"
"Why do you want to be baptized?"
"Cause it will make me like Jesus wants me to be".
When several persons were 'ready', there would be a baptism in a nearby
creek or river. After this, slaves would be permitted to hold occasional
servives of their own in the log house that was sometimes used as a
school.
Mrs. Scott remembers vividly the joy that she felt and other slaves
expressed when first news of their emancipation was brought to them.
Both she and her mistress were fearful, she says; her mistress because
she did not know what she would do without her slaves, and Anna because
she thought the Union soldiers would harm Mrs. Dove. When the chief
officer of the soldiers came to the home of her mistress, she says, he
demanded entrance in a gruff voice. Then he saw a ring upon Mrs. Dove's
finger and asked: "Where did you get this?" When told that the ring
belonged to her husband, who was dead, the officer turned to his
soldiers and told them that they should "get back; she's alright!"
Provisions intended for the Confederate armies were broken open by the
Union soldiers and their followers, and Anna's mother, to protect her
master, organized groups of slaves to 'tote the meat from the box cars
and hide it in dugouts under the mistress' house'.
Pages:
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255