The Lexington standard. [volume] (Lexington, Ky.) 1892-1912, 1911-11-04
n COLORED
DEMOSTHENES

Sible. Such designations as
''Mr. Linkum," 'Marse jeff
Davis" etc., aboupded.
"And jess here I wanter dress
a few words to- you fool 'publi-
can niggers. Some of yer is
stickin' yer heads up an gittin'
biggity, cause yer think yer
know suttin'. But yer not in it.
when the war come up in
1861 / was out in de cotton field
when my ole Miss-which was
little Marse Toms mother-sont
fur me. She was cryin', and SEE,
sezee, 'Zeke, Toms gone and list
ed fur and endurin' O. the wah,
an want yer to git reddy an
90 long ter take care O. him; ter
wait on him, cook fur him, and
eff he gifts kilt be sho' an bring
him back home again, dead or
alive, or wounded either. Take
care o. him, Zeke, yess same as
| if he war yer own brudder an
the good Lawd'l bless YER
"Well, l did. Thousands O.
boys jined us fo' we got ter ole
Ferginny. Many carried big
trunks WI their dress suits, but
dat was fo' de Yankees got dar.
Now, l amt gwinter tell yer no
lie about it. Why down in my
mind / sorter wished Gle Yam
KEGS mout whip our white folks,
kase l somehow felt dat suttin'
good mout come outen IL to me.
| hated to see my own folks git
whipped, too, for I was mitey
fond O. my people, and kinder
proud of 'em.
"By an by, ez the wah drifted
on and the fittin' got to close
quarters, an newspapers gin to
cirkilate round, de wah'd bin
goin' on about three. years. l
hung round de tents an listen
to, all dat was gwine on. But l
lay low and sed nuthin'. One
day / hear one O. de soldier boys
read out as how Mr.. Linkum
lad done writ a letter sayin':
Mr.. Jeff Davis, eff you'll lay
Gown your guns an come back
into de Union, you may keep yer
niggers, jess like yer had 'em
fore de wah-an' be dam to
'em.-Abum Linkum.'
Po' Chance for Freedom.
"Bless yer soul, yer could er
knocked me down wild a fodder
bed / thought ter myself, Hit
look like nifty po' chance fur
freedom we gwinter get out yer,
Mr.. Linkum.' l was dat blue |
was almost black. / never felt
soNblue in all my life. But |
didn't let on. l lay low and kept
dark. But concluded to wait an
see what Marse Jeff Davis, he
gwinter 'spon'. l knowed he was
a proud man, an a nifty game
one. So | hung round and KEEP
, cookin' and doin' about fer my
mess mates jess ez if muffin had
happen. Dress de Lawd, one
day, one O. de boys opened a
newspaper an said, here's what
Jeff Davis says
Mr.. Album Linkum, ! got
yer letter sayin' as how to lay
down my arms, come back into
de Union, an keep my niggers.
l beg to sho' yer I'm not ftin' ter
keep my niggers in slavery, but
ter free myself. So, to yo' prop
osition my only answer is, dat ]
won't do any such a dam thing.
Jeff Davis
did l feel good? Well OATS
no namen fur it. De hill was
too little ter hold me. / shot off
down into de bushes where no
body could see me, and flung my
ole hat as high in de air as /
could flung it and shouted:
"tBully fer Jeff Davis
"And God bless his manly
soul, we got our freedom now,
for keeps! For | knowed de
Yanks were bound ter whip, wild
all the men an money an guns,
but femme tell yer, eff Marse Jeff
had bin a Yankee, he'd have sur
rendered right dar to MrsLink-
UNI on de spot.
$50 you fool publican niggers
don't owe one hour of all yer
freedom to Mr.. Linkum. Marse
jeff Davis is the man who freed
yer and for one. T saw. God bless