Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-12-06
oHARAcTER OF THE MN.

I
1T was pitiable, he said, before the ohac
that he filed was created, to see the list
lessness and extreme poverty of the re
fugees, who during his entire term were o
the lower class, or white trash, almost ex
clusivelY. The men who accompanied tn
parties would sit down on their miserabli
and rude furniture with stolid apathy, q
ifthey had no init in life and no mo
tive tor exertion, and pay no attention Il
anybody or anything, until their WomeI
came back and told them that they haC
found place to go to until they could
leave the city. Il never seemed 70 entel
their heads that it Was the duty of tht
husband to 20 and search for shelter fol
/ his wife and children. Mrs. 0Eiatt, who
has lived in the South for fourteen years
and seen q great deal of the life Of THU
class, states that if is Just the way they act
at thome-they depend in everything upon
their wives. The women do all the hard
work.
H.But what do the men do then ]
asked her.
i"Oh, go fishing and hunting, and drink
whiskey when they can get it. The women
do pretty much all the odtdoor work"
4 IGNORANCE OF TEE kEfUGEES.
HI asked if they could read, OF what
part Of them2'
HMr. OviaIt replied that their Ignorance
was beyond anything we can conceive Of
in the North. It was amazing. There
was not one per cent who could read.
i"tAnd their morslsP
laNearly all the boys of eight and nine
and upward were smokers-they all swore
without exception; and so dosll the women.
They all swear; and they all smoke or
chew tobacco or dip snuff; and sometimes
all fourl 1 had heard enough along the
military railroads to form an unfsvorable
opinion as TO the fidelity to the marriage
vow; but Mr.. Ovistt ssid that in his opin-
ion they were worse in that respect than
the negro women themselves.
"But do they all smoke, or chew, or
dipP
..mr. Oviatt did not remember single
case of exception. Not one. The lower
order take the green tobacco Leaf, dry it,
and chew it without any other prepsra-
tien.
.'Blrs. Oviatt in all her experience in diff
ferent parts of this department, could not
recall single instance Of women or good
sized girls, who did not use tobacco in some
form . 7t
CA young girl, refugee from Northern
Alabama, who wss present, was asked if
she knew of any women or girls in her
section who did not smoke. Only one
her grsnddsddy's folks she said; the old
man was opposed TO tobacco; but this was
the only family that she knew who did not
use it.
aMr. OyiatFs experiences were almost
wholly with refugee women and Eirls-
uzvys- rzsvrv taIszu vfguT per cent, he thought,
of these poor people were accompanied by
males OF the eonscript age, or over
sixteen years. A goodly proportion of
them, probably one-half had husbands in
the north, prisoners of war, or in the
Southern loyal regiments. They came up
to induce their husbands to take the oath
and thereby escape from the power of the
South or TO be nearer their liege lords; or,
if not that, st least further from the reach
of the rebels. Eight thousand Of them, at
least were sent North.
HOW THEY WILL GET A NORTHERN EDU-
CATION. ,.f
i"Once" several years ago, when aboli-
tionists were mott SO plentiful as these gen.
tlemen are now, after what had seen and
heard in CharlestOn-hoW conceitcd they
were, how confident that they alone could
whip the North, and how little they knew
of.the true spirit and vast strength Of our
people-I suggested that it would be great
saving of expense 10 Us and real beneht
to them to take all the secessioniss there
and cause then. to travel through the free
States, lust as the different Indian ehief
have done, and for the same purpose
let them see how vain it would be to mes-
sure swords with the nation. What have
seen of the nnbounded ignorance Of those
poor whites convinced me that some
what similar excursion, but for q different
purpose, or rather for the same purpose but
by different method, to insure future pesce
namely, by educated freemen, would be-
come necessary in their csse. A residence
in highly civilized commup ity-not even
a contact with it-seems indispensable
to educute these people. And see how it
has been done, and BY the same angel in
disguise, that has blessed us other wise in
spite of ourselves military necessity.
They are going North by tens of thous-
ands, to carry back, by and by, to their old
southern homes, higher morElity and
higher arms than they have ever hitherto
dreamed of. Oh, people of the North
greet them tenderly and teach theInquick-
". for, degraded as they are, and ignorant
as they are, it is on them, elevated and en-
ightened, that we must chiefly depend to
build up the South once more.
tMsny sad incidents checker the history
of these refugees after their arrival in
Nashville, and even after their escape
from the rebels. One, say, for ex ample q
car was smashed, killing the father, moth
er Rnd three daughters Of family ofseven.
The two little orphans were brought here.
They sppear to be very bright G Children
wrote Mr.. Oviatt at the time, and well be-
haVed Some of their friends have come
here from where they came from, but
they will not consent to go back anywhere
near the rebels; they seem to be very
much afraid Of them.
gHere is another extract: lys p l-a
"The past week g woman was taken
with q fit and died in few lninutes
leaving three children, the eldest My sew
en- years and the youngest only three.
They have father, but he t in the
Twelfth Tennessee, and near Kgoxville!'
gAgain: 5A-
IA ,-,o,,sn 5ie5 a e., L.. -