"Life Histories/Stories," Sumter County.
Folder contains 37 pages of life histories and stories compiled for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.I • • De _ laU. • • 1 • f • ., • • • • 1 t. ..... • an 5 • • ." t t. , , • t •,. " .' ., 1 • • • John R. Este., Epss, "labama March 21,1939 R.P.T. A speck...
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WPA Alabama Writers' Project "Life Histories/Stories," Sumter County. |
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WPA Alabama Writers' Project Alabama--Biography; Alabama--Social life and customs; Alabama Writers' Project; Sumter County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress Administration |
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Folder contains 37 pages of life histories and stories compiled for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.I •
•
De _ laU. • • 1
• f • ., • • • •
1 t. ..... • an
5 • • ."
t t. , , • t •,. " .' ., 1
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John R. Este.,
Epss, "labama
March 21,1939
R.P.T.
A speckled hen and her chicken. scratched coutentedly ln the
saall front lard of a four 1'0011I cottage where blue Roman hyaclnths
and yellow jonqul1s bloomed.
An old man ln a faded w.lsh s'llt sat on the narrow porch and
rocked ln a home made hlckory chalr.
"Co e on ln If you aln't afrald of a cold because that's what
.e lln Jr.y old lafy's Qot, an' Mighty bad on~at that. I'm just settln'
out here ln the sunshlne tryln!> to make up my mind to tl0 put up t.hem
chickens for her, 'cause the cow klcked her over yestldy and she
can't glt erbout to-day.W~t tryln' tel' hook her or nothlng 11ke that,
,fOU see that old CON'S bllnd ln one eye and myoId lady wuz ml1kln'
her and that 11ttle old dog there run between her legs and the co.. glve
er sudnen tu~n and knocked the old lady flat. Her head sort of struck
the slde 0 the barn and thlltS
,
whats troubllng her worse en any thlng
else. I too¥ her ln to soc Dr. Scales last nlght and he glve her SOr:letlng
to eaB9 hor paln, ehen stropped her up, sa1d she m1ght have broke
,
er rlb er two cffilld.nt tell, then ag1n hit could be er tloat1n' kidney.
Sl~'s s1ck so much I bale her If the cow hunn't ~ocked her down 't..ould
er been sowe-thin' else)but she SllyS that's "sorry comfort". I just been
.
tel11nu her while she's la1d up I think 1f .e had er stork of corn for
ever or.e or t~er:l 11ttlo old jomm1e-JUr:lp-upsout there, that h1t w111
lOOK Jos IlS pretty,und we'll be a heap s1te better orr, but she'd have
II flt If ther:l ch1ckens scratohed up er one of them 11ttle old flower ,
bushes. She says rals1n corn 1s ~y Job, but them flower bushes een
thero ever s1nce she come here, ann there they're bonna stay. Come to
thlnk of lt theylre been there a lot 10"6er than that, 'cause th1s
here 1s Pa' s oln place en lola set them flowers out r1.;ht after they
movelll here froj~ down on the .Blgbee. I Vi'~nt not1ng but a 11ttle
• shaver then, we~~ I wQnt so ~1tt~e e1ther,'bout twe~ve I reckon, an'
I'm g01n' on 7~ new. Been ~lv1n' r1ght hore e"er s1nee then. I was bern
,
arlV5Mart1n~ was
tho' on grand_father's p~antat10n 'bout four m1~es trom here at wnat
/ they ca~~ed o~~ Mart1n's ferry. See my grandfather
French and th..t ferry was named fer hi.l, that's how corne it sounds d1ff-
. I
erent fro the wa you oa~~ 1t. Yes sir he wuz French a~~ ribht, an him
and his brot'sr o~ e over here on a boat when they wuz smu~~ boys. GranaPa
was sixtsen an his bro~her was ~4. Grand-Pa said hit wuz 3 days 'fore
any body kno~ed thoy wuz on that boat. They were Jes stored away and
never tad noth1n' but a ~1t~~e o~e hard tac, or semetin' ~1ke ~hat to eat
that they ~ubh~ lith the • R1s brother died in New York en never got to
•
Al..ba_ but lirand-Pa .ent on to ~1rginia nd f1nally rr1ed there a
woman DHme ary Ann Cathey, they had one ch1~d an that was Ma en her hame
I wuz ~sun Mat11da Mart1n • -a wuz er baby in arms or you rn1bht e~y Jes
tod~1n 'bout,cnuse I've heerodhen say when they o~ome to A~abams 1n ths
ear~y days thsy corne 1n " oovered wagon , en that 11tt~e ohair thero ccme
right
,
with em. 'they were 'oong the first to erOBS the river)the 1st white
ssttlers roulld here,and they had to bu1~cI a raft, tie poles to-~ether
so as to cross the 8igbee,and ma, ohild like sa1d she tried to play 1n
the water .'·11e tpy were po11n' em across/and she fe~l in and er negro
boy they d oal~ed Lewis rt1n' pu~~ed •her out. My and father bou~t
up a ~ot of ~and ribht there on the ~igbee where they crossed at and later
I built Yartin' r erry and ~ived there the rest of his ~ife••t least his
fami~y did, but he wuz er ~"nd 8peculato~ and went al~'over evey where
buyin' up land ti~ he was one of tho richest men in this part of the
oountry, and 1f o~d Lewis Warti~ that same nibOer whut ~llled Ma out
the river had 11vedf'd have as muoh as any-body the rest of my days. You
see the Yankees rched on Livingston and the @onrederates sent out
runners te~~in~ overy body. We~l there wQPt no anks here then sO grand-pa
)
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took er old black pot knd wrapped up 150,000 in ~old and put in it, and
him and Lewis carried it
Lewis ir ne tole anybody
• out on thc river and burried it !: grand-Pa told
)
where it wuz he'd kill hi • ~t ni~t Grand_Pa oome
back hoce en che exceto ont run hi~, I duno, but I reckon hit wuz too
• ch rer him)anthow he bud er stroke and w s dead 'fore knybody eyer knowed
he'd hid the r:loney. He Just Yf"nt in his clear mind no co' arter that,en
when it come to payin6 the runerul expensos Grand-Ma couldn't rind the
moneY,en Lewis I reckon wuz akeered to tell. ell or long timo arter that
Lewis sent rer me one dark night, he'd had er tooth pulled over in Marengo
,is wire to send arster", that
en erysiplas et in and the]toctor said wqnt
•
rer "Little
no hope rer him, so he told
as whut Lewis always called
me, IC>luse he tole hor he wuz gonna d1.e en he wanted to tell me where the
'J
wt.ite oak tree wuz on the.dibbee where they burried the oney when the
• YankeeS co_.e. I tole Pa I wus oin' to see 'bout old Lewis en When I got
there Lewis was as dead as a door nuil. His wire wuz so ske red she couldn't
recollect nothing he said)Jes er white oak and that was ull. nellre looked
rer er long ti 0 but didn't novbody~ever rind nothing. ~was too much
territory. 'Oa.se ea had er heap or land lett hi , but John aoKinnis, lived
right up yonder near tha told church)beat him out ot pretty near all he had.
Grand-Pa you see speculated in Plorida and o,mod one hundred and oleven
sections right 'here ~allahassee stands today. He 0 ed a mile square st
Pensacola where they ha~ the rirst rishing ahacks7and sixteen plantations
in Maringo, Green and tiale , but John cKiru\ia beat him out of most every
bit of it. Not young John ot Meridian, but his t a old ;an John I cKinnis. He
took one hundred and e~J1t:r balos ot cotton on a boat down the river to
)(obi:l.e and sold hit, claimed som how hit belonged to him, but it was
He was ono of th biSuest scoundtels
a,and she never aot a cent out ot it.
in this section or the country. It
natural born ~~,tt. Yes sir we ou~t to have er heap we ain't got. Been
•
,
here long enough an 01.11 of us haM worker. When Illy Grand_Pa co",e bere
there wlUlt no J>pes, th1s her wuz all 4rone.lhurr in them day., naCJe fer
er old If_breed Indian Jim Jones. He owned' oat all this land ~ounl'l here rrom
Warsaw to tho ~octaw line. ~be tribes had given him a lot or it, and all the
early settlers 11ke J.P. Hillman and "be Hillman, old "",n 19i111e Holloway
and Jim JJeo's father,they walted to buy it foom him. He lived up 'bout the
fort on the l1igbee, 'fou oan see where the fort used to bo fro" over hore,
'ell one night Christcas eve I bolieve~ it as,back in 1833 these early
w...ite settlers got to--..ether an' went up there)they said to malee Jim er
good offer fer h1s land, coae I dunno whut it wuz they offered hilllJbut
Jim rerused to sell,and the;r killed III and burried him riuht there on the
river?snd in 1915 when the Colonial~ames of ~Merioa wus having that piece
of lIIarble put there to rk the olcl fort,I b'lost if the.r di<ln't dig up
old Jim Jones bones. Cose they burried'emorgin r1.,r.t erlong closo by 1n
that bunch of cedar t.,ees )but seom sort of sad to me, to thinlc sl"-out old
Jim. Thon Jin's son 1n..J.sw er l'ronch man nallle La Bruce \'th>it IUtlrr1ed Jims
1nd1an daughter, claimed the land,on so they had to trade with him. Ma
sa1d ho wuz #r nice gentleman to be carr1ed to tho t 1ndian, ut he left
f .~ herien wont dowr 1n M1ss. with tho rest of 'e and '7.~ver heered whut
becoLe of hi • Yos s1r r1bht up thero where old Jim Jones lived stood the old
!ort ~onbecbee as she was called,bu11t by the order of the Uovernor of
Louis1ana .Brenv1l1e ,and 1 t says on the monUl'lent whut is true 1 mow "Here
~ivi11zat10n and ~avaoery beheld the U~ory of 'ranee". ¥es sir I wuz r1ght
there the day they unveiled her" faet is I barbecued overy b1t or the mest
fer the d1r>ner 7en hit wu~ erbout ez good er barbecue e~I ever et 1f I do aay
so myself. "'eflin ~ tile speaker, en he's er good 'en,but· ~never
voted fer him y~t,en never will rur ez at goea. Yea that old fort has aeen
er hoap uv b.ood shed. The Prenoh , Erit1sh ani ~pan1ards, ~sed to be oalled ... . l'ort eonfederation. Cloaa by there tho whites troated with the chactaw
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1nd1ans old Mushulatu~be Puckshenub~ee and Pushmataha ror the land they , - ownedA••_ or tho !0I'lb1gbee. Even I can re ember the ind1ans around here,
many as 75 or a hundrod .fhen they'd come in the sp~ing w1th blow-guns
arrows and baskots. The squaws would s1t down rlat on tho gournd with
the papoosos strappod on their books and wn1trror the indian men to do
the trad1n'. 'J.~lore '101'0 3 soloons '101'0 in theln days but it was against
the law ot soil "r1re water• thoy culled 1t, to the ind1ano, but when -
uch can't honestly tell whllt ~ d1d
to stllrt ho:ne they'd let em have a row drin~s and
"whoop pee" r1bht now us they rode orr toward
the 111dians wero ready
I I Can hoar -em yellino
the botto,s. 4ve hoorod Ma tell so
soo on what I d1dn't, but sho kno.ed th1s oountry whon they had so ~y
l1ttle olaok bellI'S here oy Gran-ra h d to take the nic;ger f1n~ sh1rs en
let sone sloep daY7so at ni~t they'd tllko torohos and boat on tim b~ckets
1n the corn f1eld to lI:eop tho bears !'rom eatin' up Illl tho roseunoers,
and they said thoy had high pa11n's to try to keop the bears from oatohing
the chillun. eose this was all cleared u~ when ± come erlong but I
>
recollect rust olectrio 1i<7lts, fJ"C at lTs.es Jllurr. 'J.'he Atlanta eonst-itCltion
co e out .. yin,; the Hattio B. ooro ';ould "ome up the river next
,
run w1th ~leott~li~hts, my oodness you never saw [s ny rol,ks in all
your lire .s was on the river banks,cll up and down the river men women
en ol1illun wtlitin reI' that boat. Pretty soon here ..he cone purfin' en er ~t,
blowin' en hit wuz or si.)1t to behold. Looked liko tho whole shebaklg "US
on firo. See thoro ~3 boa.s ~~up and down the river horo to Mobile.
The Hard Cash, '.cho '.ca ll1 and tho lfattio.8. )1001'0. '!'he Rain..Door run horo ,
too but sho s~nk. ~ll t em boats run 'til JUlle, they stopped in June, had
landi~s like Gainosv111e, Jonos Blurr,~1als landing 'bout rour miles
down tho river rI'o horo, and 1Jirdens Illndin whero ]l\I.lzell and all his
ram1ly as raised at, and the BrRssriold landinb co. e in there at
•
forkland. ~r.~ ~ol'lopolis and so on dO¥n to Mobile. Boats ~ant allowod to 4
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C/o)
"oome out on Sunday t'all, luld to oome out on ::'nddy and dook llbol£lt the
tide ater or else wait 'til a ornay omin' •
Jones Blurf and I'd be erlong with him.
up there,)here at
on as manyas 5 or 6
..l1:Cl n,(}:u.berts P
Seen him put
Pa used to load ootton fer Mr
thousand b~les at u t~e. The mate would oome out on top of one them
blurfs with or ax handle 1n his hand and holler at dem n1guers, ouss em,
and sOlne time I've seed h1m knook one of em off them lime rook 011ffs. My
e he was cruel. ::'ee the niguel'S had to load en unload every thing. They'L
tate to the stores the sugar al~ flour and coffee in big sacks bDougbt up
from de merohants in Mobilo, en some time a nigger would git pretty careless
en drop er sack en bust it, Lordy but he'd be sorry 'fere dat mate got
thru wid him. S e the mate always come out on land but the Laptain he stayed
on the bOllt. s I reme~er they had 12 deok hands, 2 engiueers, en 8 pilots
day en night sh11t. Had 2 what they culled ro~ster bouts one for dayan'
one~ibht to split up ligh'ood for the toroh p",ns. llad 2 little baskets
on each side held tereeiae lamps for the ~0",d-11ghts, and if they'd land
here at night they'd run ha~ out oouple of thee l1ttle torch pans on a
tree so as to seo how to git up de bluff w1th 11 the stuff they bad. That
was before the Hattie~. got electric libhts. ~an she was a pretty siJht
as I ever seen. tlow :rou take the people that used to go backwards an ford-wards
to 140bile on them boats. +hey luld great b!1g hotel for 'em 1n them
d"'Js r1;;ht up
I en tt-ey d all
trere on the 1I1gbee)back of whel'e Doc Henegan nsed tar live,
come down en sta:r at that hotel wa1tin' reI' the boat)and if
you were a planter and had any ootton to sell th6ae 00~iss10n merohants.
• J d1dnt thank nott'in to pay all yemr expenses on the boat to Nobile and all
)
¥pu had to do wuz jes sell 'em your ootton. The:r'd make J:ou have a good
time all r1ght.
4'he, show
white folks up
fed bOed on the boats too. ~eeJ hands et on l~ deok and
-'
in de oabins. fhey'd stop en git er oow or er pig and out
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it up and dress it aice. and they ~d rniJbtygood cooks too en every body
could aat all they mind to. "ant no body to stop you. ManyJifthe t1me I've
rid on them steam boats. ~ likedMobile so much ~ thougnt atter :growned
up I'd like to settle there en r did ter er little while, then ~ COme back
to be with a and Pa, en here I beon ever eince. I run the ~pee eotton
I oil ompanySmill o.t nisht ter 'bout twentythree !ears, the. 1= was ';he toll-keeper
yonder on that bridge 'Bore they treed hit, there 'bout six years
torm :>epte"ber 'til .4!arch. f?ignt there's wh"re
I remember hearin' bout that reckon don t you!
I kilt Red Windham. You
ell Red was a L1akable sort
ot tellow when he
l .idnt want to pay
want drink1ng)but trouble was he was always drinking, he
I
no toll en I d1dnt want to have no trouble 'bout that
li1>tle moneYJbut seemed like he "US just looking tor tllouble,en it come
to~e qu~r10n ot me er htm, en seed one or the other ot us WU~ gonna
I •
d1e sure en certlinJso I lowed hit 'ffizn't no need ot it be1ng me, so
long as i was in the right cordin' to law any way, so I h&d to I<ill him.
Pretty bad en I am,'t got 0 er it /et
7
100ks like on dark n1.,htsup there by
the tort 1 can hear old Ped holler ter holt )but 'twant noting' else I could
do r reckon• .But :r don't care 'bout taltin' 'bout that so ~',ch let~ get
back to old t1mes.
Look out thcre on that tence at them 2 old quilts. Bet you I aint never
seen none no prett1er. Ive been ottered b~ .oreland Nixon titty dollars er
, - piece ro~ em. dut I'll have to be poorer than ~ am now to tako it. he dye
• I I tor them quilts was cade right down at ~lart1n~terry at Grand_PaJplantat10b,
out ot OQperous and b rk and suck l' ke, tt.e thread was spun there and the
cloth woven every speok ot it by the negroes on the plaoe. One's the tUlip
pattern , and terget the other name but to my way or thinking they dont
cake quilts pretty as them two hanginb out there • .!hem en er old ohina hen
•
dish is ull I~e got lett ot~~ old things 1 tlllit be4n belonged to my l1ttle
sister, ma g1ve it to her ~nd she d1ed When she wopt COre en aeven years old,
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so Ive kept it as er rememberance of her.
Ive got Urand_fa's brQther pDcket book I forgot that, liaed
with red silk and his name kariu6 Martih cut in it. Pa cut it there
I'm pretty sure. Lots or folks wants to bU~ them quilts but I aint
h\1Il3I'y yet. /fell I bettsr reed the old la-l1's chickens and put emup fer
her or she'll be hoppin~ out here herself 'fore long. ~ell Miss
ftead,the lady what sees &Vout the niggers, to cooe out any time after
I to day en I'll go with her do~n on the bend 'cause don t no body
hardly know this country and the ro~s do.m in de bott,,"'tS like I do')
just been here so long. J. reckon, b'l\lt somo times.± think it '/font be
I so long now. The old ladys trying 'Jors'tade oe not to rarm none t: is
year, didn't really fa none to 'mount to nothind last year, jes er
little corn on this here six acres/but 1 hates to ,i~uP)hates to git
old en 1 doan want to be dependent. ~ ~a1n't yet)I~e got a littie saved
up, mine en the old 1 "' s nest egit I oalls it/ind that reminds me I
better be put tinll , up them chickens 'fore I hears s Ome thin , 1 aint
after hearin'. lih"'s mibhblpllaceful tho/the old ladY,~.hen she's rioht
,,"Ii'f ),
well but she's ailin er heap looks like lately.
.) ~
- -_. Samuel !~ ~
Ruby '"'.Tartt
Livingston ,Ala.
Recently literature of the 'merican frontier has given especial interest
to .Tosenh Baldwin's The Flush Times of labama and 'UssissippL
'any of the characters in this book were taken fro~ real life.One
of these characters is"::;amual • le,~s~uire and the original was ~amuel
ugustus Hale,a young lawyer of Livingston, labama.
~amuel Hale and .Toseph Baldwin were oracticing attorneys and intimately
a-socisted in this small town of west ,labama at the time Baldwin's
book was published in I853. lder citizens of Livingston today
remember that it was common knowledge among their parents that .Toseph
Baldwin had caricatured his friend in his book and thay have told many
episodes of Samuel Hele es revealed in Flush Times.
For instance younger Livingstonians have been brought up on the
story of the ew England school me.rm who was an abolitionist and the w~y
Samuel Hale got rid of herrIn Flush Times the schoolmarm is one 'iss
Charity l' oodey.• at a party one evening"Samuel Hele "Espire"entertained
her with t~e wickedness of certain Livingston people talking at length
of the~",-4''' fIlen qnd the horrible things the were apt to do,The next day
"iss CHarity packed her trunk end left.
Samuel Hale was closely related to Samuel Nathan Hale,the martyr-spy
of the '~erican Revolution,and Edward Everett Hale,author of"~he
• Man without a Oountry. His brother was .Tohn ~arker Hale who by the spec-
• tacular "Hale Storm of I845 " converted an apparently overwhelming emo-cratic
majority in ew Hampshire. to the ranks as an 'bolitionist and a
humanitarian crusader won for him the presidential nomination of the
'Il'ree Soi~ Democrats in I852 and later the nost as n,inister to Spain.
Samuel ~ale was borm in ew Hamnshire in I809.He was educated
in law and came early to Alabama where he found a congenial ~t~osphere
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for the tradition of his ew Hampshire family had been 'strongly nemocrati~.
In I837 he became editor of the Flag of the Union published at Tusca100sa,
Alabama,then the capial of the state.He was twenty-eight and had
just finished at Bowdoin College. Some years later his brother was read out
of t e Democratic arty because of opposition on antislavery grounds to
the annexation of Texas.Samuel Hale himself was a Democrat.The Flag of the
Union had been established to 0 pose the sp~ead of the doctrine of nullification
in Alab~a.He was urged tn keep the paper true to the pribciples
for the su~port of which it had been founded and for nine years he was an
influence at his post and enjoyed the patronage of the Democratic administration
in the State.
nroblems however growing out of the re-annexation of Texas and occupation
of Oregon set many men on their guard. The rapidly decreasing proportion
of the Southern representation in Congress and the disputes over
the introduction of slavery into newly acouired territories increased
their uneasiness. Southerners were everywhere turning to the Constitution.
The Alabamians had geberally renounced nUllification as inexpedient
and unconstitutional,but by the late pQrties many of them felt that the
ver~ foundat~ons of their welfare and haopiness were threatened.
A minority advocate'] secession. From his office in Tuscaloosa,samuel
Hale watched the growth \v1thin the Democratic partY,of an extreme ~tates'
.
Rights group ••3 he saw the rising tide of seoession sentiment about him
he came to be dominated b~ a devotion tn the ideal of the union ,this became
the ruling passion.
Samuel Hale could not stOD the rising tide.For his oDposition to the
members of the emocratic party holding extreme opinions on the doctrine
od States' Rights he was denounced as an"unsate"man. By I846 the inevetable
had haopened.He was deprived of the patronage of the Darty and in that year
cease1 to be editor of the Flag of the Union.
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For a deoade now Hale had made himself one of the people among whom
he had lived.He had imbibed Southern notions and the looal mode of
life.The l~nes were not yet so sharply drawn so Hale deoided to return
to his study and praotioe of law. He sold his interests in Tusoaloosa
and moved to Livingston.
The above faots giving the baok ground are from Hunter Farish
what followed after moving to Livingston is known by all of its older
inhabitants and Alabama HistorieBS.
Livingston is in the heart of the fertile Blaok Belt of labama.
Sumter had been part of the rioh domain of the Chootaws.~~en they had
relinq-uished it by the Treaty of the Danoing Rabbit of 1830 settlers
had rushed in to seize the rioh lands.Soon it was peopled almost wholly
by large slave holders and their slaves,This settling of the land re-sulted
in muoh litigation and Sumter beoame a "Rioh haven 'for the
asoiring young lawyer Hale.Here he praotioed suooessfully for many years.
In many respeots these years brOUght Hale oontentment,for in Sumter
were brilliant oolleagues,here was a oultivated and hospitable 300iety
oomposed lar~el' of Virginians. Twioe Hale married Livingston omen
belonging to prominent "irginian families.His first wife was 'ary Ann
Bolling and he later married a widow the former Ellen Lee ,the riohest
woman in the oounty.Through these marria es he beoame a ootton planter
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end large
Union ~~an
slave owner ,and yet until t'e war oame he oalled himself a
and alway~ expressed himself freely.
The years of the war however brOUght distress to Samuel Hale.
His isolation beoame a 1 but oomplete.He denounoed seoession as an aot
of "oriminal fo'ly" and soon he faoed personal violenoe and loss og
property. He was plaoed with seven Union men to be hanged by enraged
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secessionists and his escape he attributed to the timely arrival of
~herman at tlanta.
'Vhen peace came Hale did not long enjoy days of Quiet.He was
soon stirred by the course affairs were taking about him.~umter County
with its lar e black population was proving an El Dorado for the
political adventurer. It was soon in an nproar.
Toward the end of 1857 Hale wrote a series of elo~uent letters
to 'enator Henry "'ils:)O of assachusetts .He warned the Re"lublican
leader of the unwisdom of the course his ~arty was pursuing in 'labama
•
and pro ested
carpetbag and
agains~ the domination of the party in
scalawag element. ~ppealin~t~~Ond as a v
the South by a
fellow Republ1-
can he now sought to check the course so madly followed under Radical
inspiration.
In a letter in 1858 that reaffirmed his loyalty to the party he
pointed out that with a large body of whites in \labama,disfranchised,
the negroes,of whom the great majority were utterly unfitted for the
task would under proposel constitution for the State have it in their
power t~ make all political decisions,Ve regarded this constitution as
an infamous outrage up~n civilization.~e expli ed that he favored
giving the negro a nualifie~ right of suffrage for the present,believing
this was necessary for his protection under the new order and that it
would _timulate him to improvement.But he thought it utmost folly to
confer u on him,imnediately and with,ut condition,full privileges of
citizenship.qe warned ~enator 'ilson th,t the circumstances under which
the two races there found themselves were sufficiently antagonistic of
themselves to cause seri~us apprehension in the minds of all thinking
men,and that these fears were greatly increased by th diabolical
o •
, •
•
5
conduct of the reckless and unprincipled adventurers who have come
among us from the orthern States and affiliated with the blacks.
But Senator ""lson did not agree with Hale and his views representing
the ne oes believing that the start in reorganization should be on a
basis of equal rights for all men.•Hale', s appeal had failed.
uring the summer of I870 the town of Livingston was thrown into
a frenz~ of panic wheh it was reported on the day set for a Republican
convention there,that a body of armed freedmen was approaching the town
wi h the pur ose of sacki it.The alarm was spread and the negroes were
disbanded by t: 4< S"he.riFJ' before they arrived at T ivin ston. 'llatever
their intention had been,serious-minded citizens we~e aghast at t~e trend
of events. mO,i" unf~rtunate af air resu ted in the killing of a negro
Baptist nreacher who was said to have incited the action of the freedmen.
In I870 a roup of liber~l Republicans in the North dispairing of
influencing Renublican party counsels began to denounce the co~ru~tion
of t~e Grant administration and to oppose Grant's policy of federal interference
in Southern ~olitics. In I87I the radically controlled Congress
a pointed a "Joint Select COI:llllittee to innuire nto the condition of
affairs in the Late In,urrectionar -'tates".
It was in this capacity as a Republican and an honest man that
3amuel Hale t';as sllmmonsed by the minority before the subcoI:llllittee sitting
at Livingston in the fall of I87I.Hale was now aa old and retired
frOM the practice of his pfofession. ,gain he appeared in the role in
which Joseph Bald~in had cast him.He is induced to aid in driving the
mischief maker out of the land.
"'hen cuestioned Hale did not conceal or condone injustice and oppression
where it had occurred. But he denounced the policies of the
•
--- •• l
I
-I-I
••
~ ,
L. B. Runlcle..l~
Livingston, labama
){ay 20, 1939
R. P. T.
,
If you can get in this little ole shack you're
more than welcome. ou see this room was for coal. kr.
Lyon over there built it, and when m en my two little
-h , ....
boys rode in here on the train, I smuggled
the boys i
on in it.
, we slept in this here shed, then we just stayed
-~
'/
And finally the ladies in the town built that
little sleepin' porch you might call it, on to the back
so as the boys could get some fresh air. 'Tain't much of
a house, but it beats sleepin' out all right; en anyway it
At least, I was born there baok in '82 and I stayed between
two rows of corn till I was twenty-one years old. ~hen I
went out to Brandon, Colorado, and homestea ed. I had
half section out there and had to farm forty acres for hree
years, to make proof. I raised mostly cane and a little
•
affer corn. finally put six ~undred dollars of mine
and my paw's money into that place. Put in deep well,
. ,
•
-3-
know his business, and so I called hit murdsr. the Presbyterian
minister said hit wuzn't nuthin' else. "sll,
after that I took my two little boys and went to ~i.k. Missouri •
e st~ed there two or three years, I can't remember which.
I worked there for Mr. Lyon end when he moved here, I followed
with his cows. I knew hi wuzn't a good idea. You
Just can't move Battle too far. I found that out back in
r Bsour1. t he wanted them five cows moved, so I sm gled
my l1ttle boys in with me, and I undertook it. ~our of them
died, but we got here, an~ I liked it and we stayed. Mr. Lyon
said they got poisoned on the trip and he collected from the
ra~oad. don't know about that, but I buried the cows
for him after we got here.
II I got here with 3.50, but I tore my pants so bad
in the car that the first thing I done I bought myself a
pair of overhauls with part of it. "ight about that tims
I was pretty much worried 'bout what was going to happen
to everybocy. ~imes wuz mighty hard. and I had 6t hard tims.
They wanted to put the little boys in a home somewhere, but
I didn't have nobody left and so I wanted to ksep 'sm myself.
I thought I could man8P,e somekbw. Then the relief offics
wanted to hslp us, but I was s rong and well and I didn't
see no reason Why couldn-t get some sort of work without
..- .
•
-1-
L. • RUlfKLI
L. B. Runkle _ WH-Irp:
L1v1n:slon, Alabnm
May 20, 1 39
R. r. 1.
.f you c n vpt 1n this little ole s~ack nu'~A
o~ a ""leoone. 'ou ep. t 18 1"00 8 "0- I"oAl. ~.
L10 OTer t"e e bu11t 1t, nl"d wh n mB en ~. t n i+ Ie
boys role 1u here on the e1" 1" S" r. train, 1
the boys 1n, e slept In this he~e shed, hen e jU9t st yed
on 1n it. ~nd f1nally the ladies i the to· n built that
Ii tle 81ee~1n' porch you might c 1 it, on to t b c:C
SO 8 the boye cOilld get some fresh 11". 'Tr.in't much or
o ae, but it be ts sleer in' O"t 11 right, er "uy" y it
meant 1 coul~ • "en tI,e boys ·1th I&e ~n'l nt's h,1 I
wnnt"A 10 do. "ee, I co' 1".) "hpl ' v· 11" Y. III nois.
1 lea t. ! s bo"'n
two rows of corn t111 I w s t entY-one year~ old. + el" 1
wt! out 0 ...~ do , "0' or 0, a d o"'e ell e • I >- I"
half 8ection Olt t I"S 0 f r f I" a ~ 8 r I" e
year to ake roof. I I" 1"e mo ..,-. cnre rn 1<+ 1..
0 ffer oorn. i 1'1na11y t 81x llldred 1 r or 1 e
and my pa 's mane:" 1nto 1 1 oe. .'Ut in er .t"p well,
• •
ot rrie1 to
-2-
wo an .).0 s hOTes ~din' O'lt there
rrom out in,~ s 9Dd after sr.e go
lert and .e~t beck to ·~eas.
o'ly e nd er
plaee. ,
a got t erty-two hundred doll e out of he
a healthy all ri ht, but Ue '1 d wuz 0
bad. lew yo ofr yo' reet, e 'bout. ~o 1 wae kin~er
lad to le e. ~it waz pretty lovell o~ t~er 1n the
jay, u- course. 1 de that cla1m berore I e~er round
t'le iIIO:'3an, Juat 11 ved by II,Y aelr out there, nsver '~now d
nvb01y. lie went tO~ba, iaaour1, rroPl t ere. nd 1
ad oip' ty-five a.cre of 1 nd, 0" 1 .. (\O~. J. on' on
a~!l Bold 1 • J.t s,s 0 ll'/ roo 1 there - coulln't "i e •
m ch. ,had rlve or six aore in h y, ut hn COlrt y
wa'n't hut you ml h oall '83lthy, no liks' ls here
cl1~' there. J. likc it here be l' th n ny_here 1
been.
, ore
•
come here, I never pas-e1 ~ winter lth-out
eelt: ~ zero ·eat.ler. "'ut J. got reatless t r the
,10 oIl 'le. "'l. die" at t e b1r h, fter tnro'd my youn 'e'
boy. Ha.d rlve birtha, and three of 'e~ died. ·he rire
t 0 died, t.he' e vel ;unior, then Harold, and the wOPlan
le • three doctors, but 1 say the rir one didn't
• •
-4.-
bel a burcen on the "'cvernment, eo 1 plddled 'rount .
I dldJ1 let a lad glve so clothes tor the little
boys - sald her boy IIro 'd , 01 em. p.nd the e1 ed
out 6r lot. ..hen bne df Y dldn't ve no re/"l r Job
so got otfere' one ~o be- J .nltor ~t the "'0 -t llOUFf8.
.ald t e176 dollar~ cr wr t. I .
• 0 1
evet" d. te 0 1 l ..n ·~-.It I',' on ~1 .. ,. T
o 18 & uooc. er ole ~e·ro 0
l' e t.e b- •
e he C
vourt ....0 :Jet en W".l:: seer t.e 'd -'t ~u ~t up 0" -~nned
over. eli h:lt Court ~ou tt \.un
I no ace for 'er. les
mat • it, be ~hcre n) , but ~ w~snf wi lin; to cnv r
u 011 t 1 t 1 seen. I •\ es' In't th SQ.~t ~ ~e.n so J. ~ ....... ,
wrote t1e ~overnor and 011 h III whut ent on and BO 1 'ot
eanned. I ... e'" S1Ir ri s • but I t"'1111C .. don ill .. t ""to
r1 ht.
:IT. "0 ellla lT the e ls {(: bll': " ti1: l: 0 ,. ,e •
of' t n ; n"e "0 0 n' liT. ·h te 1s !\ es Y .. 1'1 ~n '
• •
oo~ "'Bl' • he's 1n p at Me e'ln n·cl'\ an' .1. 1 , - t
nothln 10 S - 1. ere ln t e Oil" .louse a.~' :r 0 o. ':088
• •
u', not
-6-
tr."t ba'!. -he". YlIU" ed e 1;0 s : no hln' "1'1' ,elp
them pn over t in e tite n 1 the dria~in, so~e at 'e 7.
~oi an' • lst 1 't do it. ~a t e herUt e. , beror
0
the 11 r' ~f .. ;r r ~e. It Ill" '7 ,elped
be t1 i "of at rna , 1 "'on't nw, bit It 00 1 d hove.
1 !l'n''t Ion:\" 'torr! - g~t ." .... e-o • ob 8'" 't",'" .... ~r8.
~ t a , a~ In It ,' q' con1 i 1/l • ... ., 1'1' n'alrles.
, 08 th~,..e'''' ., e 1'1'1 1~ ~o 1eot 1'1
'
, '\1w .,- , • t rofits
18 t .,' . 11'0 1 rt~np.v 1 • 's ' \ I.-Po "'''' ,t n~ .
-""eq, e
'l~1rf\ n 'nl • "1'1 t • ~ . • • O"le 1'1' _1 no' H. I • •
a u or enty-nlnp e 1 w C! c.... 1l -• :no-n 1'1-
hi tor t~elve cents e J)(,"Ul " t'. ,.; .. of ',ood e .
.l had er sm"ll 0 .. fo e IU1 ' the bo:r i1 • 4, C b ~~ or.e fl' .... 't
on the hook b t the 11 ttle 0"8 z. "8e the ii' one
swallo",in~ the 11t. e on , lIO a'n't none of 'em no tr Uble
to .f! ort, ~u in a 1 tt1e Ihlle the;," d er oth been -on" •
ollle oro th01'I" w"'ere ey ~o e fr'lPi. +h" no t '''' ,
+ h .. r en an' e cow, flO lie ge 'I ot • t
11 ,
ell, •+ In't R --v .. l' I ~p. • • " i/"' •
.,.. Bi 1e alld en h ~e ~ !l + o:tIl • I r , • nlr" •
, bOil 09$ h w en e w " in 0 ~'7 • J.h \rl- 11 e er
•
-7-
h1 t bout 0 h'" r +-'hpr ~ 0" II! "n' >: eon tloey z
to h1 ... J."'e"f11 s plnel' her.. h 0 " " .... 8. e "e..rl th t " u
dee 1se r.ot or 0 e , t1" 0 e or t e ,11. e I' 1- 0
W8.1 beho t .. .cc C • e F-t'l r, ,,~~ + Ii.. -,.." ~'- i
-eavt n I. ... loolt.. 11. evc"'y , 8.0 111. the ;,,:b e t sce 1:1'
tt.t .u e1 ever d arto !'ro yOl\, b' t ito /piv " :0 eve~y
chUd, o.nd tho t , • tty 0 00 no ection to I'ep,ven, yel't it
10. '0 1 h ve Illy 'hove 9ft ,,. t1"lelr '1)1"'" re!"B t 1'; e'" d ' t -\ l.' 8. • " .
n1 ht. T t CO ee tr'~ e - ware ..101' ~ (\U 1 it. a e trom.
l. ' 11 thp.',' v ..., t. Y .,.. "11' d'f'1\ er co .. #ro Oh 0 nd
01.' tle r. t .. 0",19 1n III hno£l. an~ it 17 0" E C""" r t
•
Rve a j '.l '" of 11 'lor t ]C" re-11 '" '.11. 1'E'lr. P '0 but tl:> ..v
• • ,
never 00 lId get i- 111. hE' n Rh >no 'ie '!l.tr 'HE' CO • .. t'rC'
·BID aT' l"ce to1 s. "ut ... 've 0 0 eli ver "01""8 -'0 -'e ~ ""er~.
I\\"es et" her. r 11.1 lea drC" 1!l't t·n t E' b",11 0(""1
• |
| title |
"Life Histories/Stories," Sumter County. |
| titleStr |
"Life Histories/Stories," Sumter County. |
| url |
http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/910 |
| id |
ADAHwpa910 |
| thumbnail |
http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/wpa/id/910 |
| _version_ |
1743797184946503680 |
| spelling |
GSU# SG022773_00946-00983SG022773_00946_00983"Life Histories/Stories," Sumter County.Folder contains 37 pages of life histories and stories compiled for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.1939 circa1930-1939Alabama--Biography; Alabama--Social life and customs; Alabama Writers' Project; Sumter County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress AdministrationTextDocumentsAlabama. Dept. of Archives and HistoryWorks Progress Administration filesSG022773WPA Alabama Writers' Project, Life Histories-Stories Sumter County #4Alabama Dept. of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36130EnglishThis material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though ADAH has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.96 dpi tiffI •
•
De _ laU. • • 1
• f • ., • • • •
1 t. ..... • an
5 • • ."
t t. , , • t •,. " .' ., 1
•
• •
John R. Este.,
Epss, "labama
March 21,1939
R.P.T.
A speckled hen and her chicken. scratched coutentedly ln the
saall front lard of a four 1'0011I cottage where blue Roman hyaclnths
and yellow jonqul1s bloomed.
An old man ln a faded w.lsh s'llt sat on the narrow porch and
rocked ln a home made hlckory chalr.
"Co e on ln If you aln't afrald of a cold because that's what
.e lln Jr.y old lafy's Qot, an' Mighty bad on~at that. I'm just settln'
out here ln the sunshlne tryln!> to make up my mind to tl0 put up t.hem
chickens for her, 'cause the cow klcked her over yestldy and she
can't glt erbout to-day.W~t tryln' tel' hook her or nothlng 11ke that,
,fOU see that old CON'S bllnd ln one eye and myoId lady wuz ml1kln'
her and that 11ttle old dog there run between her legs and the co.. glve
er sudnen tu~n and knocked the old lady flat. Her head sort of struck
the slde 0 the barn and thlltS
,
whats troubllng her worse en any thlng
else. I too¥ her ln to soc Dr. Scales last nlght and he glve her SOr:letlng
to eaB9 hor paln, ehen stropped her up, sa1d she m1ght have broke
,
er rlb er two cffilld.nt tell, then ag1n hit could be er tloat1n' kidney.
Sl~'s s1ck so much I bale her If the cow hunn't ~ocked her down 't..ould
er been sowe-thin' else)but she SllyS that's "sorry comfort". I just been
.
tel11nu her while she's la1d up I think 1f .e had er stork of corn for
ever or.e or t~er:l 11ttlo old jomm1e-JUr:lp-upsout there, that h1t w111
lOOK Jos IlS pretty,und we'll be a heap s1te better orr, but she'd have
II flt If ther:l ch1ckens scratohed up er one of them 11ttle old flower ,
bushes. She says rals1n corn 1s ~y Job, but them flower bushes een
thero ever s1nce she come here, ann there they're bonna stay. Come to
thlnk of lt theylre been there a lot 10"6er than that, 'cause th1s
here 1s Pa' s oln place en lola set them flowers out r1.;ht after they
movelll here froj~ down on the .Blgbee. I Vi'~nt not1ng but a 11ttle
• shaver then, we~~ I wQnt so ~1tt~e e1ther,'bout twe~ve I reckon, an'
I'm g01n' on 7~ new. Been ~lv1n' r1ght hore e"er s1nee then. I was bern
,
arlV5Mart1n~ was
tho' on grand_father's p~antat10n 'bout four m1~es trom here at wnat
/ they ca~~ed o~~ Mart1n's ferry. See my grandfather
French and th..t ferry was named fer hi.l, that's how corne it sounds d1ff-
. I
erent fro the wa you oa~~ 1t. Yes sir he wuz French a~~ ribht, an him
and his brot'sr o~ e over here on a boat when they wuz smu~~ boys. GranaPa
was sixtsen an his bro~her was ~4. Grand-Pa said hit wuz 3 days 'fore
any body kno~ed thoy wuz on that boat. They were Jes stored away and
never tad noth1n' but a ~1t~~e o~e hard tac, or semetin' ~1ke ~hat to eat
that they ~ubh~ lith the • R1s brother died in New York en never got to
•
Al..ba_ but lirand-Pa .ent on to ~1rginia nd f1nally rr1ed there a
woman DHme ary Ann Cathey, they had one ch1~d an that was Ma en her hame
I wuz ~sun Mat11da Mart1n • -a wuz er baby in arms or you rn1bht e~y Jes
tod~1n 'bout,cnuse I've heerodhen say when they o~ome to A~abams 1n ths
ear~y days thsy corne 1n " oovered wagon , en that 11tt~e ohair thero ccme
right
,
with em. 'they were 'oong the first to erOBS the river)the 1st white
ssttlers roulld here,and they had to bu1~cI a raft, tie poles to-~ether
so as to cross the 8igbee,and ma, ohild like sa1d she tried to play 1n
the water .'·11e tpy were po11n' em across/and she fe~l in and er negro
boy they d oal~ed Lewis rt1n' pu~~ed •her out. My and father bou~t
up a ~ot of ~and ribht there on the ~igbee where they crossed at and later
I built Yartin' r erry and ~ived there the rest of his ~ife••t least his
fami~y did, but he wuz er ~"nd 8peculato~ and went al~'over evey where
buyin' up land ti~ he was one of tho richest men in this part of the
oountry, and 1f o~d Lewis Warti~ that same nibOer whut ~llled Ma out
the river had 11vedf'd have as muoh as any-body the rest of my days. You
see the Yankees rched on Livingston and the @onrederates sent out
runners te~~in~ overy body. We~l there wQPt no anks here then sO grand-pa
)
•
3
•
took er old black pot knd wrapped up 150,000 in ~old and put in it, and
him and Lewis carried it
Lewis ir ne tole anybody
• out on thc river and burried it !: grand-Pa told
)
where it wuz he'd kill hi • ~t ni~t Grand_Pa oome
back hoce en che exceto ont run hi~, I duno, but I reckon hit wuz too
• ch rer him)anthow he bud er stroke and w s dead 'fore knybody eyer knowed
he'd hid the r:loney. He Just Yf"nt in his clear mind no co' arter that,en
when it come to payin6 the runerul expensos Grand-Ma couldn't rind the
moneY,en Lewis I reckon wuz akeered to tell. ell or long timo arter that
Lewis sent rer me one dark night, he'd had er tooth pulled over in Marengo
,is wire to send arster", that
en erysiplas et in and the]toctor said wqnt
•
rer "Little
no hope rer him, so he told
as whut Lewis always called
me, IC>luse he tole hor he wuz gonna d1.e en he wanted to tell me where the
'J
wt.ite oak tree wuz on the.dibbee where they burried the oney when the
• YankeeS co_.e. I tole Pa I wus oin' to see 'bout old Lewis en When I got
there Lewis was as dead as a door nuil. His wire wuz so ske red she couldn't
recollect nothing he said)Jes er white oak and that was ull. nellre looked
rer er long ti 0 but didn't novbody~ever rind nothing. ~was too much
territory. 'Oa.se ea had er heap or land lett hi , but John aoKinnis, lived
right up yonder near tha told church)beat him out ot pretty near all he had.
Grand-Pa you see speculated in Plorida and o,mod one hundred and oleven
sections right 'here ~allahassee stands today. He 0 ed a mile square st
Pensacola where they ha~ the rirst rishing ahacks7and sixteen plantations
in Maringo, Green and tiale , but John cKiru\ia beat him out of most every
bit of it. Not young John ot Meridian, but his t a old ;an John I cKinnis. He
took one hundred and e~J1t:r balos ot cotton on a boat down the river to
)(obi:l.e and sold hit, claimed som how hit belonged to him, but it was
He was ono of th biSuest scoundtels
a,and she never aot a cent out ot it.
in this section or the country. It
natural born ~~,tt. Yes sir we ou~t to have er heap we ain't got. Been
•
,
here long enough an 01.11 of us haM worker. When Illy Grand_Pa co",e bere
there wlUlt no J>pes, th1s her wuz all 4rone.lhurr in them day., naCJe fer
er old If_breed Indian Jim Jones. He owned' oat all this land ~ounl'l here rrom
Warsaw to tho ~octaw line. ~be tribes had given him a lot or it, and all the
early settlers 11ke J.P. Hillman and "be Hillman, old "",n 19i111e Holloway
and Jim JJeo's father,they walted to buy it foom him. He lived up 'bout the
fort on the l1igbee, 'fou oan see where the fort used to bo fro" over hore,
'ell one night Christcas eve I bolieve~ it as,back in 1833 these early
w...ite settlers got to--..ether an' went up there)they said to malee Jim er
good offer fer h1s land, coae I dunno whut it wuz they offered hilllJbut
Jim rerused to sell,and the;r killed III and burried him riuht there on the
river?snd in 1915 when the Colonial~ames of ~Merioa wus having that piece
of lIIarble put there to rk the olcl fort,I b'lost if the.r di<ln't dig up
old Jim Jones bones. Cose they burried'emorgin r1.,r.t erlong closo by 1n
that bunch of cedar t.,ees )but seom sort of sad to me, to thinlc sl"-out old
Jim. Thon Jin's son 1n..J.sw er l'ronch man nallle La Bruce \'th>it IUtlrr1ed Jims
1nd1an daughter, claimed the land,on so they had to trade with him. Ma
sa1d ho wuz #r nice gentleman to be carr1ed to tho t 1ndian, ut he left
f .~ herien wont dowr 1n M1ss. with tho rest of 'e and '7.~ver heered whut
becoLe of hi • Yos s1r r1bht up thero where old Jim Jones lived stood the old
!ort ~onbecbee as she was called,bu11t by the order of the Uovernor of
Louis1ana .Brenv1l1e ,and 1 t says on the monUl'lent whut is true 1 mow "Here
~ivi11zat10n and ~avaoery beheld the U~ory of 'ranee". ¥es sir I wuz r1ght
there the day they unveiled her" faet is I barbecued overy b1t or the mest
fer the d1r>ner 7en hit wu~ erbout ez good er barbecue e~I ever et 1f I do aay
so myself. "'eflin ~ tile speaker, en he's er good 'en,but· ~never
voted fer him y~t,en never will rur ez at goea. Yea that old fort has aeen
er hoap uv b.ood shed. The Prenoh , Erit1sh ani ~pan1ards, ~sed to be oalled ... . l'ort eonfederation. Cloaa by there tho whites troated with the chactaw
•
,
•
1nd1ans old Mushulatu~be Puckshenub~ee and Pushmataha ror the land they , - ownedA••_ or tho !0I'lb1gbee. Even I can re ember the ind1ans around here,
many as 75 or a hundrod .fhen they'd come in the sp~ing w1th blow-guns
arrows and baskots. The squaws would s1t down rlat on tho gournd with
the papoosos strappod on their books and wn1trror the indian men to do
the trad1n'. 'J.~lore '101'0 3 soloons '101'0 in theln days but it was against
the law ot soil "r1re water• thoy culled 1t, to the ind1ano, but when -
uch can't honestly tell whllt ~ d1d
to stllrt ho:ne they'd let em have a row drin~s and
"whoop pee" r1bht now us they rode orr toward
the 111dians wero ready
I I Can hoar -em yellino
the botto,s. 4ve hoorod Ma tell so
soo on what I d1dn't, but sho kno.ed th1s oountry whon they had so ~y
l1ttle olaok bellI'S here oy Gran-ra h d to take the nic;ger f1n~ sh1rs en
let sone sloep daY7so at ni~t they'd tllko torohos and boat on tim b~ckets
1n the corn f1eld to lI:eop tho bears !'rom eatin' up Illl tho roseunoers,
and they said thoy had high pa11n's to try to keop the bears from oatohing
the chillun. eose this was all cleared u~ when ± come erlong but I
>
recollect rust olectrio 1i<7lts, fJ"C at lTs.es Jllurr. 'J.'he Atlanta eonst-itCltion
co e out .. yin,; the Hattio B. ooro ';ould "ome up the river next
,
run w1th ~leott~li~hts, my oodness you never saw [s ny rol,ks in all
your lire .s was on the river banks,cll up and down the river men women
en ol1illun wtlitin reI' that boat. Pretty soon here ..he cone purfin' en er ~t,
blowin' en hit wuz or si.)1t to behold. Looked liko tho whole shebaklg "US
on firo. See thoro ~3 boa.s ~~up and down the river horo to Mobile.
The Hard Cash, '.cho '.ca ll1 and tho lfattio.8. )1001'0. '!'he Rain..Door run horo ,
too but sho s~nk. ~ll t em boats run 'til JUlle, they stopped in June, had
landi~s like Gainosv111e, Jonos Blurr,~1als landing 'bout rour miles
down tho river rI'o horo, and 1Jirdens Illndin whero ]l\I.lzell and all his
ram1ly as raised at, and the BrRssriold landinb co. e in there at
•
forkland. ~r.~ ~ol'lopolis and so on dO¥n to Mobile. Boats ~ant allowod to 4
•
C/o)
"oome out on Sunday t'all, luld to oome out on ::'nddy and dook llbol£lt the
tide ater or else wait 'til a ornay omin' •
Jones Blurf and I'd be erlong with him.
up there,)here at
on as manyas 5 or 6
..l1:Cl n,(}:u.berts P
Seen him put
Pa used to load ootton fer Mr
thousand b~les at u t~e. The mate would oome out on top of one them
blurfs with or ax handle 1n his hand and holler at dem n1guers, ouss em,
and sOlne time I've seed h1m knook one of em off them lime rook 011ffs. My
e he was cruel. ::'ee the niguel'S had to load en unload every thing. They'L
tate to the stores the sugar al~ flour and coffee in big sacks bDougbt up
from de merohants in Mobilo, en some time a nigger would git pretty careless
en drop er sack en bust it, Lordy but he'd be sorry 'fere dat mate got
thru wid him. S e the mate always come out on land but the Laptain he stayed
on the bOllt. s I reme~er they had 12 deok hands, 2 engiueers, en 8 pilots
day en night sh11t. Had 2 what they culled ro~ster bouts one for dayan'
one~ibht to split up ligh'ood for the toroh p",ns. llad 2 little baskets
on each side held tereeiae lamps for the ~0",d-11ghts, and if they'd land
here at night they'd run ha~ out oouple of thee l1ttle torch pans on a
tree so as to seo how to git up de bluff w1th 11 the stuff they bad. That
was before the Hattie~. got electric libhts. ~an she was a pretty siJht
as I ever seen. tlow :rou take the people that used to go backwards an ford-wards
to 140bile on them boats. +hey luld great b!1g hotel for 'em 1n them
d"'Js r1;;ht up
I en tt-ey d all
trere on the 1I1gbee)back of whel'e Doc Henegan nsed tar live,
come down en sta:r at that hotel wa1tin' reI' the boat)and if
you were a planter and had any ootton to sell th6ae 00~iss10n merohants.
• J d1dnt thank nott'in to pay all yemr expenses on the boat to Nobile and all
)
¥pu had to do wuz jes sell 'em your ootton. The:r'd make J:ou have a good
time all r1ght.
4'he, show
white folks up
fed bOed on the boats too. ~eeJ hands et on l~ deok and
-'
in de oabins. fhey'd stop en git er oow or er pig and out
•
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7
it up and dress it aice. and they ~d rniJbtygood cooks too en every body
could aat all they mind to. "ant no body to stop you. ManyJifthe t1me I've
rid on them steam boats. ~ likedMobile so much ~ thougnt atter :growned
up I'd like to settle there en r did ter er little while, then ~ COme back
to be with a and Pa, en here I beon ever eince. I run the ~pee eotton
I oil ompanySmill o.t nisht ter 'bout twentythree !ears, the. 1= was ';he toll-keeper
yonder on that bridge 'Bore they treed hit, there 'bout six years
torm :>epte"ber 'til .4!arch. f?ignt there's wh"re
I remember hearin' bout that reckon don t you!
I kilt Red Windham. You
ell Red was a L1akable sort
ot tellow when he
l .idnt want to pay
want drink1ng)but trouble was he was always drinking, he
I
no toll en I d1dnt want to have no trouble 'bout that
li1>tle moneYJbut seemed like he "US just looking tor tllouble,en it come
to~e qu~r10n ot me er htm, en seed one or the other ot us WU~ gonna
I •
d1e sure en certlinJso I lowed hit 'ffizn't no need ot it be1ng me, so
long as i was in the right cordin' to law any way, so I h&d to I<ill him.
Pretty bad en I am,'t got 0 er it /et
7
100ks like on dark n1.,htsup there by
the tort 1 can hear old Ped holler ter holt )but 'twant noting' else I could
do r reckon• .But :r don't care 'bout taltin' 'bout that so ~',ch let~ get
back to old t1mes.
Look out thcre on that tence at them 2 old quilts. Bet you I aint never
seen none no prett1er. Ive been ottered b~ .oreland Nixon titty dollars er
, - piece ro~ em. dut I'll have to be poorer than ~ am now to tako it. he dye
• I I tor them quilts was cade right down at ~lart1n~terry at Grand_PaJplantat10b,
out ot OQperous and b rk and suck l' ke, tt.e thread was spun there and the
cloth woven every speok ot it by the negroes on the plaoe. One's the tUlip
pattern , and terget the other name but to my way or thinking they dont
cake quilts pretty as them two hanginb out there • .!hem en er old ohina hen
•
dish is ull I~e got lett ot~~ old things 1 tlllit be4n belonged to my l1ttle
sister, ma g1ve it to her ~nd she d1ed When she wopt COre en aeven years old,
,
•
'. .
(8)
so Ive kept it as er rememberance of her.
Ive got Urand_fa's brQther pDcket book I forgot that, liaed
with red silk and his name kariu6 Martih cut in it. Pa cut it there
I'm pretty sure. Lots or folks wants to bU~ them quilts but I aint
h\1Il3I'y yet. /fell I bettsr reed the old la-l1's chickens and put emup fer
her or she'll be hoppin~ out here herself 'fore long. ~ell Miss
ftead,the lady what sees &Vout the niggers, to cooe out any time after
I to day en I'll go with her do~n on the bend 'cause don t no body
hardly know this country and the ro~s do.m in de bott,,"'tS like I do')
just been here so long. J. reckon, b'l\lt somo times.± think it '/font be
I so long now. The old ladys trying 'Jors'tade oe not to rarm none t: is
year, didn't really fa none to 'mount to nothind last year, jes er
little corn on this here six acres/but 1 hates to ,i~uP)hates to git
old en 1 doan want to be dependent. ~ ~a1n't yet)I~e got a littie saved
up, mine en the old 1 "' s nest egit I oalls it/ind that reminds me I
better be put tinll , up them chickens 'fore I hears s Ome thin , 1 aint
after hearin'. lih"'s mibhblpllaceful tho/the old ladY,~.hen she's rioht
,,"Ii'f ),
well but she's ailin er heap looks like lately.
.) ~
- -_. Samuel !~ ~
Ruby '"'.Tartt
Livingston ,Ala.
Recently literature of the 'merican frontier has given especial interest
to .Tosenh Baldwin's The Flush Times of labama and 'UssissippL
'any of the characters in this book were taken fro~ real life.One
of these characters is"::;amual • le,~s~uire and the original was ~amuel
ugustus Hale,a young lawyer of Livingston, labama.
~amuel Hale and .Toseph Baldwin were oracticing attorneys and intimately
a-socisted in this small town of west ,labama at the time Baldwin's
book was published in I853. lder citizens of Livingston today
remember that it was common knowledge among their parents that .Toseph
Baldwin had caricatured his friend in his book and thay have told many
episodes of Samuel Hele es revealed in Flush Times.
For instance younger Livingstonians have been brought up on the
story of the ew England school me.rm who was an abolitionist and the w~y
Samuel Hale got rid of herrIn Flush Times the schoolmarm is one 'iss
Charity l' oodey.• at a party one evening"Samuel Hele "Espire"entertained
her with t~e wickedness of certain Livingston people talking at length
of the~",-4''' fIlen qnd the horrible things the were apt to do,The next day
"iss CHarity packed her trunk end left.
Samuel Hale was closely related to Samuel Nathan Hale,the martyr-spy
of the '~erican Revolution,and Edward Everett Hale,author of"~he
• Man without a Oountry. His brother was .Tohn ~arker Hale who by the spec-
• tacular "Hale Storm of I845 " converted an apparently overwhelming emo-cratic
majority in ew Hampshire. to the ranks as an 'bolitionist and a
humanitarian crusader won for him the presidential nomination of the
'Il'ree Soi~ Democrats in I852 and later the nost as n,inister to Spain.
Samuel ~ale was borm in ew Hamnshire in I809.He was educated
in law and came early to Alabama where he found a congenial ~t~osphere
•
•
• •
•
2
for the tradition of his ew Hampshire family had been 'strongly nemocrati~.
In I837 he became editor of the Flag of the Union published at Tusca100sa,
Alabama,then the capial of the state.He was twenty-eight and had
just finished at Bowdoin College. Some years later his brother was read out
of t e Democratic arty because of opposition on antislavery grounds to
the annexation of Texas.Samuel Hale himself was a Democrat.The Flag of the
Union had been established to 0 pose the sp~ead of the doctrine of nullification
in Alab~a.He was urged tn keep the paper true to the pribciples
for the su~port of which it had been founded and for nine years he was an
influence at his post and enjoyed the patronage of the Democratic administration
in the State.
nroblems however growing out of the re-annexation of Texas and occupation
of Oregon set many men on their guard. The rapidly decreasing proportion
of the Southern representation in Congress and the disputes over
the introduction of slavery into newly acouired territories increased
their uneasiness. Southerners were everywhere turning to the Constitution.
The Alabamians had geberally renounced nUllification as inexpedient
and unconstitutional,but by the late pQrties many of them felt that the
ver~ foundat~ons of their welfare and haopiness were threatened.
A minority advocate'] secession. From his office in Tuscaloosa,samuel
Hale watched the growth \v1thin the Democratic partY,of an extreme ~tates'
.
Rights group ••3 he saw the rising tide of seoession sentiment about him
he came to be dominated b~ a devotion tn the ideal of the union ,this became
the ruling passion.
Samuel Hale could not stOD the rising tide.For his oDposition to the
members of the emocratic party holding extreme opinions on the doctrine
od States' Rights he was denounced as an"unsate"man. By I846 the inevetable
had haopened.He was deprived of the patronage of the Darty and in that year
cease1 to be editor of the Flag of the Union.
•
• •
•
3
For a deoade now Hale had made himself one of the people among whom
he had lived.He had imbibed Southern notions and the looal mode of
life.The l~nes were not yet so sharply drawn so Hale deoided to return
to his study and praotioe of law. He sold his interests in Tusoaloosa
and moved to Livingston.
The above faots giving the baok ground are from Hunter Farish
what followed after moving to Livingston is known by all of its older
inhabitants and Alabama HistorieBS.
Livingston is in the heart of the fertile Blaok Belt of labama.
Sumter had been part of the rioh domain of the Chootaws.~~en they had
relinq-uished it by the Treaty of the Danoing Rabbit of 1830 settlers
had rushed in to seize the rioh lands.Soon it was peopled almost wholly
by large slave holders and their slaves,This settling of the land re-sulted
in muoh litigation and Sumter beoame a "Rioh haven 'for the
asoiring young lawyer Hale.Here he praotioed suooessfully for many years.
In many respeots these years brOUght Hale oontentment,for in Sumter
were brilliant oolleagues,here was a oultivated and hospitable 300iety
oomposed lar~el' of Virginians. Twioe Hale married Livingston omen
belonging to prominent "irginian families.His first wife was 'ary Ann
Bolling and he later married a widow the former Ellen Lee ,the riohest
woman in the oounty.Through these marria es he beoame a ootton planter
•
•
end large
Union ~~an
slave owner ,and yet until t'e war oame he oalled himself a
and alway~ expressed himself freely.
The years of the war however brOUght distress to Samuel Hale.
His isolation beoame a 1 but oomplete.He denounoed seoession as an aot
of "oriminal fo'ly" and soon he faoed personal violenoe and loss og
property. He was plaoed with seven Union men to be hanged by enraged
-
•
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4
secessionists and his escape he attributed to the timely arrival of
~herman at tlanta.
'Vhen peace came Hale did not long enjoy days of Quiet.He was
soon stirred by the course affairs were taking about him.~umter County
with its lar e black population was proving an El Dorado for the
political adventurer. It was soon in an nproar.
Toward the end of 1857 Hale wrote a series of elo~uent letters
to 'enator Henry "'ils:)O of assachusetts .He warned the Re"lublican
leader of the unwisdom of the course his ~arty was pursuing in 'labama
•
and pro ested
carpetbag and
agains~ the domination of the party in
scalawag element. ~ppealin~t~~Ond as a v
the South by a
fellow Republ1-
can he now sought to check the course so madly followed under Radical
inspiration.
In a letter in 1858 that reaffirmed his loyalty to the party he
pointed out that with a large body of whites in \labama,disfranchised,
the negroes,of whom the great majority were utterly unfitted for the
task would under proposel constitution for the State have it in their
power t~ make all political decisions,Ve regarded this constitution as
an infamous outrage up~n civilization.~e expli ed that he favored
giving the negro a nualifie~ right of suffrage for the present,believing
this was necessary for his protection under the new order and that it
would _timulate him to improvement.But he thought it utmost folly to
confer u on him,imnediately and with,ut condition,full privileges of
citizenship.qe warned ~enator 'ilson th,t the circumstances under which
the two races there found themselves were sufficiently antagonistic of
themselves to cause seri~us apprehension in the minds of all thinking
men,and that these fears were greatly increased by th diabolical
o •
, •
•
5
conduct of the reckless and unprincipled adventurers who have come
among us from the orthern States and affiliated with the blacks.
But Senator ""lson did not agree with Hale and his views representing
the ne oes believing that the start in reorganization should be on a
basis of equal rights for all men.•Hale', s appeal had failed.
uring the summer of I870 the town of Livingston was thrown into
a frenz~ of panic wheh it was reported on the day set for a Republican
convention there,that a body of armed freedmen was approaching the town
wi h the pur ose of sacki it.The alarm was spread and the negroes were
disbanded by t: 4< S"he.riFJ' before they arrived at T ivin ston. 'llatever
their intention had been,serious-minded citizens we~e aghast at t~e trend
of events. mO,i" unf~rtunate af air resu ted in the killing of a negro
Baptist nreacher who was said to have incited the action of the freedmen.
In I870 a roup of liber~l Republicans in the North dispairing of
influencing Renublican party counsels began to denounce the co~ru~tion
of t~e Grant administration and to oppose Grant's policy of federal interference
in Southern ~olitics. In I87I the radically controlled Congress
a pointed a "Joint Select COI:llllittee to innuire nto the condition of
affairs in the Late In,urrectionar -'tates".
It was in this capacity as a Republican and an honest man that
3amuel Hale t';as sllmmonsed by the minority before the subcoI:llllittee sitting
at Livingston in the fall of I87I.Hale was now aa old and retired
frOM the practice of his pfofession. ,gain he appeared in the role in
which Joseph Bald~in had cast him.He is induced to aid in driving the
mischief maker out of the land.
"'hen cuestioned Hale did not conceal or condone injustice and oppression
where it had occurred. But he denounced the policies of the
•
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I
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••
~ ,
L. B. Runlcle..l~
Livingston, labama
){ay 20, 1939
R. P. T.
,
If you can get in this little ole shack you're
more than welcome. ou see this room was for coal. kr.
Lyon over there built it, and when m en my two little
-h , ....
boys rode in here on the train, I smuggled
the boys i
on in it.
, we slept in this here shed, then we just stayed
-~
'/
And finally the ladies in the town built that
little sleepin' porch you might call it, on to the back
so as the boys could get some fresh air. 'Tain't much of
a house, but it beats sleepin' out all right; en anyway it
At least, I was born there baok in '82 and I stayed between
two rows of corn till I was twenty-one years old. ~hen I
went out to Brandon, Colorado, and homestea ed. I had
half section out there and had to farm forty acres for hree
years, to make proof. I raised mostly cane and a little
•
affer corn. finally put six ~undred dollars of mine
and my paw's money into that place. Put in deep well,
. ,
•
-3-
know his business, and so I called hit murdsr. the Presbyterian
minister said hit wuzn't nuthin' else. "sll,
after that I took my two little boys and went to ~i.k. Missouri •
e st~ed there two or three years, I can't remember which.
I worked there for Mr. Lyon end when he moved here, I followed
with his cows. I knew hi wuzn't a good idea. You
Just can't move Battle too far. I found that out back in
r Bsour1. t he wanted them five cows moved, so I sm gled
my l1ttle boys in with me, and I undertook it. ~our of them
died, but we got here, an~ I liked it and we stayed. Mr. Lyon
said they got poisoned on the trip and he collected from the
ra~oad. don't know about that, but I buried the cows
for him after we got here.
II I got here with 3.50, but I tore my pants so bad
in the car that the first thing I done I bought myself a
pair of overhauls with part of it. "ight about that tims
I was pretty much worried 'bout what was going to happen
to everybocy. ~imes wuz mighty hard. and I had 6t hard tims.
They wanted to put the little boys in a home somewhere, but
I didn't have nobody left and so I wanted to ksep 'sm myself.
I thought I could man8P,e somekbw. Then the relief offics
wanted to hslp us, but I was s rong and well and I didn't
see no reason Why couldn-t get some sort of work without
..- .
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L. • RUlfKLI
L. B. Runkle _ WH-Irp:
L1v1n:slon, Alabnm
May 20, 1 39
R. r. 1.
.f you c n vpt 1n this little ole s~ack nu'~A
o~ a ""leoone. 'ou ep. t 18 1"00 8 "0- I"oAl. ~.
L10 OTer t"e e bu11t 1t, nl"d wh n mB en ~. t n i+ Ie
boys role 1u here on the e1" 1" S" r. train, 1
the boys 1n, e slept In this he~e shed, hen e jU9t st yed
on 1n it. ~nd f1nally the ladies i the to· n built that
Ii tle 81ee~1n' porch you might c 1 it, on to t b c:C
SO 8 the boye cOilld get some fresh 11". 'Tr.in't much or
o ae, but it be ts sleer in' O"t 11 right, er "uy" y it
meant 1 coul~ • "en tI,e boys ·1th I&e ~n'l nt's h,1 I
wnnt"A 10 do. "ee, I co' 1".) "hpl ' v· 11" Y. III nois.
1 lea t. ! s bo"'n
two rows of corn t111 I w s t entY-one year~ old. + el" 1
wt! out 0 ...~ do , "0' or 0, a d o"'e ell e • I >- I"
half 8ection Olt t I"S 0 f r f I" a ~ 8 r I" e
year to ake roof. I I" 1"e mo ..,-. cnre rn 1<+ 1..
0 ffer oorn. i 1'1na11y t 81x llldred 1 r or 1 e
and my pa 's mane:" 1nto 1 1 oe. .'Ut in er .t"p well,
• •
ot rrie1 to
-2-
wo an .).0 s hOTes ~din' O'lt there
rrom out in,~ s 9Dd after sr.e go
lert and .e~t beck to ·~eas.
o'ly e nd er
plaee. ,
a got t erty-two hundred doll e out of he
a healthy all ri ht, but Ue '1 d wuz 0
bad. lew yo ofr yo' reet, e 'bout. ~o 1 wae kin~er
lad to le e. ~it waz pretty lovell o~ t~er 1n the
jay, u- course. 1 de that cla1m berore I e~er round
t'le iIIO:'3an, Juat 11 ved by II,Y aelr out there, nsver '~now d
nvb01y. lie went tO~ba, iaaour1, rroPl t ere. nd 1
ad oip' ty-five a.cre of 1 nd, 0" 1 .. (\O~. J. on' on
a~!l Bold 1 • J.t s,s 0 ll'/ roo 1 there - coulln't "i e •
m ch. ,had rlve or six aore in h y, ut hn COlrt y
wa'n't hut you ml h oall '83lthy, no liks' ls here
cl1~' there. J. likc it here be l' th n ny_here 1
been.
, ore
•
come here, I never pas-e1 ~ winter lth-out
eelt: ~ zero ·eat.ler. "'ut J. got reatless t r the
,10 oIl 'le. "'l. die" at t e b1r h, fter tnro'd my youn 'e'
boy. Ha.d rlve birtha, and three of 'e~ died. ·he rire
t 0 died, t.he' e vel ;unior, then Harold, and the wOPlan
le • three doctors, but 1 say the rir one didn't
• •
-4.-
bel a burcen on the "'cvernment, eo 1 plddled 'rount .
I dldJ1 let a lad glve so clothes tor the little
boys - sald her boy IIro 'd , 01 em. p.nd the e1 ed
out 6r lot. ..hen bne df Y dldn't ve no re/"l r Job
so got otfere' one ~o be- J .nltor ~t the "'0 -t llOUFf8.
.ald t e176 dollar~ cr wr t. I .
• 0 1
evet" d. te 0 1 l ..n ·~-.It I',' on ~1 .. ,. T
o 18 & uooc. er ole ~e·ro 0
l' e t.e b- •
e he C
vourt ....0 :Jet en W".l:: seer t.e 'd -'t ~u ~t up 0" -~nned
over. eli h:lt Court ~ou tt \.un
I no ace for 'er. les
mat • it, be ~hcre n) , but ~ w~snf wi lin; to cnv r
u 011 t 1 t 1 seen. I •\ es' In't th SQ.~t ~ ~e.n so J. ~ ....... ,
wrote t1e ~overnor and 011 h III whut ent on and BO 1 'ot
eanned. I ... e'" S1Ir ri s • but I t"'1111C .. don ill .. t ""to
r1 ht.
:IT. "0 ellla lT the e ls {(: bll': " ti1: l: 0 ,. ,e •
of' t n ; n"e "0 0 n' liT. ·h te 1s !\ es Y .. 1'1 ~n '
• •
oo~ "'Bl' • he's 1n p at Me e'ln n·cl'\ an' .1. 1 , - t
nothln 10 S - 1. ere ln t e Oil" .louse a.~' :r 0 o. ':088
• •
u', not
-6-
tr."t ba'!. -he". YlIU" ed e 1;0 s : no hln' "1'1' ,elp
them pn over t in e tite n 1 the dria~in, so~e at 'e 7.
~oi an' • lst 1 't do it. ~a t e herUt e. , beror
0
the 11 r' ~f .. ;r r ~e. It Ill" '7 ,elped
be t1 i "of at rna , 1 "'on't nw, bit It 00 1 d hove.
1 !l'n''t Ion:\" 'torr! - g~t ." .... e-o • ob 8'" 't",'" .... ~r8.
~ t a , a~ In It ,' q' con1 i 1/l • ... ., 1'1' n'alrles.
, 08 th~,..e'''' ., e 1'1'1 1~ ~o 1eot 1'1
'
, '\1w .,- , • t rofits
18 t .,' . 11'0 1 rt~np.v 1 • 's ' \ I.-Po "'''' ,t n~ .
-""eq, e
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on the hook b t the 11 ttle 0"8 z. "8e the ii' one
swallo",in~ the 11t. e on , lIO a'n't none of 'em no tr Uble
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tt.t .u e1 ever d arto !'ro yOl\, b' t ito /piv " :0 eve~y
chUd, o.nd tho t , • tty 0 00 no ection to I'ep,ven, yel't it
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•http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/910 |