Year: 1860

country now comprised in Western Ten
nessee. 1t appears that the party took
the Tennessee river some distance above
what is known as the Cumberland Shoals"
While descending, their boats grounded in
passing over the shoals, and they were at
tackled by party of the Indians at that
time infesting the neighborhood All the
whites Of the company were killed, and
those of the blacks who did not share the
same fate were borne off by the Indians.
Among those in the latter class were Gran
ny Wilson and her boy Buck. Their cap
tivity was of such length that the boy
grew to the full stature of manhood They
were traded from tribe to tribe, and appear
to have reached point many hundred
miles west of the Mississippi.


The woman's heart was never at rest;
continually she longed to return to the re-
gions of the whites AS the boy grew up
she filled his mind with accounts of her
former life, which appeared very desi-
rable to her as compared with Indian SER
vitude, gradually preparing him for the
day which she firmly believed must come.
And come it did He had been of mans
stature for some years, when she learned
that they were then living about forty
miles from the Mississippi, in direction
nearly west of the present site Of Memphis.
There was then French fort on the west
ern side of the river, on the eastern side, a
few miles below, an American station,
which had been recently established. Buck
had need of but little urging to attempt to
escape from the Indians. With his mother,
at night, he started. They struck the river
a short distance below the French garri-
son, when the old woman hid herself near
the bank, and Buck made circuit round
SO as to reach the river above the
fort. This he did unobserved. He took
to the water, foated down close along by
the shore, and succeeded in cutting loose,
from almost under the eyes of the sentinels
patrolling up and down, canoe He
drew this so or 100 yards before he was
discovered. Being fired at, he sprung into
it and pulled for dear life, steering for the
eastern bank at point about mile above
the station of the American garrison. He
was vigorously pursued, but succeeded in
reaching the shore some distance ahead of
his pursurs. Leaping out, he sank the Ca
noe, and hid himself. They searched tor
some time, but rowed back. When they
were all off, he raised the canoe, and pro-
ceeded down to the American fort To
this he gained admission, and from it he
went for his mother, and was successful in
bringing her: over They were now again
with the whites. Shortly afterwards a
treaty was formed with the Indians, in ac-
cordance with the provisions of which the
old woman and her boy were sold. For a
period of twenty-five or thirty years sue
ceeding, her life appears to have been that
of the generality Of slave women in old
age-her masters home being in Memphis.


Buck, the boy" seems to have been
employed considerably as river hand.
He was in service on a boat which was ly-
ing at New Orleans about the time of the
famous battle at that city in the last war
with Great Britain, and was sent by his
master or owner to serve on that eventful
occasion, and yet bears marks of the wounds
he received in the conflict. Later, he was
in demand in Memphis and other places as
an interpreter having acquired knowledge
Of many dialects during his life with the
Indians, He also often had occasion to act
as guide to parties exploring or hunting in
the country west of the Mississippi. He
gained his freedom about the year 1880 or
1881. Having built cabin on the Ar
kansas side of the river, nearly opposite
Memphis, the owner of his mother gave
her to him, and he took her home. She
was then something over ninety years of
age, and he had also become what might
be called an old man. Uncle Buck was,
at this time, as he had been for some years,
quite animportant parsonage in and around
Memphis. His personal presence was such
as to command respect and even awe from
all the younger blacks, and his services as
guide and interpreter, combined with his
well known spirit, gave him standing
with the whites not usually accorded to
persons of his race. Granny Wilson was
almost universally known, and was an es-
pecial favorite with the river men. Dur
ing the years of herresidence with her boy"
on the Arkansas side, it was her custom to
be often taken across the river, that she
might sit on the wharf and receive the no.
tce and small charities of the steamboat
captains and others. Uncle Bucks cabin
was not far from lake much rcsorted to
for fishing purposes; and many were the
people who called to pay their respects to
the old woman, then reputed to be about
hundred years old. In 1889 this home
was left, and Uncle Buck came to this city.
In the latter part Of 1910 or early in 1871, ,
old Granny followed.


Her life here is well known, and has not
been marked by many incidents One of
these will bear relating. Some years ago,
the wife of one of our wealthiest citizens,
while on visit to Kaskaskia, fell in with
little, old, shrivelled negro man, who, on
learning that she was from this city, made
inquiry if an old negro woman was living
here. Some conversation ensued, and on
the lady's return Granny Wilson was ques-
toned about the matter. She asked many
questions about the "boy," as she called
him, and finally broke out with the earnest