Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-11-13


Oh, bless de chile, he always so good.
But dey got him; de men did. But
l took an tore de clos most off of
'em, and beat 'em over de head wild
my chain; an dey give it to me too,
but | didn't min dat.
"Well, dah was my ole man gone,
an my chil'en, all my seven chil'en-
an six Of 'em | hain't set eyes on to
dis day, an dat's twenty-five year ago
last Easter. De man dat bought me
belong in Newburn, an he took me
dab. Well, bymeby de years roll on
an de waw come. My marster he
was Confederit colonel, an I was
his family's cook; so when de Unions
took dat town dey all ran away an
left me all by myself wild the other
niggers in dat mons'us big house. SO
de big Union officers move in dah an
dey ask me would I cook for dem ?
Lord bless you,' says /, dat what l
is .tor.'
obey want no small-fry officers,
mine you, dey was de biggest dey is;
an de way dey made dem sojers messy
around! De Gen'l he tole me to boss
dat kitchen; an he says 'if anybody
comes meddling wild you, you Jest
make 'em walk chalk, don't you be
afeared,' he say; 'you's 'mong trens
now.'
"Well, think myself, if my little
Henry ever got a chance to run away
he would make right to de Norf. of
course. SO one day I comes in dah
whah de big officers was, in de par
lor, an drops a kerchy, SO, an l up
an tole 'em about my Henry, dey lis
'ening to my troubles jist the same as
if was white folks, an l says, what
l come for is beca'se if he got away
an got up Mort, whah you gemmen
comes from, you might a-seen him
maybe, an could tell me so as I could
find him ag'in; he was very little an
had skyar OH his eft wrist, an at
de top OF his forehead Den dey all
look moG rnful an de Gen'l say, 'how
long sence you lost him?' an / say
thirteen year Den the Cen say he
wouldn't be little no mo- now-he's a
man!
81 never thought of dat before. he
was only dat little fellah to me yit.
| never thought about him grown up
an being big. But I see it all den.
None of de gemmen had run acrost
him, SO dey couldn't do nothing for
me. But all dat time, do l didn't
know it, my Henry was run off to de
Norf, years an years, an he was n
barber, too, an worked for hisself.-
An bymeby, when the waw come. he
says 'rs gwyne to find my ole man.
my less'n she's dead So he sole out
an went to where dey was recruitin'
an hired hisself out to de Colonel for
his servant; an he went all froo de
battles everywhah, huntin' for his ole
NANNY. Yes indecdy, he'd hire to
first one officer an den another, till
he'd ransackcd the whole Souf; but
you see didn't know nothin' about
dis, an how wasI gwyne to know of it?
"Well, one night we had a big So
.ier ball; de sojers dah al Ncwbern
was always havin balls am carryin'
on. Dey had 'em ill my kitchen,
heaps Of times, beca'se it was so
big. Mine you, / was down on such
doin's; beca'se my place was with de
officers, an it rasped me to have dem
common sojers cavorting around my
kitchen like dat But / always stood
aroun' an kept things straight, | did.
An sometimes dey'd git my dandcr
up, an den I'd make 'em clar dat
kitchen, mine tell you.
"Well, one night-it was Friday
night-dey comes whole platoon
from nigger regiment dat was on
guard at de house-de house was
headquarters, you know-an' den l
was jist bilin'! Mad? l was jist a
boomin' for en- to do sometin for to
start. An dey was a-waltzin' an
a-dancing! My! but dey war hav-
in time; an jist a-swelling an
a-swclling up. Pooty soon long cum
sich a spruce young nigger a-sailing
down de room wild a yaller wench
around de waist; an round an round
dey went, enough to make 4 body
drunk to look at 'em; an when dey
got abreast of me dey went to kind
O balancing around first on one leg
an den on t'other, an smilin' at my
big turban an making fun, an l up
an says, Cit along wild you, rubbish
De young mans face kind O changed
all of suddint for about second,
but den he went to smilin' agin de
same as he was before. Well, about
dis time in come some niggers dat
played music an long to de band, an
they never could git along widout
putting on airs. An de very fust
air dey put on dat night, | lit into
'em. Dey laughed and dat made me
wuss. De rest Of the niggers got to
laughing, an den my soul alice l
was hot! My eye was jist a-blazin'!
l jist Strengthened myself up so,-jist
as l is now, plum to de ceiling most
an l dig my fists into my hips, an
l says, 'Look-a-heah" l says, 4 want
you niggers to understan' dat l want
bawn in de mash to be fool by trash!
rs one o de old Blue Hens Chick
ems, is! An den / see dat young
man stand a-staring an stiff, looking
kind o up to de ceiling like he forget
sometin an couldn't member it any
more. Well, jist marched on dem
niggers, so-looking like gen'l-
an dey jist cave away before me an
out at the door. An rs dis young
man was going out, heah him say
to another nigger, 'Jim,' he says, jist
you go along an tell the cap'n dat l
be on ham about eight o'clock in the
mawning; der is sometin on my min,
he says, Il don't sleep no mo- dis
night. You go along he says, 'an'
leave me by my ownse'f for disnight."
'Dis was about one o'clock in de
mawning. Well, about seven l was
up an Oh hand Citing de officers