The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1870-10-15
Life Among the Freedmen.

A lady teacher, who has been employed
| teaching colored schools in the South,
| gives, in the Eoangelist, some amusing
| accounts of her experience among her
African pupils. While some of the Incl
dents, evincing the quaint humor of the
colored race, will, doubtless, provoke a
| smile, we are sure that all our readers will
sympathize earnestly with the struggle
| that down-trodden race is now making to
rise above their ignorance and degraded
| condition:
"Aunt Chloe Fisher stands out in full
view-seventy-five or eighty years old, but
still bright and original. 1 would like to
| have had you seen her on her first appear
ance at the school. She came one day
very anxious to learn to read sde way, de
truth, and de life;' but hearing the young
| women read, she became excited.
"'Jes hear dem niggers read,' said she;
| If dis mig can't learn too-won't she fight
emp and then she vigorously applied her
| fingers to the pages of the Gospel of John
| in her hand, finding the words Lord and
God, which were about all she knew.
"She believed in both faith and works,
praying most earnestly that God would
teach her; then getting up in the middle of
the night and lighting pine knot to make
sure she had a word right. Once found
her greatly worried for fear she would lose
her place in the graveyard. Young people
were dying SO fast around her, she was
afraid she would not die soon enough to lie
in her chosen lot.
"Another old Aunty was one day slowly
picking out the fifth chapter of Matthew,
when she came to a verse which read thus:
'Neither-do- men -light-a half bushel- and
put-it-under-a candlestick.' On being cor
rected and told to look again, pointing
with her finger along the lines of the page
in a vain attempt to find the place, with
look of half despair she said: Dress you
halfbushel now
1t happened once in the night-school that
a class was arranged in the following order:
Four dark scholars, three light enes, and
dark one at the foot. One Of the light boys
missed and the word passed down. Joseph
Pierce, at the head whispered loud enough
for us all to hear, to the dark boy at the
foot. Cut up here, Dave; it's the color
that tells The laugh was universal when
the word was correctly spelled, and Dave
took his place among those of lighter skin.
s'Miss G.. had one scholar in her class
whom she could not teach to spell. Ask
him to spell 'go,' and he would say, go
up So! No; spell the word; give me the
letters that form the word ooh! we go
up with as great flourish as before.
Night after night it was the same; but
finally he took a long step, and to Miss G.'s
amazement, as we'll as amusement, spelled
go jo!'
"The Register required that the ages of
all our day-scholars should be given; to
comply with this rule, the Yankee faculty
of guessing had to be exercised occasionally.
Ask scholar his age, and very likely he
will reply, My age is up the country or,
cole missus got my age, and she's gone
away
"The trick of giving one name to one
teacher and different one to another was
practised to some extent. A little fellow
gave his name one day as George Wright
why, thought your name was George
Johnson oh! done got tired of that
name, was his cool reply.
GA bright boy was sitting on the school
doorstep the other day, waiting for book.
AS Mr.. b. passed out he said to him: We
are trying to raise up some noble men here.
Are you going to help us?' Drawing him
self up with some dignity, he answered.: Il
am going to be one Of them, sir!'"