During this period of his life the Reverend remembers what happened to one of the Westbrook slaves who had run away.  One evening he came to the Wamble home and asked for some supper.  Wamble took the slave into his home and after feeding him, placed a log chain which was hanging above the fire-place, around the slave’s waist, left him to sleep on a bench in front of the fire-place.  The next morning after the slave was given breakfast by the Wambles, Westbrook, his son and over-seer appeared.  Rev. Wamble in his hide-out remembers being awakened by the sound of the slave being whipped and the moaning of the slave.  After the whipping, the slave was turned loose.  After he had gone about a mile through the bottom-land toward the river, Westbrook turned his hounds loose on the slave’s tracks.  The hounds treed the slave before he had gone another mile, much like a dog would tree a cat.

The Westbrooks pulled the slave down from the tree and the dogs slashed his foot.  The slave was then whipped and long ropes placed around him.  He was driven back to the Wamble place with whips where he was once again whipped.  They [TR:  Then?] they drove him two miles to the Westbrook place where he was whipped once more.  Whatever became of the slave, whether he died or recovered, is unknown.  One unusual feature of this story is that Westbrook who permitted his slaves to be whipped, was a church deacon, whereas Wamble, who never attended church, never whipped or mistreated his slaves.

The Reverend states that in the community where he resided the slaves were well treated except for the whippings they received.  They were well-fed, and if injured or sick, were attended by a doctor on the same principal that a person would care for an injured horse or sick cow.  The slaves were valuable, and it was to the best interest of the owner to see that they were able to work.

In case of slaves having children, the children became the property of the mother’s owner.  If the south had won the war, Wamble would have been a Westbrook since his mother was a Westbrook slave, and if it lost, he would go to live with his father and take the name of his father, a Wamble slave.  So until the war was over he was hid out much like a small child would bring a stray dog home and hide it somewhere for fear that if his parents discovered it, it would be taken away.

The living quarters of the slaves were made of logs covered with mud, and the roof was covered with coarse boards upon which dirt about a foot in depth was placed.  There were no floors except dirt or the bare ground.  The furniture consisted of a small stove and the beds were two boards extending from two walls, the extending ends resting on a peg driven into the ground.  This would make a one-legged bed.  The two boards were covered across ways with more boards and the slaves slept on these boards or upon the dirt floor.  There were no blankets provided for them.  For food the slaves received plenty of meat, potatoes, and whatever could be raised.  If the master had plenty to eat, so did the slaves, but if food was not plentiful for the master, the slaves had less to eat.