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diff --git a/17871.txt b/17871.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..277a303 --- /dev/null +++ b/17871.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2290 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Slave Girl's Story, by Kate Drumgoold + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Slave Girl's Story + Being an Autobiography of Kate Drumgoold. + +Author: Kate Drumgoold + +Release Date: February 27, 2006 [EBook #17871] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SLAVE GIRL'S STORY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Susan Skinner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + A Slave Girl's Story + + +_Being an Autobiography of_ + KATE DRUMGOOLD. + + + BROOKLYN--NEW YORK. + + 1898 + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Once a slave girl, I have endeavored to fill the pages with some of the +most interesting thoughts that my mind is so full of, and not with +something that is dry. + +This sketch is written for the good of those that have written and +prayed that the slaves might be a freed people, and have schools and +books and learn to read and write for themselves; and the Lord, in His +love for us and to us as a race, has ever found favor in His sight, for +when we were in the land of bondage He heard the prayers of the faithful +ones, and came to deliver them out of the Land of Egypt. + +For God loves those that are oppressed, and will save them when they cry +unto him, and when they put their trust in Him. + +Some of the dear ones have gone to the better land, but this is one of +the answers to their prayers. + +We, as the Negro Race, are a free people, and God be praised for it. We +as the Negro Race, need to feel proud of the race, and I for one do with +all my heart and soul and mind, knowing as I do, for I have labored for +the good of the race, that their children might be the bright and +shining lights. And we can see the progress that we are making in an +educational way in a short time, and I think that we should feel very +grateful to God and those who are trying to help us forward. God bless +such with their health, and heart full of that same love, that this +world can not give nor taketh away. + +There are many doors that are shut to keep us back as a race, but some +are opened to us, and God be praised for those that are opened to the +race, and I hope that they will be true to their trust and be of the +greatest help to those that have given them a chance. + +There are many that have lost their lives in the far South in trying to +get an education, but there are many that have done well, and we feel +like giving God all the praise. + +I was born in Old Virginia, in or near the Valley, the other side of +Petersburg, of slave parents, and I can just call to mind the time when +the war began, for I was not troubled then about wars, as I was feeling +as free as any one could feel, for I was sought by all of the rich +whites of the neighborhood, as they all loved me, as noble whites will +love a child, like I was in those days, and they would send for me if I +should be at my play and have me to talk for them, and all of their +friends learned to love me and send me presents, and I would stand and +talk and preach for some time for them. + +My dear mother was sold at the beginning of the war, from all of her +little ones, after the death of the lady that she belonged to, and who +was so kind to my dear mother and all of the rest of the negroes of the +place; and she never liked the idea of holding us as slaves, and she +always said that we were all that she had on the earth to love; and she +did love me to the last. + +The money that my mother was sold for was to keep the rich man from +going to the field of battle, as he sent a poor white man in his stead, +and should the war end in his favor, the poor white man should have +given to him one negro, and that would fully pay for all of his service +in the army. But my God moves in a way unknown to men, and they can +never understand His ways, for He can plant His footsteps on the North, +the South, the East, the West, and outride any man's ideas; and how +wonderful are all of his ways. And if we, as a race, will only put our +trust in Him, we shall gain the glorious victory, and be a people whose +God is the God of all this broad earth, and may we humble ourselves +before Him and call Him, Blessed. + +I told you that my white mother did not like the idea of calling us her +slaves, and she always prayed God that I should never know what slavery +was, for she said I was never born to serve as did the slaves of some of +the people that owned them. + +And God, in His love for me and to me, never let me know of it, as did +some of my own dear sisters, for some of them were hired out after the +old home was broken up. + +My mother was sold at Richmond, Virginia, and a gentleman bought her who +lived in Georgia, and we did not know that she was sold until she was +gone; and the saddest thought was to me to know which way she had gone, +and I used to go outside and look up to see if there was anything that +would direct me, and I saw a clear place in the sky, and it seemed to me +the way she had gone, and I watched it three and a half years, not +knowing what that meant, and it was there the whole time that mother was +gone from her little ones. + +On one bright Sunday I asked my older sister to go with me for a nice +walk and she did so, for she was the one that was so kind to the rest of +us--and we saw some sweet flowers on the wayside and we began to have +delight in picking them, when all at once I was led to leave her alone +with the flowers and to go where I could look up at that nice, clear +spot, and as I wanted to get as near to it as I could, I got on the +fence, and as I looked that way I saw a form coming to me that looked +like my dear mother's, and calling to my sister Frances to come at once +and see if that did not look like my dear mother and she came to us, so +glad to see us, and to ask after her baby that she was sold from that +was only six weeks old when she was taken from it; and I would that the +whole world could have seen the joy of a mother and her two girls on +that heaven-made day--a mother returning back to her own once more, a +mother that we did not know that we should ever see her face on this +earth more. And mother, not feeling good over the past events, had made +up her mind that she would take her children to a part of this land +where she thought that they would never be in bondage any more on this +earth. + +So she sought out the head man that was placed there by the North to +look after the welfare of lately emancipated negroes of the South, to +see that they should have their rights as a freed people. + +This gentleman's name was Major Bailley, who was a gentleman of the +highest type, and it was this loving man that sent my dear mother and +her ten little girls on to this lovely city, and the same time he +informed the people of Brooklyn that we were on the way and what time we +should reach there; and it seemed as though the whole city were out to +meet us. And as God would have it, six of us had homes on that same day, +and the people had their carriages there to take us to our new homes. + +This God-sent blessing was of a great help to mother, as she could get +the money to pay her rent, which was ten dollars per month, and God +bless those of my sisters who could help mother to care for her little +ones, for they had not been called home then, and God be praised for all +that we have ever did for her love and comfort while she kept house. + +The subject was only a few years old, when she saw her heart so fixed +that she could not leave me at my mother's any longer, so she took me to +be her own dear, loving child, to eat, drink, sleep and to go wherever +she went, if it was for months, or even years; I had to be there as her +own and not as a servant, for she did not like that, but I was there as +her loving child for her to care for me, and everything that I wanted I +had; truly do I feel grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of those +blessings that came to me in the time that I needed so much of love and +care. + +This dear lady, Mrs. Bettie House, my white mother, died at the +beginning of the war and then the time came for poor me to go to my own +dear mother again for awhile, and soon the time came for us to be parted +asunder, where we did not see one another any more until after the war +of 1865. And we all thought that mother was dead, for we did not hear +any tidings of her after she had reached the far South. + +I shall never forget that lovely Sunday morning when I saw my dear +mother returning again to her own native home and her own dear ones once +more, but mother would not go to the house with us, as she did not want +to take the law in her own hands. So she told sister and I where she was +stopping and told us to come to her after we had told the gentleman +where we lived, and I went to him and told him that mother had come back +and wanted to have us to come where she was staying. He, Mr. House, did +not want us to go, and I took my oldest sister and marched out to go +where mother was and he did not like that freedom, and he tried to find +which way that we had gone to the place, but he did not find us, and we +had been to the place where the people were that had homes, and that +they would kill us at first sight, and that was all that I wanted to +see, and I did not find one thing true of their sayings. + +Mother now has to tell the gentleman where to find all of her own dear +ones whom God in His love for had kept for her, and she should have +been very grateful to Him that her life had been prolonged and all that +she had left alive were still alive, awaiting for her to return, and +finding that her children were all over in different places, and now she +has to tell where to find them, through the help of the Lord. And when +she had gone for them and was told that some of her own were dead, she +said that she would go and dig up their bones; but they were not dead, +as was said, and she sent the soldiers after them and sometimes they +were told the same as mother was, and some of the little ones had to be +sent for two or three times before they were brought. My oldest sister +knew where they all were, so she could help to get the rest. + +One of my sisters who lived at the same place where we were living was +detained and the soldiers had go three times before they could get her, +for they said that she had died since we had left, for I would not stay +at the place as he, Mr. House, did not want us to go on Monday to see my +mother, on whom I should look to, as she had come to claim her own. I +told my oldest sister that we would leave, and my sister Annie was at +one of Mr. House's sons, who found that we were going to see mother and +she came with us, so that left three there yet; that was sister Lavinia +and the baby, sister Rosa, and they let mother have the baby, as it was +a sickly child; and she had to send there three times before she could +get sister Lavinia, and the last time the soldiers, with horses, went, +and the House's took off all of her clothing and put them into water to +keep them from taking her, and they had to take blankets and wrap her in +them, and bring her to mother, and she took sick from that time from the +long ride, and getting cold she nearly died. + +One they hid in the garden; one they put in the cellar, and so these +were hard times for mother and us, who were in the road one night +walking to find some place to get out of the rain and let those wet +garments get dried, for it was so dark that we could not see a hand +before us. + +But after all the hard trials we reached this lovely city, where there +are those that love and fear God, and who love the souls of the negro as +well as those of the white, the red, the yellow or brown races of the +earth, for we have ever found some of the people who do not forget us +day or night in their prayers, that God will send a blessing to us as a +race. + +To my story of a life of slavery: + +My dear mother had a dear husband that she was sold from also, and he, +not knowing that he should ever see my mother any more, as the times +were then, he waited for a while and then he found him another wife, and +when mother came and found that he was married to another she tried to +get him, but she could do nothing about it; so having to leave him +behind to look after the last one and her family, although it seemed +hard for her to do so. + +My mother had a large family to take care of, but the Lord was good to +her and helped her, for she had laid some of them away, and then there +were ten little girls to care for. My brother was lost to us and to +mother also, as he was sent to the war to do service for his owner, and +we did not know if he was alive or not, and he was my mother's only boy, +as this is a girl family that you do not see or hear of every day, for +that made seventeen girls to have battle through life had they all have +lived to this time. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +My mother did not know where my brother was before she was sold, for we +heard that he had tried to get over to the Northern side and had been +taken to Richmond, Va., and put into Castle Thunder, and that was the +last that we heard of him during the war. When, to our surprise, we were +on our way North we learned that he was going to school; that the +Northern people had teachers there in the South to teach them to read +and to write; and he learning that we had gone North made himself ready +and came on, but he did not know where to find us, so getting a place to +work, and the same time telling those that he worked for that his people +were here somewhere, they found mother and got her to go to the place +where he was, and sure enough there was her dead and lost boy, and the +joy and love that came to that dear, loving mother and her only son on +that day will never be known on this side of the grave, as they have +both gone to the land of the blest, for my brother never used any bad +language in his life, and when he took the Lord for his own, it was his +meat and his drink to live for Him and to follow where He led, and he +died a true child of the King. + +A few years later and mother's name was enrolled in the Lambs' Book of +Life, for she gladly answered to the roll call and fell asleep in the +arms of Jesus. + +Well, my first place was in Adelphi street, with a family by the name of +Hammond, and I was there to help do the work, and when they found that I +liked to work so well they wanted me to do so much that I left that +place and got me another, for I did not get out to church or to +Sunday-school, and that was not the way that I had been trained, for +when I was three years old my white mother had taken me to church with +her on horseback. + +Well, I said that I saw these children going to school on every week day +but Saturdays and on Sundays to Sunday-school, and I there at work as if +it were not the Lord's day, and I never shall like to work on that day +as I was born on Sunday morning. + +Well, I left there not knowing what to do, and a white lady took me in +and told me to stay there until I could get another place, and I helped +her girl on the next day to finish all of the work and I made ready to +look for a place, and God did help me to find one and I shall never +forget Him as long as I live, for that was with a fine family and they +showed me love at once and I showed them love in return. + +They were members of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church, and a more +beloved family never lived. This was the Bailley family--Mr. and Mrs. +Bailley, Miss Abbey Bailley, Mr. Bailley's sister, a young lady in her +teens, Miss Ella Bailley, and a nice boy by the name of Johnny Bailley, +and they were a nice family and they took me to church on Sunday morning +and sent me to Sunday-school in the afternoon with their children, and +what a heaven it seemed to me from the place where I was living at +first. + +I shall always remember my dear white mother, of whom I spoke of in the +first part, and whom I shall call your attention to in many more pages +of this little Life Book, and shall always remember her with love and +the kindest feeling. She was a member of the true Methodist Church and +was never seen by her darling child from the House of God since I could +remember, for I was with her at all times on the family horse, Kimble, +and when I got large enough to ride alone she bought me a fine black +that had all the metal that a horse could have, and his name was Charlie +Engrum, and she paid a large price for him, and he was the grandest +horse I ever saw, and it was my delight to be near a horse or horses +when I was a child, for I did not have any fear of any kind of horse, +and I would take a ride the first thing in the morning, even before I +would have my breakfast, and my dear white mother would save it for me +as she knew that I would have that ride first; for it always made her +feel proud to see how well I had learned to ride, and she was the one +that had taught me how to ride, for she had me on the horse when I was +three years old and from that time until she went home to come out no +more forever. + +I was two and a half years, as near as I can remember, when my own slave +mother's house was burned to the ground, and I shall never forget that +Saturday night. My mother's husband had gone to a dance and mother was +there alone with her little ones, and we all came near getting burned +up. We were all asleep when I awoke and found the house in a blaze. I +did not know enough or I was so much scared that I did not call to my +mother, but I think that she heard me when I rolled out of the bed, and +she was out of the bed quick as could be and getting the feather beds +she threw them out of the door and got the children and threw them out, +and she, finding that she did not have them all, said, "My God! I have +not all of my little ones;" and she ran in the house to look and she +found me under the bed, for I saw so much fire that I was getting out of +it, and God be praised that I was saved from that fire, and I have not +had the time to run after any fires since, for that fire was all the +fire I want. + +I had not to stay there then, for the time is near at hand when I shall +go to my white mother's to live, for she is in Tennessee and will come +home soon to be with her darling child; and when she shall start again I +shall go, and now the times are all well for me as then, but the time +has come that the Lord has called her away from her child to be with +Him, and how could I live without her? And she was to leave her sick +child there for her own mother to care for, and God will raise up +friends in this lonely world to look after those that cry unto heaven, +believing that He is a hearer of the true prayer. I shall always +remember that Saturday afternoon when I was lying so sick when my +dearly beloved white mother took so sick, and they had the doctor there +for me, and he had to see after her the same time, and she was getting +so much worse all the time and the doctor had not any hopes of her, and +they took me from the room where she was, to a room upstairs and she had +them to take me down to look at her once more. That was on Sunday and on +Monday she heard the call to her to come up to that blessed land where +she should be forever with the Lord and her dear husband. + +What a glory it must be for those that have washed their robes and made +them white in the blood of the Lamb. + +I can call to mind when she the blessed one, that I call my white +mother, went to get me some shoes and a fine hat, and the one that sold +them told her, as she looked at a hat I wanted, that its price was +twenty dollars, but I was not thinking of the prices then as I do now, +and I cried to have that hat and did not want any of the others, and he +told my white mother that was too much for to spend on a hat for me, but +she told him nothing would cost too much for her to get for me, and she +got that fine hat for me and he had his money; so you can see how much +she loved me. And now that dear one is gone from me, and it seemed the +dearest one on this earth, and I did not think then that I could have +lived without her whom God had given to me for this world, but God, in +His wonderful love for me and to me, raised up friends for me and helped +me to find favor in the sight of all the people, for they seemed to love +me for her sake, and I did not get well for a long time. + +This subject came to this dear lady, Mrs. Bettie House, when but three +years old, and from the day she came to that house she walked in her +footsteps, for she, Mrs. House, could not move, but she was right in the +way; and when she used to set me down for my play at certain times in +the day, when she was going in her room for prayer, she would find me +near before she was through; and if ever there was a loving woman she +was one, and I own my love to God for such a one as she was to care for +me all of those nights of watching by my bed, while the angels watched +from above to see that I should rise from that bed and live to be a +woman that would live for God and bless His name in all the earth, +knowing that I am tempted and tried on every hand. But trusting in His +omnipotent power I shall reach the land of the blest where that dear one +has gone to come out no more forever. + +Well, to my story: + +Dear public, hoping that this little life will be read with the greatest +love for humanity, and I am sure that if you have any love for the God +of heaven you can not fail to find a love for this book, and I hope you +will find a fullness of joy in reading this life, for if your heart was +like a stone you would like to read this little life. + +I had many a hard spell of sickness since the death of this lady and the +doctors said that I could not live beyond a certain time, but every time +they said so Doctor Jesus said she shall live, for because I live she +shall live also; and He came to me and laid His strong arm around me and +raised me up by the power of His might, and to see the salvation of our +God in the land of the living. And to-day I can praise His name for His +wonderful love to the children of man. + +I told you that my brother was the oldest child of eighteen and he was +in his teens when he was sent to the war; and it was a great thing to +him when he found himself in the hands of a people that were so kind and +good to him and showing such love for him, after being knocked around by +those he had been staying with, and it seemed like a heaven to him; and +he did learn fast, and he felt so glad to learn to read and to write, +and he would sit at nights when he was through with his daily toil and +write, so that he could let some one look at it and see how well he was +getting along, and I saw how anxious he was to get an education. I asked +my lady to let him come there and wait on the table, and have time to go +every day to school, and she did so, and he would go to No. 1 School to +Mr. C. Dosey, and he did nicely in his studies, and God be praised that +he had that much to take home with him, and I shall always feel glad +that I gave him that much. + +I was thinking of my dear brother when the news reached me that he was +in this city, and I can never tell any one how glad that I was to see +the only boy that my mother ever had, for we all loved him dearly, as he +cared for all the rest of the children and it was no more than natural +that we should; and my mother thought so much of him that she often +would say if we were all boys she would not have to worry, for boys +could do so much better than girls. But I think that she found that the +girls were the best in her old age, for if one could not be near her the +other would, and if there is a time in the life of a parent it is when +they are helpless, and a boy is not any good to care for a sick parent +and they have to go without care. + +But God be praised for all of the love and honor that was bestowed on +mother before she went home, for God has told us to honor our fathers +and our mothers that their days may be long upon the land which the +Lord, thy God, giveth thee; and we can not do them enough honor for the +love and the all night watching that we have when we are babies, and if +we have all of the love and care that I had, I am sure that a mother +has her hands full; and when now I think of the care and the worry that +it was to take care of my sick body, I can not help telling some one of +it, that they may feel as grateful as I feel, for God did give them love +for me, and if there is one that should feel grateful it is this +feeble-bodied slave girl, for I was such a slave to sickness, and God +was so good to raise me, even me, and I will say, praise His name. + +I was telling you of my white mother being so true to the attendance in +the services of God, and I only wish that you would have known her as I +did, for she was more like one of the heavenly host than she was like +us, who are such sinful creatures. Now, it seems like sometimes that we +have not much love for the One who had so much love for us that He gave +all the dear One that He had to bring us to Himself, that we should +taste of those joys which He has for those who have washed their robes +and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. + +The Lord helped me to find love and favor with all after my white mother +was gone from this earth, when I felt that I would soon follow the +darling one to the blessed mansion; and I would look to see her come to +me, and I went as soon as I was well to the house and lay on the steps, +and it was not until we had left the dear old place before I could be +kept from there; and I wish that the whole world could have seen how +much she was like an angel, and I would to God she could see me to-day; +it would do you good. Lord, lead me on day by day, and help my feeble +life to be formed like her's, for when I think how she used to watch by +my bed at nights, while the angels watched by my bed from on high to see +that I should rise; and is not God the One that I should serve? And I +love to serve Him and honor Him, for He is my all in all; for she has +shown me how great her love was for me and all of humanity, and I love +to think of her love and to know how wonderful it would be to see her +sweet face on this green earth, and it does seem to me as if I could +almost see her by thinking of her so much. + +I have said that we came to this lovely city in the year of our Lord +1865, and in that year I went to live with a good family that were +members of the church, where the Lord spoke peace to my soul, under the +preaching of the Rev. David Moore, then the beloved leader of the +noblest band of God's children on this earth, and a more beloved people +never lived. They were always on the lookout for any strangers that +might come in the church; and they soon found me out as I was a stranger +in the Monday night meeting. The dear pastor came to me the first one, +for he did not stop to think whether I was an African or what nation I +had come from, but he saw in me a soul, and he wanted to find out if +there was any room for Jesus to live or what I should do with Jesus, or +what should I do for Him, who had done so much for me; and my poor heart +was ready and waiting for some one to come to its rescue. It was then +and there that I yielded my life and my all to the one that can save to +the uttermost all that come unto Him by the Lord Jesus Christ. + +I followed my Lord and Master in the Jordan in the year of our Lord +1866, and those sweet moments have never left me once. As the years go +by they seem to be the more sweet to my sinful soul, and I am trying to +wing my way to these bright mansions above, where I shall meet those +dear ones who have gone before. + +I have had some of the darkest days of my life while on this voyage of +life, but when it is dark Jesus says, "Peace, be still and fear not, for +I will pilot thee." + +And then my heart can sing: + + "Jesus, Saviour, pilot me + Over life's tempestuous sea, + Unknown waves before me roll, + Hiding rocks and treacherous shoals. + Chart and compass come from Thee, + Jesus, Saviour, pilot me." + +I know that He has led me through paths seen and unseen and has been my +pilot, for we have been called to pass through many a dark trial, but +God has been able for it all. + +My dear mother had four of her children called home to heaven within a +short time. Some of them left her for the land of love in the same +month, and there seemed like nothing but God's displeasure on us, but it +was God's love to us, for we know that they are safe from all harm and +danger in this world of sin and distress. Some of them I never saw more +after landing in this city, but I shall see them and know them when I +shall have fought the blessed battle on this side, and the victory shall +be on the Lord's side. Then I can sing with the angels above: + + "Crown Him, Crown Him, angels. + Crown Him, Crown Him, King of Kings. + Crown Him, Crown Him, angels. + Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown the Saviour King of Kings." + +What joy there will be to crown Him as our Heavenly King and to know +that we are the inhabitants of that kingdom. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +I was baptized by the Rev. David Moore, the pastor of the Washington +Avenue Church, who is one of the best beloved ones on this earth, for he +never overlooked me in the time that my soul needed the Lord Jesus +Christ to save me from my sins and make me a child of the King, which +makes me what I am to day. I bless God that he ever put it in my dear +mother's mind to come to this place, for she was not a Christian, and +the heaviest burden that I have carried was praying for one that was the +head of the great family where she should have been a leader of her dear +ones to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. But God +be praised for a little one to lead so many, for of all the people of +mothers there was not one that knew of this love of God, and how many +were the souls given for me to work for. I told my mother that I had +found Jesus and was going to follow Him. She said. "My child, you are +too young. I am afraid that you will not hold out." And I said, "Mother, +if I should look to myself I should fail, but I look to Jesus. I have +given my life and He can hold me in the power of His might and can keep +me from failing; so I can not go against your will, but I must follow +Him, for you know how He has saved me from sickness so many times, and +now the time has come for me to pay my vows unto Him for making me His +own." I went forward in the way that He marked out for me and then to +pray that she might be saved. + +My grandma was almost one hundred years old, and when she heard that the +Lord had saved me and that I was praying for her she saw her own sins +and asked me to come on to visit all of my people, and I, getting ready, +got my oldest sister to go with me. I found that the way was opened for +work, as there we began the work, and they were looking to see something +that they would never see in this world, and sweetly they were all +brought to the Saviour. Grandma went home to carry the good news and +some of the rest have gone with the same good news. + +Later years some of my sisters came and some did not come. Then some +got tired and went back to the world, but I have no joy like the joy +there is in the Lord. + +My dear mother found the peace in Jesus before she went to that land of +song. When the Lord sent the death angel to call her name she was ready +to answer, "Here am I ready to go in, to come out no more." + +My mother left us on the 28th day of February, 1894, in the triumph of +faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessed thought that I shall soon +be with her on the other side of the river to help her "Crown Him Lord +of all." + +To my story: + +The subject of this sketch, as I said, was born again under the +preaching of Rev. David Moore, of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church, +which is one of the noblest churches of this city, and it has some of +the best people in it of any church in the world, for there is more done +for those in need in other lands. When I became a member of that church +I could not read in any book, for I did not know a letter. There was a +gentleman in the church by the name of Mr. Lansberry, who finding that I +was one of those that was going to learn, went to a store and bought me +a First Reader and gave it to me, and I did not lose any of my time at +nights. I went to the meetings every night and came back and got a lady, +who was a sister of Mr. Bailey, to be my teacher, and sometimes she used +to be so very sleepy that she could not keep her eyes open and I would +shake her and say that my lesson was to be learned, and it was always +well learned. Then I went to the Sunday-school to let my Sunday-school +teacher hear it on Sundays, and he, Mr. Ward, always said that he was +sure that I would learn so fast I would soon catch up with his Bible +Class. It was not long before I could lay my Reader down and take my +lessons in the Bible, and I can bless God for all of this, for the love +and the kindness that I received of all that knew me was a token of His +great love for me, and I know that He was near me all the time to bring +me nearer to the Light. My mind was then fixed that I should some day go +to school and I could not rest night or day I was so anxious to go to +school; but my dear mother could not send me. She had poor health and no +one to help her to take care of the younger children, and I had to work +and do the best I could with my books, hoping that the time would come +that I should see myself sitting in some school studying, the same time +asking mother to let two of the other children go to school every day. +She did let them go for awhile, but some one came and wanted her to let +them go to work out again and she let them go out to work: + +Well, I said that I would go to school some day, and they had a fine +time laughing at my high ideas and I let them laugh all that they wanted +to, but I worked hard and long to get the means that I might be able to +go, as I said, to some pay school, where I could not be stopped at any +time. When I was almost ready to leave for some school the smallpox took +me, and I was laid aside for three or four years; that is, I was not +well, and thought that my plans were all broken. I still trusted in God, +for I knew that He would do all things for me as long as I put my trust +in Him. + +Well, as time rolled on I found myself improving slowly and I was then +living with a dear, good lady by the name of Miss L. A. Pousland, who is +one of the loveliest ladies that ever lived, for she loves me to-day as +a mother, though she is in eightieth odd year and is doing well for an +old lady. + +We were living in South Oxford street when I took sick of the smallpox +and she did not want me taken away from there, as she wanted to take +care of me herself, but I felt that it would be too much for her to +wait on me, so the doctor said that it was only a heavy cold that I had +taken and would be all right in a week or so. But I knew that I had a +fever of some kind, so I asked that I might go to my mother's house, and +she sent for the carriage and I went home. + +When I had reached my mother's I felt somewhat better, only to grow +worse all the time, and my eyes getting so that I could not see when it +was day or night. I had a nurse that knew all about the disease and a +good doctor that the city health doctor let take charge of the case +after he had been out there to see me: and knowing that the case was +taking, that no one should get it he let me remain at home for nine +days, and then I went to the hospital and was there till the symptoms +were well dried. + +When the doctor found out that I was able to come out he, Dr. Schenck, +wrote to my lady to send a carriage out. She did so at once and I was at +my mother's for awhile, and then my lady came to see me and told me how +the woman did the people in the house, so I told her how bad my limbs +were, and she said that if I could go home with her and tell her what to +do, she would get on without the woman and let her go. My mother made me +ready in a little while and I was soon at the dear old home, 344 Carlton +avenue. + +God be praised for the way he has led me since I was three years old +until this day, for it was His hand that taught me to remember all of +these long years. I have in my mind the time at the old home when they +put me on the fine dressing table in front of the large mirror, while +the Rev. Mr. Walker baptized me in the name of the Father and the Son +and the Holy Ghost, according to the Methodist tests in those days, and +I always thought that was to give me my Christian name; but when the +Lord had spoken peace to my soul He led me to follow in his footsteps, +and I gladly followed Him to be buried to the world--that is, to be put +out of sight, and that is what the word means. I have found it to be one +of those times when the Father was pleased with His own dear beloved +Son, and I know that He will be pleased whenever we do please Him, for +God so loved the world of sinful men that He gave His only begotten Son +that whosoever believeth in Him should have everlasting life, for God +sent not His Son into the world to condemn it, but that through Him all +might believe in Him and have everlasting life. + +I wish that I could know that the whole world was receiving this life, +and that we all could help to crown Him, as the angels are crowning Him, +the King of Kings and Lord of Heaven and of this earth. + +It is a blessed hope to know that God is love, and they that worship Him +must worship Him in spirit and in truth. + +I joined the church in 1866 and began to try and follow in this good old +way that leads from earth to glory, and it has not always been a path of +the sweetest flowers, but I have never failed to find my all in the Lord +Jesus Christ. + +He led me on day by day, and after awhile I found that He had led me to +go away from home that I might get ready for the work that my heart was +so full of, for every time that I saw the newspaper there was some one +of our race in the far South getting killed for trying to teach and I +made up my mind that I would die to see my people taught. I was willing +to go to prepare to die for my people, for I could not rest till my +people were educated. Now they are in a fair way to be the people that +God speaks of in the Holy Word, as He says that Ethopia shall yet +stretch forth her hand and all nations shall bow unto her. I long to see +the day that the Ethiopians shall all bow unto God as the One that we +should all bow unto, for it is to Him that we all owe our homage and to +be very grateful to Him for our deliverance as a race. If we should fail +to give him the honor due there would a curse come to us as a race, for +we remember those of olden times were of the same descent of our people, +and some of those that God honored most were of the Ethiopians, such as +the Unica and Philop, and even Moses, the law-giver, was of the same +seed. + +And not long ago darkness hung over the face of this race and God moved +upon the face of this dark earth and the light came forth. + +How wonderfully solemn and yet grand are these inspired thoughts and +words of a race whose God is so loving and forgiving, and we, +contemplating the grand mystery of the world beyond this vale of tears, +for God does preserve all that He has planted on this earth. + +No subject can surely be a more delightful study than the history of a +slave girl, and the many things that are linked to this life that man +may search and research in the ages to come, and I do not think there +ever can be found any that should fill the mind as this book. + +This is a perfect representation of things as I can remember them, and +to think how wonderful are these most beneficent streams of God's +providence to all those of our race that have prayed that their loving +children might feel the warm streams of an education flowing through +every child. Tens of thousands of miles, North, South, West and East, +God has thrown His mantle of love all around us, and it is that which +should make us love and fear Him, who is able to destroy both soul and +body; for His searching eye rests on all of the negro race, to see what +use they are going to make of their time and talent, and I hope that +nature will teach them that all of our talent belongs to the great God +who gave us our being. + +Nature awakens in our being a feeling that we must lay at His feet that +we may get the blessed approval, for we are so changeable, but God is +unchanging. He is omnipotent, and all else is transition. Yet God rules +the oceans, the mountains, the valleys, and all that walks the broad +earth. + +Well, now I shall tell you something more of my working in the City of +Brooklyn. I lived with the Bailey family the first year, and when they +went away in the summer, as all of the rich used to do, I stayed in the +house for the summer and they went across the ocean and were away for +some time. The next year I did not like to stay in the house alone, so +Mrs. Bailey got me a place with a nice friend of hers, and when she came +home, thought that she was going to have me to come back to live with +her but I stayed with her friend as there were but three in the family +and the work was not hard, and it gave me more time to study, and Mrs. +Stafford's son, Willie, was so glad to have me as his pupil that I had +not any trouble to get my lessons ready for him. He went to school every +day and he could not get through his head how it was that I could not go +to school every day as he did. His mother told him how it was and his +eyes would fill with tears and he would ask his mother and father to let +him stay at home on Sundays to read the Bible to me while I should get +the dinner ready, and they would let him stay, for he wanted to see me +going to the House of God on Sundays as they did and was willing to have +anything to eat that I might have the opportunity of attending the +church and Sunday-school. His mother would let me go to the +Sunday-school on every Sunday, for they were good people and were of the +kind that delighted in their help and they were members of the Church of +The Messiah, and they were a very happy family. They did not think that +anything was too good for my enjoyment and that is the reason that I +stayed with them and did not go back to the lady as she wanted me to do. +I could not tell which seemed to love me most, and then her son was so +willing to teach me, as Miss Abbie Bailey had, so I made up my mind that +as I had more time there for study I would remain, and I had some of the +best days of my life when I began to learn so fast, and he would bring +me before his mother and father that they might hear me recite my +lessons and see how well I was doing under him as my teacher. They felt +the more glad to see how much he was interested in teaching me. Later on +in years I was taken sick with the smallpox and was carried away to the +hospital. He was taken sick while I was away and his mother said that he +would call for me about the last one on this earth, and she tried to +find me, but she did not know where I was for some time after his death, +and then she felt so bad to think that he was gone and did not see me, +for he always loved to be with me that he might hear me sing, as I was +always on the wings of song if I were at my work; and that is the way +that I have been all of my life. + +When I got well of the smallpox, as I said, I went back to the place +where I was living when I took the malady, and there I tried to work, +but was very feeble for a long time and under the doctor's care all of +the time and spending more than I could make, for some of the doctors +charged me two dollars a visit, and that will use up a poor person's +earnings very soon. + +But all of this time I kept in mind the idea that I should save every +cent that I could that I might send myself to school some day. That day +did come when it seemed as dark as any night I had ever seen, when I +should go away to boarding school and spend that little and should not +have enough to finish; but I went, taking the Lord as the guide of my +life, and the way began to grow bright before me and I could see all the +clouds rolling away and the brightness shining forth. I went to +Washington, D. C., and entered the Wayland Seminary, under the +leadership of Professor G. M. P. King, of Bangor, Maine, with his other +teachers and professors under him; all of whom are a noble band of +teachers. And the way the Lord did help me in my studies is a blessing +to the dear ones that I had under me for the eleven years that I was in +the school work, and the way they progressed. + +I said that I attended the Wayland Seminary for three years, of eight +months, making it in all of my stay there twenty-four months, which may +seem long to some, but it seems short to me, though I am very glad that +I had that much time there for it was a fountain of blessing to my soul. + +I left Washington, D. C., in the year of 1878 and came to Brooklyn and +went to work again to earn money to go off to school, and when I did go +it was another school in the Blue Ridge, Alleghany Mountains, where the +very air of heaven seemed to fan the whole hill sides, and there never +was a more lovely place on this earth for one to learn a lesson, for we +could see the key to all lessons where nature had designed for a grand +school of learning. At this place was to be found one of the best +schools of learning that has been built by man. And I think of the +hundreds and thousands of teachers and preachers and lawyers and doctors +that these two schools have turned out in the different parts of this +country, and many of them are in other parts of the world. + +And all of this has been done through the churches, and God be praised +for those that have given of their means. + +At Harper's Ferry I spent four years and they were years of hard labor, +but they were just as sweet as they could well be, for the Lord went +with me and I found favor with all of the teachers. When I had spent the +first eight months there I learned to have the greatest love for my +beloved teachers, and when the time came for me to leave the teachers I +thought that my poor heart would break. Though I was coming to my own +people in Brooklyn, I felt that I was leaving my best friends on the +earth and so did all of the students. + +Well, now the Summer had passed and gone and the Fall came when God +permitted all of the loving ones to come together once more to take up +the cares of studies again. So the time of the winter season was always +a blessing to all, and some found it the happiest time of their lives, +for they found Jesus precious to their souls and could study so much +better than they could before. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +There were sometimes as many as sixty or seventy brought to the +knowledge of the Truth, and sometimes we had to go out of the class-room +into the prayer-room, for the Lord was among us in the Spirit's power. + +When in 1886 I went out for good, that I might be of some use to my own +people I started in the strength of the Lord, and He did give me the +greatest victory as a school teacher, for all of the people sought me to +take their children in my school and give them a start. I had my hands +full of work, but I let them come in for the Board always sent them to +me find out if I could find room and time, and I always made the time +for when scholars find that a teacher loves them they will do any amount +of hard studying. + +And so the time rolled on, with everything to make me feel like hard +work, in the strength of the blessed Lord. + +I was three years old when I was leaving my own dear mother's home to go +to my new mother's home, or I should say to my white mother's home, to +live with her, and I left my mother's as happy as any child could leave +her own home, for this lovely lady was always at my mother's to see me +ever since I could remember anything, and she was the joy of my little +life and I seemed to be all the joy of her sweet life. She had learned +to love me from the time that I came into the world. + +She had watched me in my cradle and longed for the day to come when I +should be able to walk, for she knew that I would follow her everywhere +she should go. She said to all of the friends around that if I should +live to remember her that would be all that she would ask. + +And so she read her blessed Bible and prayed until she saw her prayers +answered, and then she went to her home in glory, where she has watched +and waited and longed to see the good old ships of those who have washed +their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. + +I can never tell any one how many happy hours that I had, for the only +trial that I had was that of sickness, which caused me to be of a great +care to her all of her life. It was her delight to wait on me and to +have her cousin, the doctor, to be always ready to come at any moment +she should send for him. He was a good doctor by the name of Sims, and I +always liked him, too, until I had the typhoid fever and I had to take +some oil. I did not like to take it and he held my hands so that they +could pour that in me, and he and I fell out. + +My white mother used to give it to me, but she did not let me know what +she was giving me, for she put some molasses in the oil and cooked them, +so I should not know. I would not have known if I had not seen her one +night have the old bottle in her hand putting the oil in the kettle, +which she was making ready for me, and I looked up and saw what it was +and, as young ones will do, did not want to take molasses and butter +which I had been taking so long, for I had to take it on every night or +I could not speak. + +Later on she moved from the place where she was and bought another farm +where it was not near the water, as the doctor thought that was not a +good place for me to be, and I was not sick so much as I had been at the +former. + +The first hard spell of sickness on this farm was the fever that I was +sick of at the time that she took sick of the yellow jaundice, and she +turned as yellow as anything could be. She went home with that awful +malady, thinking of me and of what my future should be in God's hands, +to love and bless the world in which I should live if it should be the +will of Him who knows the future of all the people that live on this +earth. + +So God has been a father and a loving mother and all else to me, and +sometimes there has been enough of trials in this life to make me almost +forget that I had this strong arm to save me from these trials and +temptations; but when I fly to Him I find all and in all in Him. + +He is my rock and my hiding place in the time of trials, for a child +that had all of the love and comfort of a queen was now left to her own +dear mother, who had so many more and had to work so hard to take care +of us all that I have seen sit up all night long working for her little +ones. I used to feel sorry to see her sitting up alone at her work. I +would get up out of the bed and sit with her till daylight; for I was +always near mother after the dear one had been plucked from this earth +to await my arrival. + +I have found that learning is to refine and elevate the mind, so we +should cultivate our hearts and minds and live to bless those we meet. +We should neither flatter nor despise those that are rich or great. + +It was not long after this dear one had been called away before we were +all in different places, and to share the fate that comes to those that +are left behind those that have been good and kind. Then the time is +coming that mother is to be taken from the whole family of little ones +and they are to be left in the hands of others. That is one of the +saddest times of life for children when they do not know if they shall +ever see her face on this green earth any more; and if to-day we should +hear the cries of those little lambs it surely would break the heart of +a stone, for remember that we have the same feelings for our mothers as +any race of people and our hearts will melt as easily as the richest +ones on this earth. + +But God in His great love to us meant that we should see the return of +our dear mother to her own and that he would send her and the children +out of the Land of Egypt as He did of old when He had tried to teach the +rulers how wrong it was to sell and buy human flesh, and this was one of +those awful sins that had to be repented of by those that could and +would not see the truth. When the wrath of God came upon them and took +all of the slaves away from them they could see nothing but tears and +curses to the God of Heaven, and some of them cursed the earth, the +stars, the moon. The negroes that had prayed so hard to God said that +was the cause of the war, for they could see something in their prayers +that seemed to reach up to heaven, and the answer had come for their +deliverance. + +Is not this a great God who can hear the prayers of the faithful ones +when they pray? Do not we owe our lives and our all to this great and +good God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost? And if we +should fail to recognize Him we should have a worse sin fall on us than +ever any one race had. + +Well, to my story: + +My brother James was my mother's oldest child. He was sent away to the +war to keep his master at home, and we did not hear from him for a long +time, but we made up our minds that if he did not get killed he would go +over to the Northern side as soon as he should get the chance, though we +did not see him to tell him to do so, for all of my mother's children +were like herself in the love of freedom. My mother was one that the +master could not do anything to make her feel like a slave and she would +battle with them to the last that she would not recognize them as her +lord and master and she was right. + +My brother did try to get away, but he was caught and locked up in +Richmond, Va., and for a awhile we heard them say that he would be +killed, but God was there to help him, so he came out all right and went +to work on the breastworks, and when he did try again he got over on the +Northern side. They almost caught him again, but as the Lord was his +leader at night, he made his escape, and to hear him tell of that river +that he crossed and how he walked on the water and he was so scared that +he did not know he got wet; but I know that he did get wet, though. He +said the Lord carried him over the river without letting him get wet. I +am sure that I could not help laughing at my brother to hear of such a +thing, for there never was a time that I have read of since the time of +Peter that any one was called to walk on the water. The Lord was there +Himself to show Peter how small his strength was when he trusted in his +own strength, and Peter would have failed entirely if his Lord and +Master had not been there. + +And so it would have been with my dear brother. He would have been taken +by the Southerners, and that would have been his last trial on this side +of the grave. + +My sister Frances was hired out and we did not see her from one +Christmas to the other, for she was a good way off where she could not +get home. She was treated very badly by some of those where she lived +and her limbs had been sprained so that she could hardly move on them. +When later on the Lord had it so arranged that she was taken home to +live, where she could be cared for, she soon got better and was able to +go about helping mother, with the rest of the children, for my brother +who had to help her to care for the children was gone, and she was all +the help that my mother had, for I was not large enough to do much and +had not been put to mind the children. + +The gentleman that my dear brother belonged to was a Methodist and a +minister. He did not want to go to the war and so he sent my poor +brother to defend what belonged to him, and he did not get the good of +it after all, for my brother was determined that he would gain his +freedom if he could and he tried and did not get tired of trying. + +Then my sister Annie was given to the gentleman's married son and she +was not with us, and sister Tempy Green was with the minister, and she +was one of the dead ones that mother had a time to get. Maggie, Susie, +Martha and Mary were at the same place where mother was sold from, and +she went and got them at once. It was like a dream to them to see how +far she had been sold and to see her back there again. + +Sister Lavinia was at the same place where I was and she was treated +very badly by the man's own daughter, for she would whip her without +cause. Sister Rosa was at the same place and she was three and a half +years on mother's return. As I told you, she was six weeks old when +mother was sold and that made it three years and three months that +mother was gone from her own native home to a part of the country where +she did not know any one, not even the great God who had been so good to +her all of those years when she was gone; and all of her whole life God +was watching over her and giving to the world one child who was to help +to educate the down-trodden race which was, through Abraham Lincoln, to +be God's leader for the children that were in Egypt in the South, and +God with this leader and the race, they came through fire and smoke, and +now they can see the light of another day. Some of the race say that +they are sometimes, in their thoughts, ashamed that they belong to a +race that has been in bondage, but I have never felt that way, for I am +glad that things have been as they were, for God has moved in a way that +is unknown to men and His wonders He has performed, and has planted His +footsteps in the South, the West, the East and in the North, and is +watching the people and asking them what doors are they opening for the +Ethiopian. + +Father Abraham is calling to the Ethiopians to know what has been the +result of the great emancipation, and can we not send the echo back with +a jubilee, that we are marching on in education in double file, and +longing to see the day that not one of your sons and daughters of this +broad earth but what shall learn to read and write; though it may bless +the earth with a tenfold blessing that they will not forget to bless God +with a hundred fold. + +Three cheers for this great Emancipator. + +And while he may sleep yonder, forgotten may be by some, his name has a +green spot in my heart and shall ever keep green while on this side I +stay. + +And there is another one who sleeps yonder whom I shall not forget and +that is Father John Brown, whose ashes are as dear to me as the apple of +mine eye; and how can I forget him after four years of study at the dear +old place where he was taken from and hanged, because he saw the wrath +of God upon the nation and came forth to save his people. + +Another one who will ever be shining bright in the hearts and minds of +the whole negro race, and what shall I say of him who led us to the +greatest victory the world has ever known--Ulysses S. Grant, the loved +of all nations and the pride of all lands; he whom the world admires, to +call the blessed, who mourned for this land to see the end, and God did +help him in ways that man knew not, save himself and his God. + +And there is another dear one that God will help me to remember with all +of the love and gratitude, and it makes me feel sad as I have to speak +of her once more and it may be that I shall have to speak of her many +times, as she was the one that brought me on to this lovely city, and +that is my mother, who has gone to that land of song where there is no +more of sickness or sorrow and where God will dry every tear. + +There is another I remember and that is Father Charles Sumner, who for +years wrote and also fought and spoke, as never man spoke, for the race +and the Civil Rights Bill, that it might not die, but it should be a +rock for the defence of the race. + +And there is another that I shall not leave out of this book, for if I +did the book would be incomplete, and that is Frederick Douglass, the +greatest of men among the negro race of this country or of any land on +the globe. He wrote and spoke and went all over to try to do all he +could for his race, and who could forget such men as these? I would say +in true lines, may the earth fail to move sooner than I forget those +noble lives. Honored be their memories and honored be their ashes, for +their lives shall live in the memories of all coming generations and +their ashes will make rich the soil whereon they lie. + +May God give us some more of such men as these for they are few, and we +need so many now to go forth and speak the truth. + +And there is dear Doctor David Moore, that my pen, I fear, would fail to +move, if I did not do him honor. He was beloved and honored to the last +day of his stay in the Washington Avenue Baptist Church, and it was on +account of sickness that he had to leave this city and go up in the +northern part of this State that he might be able to preach the Word, +and God did make him well after he had left Brooklyn; and his work has +been crowned with great success. + +God did use him in this city to His own glory in saving men, women and +children from the very door of sin and the dread of the life which is to +come. And may the God of Heaven and the Ruler of this earth be with him +as he comes near the Jordan to make its waters calm, and enter in the +gate and hear the blessed "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter +thou in the joys of thy Lord." + +J. D. Fulton is one that will have one of the highest places at God's +right hand, for he started out to look after the Ethiopian's rights when +he was only seventeen years of age. What can be said of a long life like +his, that has written and traveled and spoke to such large crowds of +hearers in the interest of the race which I represent. How I have seen +those silvery locks fly as his warm heart melted to tears as he pleaded +for the down-trodden of the Ethiopians; and if God has ever heard a +prayer I know that He hears the prayer of this dear good man, for I have +seen the answer come in mighty power, in many ways, to the saving of +precious souls, and the way that he wrote about the negro in this +country and its problem. + +He was called to the Hanson Place Church to preach and he worked hard, +with God's help, and improved the church and many were brought to the +Saviour through the Word, such as the Lord will own and bless at the +last day. + +Doctor Fulton is one of the best men on this broad earth to love and +labor for humanity and I do not think that my race, the noble +Ethiopians, should ever forget him as long as God shall spare his life. +When the time shall come when the dear blessed one shall be called to +the world above, and that active form is stilled in death and when that +silvery voice is no longer heard in the defence of the down-trodden +Ethiopians and the oppressed of any land, that he will hear the "Well +done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." + +And to think of one who has written so long never more to wield the pen +in the cause of the church and God's children is a sad thought to the +writer, for she has loved him as a father and he shall ever have a green +spot in my heart for I shall never forget his kind words to me in my +lonely hours. + +Dr. J. D. Fulton's first wife was one of the loveliest women that ever +lived, for I have been to their house to dine with the family and I +found that Mrs. Sarah Fulton and family were the same that they were in +the church. There was the sweetest home that I ever saw in all my life, +for the father and the mother were all love, and then take Miss Jennie, +the eldest child, and she was a lovely girl, and there was Miss Nellie, +another lovely girl, and Sadie, the youngest girl, and she was her +father all the way, and the boy Justin, who came to the family while I +was away. I think he has a large heart like his dear father, and I do +know that if he only is a good man like his father God will own and +bless him. + +Dr. Fulton's second wife, Aunt Laura, was a lovely woman, for we all +learned to love her when her first husband was living. + +Miss L. A. Pousland was one of the best ladies I have seen in this city, +for it was from her house that I went to the Wayland Seminary in 1875, +and to her love I owe a love of gratitude, and to all that may come to +me as worldly goods I shall always think of Miss L. A. Pousland and of +her love to me when I was getting ready for school and the letters full +of love to me all the time while I was prosecuting my studies. Oh, how +she longed to see me out in the world doing my Master's will and helping +to teach, for she is a Boston lady, and they are a learned people and +like to see all others learn, and that is the way, like the old Pilgrim +Fathers were, that there should be a grand common level for all after +them. + +To my story of child in House's family: + +This Mr. John House had the largest sum offered to him for a girl as I +was that was ever offered for any one and he would not accept the whole +world of money, on account of the one that had loved me and cared for +me, for he well knew that after all of those prayers that he would be +sinning; and he would not have had my mother sold away from her +children if his brother would have let him know it in time. He went away +to attend court and to his surprise found that my mother was sold. He +came home at once to let us know of it, and he was the one that called +in my sister Frances and sister Annie and sister Rosa, for the two +oldest that I speak of fell to a dead brother who had drank himself to +death, and these were sold to pay for his drink. He had been dead for +some time and those that he owed now came in to get their pay, which was +their only chance; and the money that they got did not do them much +good, thanks to God, for it was in the time of the war and the money was +of the Confederate money, and it was during the great struggle when this +money was called in never more to be the money of these United States, +for this Union needs the kind of money that will be good in all lands, +and I am glad that the people can see it now as they never saw it +before. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +I am glad that the dear Lord has laid it in my heart at this time in +life to let the world hear something of a life that they will all be +filled with a love for one whom it has been a delight to meet at any and +all times. + +Mrs. Sarah Potter, who is a beloved and dear lady, who is the bright +morning star of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church, and who is one of +the brightest lights that this city has or ever will have, for she is +all over this city looking after the needy ones, comes from a noble +family and all of the family have been foreign missionaries. She has +been a home missionary for many years and God has blessed her and her +labors, and her dear father was doing missionary work in India for fifty +years, and God blessed his work there. Now that his dear work has been +finished in this world and he has gone to his reward, his works do +follow him, for the number that have been saved through his preaching +eternity will tell. + +His form will no more walk out on the field of battle for the Lord, and +who can fill the place of such a life-work as this child of the King has +filled? And to go home to his beloved and blessed Master with his arms +full of blessed sheaves; and as we think of him, how we wonder in our +daily walks if we shall go to the Saviour with our hands full or shall +we go empty-handed and thus to meet our Saviour so; not one soul with +which to greet Him, must we empty-handed go? + +I have heard of Mr. Mason as one of the first to go among the Coreans, +and I have seen some of them, that have taken the Lord for their all and +in all, come to this land of ours to fit themselves for the blessed work +among their own people. God be praised for such a man as Dr. Mason and +all of his loving children, who have had the same spirit that their +father had, and he was filled with the Holy Ghost and with the power of +the Lord. + +Mrs. Sarah W. Potter was the beloved wife of a sea captain, Mr. William +Potter, and he owned a ship that sailed the Indian Ocean, and he was +washed overboard one night while his wife, Mrs. Potter, was sick, and +she did not know that he had a watery grave until the next day. They had +one son, who is now married, by the name of Frank, whom I held as an +idol, as he always called to me when in trouble, for his dear mother +taught him the love of the Bible, and he would not fight any boy, let +them do him as they would. He knew that I would go after the boys for +blocks, as I was one of those soldiers that was not afraid to fight. As +he grew older I told him that he had to go out into the world to fight +his way and I wanted him to begin it at once, and he did learn to battle +for himself. He married a lovely girl by the name of Miss Katie Harvey +and they have two children, the eldest a girl and the youngest a boy, +which is the lovely little man of the home. + +I have seen that mother sit up at nights waiting for her son to come +that she might ask a blessing on him before he should sleep, and how +could that boy go astray after all these prayers and entreaties? May he +lead his lambs to the blessed Master, and have the "Well done, good and +faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of thy Lord." + +To my story of work in the City of Brooklyn: + +The lady, Miss L. A. Pousland, whom I spoke of in the preceding pages, +is the place where I found myself living in 1875, after twelve or +thirteen years of service. It was there that I met Mrs. Sarah Potter. +She has been all of a mother to me to give me all the encouragement she +could bestow on me. For all of this kindness I am more than grateful to +my Heavenly Father, for I know that all goodness comes from Him. He +surely has shown His love to her in sparing her to see me go from her +home to Washington to school and spend three years and then go to +Harper's Ferry and spend four years, and to see me out in the world +teaching for eleven years, and to break down while at my post and now at +home to serve in another way. Is not this not God's love to me, as a +poor, humble servant of His? I should never forget to give the love and +honor due Him. + +God knows my heart and He will bless the work in my hands, as the writer +of this book. + +When I found that I could get through school in a given time as I had +studied hard, if I had the money, I told Miss L. A. Pousland, that I +would not be there to work any more, as I had a place in Saratoga +Springs for the Summer. She felt bad to lose me, but as she knew that I +could make more money for three months at the Springs she wanted me to +have my heart's desire, so I came on from school and went to see her and +then made ready for the Springs, getting one of my sisters to go with me +and taking such things as we could. We were there too soon and we had to +wait for work, and I went around and made myself known to the white +people. They soon called on me to come and do work for them, and the +first was a Mrs. Carpenter, a good lady. She then got her married +daughter to have me to work for her family and they were a fine family. +Her daughter's husband was a grand studio man on Broadway, doing a good +business. Then she sent me to another friend of hers, and my sister and +I could live for a while. When the rush came I did not forget the one +who had helped me, but went to her two days out of a week, for she had +her house filled with boarders, and the Summer was all a blessing to her +and her family. + +There was Mrs. Purdy, who was another one of my friends, for I did work +for her laundry for three years, and she said whenever I came to the +Springs and wanted work to come to her; if the house was filled there +was room for me. So you see how God did open the way for me in that +strange and lonely place, where there are so many that go there for the +Summer looking for work. I went out of the house where we were stopping +and got the washing and brought it home to my sister, for she would not +go out of the house as she had not been from the place where she lived +before. I got her to go with me to help me with the work, and it was +coming in so fast I had to get a white lady to help us to get through, +for the colored people said that we would not get work as the laws were +passed to keep the New York workers out, and I told them that they would +have to pass laws to keep the rich people of New York from coming there +to board if they should keep the workers out; so I did not hear to that, +and found the way for I had the will, and where there is a will there is +always a way. So much for the first Summer. + +Well, the second time I went up alone. I say alone, I mean that my +sister did not go, but the Lord did go with me that Summer, for I did +not go to the house where my sister and I was for they tried to +discourage us the first time. I always mark one that is an enemy to me +and shake the dust off of my feet and let the Lord do for that one what +He thinks is best. + +Well, for the third year I was there with the Lord and He was surely +there with me. I did not do any work on the Lord's Day, but tried to +teach them. When they made me an offer of larger pay for the work done +on the Lord's Day, I told them that in six days the Lord made the +heavens and the earth and He rested on the seventh day, and I felt that +if He needed rest on that day I was sure that I must have rest. So the +Sunday work was not carried on any more in that laundry. He said that +the Lord had sent me to that laundry for the bettering of all in it. The +gentleman was from Philadelphia and his name was Mr. Cheek. + +So you see how the Lord preached His word through me, a feeble one of +the dust, and what can not the Lord help us to do if we only trust in +Him and if we strive to live for His honor and glory while on this side +of Jordan? + +Mrs. Purdy had one daughter, and a lovely girl in music, and her name +was Kittie Purdy. She was sought to play everywhere as she was a fine +player, and everyone thinks her a very pretty girl. Her mother is a +perfect lady, for she used to be so kind to her help. She never was late +in any of her meals for the help and she always sat down with us and eat +with us. She was as jolly as any one at the table and she always called +me her bird, for I was on the wing of song from the time I began my work +until my work was finished, and then I would start home as happy as any +one could be. Then I would be the first to greet her in the mornings +always and she used to say that I brought to her a great deal of comfort +each hour and drove all of her business cares away. I used to feel glad +that I, although a working girl, could be of some love and comfort to +some one, and it makes me feel glad to-day that God in His love to me +and for me can own such a feeble one. + +My next start was for Asbury Park to do work for Mrs. Haseltine, another +lovely lady, who was a Boston lady and whom I learned to love as a +mother. I worked for her two years and was to have worked for her the +third year if she had not taken sick at the time she did. A gentleman +came on from Philadelphia and she got me to work for him and I found him +a fine gentleman. I praise God for all that came to me while I was +pursuing my studies, and to-day I do feel like saying, + + "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, + Oh! what a foretaste of glory divine; + Heir of salvation, purchase of God, + Born of His spirit, washed in His blood. + This is my story, this is my song, + Praising my Saviour all the day long, + This is my story, this is my song, + Praising my Saviour all the day long." + +To my story: Mrs. Haseltine, I said, had to go to the Saratoga Springs +for the Summer and she used to let me hear from her, but my work in +school was so great that I lost sight of her and I do not know if she is +in Florida or not. Wherever she is I love her and she has my heart. She +did all that she could all the time that I worked for her to let me do +extra work for the boarders so that I might earn money outside of what +she paid me, and the ladies used to come to the laundry and talk to me, +for some of these ladies went to school as I did and some of them waited +at the large hotels in the Summer time to pay their board. The gentleman +that had Mrs. Haseltine's house took me in at evening time to entertain +the guests, and they all helped me. When I came home to make ready for +school I was at our own church one evening when dear Dr. J. D. Fulton +was giving us one of his grand lectures, and he gave me time to sing, +read and speak. The church took a grand collection for me, which +amounted to seventeen dollars and seventy-three cents. I was better +fixed that year than I had been at any year since I had been going to +school, for I had worked all of the Summer and would not spend any of my +money as I wanted it all for school, but the Evil one came and stole it +from me and I was left without a dollar, and I had the heavy heart one +is sure to have when they need money as I did. Then I had to borrow +money to leave for the school, and you may think how one feels after a +Summer's work, and to have some one else to use the money that has not +been gotten with their own labor. + +Well, I did not know what I should do, so I made up my mind that I had +done all that lay in my power--that is, I had earned the money, and some +one had taken it from me and I was left to go without. So I took the +Lord for it, and could not board as I had done, but I bought some little +things to use and boarded myself, and I was up sometimes at the late +hours of night, when all of the people were asleep, cooking for the next +day, that I might not be late at school. So you can see how loving God +was to me. + +My life in school was one of joy to me and to my mother and sisters and +brother and brothers-in-law, and all of the time that I was in school +they were sending me their mites to help me along. My sister, Mrs. E. F. +Rodwell and Mr. G. W. Rodwell, and my sister, Mrs. Annie Lindsey and Mr. +F. P. Lindsey were the ones that never for once forgot me, and at +Christmas time I was like a child looking for something. Everybody was +good to me. Praise the Lord for all of the love that came to me in the +time of need. + +Well, my work ended in 1886, though I taught in 1885, and had the +blessing of God with me in this school. There were twenty-five out of +the school brought to the knowledge of the truth, such as the Lord will +own and bless at the last day. God be the glory. Amen and Amen. + +The place was Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Va., and I was called from +that school to go West where they needed me to teach in a place where +the teachers had made the pupils almost hate to go to a school. My heart +was in that work, which no one liked, so I went there trusting in the +Lord. I lost that place, but they got me another one where they built me +a new house, and the Lord did bless me in this place, although I was not +able to go to the Baptist Church only once a month, for there was not +any nearer than ten or fourteen miles. When the next year came I helped +the people build a church and it was all paid for before I left there. +How God did pour out His spirit there in the salvation of souls, and He +did add unto the dear church such as will be saved at the day when He +shall come to make up his jewels; and I can praise His name for such a +Saviour. + +Well, to my story: As a teacher in the same place for eleven years, or I +should say I was connected with the same school for that length of time, +and all the way the Saviour led me. Sometimes it was not all flowers and +sweetness, but in it all I can see the hand of the Blessed One; and it +used to make me say to myself, Praise the Lord, Oh, my soul, and all +that is within me praise His holy name! + +After being there for sometime I was taken sick and was there sick and +could not teach my school for that Winter. It made me feel very bad, but +my good Dr. Ford said that he thought all of the county were sorry to +learn of my illness and all were losing a good teacher. I would not be +able to do any school work for sometime to come as the nerves were all +overworked, and that had brought on other troubles which were of a +dangerous nature. So my heart was heavy indeed, and if I had not had my +hope built in Jesus Christ I would not have stood, for I felt that all +other ground was to me a sinking sand. I stayed there all of the Winter +and then came on home to Brooklyn, and the Lord was so good to make me +well; I went back to my work and taught all that Winter, and when my +school was out I then went down to the county seat, which is ten miles +from the station and is about fourteen from my school, where I spoke of. + +Hinton is a lovely little town on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and +in the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains, and is one of the greatest +places on the road, as all of the trains from the West, East, South and +North stop there. It is a lovely town and they have a roundhouse there +where they build locomotives. They have a fine Y. M. C. there. There +are a number of men employed at this place. They have two nice Baptist +Churches and a Baptist Mission, two Methodist Churches, one +Episcopalian, one Congregational, one Presbyterian and one Roman +Catholic and one college, a number of private schools and a number of +public schools and the county is doing a good work in education, and to +the Lord be all the praise for all of this good work. + +Hinton I said was a lovely place. Like Harper's Ferry, that I spoke of +in the preceding chapter, it is situated on Camp Hill in a lovely place, +between the Potomac River on one side and the Shenandoah River on the +other, and it has two of the most beautiful bridges I ever saw. When you +see the trains coming and going it looks lovely. + +The Wayland Seminary is in a lovely spot on Meredian Hill, between +Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, and you can see all over the City of +Washington. It is lovely to behold with all of its fine buildings and +art galleries, though I do not like it as well as Harper's Ferry, for I +was not well the whole time I was there and I had so much better health +at the Ferry. I bless God that I made the change when I did or I might +have been gone to my long home before I had the time to see so much of +God's love to me in the way He has led me through paths that I did not +see then. I can truly say unto Him, Lord, Thou hast been my dwelling +place in all of these years of trial and has been my rock in a weary +land and my shelter in the times of storm. + +Well, I came home last October a year ago, 1895, and made up my mind to +stay for the time being. Some of the people found out that I was here +and they sent for me to come to see them. I went to Mrs. Murphy's the +next week and I was there nearly a year and found that I could not do +much lifting, so I did not feel well for quite a while, and I had a +heavy day of it the last time that I was there. So I told her daughter I +should not come any more as I had gone early that I should get home +early. It was nearly six o'clock when I stopped. They are a lovely +family of four men and four girls, all of whom are are very fine indeed; +two sons married, and children, and one daughter married and she has two +little ones. Miss Josephine is a school teacher. Miss Alice is the +housekeeper, as the mother is not very well at times. One of the lovely +girls is a Sister in a convent. + +I also did work for her daughter, Mrs. Nellie Chester, and she is a +lovely woman. I had to lose her work as she had to get her a girl. + +I also worked for fine families by the names of Mrs. Handford and Mrs. +Taylor, but they went away from this city. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +I am now doing work for a lovely family by the name of Mrs. Coddington, +as her husband has died not long since, and he was a nice man and they +have two lovely girls that teach school. I also work for Mrs. White, who +is a lovely lady, and all of her family. + +At the Pells and the Powells. Mrs. Pell is a lovely woman, with two +children, one a lovely young lady and full of the sweetest music the ear +ever heard, for I do not think that there ever was any one that could +play sweeter music than her. The other is a boy, a nice youngster of +promise. + +Mrs. Powell is the sister of the first Mrs. Pell and she has one +daughter, who is a Mrs. Pell, whom I have to call Mrs. E. Pell to let +each one know which one I mean. There are other ladies in the mansion +that are very nice to me. Mrs. Pell No. 1 is the head of the house and +is a fine lady, and in telling you of those that I have worked for and I +am doing work for I mean to tell that it is by the day that I work for +some of them; as you will see as you read this that I have had very few +places where I lived out by the month, and staying a good while in a +place. + +I did work for Mrs. Johnson, but as her business is not so good at times +she has me whenever she can feel as if she can spare the money. So this +little life of mine has been almost locked up in a nutshell, and Jesus +has come to me in the spirit's power that I should tell the world of His +wonderful love to me a poor sinner of the dust. And what can not the +Lord do for those who put their trust in Him? We feel like saying to the +blessed One, how amiable are all of Thy works, oh Lord, and our eyes are +seeing Thy salvation in many parts of the earth. + +I can remember the first time that it was my pleasure to hear dear Dr. +J. D. Fulton. It was on Thanksgiving Day when he first came to this city +to preach at the Hanson Place Church, as their pastor. The Rev. David +Moore had him to preach the Thanksgiving sermon at the Washington Avenue +Baptist Church, and we were all delighted at hearing him on that day. I +loved him on hearing that sermon, for I felt the spirit power on that +day, through his preaching. I shall always think of the Doctor and his +loving family, for we, as the negro race, have not such a friend on +earth as Dr. Fulton. I am not afraid to say it to his dear honor as he +is not dead, and I wish every negro knew him as I do for then they would +all feel toward him as I feel. I hope that he will long live to tell the +truth as he has in days gone by; and if he was in this city where the +evil is so strong, we should hear him sounding the watchword, and that +is the reason that those that loved the ways of sin did not like him, +for they felt that he had cause to trouble them while they were yet in +their sins. + +But I hope that the day will come when I shall hear him again in this +city, and I hope that God will give him long life and that he may see +the travel of his soul and be satisfied, for I know that he tries to do +God's will in this love that he has for humanity and that is why the +Lord will bless him in all the work that his hands find to do. + +I was not at home when he left this city and I felt sad when I found +that he was gone, for we shall ever miss him. My prayer is to God that +he may live to a good old age and that when he shall be called to come +up higher that he may be caught up in the air to meet his Lord and +Master and all of those that have gone on before, and be ready to Crown +Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. + + + + +Progress of Church Work + + +A speech to a crowded church, in the year of our Lord 1888, in Talcott, +Summers Co., W. V. I was asked to have this published out there, but I +wanted to have it brought to my home in Brooklyn. I was into so much +work out there, and my people were not there to see what the Lord did +help me to do: + +Dear friends, we are here to-night to commemorate this grand occasion, +and our watchword is Onward and Upward to the Prize! + +This is a time that we should all shout the Jubilee and to send the glad +tidings to all the world and to let all the nations know that we are on +our march to that happy land of song. + +Dear friends, let us look for a few moments and think of the time when +you had not a church where you could worship God. I told you that God +would give you this lovely place, where no one could drive you out, and +to see what great things He has done for you in a little time, and how +great things can He not do if we will only trust Him? We have those of +our race that have held places of greatest trust and God bless them in +those places. Why should we give up the fight and lay our armor by when +there is so much for us to do? No, no, we can not and we will not lay +the grand old armor down, for the Lord is on our side and we shall +surely conquer if we look to Him whose arm is so large and strong. Then +let us take fresh courage and march on until we reach the goal, and then +we shall be glad and rejoice for the Lord has spoken good to His people, +the Ethiopians. + +Oh, ye colored people, why not take this as yours and begin now to +rejoice ye in your own race and feel proud of the race, but not ones +that can dance the best on the ball-room floor, for there is very little +in that when it is all summed up in a whole. Let us thank all the good +people who have shown any love to us while we have been in this work of +building and may they all find favor in the sight of God. You have a +dear good pastor who is willing to give his life to the Lord and the +church. Let us take fresh courage and march into His service, for we +shall gain if we only trust in God and do the right He will help us to +persevere. + +Time would fail me and my pen would fail to move if I should try to +enumerate all of the blessings that have come to us as a race. I hope +that we, as the hated negro race, will make a fresh start from this +night and do all that we can to forward the work in this church, and God +will send us a blessing. + + + + +Etiquette of Young Men + + +I was wondering a few days since if the men of the present day had lost +the respect that men used to have for the women. I was carried back to +the year of 1884 while in school with so many of the young men of my own +race, when I saw so much of the respect that they showed to us girls and +that was what caused me to write this to their honor. I think that true +etiquette is one of the greatest blessings that young men can have for +the women, for it is to them that we look to for the protection and +love, and if we fail to find it in them where shall we look? This is one +of the greatest fortunes that one can have, and it is that which makes a +young man what he ought to be. We, as the women, need so many of such +ones and the world needs them fully as much, and the God who made them +looks for more and when he does not find it in the dear creatures that +He has made it makes Him feel sad. + +I found a number of young men that used to attend the Wayland Seminary +that had the greatest regard for the girls, and I could not but notice +them in this respect and their kind acts while there, although I was not +in the same classes with them, but I never saw them make any difference +while I was in school. I always found good friends among them and I +never saw a young man meet one of the young ladies but they lifted their +hats, and that made the people of Washington, D. C., always speak of it +in the kindest terms. One never loses anything in this way, and their +virtues are greater than gold. + +When the weather was very bad one day and I was coming from school and a +young man saw me fall down, he came to help me home and I felt very +grateful and I feel that wherever that young man shall go he will have +favor in the eyes of all, and God will be his leader for he has made a +good beginning. + + + + +School Life + + +While at the Harper's Ferry school I found the loveliest teachers that +ever were in a school. Professor Brackett, the head of the school, is a +fine gentleman, and his wife, Mrs. W. Brackett, is a lovely lady and she +is one of the finest teachers that ever lived. She has three nice +children, two of them are girls and one boy, who is a young man by this +time, for I have not seen him since he went to Maine to attend school, +which is the Bates'. It is a fine school of Latin, and a number of the +students went to that same school. + +Mr. W. P. Curtis was one of the professors. He was my Sunday-school +teacher and he was fine. + +Mr. D. M. Wilson was a dear professor, whom we loved. Miss Caroline +Franklin was a lovely teacher and we all loved her. Miss C. Brackett was +one of the lovely teachers, and one whom every one of the other teachers +loved, for she was one of the finest readers that ever lived, let it be +man or woman. They used to have her read nearly every afternoon when the +school was out, and sometimes they would call to Professor Curtis to +read to the school. He was a very good reader, but Miss C. L. Franklin +was the grand trainer of the whole school. They had a grand reading +circle there at nights for the rich of the Ferry, and she was the one to +do the fine reading. All of the noble people of the place loved her and +she will ever be loved and remembered by all who knew her. She is now in +Washington, D. C., teaching, and the people have learned to love her as +we did. I do not think that any one could help loving her for her love +and fidelity to the race which she represents. + +Miss C. L. Franklin's mother, who is a lovely woman whom we all love as +a mother, for she had many of the students at her house to board, like +Mrs. William Lovett, and she was so very kind to all of them that she +will be remembered by us all, for we love those in our school life that +would say a kind word to us. It was to help us along in our daily toil. + +Mrs. Julia Robinson was one of the lovely ladies at the Ferry, also, and +all of the teachers boarded there. She has a number of the students that +board with her and she is much beloved. + +Mrs. Bell was one of the ladies that kept boarders and she is much +beloved. Mr. W. M. Bell is one of the teachers and all love him as a +teacher. + +Mr. J. Trinkle, who keeps one of the halls in the Summer time has a +number of boarders, and does well all of the Summer months and in the +Winter he teaches in or near the Ferry. With it all they are all doing +what they can to help to forward the interest or an education in all of +that section, and I really think that part of the country will show a +larger percentage of those that have been educated through the churches +than could have been taught in the public schools, for the terms are so +very short that it is hard for the people to get a start. + +But God has wonderfully blessed the teachers that have been sent on +there from the North to look after the interests of the negroes. They +love the work of the school-room, and it is their meat and their drink +daily to give away what they have received. The Word says that it is +more blessed to give than to receive, and we are always ready to +receive from the hands of our earthly friends, and it is much greater to +receive from God. + +Mr. Thomas Lovett has two lovely little girls, named, respectively, +Florence, the eldest, and the other Shoelett, and they are very smart. +Mr. Lovett has built a hill-top house in a lovely place. It is filled in +the Summer time, while he has music for the boarders. That makes it +pleasant during the warm weather of the Summer months, and it is one of +the loveliest places that can be found on the B. & O. Railroad, and the +white people go their from all parts. + +I had the pleasure of stopping there on my way home in 1895, and it did +my soul good to find such a fine house built by one of the colored +gentlemen and one that I had known, for I was at his mother's boarding +house for the whole time that I was at the Ferry. He was teaching school +then in the Winter time and looking after his mother's business in the +Summer time. So I am glad that some of my people are trying to make an +honest living. He is one among the many at the Ferry that are keeping +boarding houses; and I am thankful for all that comes to us as a race. I +hope, as I have often heard dear Dr. Fulton say that he wanted to see +the race go forward, and I pray that the time is not far distant when +all of the friends of the negroes shall see them making men and women of +themselves, and then the grand problem will be solved. Then we shall be +glad, for I am grieved night and day for my own people, and I feel so +grateful to God for letting me see and to know that I have such a good +friend as Dr. Fulton is. He shall be loved by me as long as I live, and +I hope that he will ever be loved by all that shall read this life of +mine, for he has been a father to me and I am one that always remembers +a kindness as long as any one will do one for me. God will bless those +that will think of me in love. + +As this day has been one of quiet to me I have wondered what it would be +to me if I could look into those bright mansions above and see my two +mothers' faces. What a joy there would be at the sight of them seeing me +and of me seeing them, and we all singing, + + Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. + Early in the morning our songs shall rise to Thee; + Holy, holy, merciful and mighty, + Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. + +And what a glory it will be for all that have washed their robes and +made them white in the blood of the Lamb; and I know that two darling +mothers have washed their robes and made them white, and to God be all +the praise for the great love that He has shown to poor me, who feels so +lonely on this lovely Lord's day. How much have I found in His service, +too, and if I could be able to go there to-night I feel that I should be +blessed, but I have to stay at home to-night as I have not been well for +a month or more. I feel grateful as can be that I could be out this +morning, and I will pay vows unto my God as long as I shall live, for He +is my rock and my hiding place in the time of trouble. I have had a +storm of them and it is to Him I fly to shield my soul from the evil +one, and knowing as do how many hard spells I have had, it is right for +me to be as careful as I can, taking the Lord for my healer. How He has +blessed me so many times when there were no other hopes for me to build +on, I have found that I could trust in His almighty power. + +I shall not forget the kind care of Dr. Matthews, of this lovely city, +whom God gave to me when I was very low and the three times a day that +he paid his visits to see how I was getting along. He was so kind in his +words to comfort me and to give my mother cheer I shall always think of +him kindly, for the snow was so deep that a horse could not travel very +well and he had to walk it three times a day. I had not my white mother +then to care for me, but my own mother did what she could for me and I +know that she has her reward in heaven for all that she has ever done +for me in the times when I needed the most care. + +There is good Dr. Reeves, a good Quaker doctor, and I had to have him to +attend me. He was very kind and gentle in his treatment of me and I am +very glad that I found such a friend in him, for he was like a father to +me? I shall not overlook dear Dr. Warmsley, who was a good doctor to me +and he was kind as he could be, and I shall not forget him, although I +have not seen him for a long time. + +What shall I say of the last doctor that I was under out West, and that +is Dr. J. W. Ford, who was so kind to me as a stranger. He would come +when he was sent for. It made no difference what time of day or night. +It might be you would find him on his way where he was sent for and +sometimes he would be on the road all night long, for he is the best +doctor in the county, and I was going to say the best in the State of +West Virginia. They all send for him; far and near, where they have any +fever, and he is so good in fevers, through the Lord, he is sure to +bring them out of if they do as he tells them. May the Lord give him a +good long life to do the will of Him who is the greatest doctor after +all. And if we only put our trust in Him we shall find that He will make +our sick bed easy for us and He will carry us all the way while we are +sick, for He has borne our sorrows and sickness. + +To my story as a school girl: It was full of sweet love and regard, for +I gained favor with all of the teachers and professors and all of the +pupils. The Lord be praised for all of this love and joy that came to me +in my school days. Then the love that came from the Washington Avenue +Baptist Church of sending me the sum of twenty or thirty dollars to help +me in paying my expenses was of the greatest love for one in a school, +as I wanted to pay as I went, and then the Sunday-school would send me +their money, one of the dear, loving favors of God's love, and naming +each time from which the money came and sending it through the Board at +Chicago. Then Mrs. Conley or Mrs. Connell sent it to me and the Board +sent the same way when my own beloved church sent me money. It was in +the time of Mrs. Sarah Fulton and she did not forget me when I was in +school. The Mission Band of our church sent me some money every year +after the first year that I went to school. Sometimes it was to the +answer of my prayers that the money came at the time I needed it to pay +my board and God be praised for those who from the bottom of their +hearts contributed in the grand and good work of education. For all that +I shall do in this life to help some one that needs help, I shall think +of the Lord's love to me and try and do what I can to bring them to the +Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, and to God I owe my +life and my all, and if I should fail to love and honor Him I know that +He will not remember me before His dear Father in heaven. + +Mr. William Lovett, the father of a large family, is one of the finest +gentlemen anywhere around the whole country, and is much beloved by all +who know him. The white people who board with him in the Summer time all +liked him, for he was so nice and quiet. He has a large family of girls +and boys and all are smart. He sent two of them to the Hillsdale College +when they had finished at the Ferry, and one was John Lovett, who +studied law, and the other one, Miss Etta Lovett, was a fine school +teacher and a music teacher. + +I have just learned that the last one of the girls has married, and that +is the youngest of the family. They all have good partners for life, +which does not come to all large families. God bless such a father and +mother, who have taken such good care of the training of their children. + +Mr. John Lovett was one of the teachers of whom I shall speak of, as I +boarded in their house for four years. A more lovely woman never lived +than his mother. She is known far and wide as one of the best ladies to +keep boarders and she has a lovely family of girls and boys. Mr. Thomas +Lovett is a doctress, who is one of the finest ladies that lives. She is +from the North and she has some of the best people of the Northern +cities that she waited on, and they love her to-day for the kind care +that she had for them. + +Miss Emma Carter is one of the teachers, and Miss Lizzie Sims, Miss +Frances Sims, Mr. Burrell and Mr. C. H. Plummer; and of later years Miss +Mary Brackett has gone there as one of its teachers and there are others +that have gone there as teachers. The dear good work is going on in the +strength of the Lord and I hope that He will still bless his work. The +same that I said of Miss C. L. Franklin I will say of Miss Lulia +Brackett, who is married now and is still one of its beloved teachers. +She loves the work of teaching the negroes better than her own life and +all that she has in Maine. God bless those dear teachers, as they labor +there for my own dear people whom God has blessed in getting an +education. + +Miss Lulia Brackett married a Mr. Loughtner, who is a school master for +the whites at the Ferry, and who is a fine school teacher and whom the +people like very much. It is a joy to meet him on his way to his +school-house. + +Mr. William Bell is one of the the teachers whom we all love dearly, and +he taught school outside for a while before he came to teach at the +college. He had the greatest success as a teacher. May God bless those +faithful ones as they are far from their homes, family, friends and +loving ones. + +I had the pleasure of working for a fine family in Brooklyn by the name +of Davis, and I found them all a lovely family. I had the pleasure of +going away in the country one Summer to a place called Flemington, N. J., +and we had a fine time as it was his father and mother's home, and they +had a dairy farm and all of the nice things that one finds in the +country. I was not well while there as it was low land, and one of their +daughters was not well, so I feeling that I would be better to come home +they got ready and come on home, and I left them and went to my home +where I could rest. In the Fall I was so much better that I was able to +go back out West and take up my work again. When I had finished my +public school I taught a pay school for the Summer and had a large +number of scholars, and they progressed well. Some of them would go +without their food all day to study extra lessons. + +It would be all of a joy to the whole world to have seen how well all of +the girls, boys, young men and young ladies did in all of the schools +where I have had the pleasure of teaching. + +I have never taught in any school with any other teacher or teachers, +and I was so much more blessed, for all teachers have a way of their +own. The new teacher always makes so much change in a school and in the +pupils, I found that to do good work in school I should stay long in one +place, that I might bring the scholar near to me. Sometimes I have had +it rough, but in it all I can see the hand of God leading me to do all +that I could to help forward the great cause of education in those parts +where there was so much need. + +I have just learned that the Rev. J. D. Fulton has had a stroke and I +cannot tell how he is at this time, but I can not do any work until I +hear from him, as I have had my mind on him for some time, as he was +somewhere in Massachusetts and I had not heard from him for some time. +The last time that I heard from him he was not well, and I knew that he +was so great for working that I feared he would break down. + +So I wrote to Mrs. Wamsley, his daughter, and shall wait to hear how he +is, for I know she will let me know at once as she is there with her +father. + +I have heard from her and he is better, thank God, and not dead, as so +many thought, for he does so much work that no one thought that he could +get over it. + +And here on this 20th day of January I fell sick myself and have not +been able to take up my work until the 4th day of March, and once more +in the strength of the Lord I have taken up this work and hope to push +it as fast I can, and I hope to finish it in the near future if the Lord +wills. I hope that all who will may have the pleasure of knowing of +something of the joys and of the sorrows that have crowned this little +life of mine, but in and through it all I have seen the blessed hand of +Him who is wise. + +March 4th, 1897. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: The following errors in the text have been left +uncorrected from the original. + +Page 8: "the House's took off" +Page 16: "formed like her's" +Page 49: "all of whom are are very fine" +Page 58: "like a father to me?" +Page 60: "Mr. Thomas Lovett is a doctress, who is one of the finest + ladies that lives." +Page 61: "one of the the teachers" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Slave Girl's Story, by Kate Drumgoold + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SLAVE GIRL'S STORY *** + +***** This file should be named 17871.txt or 17871.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/8/7/17871/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Susan Skinner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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