sent me to Chattanooga with Captain Story.  I was in a colored regiment nine months, I saw my father several times while I was at Chattanooga.  We was in Shermans army till it went past Atlanta.  They burned up the city.  Two of my masters come out of the war alive and two dead.  I was mustered out in August 1865.  I stayed in camp till my sisters found a cabin to move in.  Everybody got rations issued out.  It was a hard time.  I got hungry lots times.  No plantations was divided and the masters didn’t have no more than the slaves had when the war was done.  After the Yankees come in and ripped them up old missus left and Mr. Tom Nealy was a Home Guard.  He had a class of old men.  Never went back or seen any more of them.  Everybody left and a heap of the colored folks went where rations could be issued to them and some followed on in the armies.  After I was mustered out I stayed around the camps and went to my sister’s cabin till we left there.  Made anything we could pick up.  Men come in there getting people to go work for them.  Some folks went to Chicago.  A heap of the slaves went to the northern cities.  Colonel Stocker, a officer in the Yankee army, got us to come to a farm in Arkansas.  We wanted to stay together is why we all went on the farm.  May 1866, when we come to Arkansas is the first farmin I had seen done since I left Tom Nealy’s place.  Colonel Stocker is mighty well known in St. Francis County.  He brought lots of families, brought me and my brother, my two brothers and a nephew.  We come on the train.  It took four or five days.  When we got to Memphis we come to Linden on a boat “Molly Hamilton” they called it.  I heard it was sunk at Madison long time after that.  Colonel Stocker promised to pay $6 a month and feed us.  When Christmas come he said all I was due was $12.45.  We made a good crop.  That wasn’t it.  Been there since May.  Had to stay till got all the train and boat fare paid.  There wasn’t no difference in that and slavery ’cept they couldn’t sell us.

I heard a heap about the Ku Klux but I nebber seed them.  Everybody was scared of them.

The first votin I ever heard of was in Grant’s election.  Both black and white voted.  I voted Republican for Grant.  Lot of the southern soldiers was franchised and couldn’t vote.  Just the private soldiers could vote at tall.  I don’t know why it was.  I was a slave for thirteen years from birth.  Every slave could vote after freedom.  Some colored folks held office.  I knew several magistrates and sheriffs.  There was one at Helena (Arkansas) and one at Marianna.  He was a High Sheriff.  I voted some after that but I never voted in the last Presidento election.  I heard ’em say it wasn’t no use, this man would be elected anyhow.  I sorter quit off long time ago.