The mansion
house--or "big house," as it would have been called--which had
been occupied by the owners during slavery, had been burned.
After making a careful examination of the place, it seemed to be
just the location that we wanted in order to make our work
effective and permanent.
But how were we to get it? The price asked for it was very little
--only five hundred dollars--but we had no money, and we were
strangers in the town and had no credit. The owner of the land
agreed to let us occupy the place if we could make a payment of
two hundred and fifty dollars down, with the understanding that
the remaining two hundred and fifty dollars must be paid within a
year. Although five hundred dollars was cheap for the land, it
was a large sum when one did not have any part of it.
In the midst of the difficulty I summoned a great deal of courage
and wrote to my friend General J.F.B. Marshall, the Treasurer of
the Hampton Institute, putting the situation before him and
beseeching him to lend me the two hundred and fifty dollars on my
own personal responsibility. Within a few days a reply came to
the effect that he had no authority to lend me the money
belonging to the Hampton Institute, but that he would gladly lend
me the amount needed from his own personal funds.
Pages:
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152