Here he almost immediately began an industry that was to prove lucrative.  Oysters were ‘large as saucers’, according to Anna, and while the family gathered these he would burn them and extract lime from them.  This he mixed with the native clay and made brick.  In addition to his brick-making Mumford cut trees for lumber, and with his own brick and lumber would construct houses and structures.  One such structure brought him $1100.00.

Another manner in which Mumford added to his growing wealth was through the cashing of checks for the Missionaries of the section.  Ordinarily they would have to send these back to the United States to be cashed, and when he offered to cash them—­at a discount—­they eagerly utilized the opportunity to save time; this was a convenience for them and more wealth for Mumford.

Anna found other things besides happiness in her eight years in Africa.  There were death, sickness, and pestilences.  She mentions among the latter the African ants, some of which reached huge proportions.  Most dreaded were the Mission ants, which infested every house, building and structure.  Sometimes buildings had to be burned to get rid of them.  The bite of these ants was so serious that after sixty years Anna still exhibits places on her feet where the ants left their indelible traces.  Another of the ant pests was the Driver ant, so large, powerful and stubborn that even bodies of water did not stop them.  They would join themselves together above the surface of the water and serve as bridges for the passage of the other ants.  The Driver ants moved in swarms and their approach could be seen at great distances.  When they were seen to be coming toward a settlement the natives would close their doors and windows and build fires around their homes to avoid them.  These fires had to be kept burning for weeks.

Eight and more persons died a day from the African fever during the early colonization attempts; three of these in Anna’s family alone were victims of it.  It was generally believed that if a victim of the fever became wet by dew he was sure to die.

After eight years Mumford and the remainder of his family returned to America, where the accrued checks he possessed for cashing made him reasonably wealthy.  Anna married Robert Scott and moved to Jacksonville, where she has lived since.

At ninety-one she still occupies the little farm on the outskirts of Jacksonville that was purchased with the money left to her out of her mother’s inheritance (from the African transactions of Mumford) and Robert’s post-slavery savings, and in front of her picturesque little cottage spins yarns for the neighbors of her early experiences.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Interview with subject, Mrs. Anna Scott, Edgewood and Moncrief Avenues (Route 2, Box 911) Jacksonville, Fla.

FEDERAL WRITERS’ PROJECT American Guide, (Negro Writers’ Unit)