The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-07
nY n CULPErPnn.

reckon the very best time the nc xroes of our neiRhborhood ever had wal when ''oid Uncle 1acixy died.
 The sad event occurred in the eariy summer of the year 1ses--three yeari after the close of the civil war
 Uncle Jack had been prominent as { leader of his people many. many years while they langushed In slavery. hat continued his leadership after s"Manci' patton come in" and as he had led them isn' life, perhaps, 1t was proper that hs should lead them in death.
 He was the first to go away and taks up his Abode in @Abrahams bosom''-- .construing Abraham" as the one wht brought liberty to them in tho strngsis of the States.
 z Although the district was maiarial and the Ku Klux was abroad In the land, there had been no natural Or un. necessary removal of any of opr adul' colored citixens 'till now. and the occa- sion was considered propitfous for 2 two nights wake and extraordinary
 This Reorganization created conster- nation among the farmers and house. wives of the vicinity. for 1t meant . complete cessation of farrn work for several days. and extra vigilance about the fowl yards--for, bless you. some of the enjoyment of akeels--chicken.
 sUncle Jack" when he '.tabernacied in the fiesh,' was very religious and liked chicken. though I never heard, {and. since a boy, had known hfm), that he ever scared his conscience by actually taking one, in . surreptitious manner, from its roost.
 He was q good man and highly re- spectabIe in his sphere, and did . lit- s tie contraband business in tobacco and whisxey while he was yet slave and his fowl-yard became the involuntary retreat Of all the feathered tribe that migrated from home .Stwixt sun and sum-" in that part of the moral vine- yard.
 Really, aUncle Jack" was a pioneer in that business that later was entered in- to by some of the ''best blood of the South" and forerunnsr of some ex- celleflt men, who, ''sittfng up behind'' a box of tobacco, sack of -four and Q iug of whiskey, by an alchemy of the vocation, transmitted these clements inc to the good cotton and corn of the neikhbors, and in c contamination or .fhese solids into money became the landlords of q later day-and bought themselves great and high honors.
 ssUncle Jaclx'' never stole chiekeni ' Being something of steward or class leader of the colored part of the church (ttis was in slavery days') nc was good to visit among his flock of Sum days to reprove. rebulke. exhort and cor- rect in righteouaness. and taking care ]. ful note of the fowi-yards Of hts white neighbors, he was "thorcuBhiy pre- pared" to point out to his brethFem whore . surplus could Dc prcntabiy re-
 Hearing .lhis white pastor. one dey. singing beautiful song, he caught ths Wgs a.A ..s sra+h argne- har,na s ana ne took it as a literal fact. when night after night they came to soiourn with him.
 The negroes with us at that time. had a monopoly of the virtue of raising chickens, and the virtue was 30 general that no one nigger could claim an sn" wlabie distinction.
 Long years afterwards one Of our white citizens undertook. in another county and some distance from homo. 10 practice the industry, and got Into durance vile. Our min man. who was ,nubIlc .spiritea and kind-hearted needed ffIe young fellow in hie business asso TrauE. k0 hsa relief with the enaolienS that makes the Justice Of the Peaco svondrous kind, and sntisfyfng him that the young man was afflicted with sepulIus deHnentia, ,S the magistrate t0ia him Co take him away as quickly as uossihie, for he might become subject for the pest house. Our mill man re rretting using the emoiient when he found the Justice of the Peace 60 cas- sly influenced by Q plea.
 Well, he brought him home ana would have held him as peon to this day but as he was rechrSstened -chtcks