A relative of Mrs. Smith gave Austin a sound beating on his return; for a time it had the desired effect, and he stayed at the store and gave no further trouble.  Mrs. Smith, however, thought of a surer plan of keeping him in Greensboro; she called him and told him he might have his freedom.  Bill never attempted to again leave the place—­although he did not receive a cent for his work—­until his master had died, the store passed into the hands of one of Mr. Smith’s sons, and the emancipation of all the slaves was a matter of eight or ten years’ history!

When he finally left Greene and Hancock Counties—­about fifty-five years ago, Austin settled in Jackson County.  He married and began the raising of a family.  At present he has nineteen living children, more grandchildren than he can accurately tell, and is living with his third wife, a woman in her thirties.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.  Henry Harvey, old resident of Jackson County; Greenwood-Malone Road, about 2-1/2 miles N.W. of Greenwood, Florida

2.  Interview with subject, near Greenwood, Florida, (Rural Route 2, Sneads)

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

Pearl Randolph, Field Worker
John A. Simms, Editor
Jacksonville, Florida
August 18, 1936

FRANK BERRY

Frank Berry, living at 1614 west Twenty-Second street, Jacksonville, Florida, claims to be a grandson of Osceola, last fighting chief of the Seminole tribe.  Born in 1858 of a mother who was part of the human chattel belonging to one of the Hearnses of Alachua County in Florida, he served variously during his life as a State and Federal Government contractor, United States Marshal (1881), Registration Inspector (1879).

Being only eight years of age when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, he remembers little of his life as a slave.  The master was kind in an impersonal way but made no provision for his freedmen as did many other Southerners—­usually in the form of land grants—­although he gave them their freedom as soon as the proclamation was issued.  Berry learned from his elders that their master was a noted duelist and owned several fine pistols some of which have very bloody histories.

It was during the hectic days that followed the Civil War that Berry served in the afore-mentioned offices.  He held his marshalship under a Judge King of Jacksonville, Florida.  As State and Federal Government Contractor he built many public structures, a few of which are still in use, among them the jetties at Mayport, Florida which he helped to build and a jail at High Springs, Florida.

It was during the war between the Indians and settlers that Berry’s grandmother, serving as a nurse at Tampa Bay was captured by the Indians and carried away to become the squaw of their chief; she was later re-captured by her owners.  This was a common procedure, according to Berry’s statements.  Indians often captured slaves, particularly the women, or aided in their escape and almost always intermarried with them.  The red men were credited with inciting many uprisings and wholesale escapes among the slaves.