Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-06-27
and chopping wood, yoking cattle and
breaking the prairie land.
NwnAre ConaidArafA

breaking the prairie land.
Owners Considerate.
With all her years of life as slave
for the aristocratic southern families
Mrs Talbert has nothing but the loud
est words of praise for her masters
and mistresses. Toward the last fam.
lily with whom she lived, the Prices, she
holds the kindest feelings, for it was
they that bought her because they
owned her husband and did not
want to see the two separated. She
remembers plainly the days of the
dark war times that she spent with
this family and then the great day for
the slaves when Abraham Lincoln
signed the Emancipation proclama-
ton and they were told that they were
free. Mr.. Talbert says that it was a
subject of great discussion among the
slaves all through the country wheth-
or or not their masters would let them
go Immediately Her master, Mr..
Price, was willing to do the right thing
by his negroes at once, but to avoid
any trouble he was imprisoned in jail
at Alton, ILL.,, for two weeks until the
slaves would have chance to go
away. Before he left and even after
that his wife and daughters came to the
slave headquarters several times and
asked them to remain In the land and
in the quarters which they had for
merly occupied as servants, now to
live as free citizens. However, the
woman says, none of the negroes want
ed to do that, their fellow wOrkmen
were gone or were preparing to leave
and they wanted to go, too While
living with the Hamilton family Mrs.
Talbert says that she was treated as
well. She did more or less work IN
side the house for these people. She
was very handy with the needle, and
is today, being able to sew at the re-
narkable age of lis without the use
o. glasses Very often some Of her
needle work was exhibited by the own
ers at the fairs and bazaars and when
ever 1t won a prize, which was often
me case, the maker of the work was
given a present by her mistress or
master. In the same way when they
went south for the winter to New Or.
leans, she was left in entire charge of
the premises and when the family re-
turned they brought her remem-
brance as a reward for her faithful
ness.
Separated Children.
John Bird Hamilton, who was the
woman's third owner, separated the
mother and children. He paid $1,000
for the woman and $500 for one of the
daughters when he bought them from
Afford, the second owner. He moved
to La Grange, Mo-, and after a time
decided to move west to the Mis-
souri, river. It was then that Price
bought the woman as he owned the
husband and did not want to see the
man and woman separated. Hamli-
ton took the four children, two boys
and two girls, from the mother and
father and went away. The woman has
been widow now for over forty years,
one of the boys is living in Abba, the
other died in the Civil war, one Of the
girls is living in Kentucky and not
long ago visited her mother; the 9th
er daughter the old lady has never
found. Her name was Nancy and
when John Bird Hamilton bought the
family he changed 1t to Kitty, as he
had a daughter named Nancy and he
wanted this colored lass to wait upon
his child This is the one dark blot
on Mrs. Talbert's life stoIy-the fact
that she has never found this girl
who, if she is still living, is now 81
years old. Only few nights ago, she
says, she had dream in which she
thought that the daughter had found
her and had come to her. She is posi-
tive in her statement that should the
daughter ever hear the name of her
mother, Mary Allen Talbert, and that
of John Bird Hamilton of La Grange,
Mo-, the slave owner coupled, she
would Immediately know that they
were the same people she once knew.
After going to the Missouri river
one of the boys ran away and enlisted
in the army. The mistress of the HAM
ilton household went to the barracks
and personally begged him to come
back to the home but he refused, went
out to service, was killed and lies
buried in western Kansas, the Ham
iItons later taking Mrs. Talbert's hus-
band to his grave. The other son is
now 90 years old and is living in Abba.
That city was the home of Mrs. Tai
bert for about twenty-efght years, hav-
ing come here in September, 1913. She
lives on South Ash street with her