The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-18
BY JAMES N. GLENN.

In the white portion of the cemetery at Dayton. so we'll known as a center of ante-bellum aristocracy and culture, and where the traditions reach back for half or three-quarters of century. there Is grave which reveals a con- Edition wfid1 efteH exfstea Sin sthe South. but of which outsiders know but iit- tie. ss.-5-.. s''s s-ss ssss--s-s-s
 The people of the North and East have never comprehended the relations which often existed between the faith full family servants and the family itself. There was a tenderness there. a reciprocity of affection, which to them has ever remained sealed book, nor have they endeavored to read properly It's pages. Slavery had dts horrors in some cases; itis happily gone forever. from the earth. and no right-thinking person could wish it back. but with the passage of slavery and those irn- mediately connected with tt. either as masters or as servants, there has passed away a relationship which will never returs,
 There was relation between the colored 'tmafnmy" and the white chil- dren of the family that was tender. loving and enduring. and the decltn- ing days of many of the ante-beilum servitors were made comfortable by those whom they nursed in infancy. Also today there are some of them still alive. and who are the recipients of homes for life and other substan- tial gifts dictated by grateful hearts, and who claim many rpan or woman now with families of their own as "my chi1luns cause I raised 'en." At the head of the gave above men, toned stands marble slab, and at the foot another. Upon the one at the head is engraved the name and the date April 2. 1S82."
 As one stands and looks upon 1t. if he attended the burial mentioned. a flood of memories return, and the scene was one not to be forgotten. The grave is not that of white person. but colored woman. an ex-slave, but to | whom emancipation meant nothing whatever but the continuation of her
 taking care of" the family.
 Her home was with Mir. Warren As- 1 kew, belonging to one of the wealthi- est families of the community and one
 of the best-known families, of the
 Canebrake region. She had .nursed
 Mrs. Askew when a child and upon the latter's marriage had left her
 home, with her young mistress, in
 another State and had come with her to this place. Later the same hands that had miuistered to the mother att | tended those of the second generation, and she belonged" to them and they l ''beIonged" to her. Hers was slavery,
 theirs was a slavery, but 1t was a
 slavery by mutual consent and one cemented by ties of most tender af-
 lection on both sides. Her ,associa- ! ton was with the white people. and
 to her the happiest place was where
 the white children were. | The end of earthly existence came
 to her very suddenly, In the still
 watches of the night, and the shock
 and grief of the family was shared by
 the people of the town. The burial
 took place upon a beautiful Sunday | afternoon, and the great; concoarse or perRons at the grave consisted of the people of both races Tears were plen-
 tifu1, and the sobs of the children broke the solemn stiffness.
 The burial service was conducted by pr, Baird, the cultured pastor of che
 Presbyterian Church, to which the family belongeds and a colored preacn- CT. Side by side they, stood at the
 head of the grave, pr. Baird cond9cteo the first portion of the service In tender, touching manner. Then the
 coIored preacher announced the words;
 ''rhere is a land of pure. deight, Where saints immortal reign
 Low and soft began the words of the
 song, as an old cOlered man began 1t
 with the cadence and intoration pecu-
 liar to the colored race, while others IoiTie6 in as the chorus swelled. At
 the end of the first two lines, the col-
 cred preacher announced the next two;
 "Innnite day excludes the night, And pleasures bRnish pain.
 rrba aeraet was electrical. Other
 strong voices joined in,. from both the
 white and oolofed. attendants, but many | were so affectsd that they could not | continue. and sobs could be heard from | every side. Then came the next words: