Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1865-03-24
IRE REFUGEG'Ss STORY.
A TALH OF THE PRESENT WAR.
BY J. ST. }. cLARKsoN.


Did you see dat man wild de secesh jacket
and de Yankee trOwsers?" asked hecontraband,
Ike, on the day of the late raid into franklin
ton, Louisiana.
"To be sure l saw him, Ike. He fought like
a madman. What of him?"
"Dat man, sab, he done used to own me. he
was de moStest, strOugestest Union man what
der was in Louisiany. Whende rebs fust comd
dey want him to be s0ger but Mass Joe Just
done tole em if da want to fight de Yanks to go
fight de Yanks but he warnt gOin' to fight 'em
no tone time. Well, sab, der was good many
round yer dat feel dat way, but dey darsen't ter
say it. Dey left him go dat time, but bime-by
dey come round and said de Yanks was put
ting great big ship at de moufOb de riber and
to de bay, so dey eOuldntgit no salt, and dat the
Cumfederacts was buildin' salt works IN Bon
SecOm bay and up Fish river, and dat dey was
lIst gwine to take all de niggers from desc yer
men what don't want to be sogers and put dem
in de salt works. Well, sab, dey iist TUX me off,
and dat made Mass Joe mad, kase was dc best
est nigger what der was round yer"
very well, Ike, but that man didn't shoot
rebs the way he did to day Just because he lost
nigger, did hep
"FOr goodness, spec be did, sab; kase ise
thousand dollar niger, l is. You know, sab,
dere amt one of 'em beat me tlshin, or cOokin',
or saiin' a boat.
"You are a tip-top contraband, Ike if you are
afraid of tOrpedOes"
Il amt no concubine, sab; and if is afraid OF
sharpedoes, dey S somethin' to be sfeered Of"
The man to whom attention has been directed,
aud whom Ike called Mass Joe, was about forty
five years of age, rather stout inclined TO COrpu
lency about five feet eight or nine inches in
height, and now be is lying upon the ground
at the foot of huge live oak tree, without any
thing denoting the hero or even the man Of supe-
rior prOwess. 1t was one of those every day ex-
pressionless faces in TepOse so common. But III
the excitement of battle, his eye, deep and pierc
ing, flashed with the excitement his nerves dis
daned. for his hand was steady and his aim as
true as if he had been hunting quails instead of
human beings. Yet cold and passionless as he
now appeared, his heart was perfect volcano,
for his was a story of wrongs, outrage and mur-
der, as would
@Sir fever in ths blood Of age
And make the infants sinues strong steel"
..Yonder, stranger" said he, in reply to my
questionings; "yonder was my house. Thar,
where that pile of ashes is, | lived with my wife
and three children, when these yer cusses set
UP for themselves, as they called it, First they
axed us to vote the State uten the Union, and
said every man who wouldn't vote for it war
Yankee Abolitioner, and OTter be hung like a
dog When they found we were agin it, they
got to work, and kinder fit it out somehow. i
never could understand how, and pretty mess
they made of it. Well, as 1 said, thar's where
lived with my family. l war very happy
then; had plenty to eat and to wear, and l
owed no man nOthin' had two niggers, Ike
and Milly. Ike use TO help me, and Milly the
womanfolks. / war fool enough to think be-
cause | war born in LOuisiany and owned mig
gers as my father did alore me, there warnt no
one as could think war an AbOliOner; and so,
as | had been taught to look upon that old flag
for which my father fit down to Orleans, as the
lonly one permitted to wave over the streets OF
the New Jerusalem, war squar agin secesh,
and a new flag, and settin' up for ourselves and
all that. That ar, sir, war the beginnin' of all
my troubles. When they were raisin' a COM
pany for the Southern army, they went round
ltryn folks to see who were loyal, as they called
it, and who were the AbOlitioners. Well, one
day they got after asprig of a feller what war
| yer teachin' school. He war one of the quietest
men | ever saw. and never bothered nobody
/ thought heap on him kase be teached my
young 'uns to read and spell; and he was SO
kind they took likin to him, and war alters a
talkin of the teacher. Well, one day the sogers
got arter him, and he kinder took skeer, and
broke and run for my house. l war standin'
in the door when he came runnin and shout
lin,' save me- save mel and the sogeTs follerin
cussed AbOlitioner"
"The teacher ran into the house and the VIM
min hid him sOmewheres, and l stopped the
Isogers and told em they had got list as far Us
they could go on that track. My wife war a
stanin behind me- aud says, don't give him up
joe told her / warn't goin' to- and told
the sOgers it war dOg-on cOwardly so many agiu
one, that tux the fellers part and I'd be durn d
if the'd hunt for him in my house. They went
off after good deal o jaw, sayin' that d hear
from EN- agin.
THAT flight got note sayin' that if | Ididn' I
give up the schOOlmaster, I'd be counted an
enemy of the South and be driven outen the
State. kinder got my mad up at this, and
swOre / never would give up the teacher. That
might they came for him. / fastened up the
winders and doors as well as / could and told
| em to keep their distance. for / war determined
to defend my house and all that war in it. Ar
ter good deal fcussin and talkin they turned
| to 90 away when one cuss, named Frank Cor
hau, ierked out pistol, and says he, Il amt
agoin' till hit Y Yankp and he fired. The ball
passed jist under my arm, and killed my little
! girl dead She war the baby, and were in her
! mothers arms when she were shot turned
and saw her little eyesDquiver in DEATH l didn't t
say nothin', but swore all to myself that other
blood should flow to pay for it, and I've kept
my word Igot the last one on her account to-
day, and he war Frank GOrham.
"We hecrd that our trouble had only begun,
and we were advised by friends TO leave or iine
the rebel army. Jine them traitorous cuses, l
swore never would, and | didn't see no good
way to get outen the Confederacy jist then with
out takin' their oath, and | wouldn't do that
either Wife and talked it over, and we agreed
to take to the swamp, and arter while try to git
to the Yankee line. The varmints swOre they d
4 !. 4 L. a. 1
sWen, when dark came | told the wimmen
where to go, for | intended to stay and see ii
the varmints want tryin' TO skeer me into Civ
in up the schoolmaster; for | had TUX keer of
him, though he wanted me to let him lock fur
himself, as he said l might git into trouble on
his account and bring danger to my family
| But stranger it want the way | war raised,
land | would have protected him with my life.
| About dark the schOolmaster and the wimmen
Ituk to the bush. and | hid in the stable. Arter
iawhile seed lot Of 'em come up, and Frank
GOrham be acted as a sort OF captain or gineral
over en-. A part on em was put behind the
Istumps aud fences, and the rest in front of the
house, aud then Goaham walks up to the door
and knocks. | 'spect he didn't git any answer,
as thar wasn't no one to home Then he whis-
stled to his fellers and they came out kinder con-
sultin' like, and heerd him say Let's burn the
| Abolition cusses out They sot fire to the
buildin', and hid behind the stumps, waitin' for
some one to come out that they might shoot
One feller lay behind the fence iist in front OF
me, and could see him right plain in the light
of the burnin' buildin'. L had my rifle to my
cheek and bead drawn on that chap twict, but
I darsent shoot, fur l thought my folks hadn't
had time enough to git where l told EN- TO go.
Bime by the chap as | war watchin saw my
dog that had left my folks and come back to see
/ whar | war, and he drew up to shoot him. That
war more nor i could stand so l jist laid him
out with bullet through his brain. 1t kinder
astOnished the whole party, and if Id a had two
or three of these Yankee soldiers thar / cOulder
lcaptivated the whole of em. Bein' alone, !
knew if they caught sight o me, l was goner;
so iist cut fur the bush. In about an hour
found my family, and tux 'em to a small island
outen the swamp what ! knowd ON, and
lowed we could fix 1t up pretty comfortable.
zone night l went ON the sly to man what |
could depend ON, and tole him how we were fix
ed, and made things straight for purvisions--so
thar warI,t no danger on our StarVin' From