Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-12-19

de Union took dat town, dev all run
away an left me all by mysef wild
de other niggers in dat mons'ous
big house. So de big Union officers
move IN dan, an dey ask me would
| cook for dem. Lor' bless. you.'
says /, 'dat's what Ps for
Der wa'mt no smoll fry officers.
mine you, dey was de biggest dey is;
at de way dey make dem sojers
mosey round! De Gen'l he'tole me
to boss dat kitchen; an he say, IF
anybody come meddlin' wild you,
jiSt make EN- walk chalk; don't you
be afeard,' he say, 'yous 'mOng frens
now.'
Well, | thinks to myself, if my
little Henry ever got a chance to
run away, he'd make to de norf, of
couse. So one day l come in dar
whah de big officers was, in de par
Tor, an draps curtchy, so, an up
an tole EN- bout my Henry, dey alist-
enin' to my troubles jist de same as
if was white folks; an l says, what
| come for is becase if he got away
and got up Norf wkah you gemmen
comes from, you might a seen him,
maybe, an could tell me so L could
fine him agin; he was very leetle,
an he had skyar on his left wrist,
an at de top of his forehead Den
dey look mournful, and de gen'l say,
'How long sence you lose him?' an l
say Thirteen year. Den de gen'l
say, He wouldn't be little no more,
now-he's man.
never thought of dat before! He
was only dat little feller to me yit.
l never thought bout him growin' up
an bein big, But l see. it den. None
of de gemmen had run acrost him, so
dey couldn't do noffin for me. But
all dat tine, do l didn't know it,
my Henry was run off to de Norf-
years an years, an he was a barber,
too, an work for hisself. An bymby,
when de waw come, he ups an he
says, 1's done barberin, he says; SIS
goin to fine my ole nanny, less'n
she's dead 50 he sole out an went to
whar dey was recruitin, and hired
hisself out to de colonel for his SER
want; an den he went all through de
battles everywhar, huntin for his ole
nanny; yes, indeedy, he'd hire fust
to one officer an den another. till
he ransacked de whole Souf; but
you sec, | didn't know muffin about
dis. How was l gwyne to know 1T?
Well, one night dey had a big So
jer ball, de sojers dar at Newbern
was always havin balls, an carryin
on. Dey had EN- in my kitchen,
heaps o. times, kase it was SO big.
Mine you, l was down on such do
inS, becase my place was wild de Off
GERS, an it rasp' me to have dem
common sojers cavortin round my
kitchen like dat. But always stood
round and kept things straight, l
did; an sometimes dey'd git my dan
der up, an den Pd make em clar out
dat kitchen, mine tell you!
Well, one night-it was Friday
night-dey comes whole platoon
from a niger regiment dat was on
guard at de house-de house was
headquar 5ers, you know-and den l
was jist bilin'! Mad? 1 was jist a
boomin' l was just itcin' for 'em
to do sufin' for to start me. And
dey was a-waltzin' an a dancin'l
my! but dey was havin' time!
an jist swellin' an swellin' up!
Poorly soon long come such a
spruce young nigger a sailn' down
de room wild a yeiler wench roun' de
wais' an roun' an roun' an roun'
dey went, enough to make a body
drunk to look at 'em; and when dey
got abreas' O. me; they went to kim
O balacin' fust ON one leg an den
on t'other an smilin' at my big red |
turban, an maxim fun, an l ups |
an says, git along wild youL-rub-
bage! De young mans face kim O.
changed, all of a sudden, for bout a |
second, but den ne went to smilin'
agin, same as he was befo'. Well, |
bout this time in comes some mig
gers dat played de music, an b'long |
to de BAN, and dey never git along |
without putin on airs. An de |
very fust air dey put on dat night, |
l lit into dem! Dey laughed, and |
dat made me wuss. De res O. de |
niggers go TO laughin' an den my
soul alive, but 1 was hot. My eyes
was just a blazin' 1 jist straigten-
ed myselfu so-jist as is now,
plum to de ceilin' mos'-an' l digs |
my fists into my hips, an says,
want you niggers to understan' dat
l wasn't bawn in de mash, to be
foor by trash! Is'e one O. de ole |
blue hens chickens, is! an den l
see dat young man STAN starin'
an stiff lookin' kim O. up at de cell
in like he forgot somefn', an 1 |
couldn't member it no mo. Well, |
1 jist march 'on dem niggers-so |
lookin' like a genl-an' dey jist
cave away befo' me an out at de ]
do. An as dis young man was age
in out, | heah him say to another
niger Jim, he says, 'yOu go long
an tell de cap'nI be on has bout
eight o'clock in de mawrin';; dey,s
somefin on my mine, 'he says don't
sleep no mo- dis night. You go
long, he says an leave me by my
se'f.'
"Dis was 'bsut one o'clock in de
mawnin' Well, bout seven, | was
up an on lam gettin' de officers
breakfass. l was stoopin' down
by de stove-jest so, same as if yo'
foot was de stove, an / opened de
stove door wild my right ham, so,
Sushin' it back Jest as l pushes yo'
foot, an I'd jest got de pan O. hot
buscuits in my ham and was bout to
raise up, when l see a black face
come around under mine, jest as rs
a looking up close under yo' face
now an l Jest stopped right dab,
an never budged! jest gazed, and
so; and de pan begin to tremble, an
all of a sudden l knowed De pan
drop on de flo an 1 grabbed his
lef' ham an shove back his sleeve,
Jest so, as rs doin' to YOU and den