The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1876-11-17
A RELIC or THE PAST.
Death OF Tennessee Negro Who Had
TaTnsd tbs FIRST Quarter % the Zee
ond Century OF His INistsnse-Ifis
MAI.
[From ne Memphis Avalanche. ]

War.
lFrom me Memphis. Avalanche
There died near Rossville, Tenn, q
few days age, venerable and remark
able old negrO-Ferhaps one % the old
est IN the land-a man who has seen
generation after generation come upon
the stage Of life, act It's part, aud pass
of into oblivion. He has seen his friends
born, ripened into manhood, and gone
down in old age 10 the grave. Children
Of three generations have clustered
around his knees and heard b. recital
Of the legends Of past cenlnry, and
have, one after the other, been laid 10
rest IN a grave over which bis tears
have fallen. Yet, Ike the Wandering
jew Of Sues great fiction, he had
been forced 10 "gO on" until the Crea-
tor that gave him life should see fl 20
take back the gift. Uncle Jake "
Pulliam has for many years been living
IN the county where he died, having be-
fore the war been aslave Of the Pulliam
family. "Uncle Jake" claimed 10 be
lj6 years old, and was probably, judg-
ing from his age at the time various
scenes were enacted, not less than Us
years old.
To men of this generation there Is
something weird and almost inconpTe-
hensible IN the existence, but a few
weeks ago, Of one who was 4 man
grown at the time of the birth Of the
republic. The old mans stories of the
stormy events of the Revolution were
singularly fresh and accurate, and
showed that he had acted his part in
those great and Perilous scenes which
attended the ushering into existence Of
the best government the world has ever
seen. The history of this old patriarch's
life, as he has told il over and over
again beside the pine-knOt fire before
his cabin door, contains so much that j.
marvellous that il should not be with
held from the public.
Uncle Jake's earliest memories take
him back 10 confused mingiing Of a
savage crOwd-a sea voyage, and the
crowding Of new sensations Of q strange
people and strange land. From al
Of which Uncle Jake thought that be
was brought to this country when be
was about ten years old. lie never
knew a mother or a father. His first
home was among the rice fields Of the
CarOlinas, where he was for several
years The don't know how many) en-
plOyed " round de house, When
about l. years old he was sold
to the Du Pont family, Of HUI
guenct extraction, and was the
BODY servant Of the "yOung mass'r,"
Henry Du POnt. When the Revolution
began, in l7I5, his young master en-
listed IS an ensign under MOultrie In
the Continental army, and he accom-
panied him. The old man says he was
then sizes about grone and didn't had
no bar on my chin" He remembers
clearly his first engagement with the
red coats; il was when Col. MOultrie
sent his young master with their Cap
tain Marion, to take Fort johnson.
When the fort was taken, be himself
rammed the ball in one Of the old can
non that were turned against the British
fleet Uncle Jake tells some marvellous
tales Of his own personal daring upon
that and similar occasions. One ludi-
crOus incident If how "de sOiers lafied''
when, ball striking the sand bags Of
the fort, he was covered up 10 the chin
and lay yelling for help, thinking that
the rest Of mis- anatomy had been carried
of by the shot.
At the assault on Savannah by the
combined forces Of the French and
Americans, his young master fell by the
side Of the gallant Pole, Count
Pulaski. The old mans voice would
grow husky as be spoke Of the burial
by tOrchlight on the margin Of the
marsh, and how Captain Marion kindly
patted his shoulder As he lay sObbing
on the ground, and said: - Never mind,
Jake. He fell like brave man, and
YOU can tel his father So"
After that he attached himself 10 Ma
rion, and was, after the return of the
command 10 Carolina, presented TO Ma
ron by his old master for his use until
the close of the war. | ncle JAKE could
tell many incidents Of the siege Of
Charleston; how Marion's leg was
broken there. and how he helped 10
bandage up the shattered limb. he
was with the Swamp Fox" in ali his
battles and brushes with Tarleton and
his tories, being once captured BY that
bold rider, but afterwards escaped, car
rying of TarletOn's own pack mule with
his private baggage. He followed Ma
riOn through the swamps Of the Pedee
and Santee Rivers, was present when
three Britishers" were swung up 20
one limb, by way Of retaliation for the
hanging Of three Of Marion's men. He
describes Marion rs a small man, whom
he feared, and Yet loved devo;edly. But
strangest of all is the narrative Uncle
Jake gives of an incident which j.
familiar 20 every school boy-the in
stance Of the visit of the English officer
TO Marion al Snow Island. and how