The herald., 1911-10-26
THE "NIGGER
TEACHER"
By WAL TER B. HENDRICKS
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1871.

during a visit to that state In 1868.
WAL. yes. 1 reckon war hyar
about that time"
do you remember Cyrus Wander
veer2"
Reckon | do remember Cyrus Van
deveer. Nobody who was hyar when
he was hyar II forgit him. reckon"
do they remember him kindly or
unkindlyY
They remember him mighty kind
" about the time he went away, but
when he first came down hyar they
didn't take to him at all"
What changed them? Tell me al
about it"
well, sub. Cyrus vandeveer was
one Of them abolitionists that didn't
know enough to let the southern peo-
pie alone to do what they liked with
their niggers. At that time we didn't
want our slaves to know too much. TO
If they did we would lose our property.
Vandeveer set up a school TO the
blacks. Some Of our most influential
citizens went to him and protested.
BE said that he believed 1t to be his
duty to teach 'em. and he proposed to
60 on with the wo'k.
They went away and consulted. but
they didn't say anything mo- to Van
deveer, who continued teachin' the mig
gers. That was just befo' the wah.
and we was all gittin' mighty hot
down hyar Finally one night Vande-
yeers schoolhouse was observed to be
on fab. The darkies ran TO- buckets
to put water on it. but the committee
stopped EN-. tellin' 'em they couldn't
put on any water. Cose the niggers
was mighty cut up about this, and it
made q heap o. trouble among 'em.
The schoolhouse burned to the ground.
and there was nothing left but few
charred dmbers. Vandeveer wasn't
nigh. He had gone to see a sick darky
that had been one of his scholars and
didn't get back till his schoolhouse was
burned to ashes.
THAT was q very dry season. there
not having been any rain TO months
After the fab everybody went to bed.
The wind rose. and-well. some s'pose
Il carried spark, and some s'pose the
spark got lodged in the shingles Of
the roof when the schoolhouse was
burning Anyhow, about IL o'clock
there was an ala'm O. fab at Cunnel
Woodbridge's house. The cunnel was
playin' a game O. draw at Majo' Atwa-
ters with Captain Sykes. Cunnel
Thorpe and several other influential
citizens They had burned the school
house and afterward gone 10 Majo'
Atwater's TO julep and a game o
guards. Cunnel Woodbridge stated up
when somebody rushed in and tole him
his house was afiah, sayin' he had left
his little gal tha' alone. The cunnel
was a widower. with this little daugh-
ter, about twelve years old
by the time the polka party got to the
house the downstairs was burnin'. and
nobody could get upstairs. Little Mary
Woodbridge ran to windo' and, see
In her father below by the light o
the flames. stretched out her ans to
him md cried out:
Papa. save me!
81 was iookin' myself at the cunnel,
and | neva' saw such an expression
Of agony on a mans face in my life,
No one could get up to the child. TO
everything below was allah.
Just then a man come along and
took in the situation. He was that
cursed niger teacher. He was young
and active as a cat There was
rusty lightning rod in a corner Of the
house runnin up right to the window
wha' the gal was. yandeveer he TUX
hold of it and Skinned up to the win
dow and reached out an arm. The gal
TUX hold of it and swung down beside
the abolitionist, who held on to the
rod with the other hand
WAL. there he was. He couldn't
come down hand ovah hand with only
one hand. and he couldn't hold on
long. Anyhow, it was gittin' hotter
all the while. and he and the gal would
burn to death. But be hung on. While
be was tina the room wha' the child
had been burst into flame 1t looked
as II both OF 'em must perish when
some one come with a ladder and, put
tin it up to 'em, Cy dropped Mary on to
it and she got down. Then Cy fol-
lowed her.
"You just orter seen Cunnel Wood
bridge when he got his daughter from
the man whose schoolhouse he had
helped to burn. And his burnin' the
schoolhouse was what burned his own
house. and II 1t hadn't been for Cy
Vandeveer would "a burned Mary.
The cunnel couldn't look the niger
teacher In the face. he just pat out
bis hand and said nothin'.
THAT was the night befo' Fo't Sum
ter was fred on. and the next mawnin'
when they looked TO Cyrus Vandeveer
he want no wha' TO be found. They
reckoned he'd Lit out to the moth to
fight the south"
whats become of Mary Wood
bridge" 1 asked.
"Oh. she's Twin here with her aunt
She's grown up now. Lots o. young
fellers want to marry her. but she says
she's waitin' TO that niger teacher