I studied day and night for the next three years at the home of a lawyer, educating myself and in 1868, I started preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and have continued to do so for sixty-nine years.  In that time I have been instrumental in the building of seven churches in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.  I did this good work through gratefulness to God for my deliverance and my salvation.  During my life, I have joined the K. of P. Lodge, and I.O.O.F and Masonic Lodge.  I have preached for the up-life and advancement of the colored races.  I have accomplished much good in this life and have raised a family of eight children.  I love and am loyal to my country and have received great compensation from my government for my services.  I am in good health and still able to work, and I am thankful to my God and my country.”

Stories from Ex-Slaves
5th District
Vanderburgh County
Lauana Creel
1415 S. Barker Avenue, Evansville, Indiana

ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE OF ADAH ISABELLE SUGGS

Among the interesting stories connected with former slaves one of the most outstanding ones is the life story of Adah Isabelle Suggs, indeed her escape from slavery planned and executed by her anxious mother, Harriott McClain, bears the earmarks of fiction, but the truth of all related occurences has been established by the aged negro woman and her daughter Mrs. Harriott Holloway, both citizens of Evansville, Indiana.

Born in slavery before January the twenty-second, 1862 the child Adah McClain was the property of Colonel Jackson McClain and Louisa, his wife.

According to the customary practice of raising slave children, Adah was left at the negro quarters of the McClain plantation, a large estate located in Henderson county, three and one half miles from the village of Henderson, Kentucky.  There she was cared for by her mother.  She retains many impressions gained in early childhood of the slave quarters; she remembers the slaves singing and dancing together after the day of toil.  Their voices were strong and their songs were sweet.  “Master was good to his slaves and never beat them” were her words concerning her master.

When Adah was not yet five years of age the mistress, Louisa McClain, made a trip to the slave quarters to review conditions of the negroes.  It was there she discovered that one little girl there had been developing ideas and ideals; the mother had taught the little one to knit tiny stockings, using wheat straws for knitting needles.

Mrs. McClain at once took charge of the child taking her from her mother’s care and establishing her room at the residence of the McClain family.

Today the aged Negro woman recalls the words of praise and encouragement accorded her accomplishments, for the child was apt, active, responsive to influence and soon learned to fetch any needed volume from the library shelves of the McClain home.