If "John"
or "Susan" belonged to a white man by the name of "Hatcher,"
sometimes he was called "John Hatcher," or as often "Hatcher's
John." But there was a feeling that "John Hatcher" or "Hatcher's
John" was not the proper title by which to denote a freeman; and
so in many cases "John Hatcher" was changed to "John S. Lincoln"
or "John S. Sherman," the initial "S" standing for no name, it
being simply a part of what the coloured man proudly called his
"entitles."
As I have stated, most of the coloured people left the old
plantation for a short while at least, so as to be sure, it
seemed, that they could leave and try their freedom on to see how
it felt. After they had remained away for a while, many of the
older slaves, especially, returned to their old homes and made
some kind of contract with their former owners by which they
remained on the estate.
My mother's husband, who was the stepfather of my brother John
and myself, did not belong to the same owners as did my mother.
In fact, he seldom came to our plantation. I remember seeing his
there perhaps once a year, that being about Christmas time. In
some way, during the war, by running away and following the
Federal soldiers, it seems, he found his way into the new state
of West Virginia.
Pages:
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55