The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-12-05

OF the little house at No. 1414 Twenty
seventh Street, the oldest living person In
Denver responded. and In the dialect Of
the South before the wah'' darkey in
vited the visitor to Cum in and hab a
seat befo' dc nah."
Matilda Saugllton Gales is the name OF
this remarkable woman. She was born
on plantation IN Virginia on February
g. 1903. When the Civil War came on
like a great many slaves. she remained
loyal to "ole mahs tah and ole rnissus an
de chillun'' all through the bloody con-
hict between tho blue and the gray.
"A DISTINGUISHED MASTER.
Aunt" Matilda belonged to Colonel
John B. Slaughter. owner Of one OF the
largest plantations In the South before,
theIwar. It was situated near Richmond.
Va. and the memory Of the Colonel still
lives in those regions. FIe left n large
amount oil money to Richmond College at
his death, and a large oil painting Of
him hangs in the hall OF fame OF tho in
sttution,5 along with the portraits of Jef-s
fcrson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, Robert
Z. Lee and others OF equal note. y
w men Lue &IOIOIclE ulEu Ites lSlI dll cQull
share OF property situated In Ohio to
each OF his former slaves who were tliv-.
Ing at the time of his death. Aunt
Matilda was ono OF these. and she still.
owns her property. This is located near CO.
lllmbus, Ohio. She came to Colorado six
teen years a go. WIZ her only living Sdaugh-.
ter. @S t{@S 35i
There are six generations Of children
who can trace their lineage to this aged
woman. She was married in 1911 to Alex
ander Gales, and still has the marriage
certificate. She also has the family BIZ
ble In which Is recorded the family his
tory for fifty years from the time of the
1915 she had seventy-nvo grandchildren,
twenty-five great-grandchil ten
great-great- grandchildren, seven great
great-gre Observation-Disclosures, five great
great great-great-gran hlldren. two
g r at-grcat great-great-grand
dren and one great-great- great-great-
eat-great-grandchild How many have
been added Ito the list since 1916 no one
knows.
IrER OWN STORY.
The old woman's story is rs follows:
swell, j. jes' dsremembers Zactly how
ole I is. but It am In de Bible. were
born In ole Yirginny long bero' de wah,
and was In al dem troublesome times.
De fust time seed do soldiers was when
Gle mhhstuh was ridln UP dc road and dc
band was playin' Dixie Dc little nlggers
was runnln' long wild de band, and ole
mahstah were riding long on big gray
hoss named Major He looked mighty
gran. j tell you. When de war was ober,
Ole mahstah called us all to him an he
tole us dat we was free an we could 30
away f we wanted to, but dat we could
stay dur if we wanted to. We all stayed,
and dar were more den q hundred of lis,
too, Ole Mahstuh died a little while n fter4
de war was ODER. and when he died he
lel' all OF his niggers some Ian up III
Ohio, I stayed wild dc family until ole
mlss,ls died and dc girls got married, an
den went to Ohio, All OF ole nlahstnh's,
uoys got killed in do war. But ] didn't
like dom niggers in Ohio and mo an my
daughter an her gal Tillie come out here
to Colorado, My ole man died In 1885,
and he was % years ole then. l reckon
I Will stay hero a little while, but ! Is,
ready to go whar ole nastah an ole
missus Is any time do Lord calls me.
The children and grandchildren OF this
old woman live all over the United States
and In Canada. Missouri. Ohio, Pennsyl-
yania, Virginia, Maryland and the Indian.
Territory have representatives OF the
generations, One son lives in the Indian
Territory and Is successful farmer.
Tilllo Todd who was acquitted, was
charged with stealing a number OF artl.
Giles of clothing from Mrs, Charles a.
Barker No. 1921 Homer Boulevard while
she was employed there as a domestic
Denver (Col) Post.