Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-01-03

spring and summer. One of our COM
pany, who was brought up Il slave, d.
rected my atteDtion to the number oil
fruit bearing trees to be found in the
woods and told many thrilling stories OF
the time when both in summer and win
ter, he used 10 run away from his mas
ter's anger and spend weeks at time in
the woods, living luxuriously, at all sea
sons of the year, on their fruits, and then
he picked from a tree, close by, some
pods and told me to eat the back Of them.
They were the pods of locust tree some
of them nearly two feet long and two
inches broad and containing thick, Jel-
ly-like substance as sweet as honey |
brought some of them home and, in look
ing up the matter, / find them iden teal
with the sweet locust of Palestine,
and so common is the belief that, not tie
insect of that name, but these pods form
ed the food of John the Baptist, that
they are, called by the natives of that
country, est. Johns bread
We procured our greens from one OF
the large plantations of which have
spoken. 1t consists of about 1900 acres,
lying four miles from the city. The
buildings are in the middle otthe planta-
ton, as far removed as possible from tie
highway, for the greater safety Of tie
slaves, of whom there used to be several
hundreds. The planters house is fast
going to ruin. Its great porches are set
Ting down and soon will tumble down.
The paint has nearly worn off from it,
it's great halls and rooms are all closed,
save little part, on , one side, occupied
by a colored man who rents, for so much
per acre, the little of this great tract Of
land that is now under cultivation. The
drive from the road to the house is
through wide avenue of cedars, now
grown old ard stately, and yet IN their
age and neglect, still very beautiful. At
one side of the large house are five or six
little buildings, once occupied by the
slaves. They are not much used now
and are fast falling to pieces, many that
once stood near them have already disap-
peared and the grass has grown over
their site | see not a single hand cut
stretched to save even vestige OF any
thing that shall tell the generations to
come of the slavery that once existed
here. We found the cOlored man with d
number of hands in the field digging pea
nuts. Close by was little fire and in 1t
the omnipresent sweet potatoe lay wait
ing. We staid while to eat sweet pota-
toes and, in the meantime, the old man
called up "reminiscences of what they
termed the days before the surrender.
You may be sure l was an interested lis
tener. The Emancipation Proclamation
and the surrender are m igic words with |
the colorsd man. This plantation Is for
sale and could probably be bought IN a
bo1y, for $40 per acre.
Northern capital can accomplish no
greater good for the colored people
than by coming down here and buying
these large tracts OF land and selling
them out to them in small lots at a rea-
sonable advance. | am told that not
more than third of the once cultivated
land of Alabama is now under cultlVa-
ton, and there il said to be nearly three
millions of acres still open to settlement
under the homestead act. Long before
coming south felt that Northern men
owed it to themselves to come and look at
this country, and now that am here and
have seen it somewhat for myself, feel
more than ever that it is not only duty
but in the direct line of their personal
advantage.
And now let me say to those who may
be interested TO know that we had most
delightful Christmas time with sum-
msr's sun, turkey, Christmas fer the
children and many kind membranes
from the friends at home.
r. c. BEDFORD.