.  SHE HAD BELONGED TO JOE HILDEBRAND AND HE WAS KIN
TO OLD STEVE HILDEBRAND THAT OWNED THE MILL ON FLINT CREEK UP IN THE GOING SNAKE
 DIStRICT.  SHE WAS RAISED UP AT THEA-MrLL, BUT SHE WAS BORN O IN TENN SSEE2B oO
RE THEY CAME OUT TO THE NATION.  HER MASTER WAS WHITE BUT HE HAD MARRIED INTO TH
E NATION AND SO SHE GOT A FREEDMANS ALLOTMENT TOO.  SHE HAD SOME LAND CLOSE TO C
ATOOSA AND SOME DOWN ON GGREENLEAF CREEK.
     WE WAS MARRIED AT MY HOME IN COFFEYVILLE, AND SHE BORE ME ELEVEN CHILDREN A
ND THEN WENT ON TO HER REWARD.  A LONG TIME AGO I CAME TO LIVE WITH MY
DAUGHTER EMMA HERE AT THIS PLACE, BUT MY WIFE JUST DIED LAST YEAR.  SHE WAS EIGH
TY THREE.
     I RECKON I WAS NOT CUT OUT ON THE CHURCH PATTERN, BUT I RAISED MY CHILDREN

NOT BE CAUGHT WITH A BOOK IN YOUR HAND EVEN, SO I NEVER DID GO TO CHURCH HARDLY
ANY.
     WIFE BELONGED TO THE CHURCH AND ALL THE CHILDREN, TOO, AND I THINK ALL SHOU
     HE NEVER CAME TILL THE NEXT DAY, SO THEY HAD TO SLEEP IN THAT PEN IN A
PILE LIKE HOGS.
     IT WAS NOT MY MASTER DONE THAT.  HE DONE ALREADY SOLD THEM TO A MAN
AND IT WAS THAT MAN WAS WAITING FOR THE TRADER.  IT MADE MY MASTER MAD, BUT THEY
 DID NOT BELONG TO HIM NO MORE AND HE COULD NOT SAY NOTHING.
     THE MAN PUT THEM ON A BLOCK AND SOLD THEM TO A MAN THAT HAD COME IN ON A ST
EAMBOAT, AND HE TOOK THEM OFF ON IT WHEN THE FRESHET COME DOWN AND THE BOAT COUL
D GO BACK TO FORT SMITH.  IT WAS TIED UP AT THE DOCK AT WEBBERS FALLS ABOUT A WE
EK AND WE WENT AND TALKED TO MY AUNT AND BROTHERS AND SISTER.  THE BROTHERS WAS
SAM AND ELI.  OLD MISTRESS CRIED JUST LIKE ANY OF THE REST OF US WHEN THE BOAT P
ULL OUT WITH THEM ON IT.
     PRETTY SOON ALL THE YOUNG CHEROKEE MENFOLKS ALL GONE OFF TO THE WAR, AND TH
E PINS WAS RIDING AROUND ALL THE TIME, AND IT AINT SAFE TO BE IN THAT PART
AROUND WEBBERS FALLS, SO OLD MASTER TAKE US ALL TO FORT SMITH WHERE THERE WERE
A LOT OF CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS.
     WE CAMPED AT THAT PLACE A WHILE AND OLD MISTRESS STAYED IN THE TOWN WITH
SOME KIN FOLKS.  THEN OLD MASTER GOT THREE WAGONS AND OX TEAMS AND TOOK US ALL W
AY DOWN ON RED RIVER IN THE CHOCTAW NATION.
     WE WENT BY WEBBERS FALLS AND FILLED THE WAGONS.  WE LEFT THE FURNITURE AND
ONLY TOOK GRUB AND TOOLS AND BEDDING AND CLOTHES, CAUSE THEY WAS NOT VERY BIG WA
GONS AND WAS ONLY SINGLE YOKE.
     WE WENT ON A PLACE IN THE RED RIVER BOTTOMS CLOSE TO SHAWNEETOWN AND NOT FA
R FROM THE PLACE WHERE ALL THE WAGONS CROSSED OVER TO GO INTO TEXAS.  WE WAS AT
THAT PLACE TWO YEARS AND MADE TWO LITTLE CROPS.
    ONE NIGHT A RUNAWAY NEGRO CAME ACROSS FROM TEXAS AND HE HAD THE BLOOD HOUND
S AFTER HIM.  HIS BRITCHES WAS ALL MUDDY AND TORN WHERE THE HOUNDS HAD CUT HIM U
P IN THE LEGS WHEN HE CLIMBED A TREE IN THE BOTTOMS.  HE CAME TO OUR HOUSE AND M
ISTRESS SAID FOR US NEGROES TO GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO EAT AND WE DID.
     THEN UP COME THE MAN FROM TEXAS WITH THE HOUNDS AND WITH HrM WAS yOuNG MIST
ER JOE VANN AND MY UNCLE THAT BELONGED TO YOUNG JOE.  THEY CALLED YOUNG MISTER
JOE "LITTLE JOE VANN" EVEN AFTER HE WAS GROWN ON ACCOUNT OF WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE
 BOY BEFORE HIS PAPPY WAS KILLED.  HIS-PAPPY WAS OLD CAPTAIN "RICH JOE" VANN, AN
D HE BEEN DEAD EVER SINCE LONG BEFORE THE WAR.  MY UNCLE BELONGED TO OLD CAPTAIN
-JOE-NEjRLY&jLL&HSLIFE.
     MISTRESS TRY TO GET THE MAN TO TELL HER WHO THE NEGRO BELONGED TO SO SHE CA
N BUY HIM, BUT THE MAN SAID HE COULD NOT SELL HIM AND HE TOOK HIM ON BACK TO TEX
AS WITH A CHAIN AROUND HIS TWO ANKLES.  THAT WAS ONE POOR NEGRO THAT NEVER GOT A
WAY TO THE NORTH, AND I WAS SORRY FOR HIM CAUSE I KNOW HE MUST HAVE HAD A MEAN M
ASTER, BUT NONE OF US SHEPPARD NEGROES, I MEAN THE GROWN ONES, TRIED TO GET
AWAY.
     I NEVnR SAW ANY FIGHTING IN THE WAR, BUT I SAW SOLDIERS IN THE SOUTH ARMY
DOING A LOT OF BLACK SMITHING ALONG THE ROAD ONE DAY.  THEY WERE FIXING WAGONS A
ND SHOEING HORSES.
LD LOOK AFTER SAVING THEIR SOULS SO AS TO DRIVE THE NAIL IN, AND THEN GO ABOUT T
HE EARTH SPREADING KINDNESS AND HOEING THE ROW CLEAN SO AS TO CLINCH THAT NAIL A
ND MAKE THEM SAFE FOR GLORY.
     OF COURSE I HEAR ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HE WAS A GREAT MAN, BUT I WAS TO
LD MOSTLY BY MY CHILDREN WHEN THEY CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL ABOUT HIM. I ALWAYS
THINK OF MY OLD MASTER AS THE ONE THAT FREED ME, AND ANYWAYS ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND
 NONE-OF HIS NORTH PEOPLE DID NOT LOOK AFTER ME AND BUY MY CROP RIGHT AFTER I WA
S FREE LIKE OLD MASTER DID.  THAT WAS THE TIME THAT WAS THE HARDEST AND EVERYTHI
NG WAS DARK AND CONFUSION.
  X   XXX