Pg. B8 The Mt. Vernon Signal Thursday, April 10, 2008

slave shipped (sold down river) orwhupped bad for acting bad, formy master did not believe in thatkind of punishment. I played withthe white folks children. When weacted bad old Marse always lickedthe white children three or fourtimes harder then he did me be-cause they were older.

White folks did not teach us toread and write. I learned that af-ter I left my white folks. There wasa church for slaves at MountVernon, but we went to the whitefolks church and sat in the back.The first colored preacher I everheard was old man JohnMiddleton. He preached in thecolored (Christian) meeting house.I stood on the banks of RenfroCreek and saw my mother bap-tized, but do not remember thepreachers name or any of thesongs they sung.

We did not work on Saturdayafternoons and Sundays. The menwould go fishing, and the womenwould go to the neighbors and helpeach other piece quilts. We usedto have big times at the cornshuckings. The neighbors wouldcome and help. We would havecamp fires and sing songs, andusually a big dance at the barnwhen the corn was shucked. Someof the slaves from other farmswould pick the banjo, then thedance. They had good things toeat.

I can remember when mymammy’s brother died. They tookhim to be buried at the coloredmeeting house, but the mules gotscared and turned the springwagon over and the corpse fell out.The mourners sure had a time get-ting things straightened out, butthey finally got him buried. I donot recall any of the songs, andthey did not have a preacher. Mymammy took his death so hard.

I never did earn any moneywhen I got older, but worked formy food and clothes. My pappyused to hunt rabbits, groundhogs,and possums. I went with himwhen I was young and would rideon his back with my feet in hispockets. He had a dog namedBrutus which was a watch dog.My pappy would lay down his hatanywhere in the woods and Brutuswould stay by that hat until hecome back. We ate all kinds of wildfood, possum and rabbits in the bigoven. Minnows were fished fromRenfro and Roundstone creeks andfried in hot grease.

I remember one slave namedAdams who ran away and when hecomed back my old master pickedup a log from the fire and hit himover the head. We always washedup and cleaned up for Sunday.Some time the older ones wouldget drunk.

On Christmas and New Yearswe would go up to the house andthey would give us candy and fruitand fire-crackers. We were givensome of all the food that the whitefolks had, even turkey. Would haveheaps of corn-shuckings and oldMarse would always have a jug oflicker.

The white folks looked after uswhen we were sick. Used Doc (Dr.Josiah) Joplin’s (who owned 11slaves) slippery elm for poultices.They put polk root in whiskey and

The foundation ruins of the Old Mt. Vernon Christian Church for the Colored. Note youcan observe two stone retaining walls, one in the foreground and one in the background.Photo by Bruce Ross.

gave it to us. When the news camewe were freed every body wasglad. The slaves cleared up theground and cut down trees. I haveseen old covered wagons pulled byoxen traveling on the road goingto Indiana and we was whipped tokeep us from the road for fear theywould steal us. Old master (Will-iam Peasley Hiatt) was found deadin the barn after that. We stayedon with Miss Polly the first yearafter the war. Have heard the KluKlux Klan ride down the road,wearing masks. None ever both-ered me or any of Miss Polly’sslaves. (9.)

9. Slave Narratives: A FolkHistory of Slavery in the UnitedStates from Interviews ofFormer Slaves of Indiana,Works Projects Administration,Assembled By the Library ofCongress, Manuscript Division,1941, Courtesy the Indiana His-torical Society

It is interesting that formerslave John Hiatt mentioned thedeath of his former master Will-iam Peasley Hiatt (26 June 1794-19 April 1865.) Hiatt died just 10days after Confederate Command-ing General Robert E. Lee surren-dered the Army of Northern Vir-ginia to Union General U.S. Grant,Commander of the Army of thePotomac on 9 April, 1865 thatended the Civil War and slavery.The John Lair article cited previ-ously recorded the following re-garding Mr. Hiatt’s death:

Another hanging which raiseda lot of speculation was that ofWilliam Peasley Hiatt. Soon afterthe freeing of the slaves he wasfound dead in his log barn, hishead between two logs and hisbody suspended from it. It wasreported that he had hanged him-self on account of the financial lossin freeing of his many slaves, butfew people believed it. He was oneof the wealthiest and most substan-tial citizens, and it seemed unrea-sonable that he would take his ownlife, especially in such a barbarousmanner. It was largely assumedthat he had been murdered by avindictive ex-slave or one of thebands of outlaws that roamed thecountryside after the close of thewar.

Prior to the Civil War, there isevidence of abolitionist (those whowanted to abolish slavery) activesin Rockcastle County. A researchstudy on slavery conducted by theWorks Project Administration in1941 recorded by Robert Mullins,penned the following regardingslavery in Rockcastle County,Kentucky.

The years 1843 to 1845 workedthe development of systematic en-ticing away, or stealing of slavesfrom Kentucky slave owners, andpassing them to Canada by a cor-don of posts, or relays, which cameto be known as the “UndergroundRailroad.” A number were stolenand carried away on horses. Theold McFerron house (formerly theStephen Langford House) inMount Vernon, Kentucky was usedas a relay post to hide slavesenroute to Ohio, Michigan andCanada. The slaves in these partswere locked in the old McFerroncellar which was situated underthe ground, and they were con-cealed under the cover of night,when they would travel again.There were never at any time anyslaves sold from auction blocks inthis county. It is reported that the

life of the slave in RockcastleCounty was a happy lot. (10.)

10. Slave Narratives: A folkHistory of Slavery in the UnitedStates from Interviews withFormer Slaves Kentucky Narra-tives.

Famed Abolitionists John G.Fee and Cassius M. Clay (foundersof Berea College) had begun toestablish at least three collabora-tor churches in RockcastleCounty- at Scaffold Cane, BoonesFork (Brodhead), and Maretburg-to build an interracial church andschool on the property of StephenCummins near where the CedarRapids Country Club now sets.Fee urged Rockcastle Christians tocome out of slave holdingchurches and that members wereresponsible for the position thattheir church took. If a church didnot rebuke iniquity, membersshould, “Wash their hands of thesin.” Fee believed in the biblical,“Thou shalt love thy God with allthy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself” and as a practical manifesta-tion of this, “Do unto men as yewould they should do unto you.”His personal motto was, “God hathmade of one blood all nations ofmen.” This was met with muchopposition in Rockcastle County.

On 11 July, 1855, a mass meet-ing was held in Mount. Vernon, thecounty seat of Rockcastle County.Proslavery advocates had been toCassius Clay’s speaking engage-ments on 29 and 30 June and hadtaken notes on Clay’s speeches.Judge W.H. Kirley reported thatClay’s speech was one of the mostinflammatory he had ever heard.Resolutions were adopted by theMount Vernon meeting that Clayand Fee could not speak or preachin Rockcastle County, “under pen-alty of being dealt with as the lawrequires.” A committee of fourinformed Clay that the speakingmust desist; Fee and Clay wouldnot be permitted “under the mantleof freedom of speech, to scatteramongst them firebrands anddeath.” Clay denied that hisspeeches in Rockcastle Countywere “revolutionary…and a call

upon the slaves to insurrection toobtain their freedom” as Kirtleyhad charged. Clay concluded hisletter to the Mount Vernon com-mittee by asserting, “If you pro-pose a legal remedy…we will sub-mit to the law of the land…but ifyou threaten violence, we will de-fend ourselves and our whole lib-erties or die.” (11.)

11. The Evangelical Waragainst Slavery and Caste, TheLife & Times of John G. Fee,Victor B. Howard, SuequehannaUniversity Press, 1996.

Fee and Clay, despite thethreats, proceeded to build the in-terracial church and school. Theproslavery men grew bolder andthreatened if Fee proceeded withhis plans they would hang him.Fee did return and was mobbed bya gang led by slave holders JackFish and Pearander Hiatt (son ofWilliam Peasley Hiatt); at gunpoint he was put on his horse andsent to Crab Orchard. The church/school house on the Cumminsproperty was then burned to theground. Locals who had been sup-portive of Fee, then out of fearabandoned him and the projectdropped.

One can only imagine thespeeches voiced from the pulpit ofold Colored Christian Church atMt. Vernon. One such speech mayhave been like the one recordedshortly after the Civil War by anunknown official of theFreedman’s Bureau of a formerslave at a colored church. Thewords-so pure and simple causedthe one who voiced them to behanged by the KKK.

“I ain’t by no means-no kindof talker-but-I had been doin mesome thinking lot bout bein a freed-man. Some-em I never knowd asa child. Now I’m a married manand been thinking lot bout dyintoo. Well-I reckon this proclama-tion ott to show some of them whitefolks that we are just like them. Welove like them, we bares babies likethem. Lord knows lot of their dad-dies done give some of us theirblood. Lot of our mommas donefed lot of them their milk. And Ibeen figuring sum body ott to tellsum of them white folks that whenthey dies and when we die-we allgets put in the same dirt. And howswhen we all git to Heaven-we allgonna share the same good Lord.I reckon enough been said aboutall them differences.” (12.)

12. My Life & Experiences asa Freedman’s Bureau Officer inthe Deep South, Author un-known, Mississippi State Uni-versity at Jackson Library.

Thus ends this sad epistle, buthistory has a way of intruding uponthe present and perhaps those whoread it will have a better under-standing of the African Americanin Rockcastle County. The limitedresources of records leave little toreflect upon during this time pe-riod of our ancestors both whiteand black-of master and slave. Inthat time as now, there are goodand bad people of all races thatreact accordingly to the circum-stances they are presented with.Some white slave holders treatedblacks as property to be bought andtraded like livestock while otherscherished and loved them as mem-bers of their family. Althoughsome may find it offensive, the fol-lowing quote from Ken Burn’sfilm, The Civil War, provides aclear view of the worth of personsof color during this troublesometime in Rockcastle County.

“No day ever dawns for theslave,” a freedman wrote,“nor isit looked for.” “For the slave it isall night-all night forever.” Onewhite man was more blunt, “Irather be dead than be a nigger.”A slave usually entered the worldin a one roomed dirt floored shack,drafty in winter and reeking insummer. Slave cabins bred ty-phoid, cholera, pneumonia, lock-jaw, and T.B. The child that sur-vived to be twelve years old waslikely to have rotten teeth, worms,and dysentery. Fewer than 4 outof 100 lived to be 60. (13.)

13. Ken Burns, The CivilWar, PBS Film, 1990.

The following is a list of blacks(ages included) known to havebeen ex-slaves who were living inRockcastle County in 1880.

Former Slaves ofRockcastle County in 1880This list contains 234 names

from the 1880 Census which is notcomprehensive.

George Adams Sr. 56, GeorgeAdams Jr. 22, Jalie F. Adams 29,Lizzie Adams 24, Martha Adams40, Susan Adams 31, WilliamAdams 35, Ann Baker 30, ElizaBaker 25, Henry Baker 42, AliceBeasley 27, Alex Beasley 27, Tay-lor Birch 23, Harriet Bledsoe 22,Lewis Bledsoe 21, Millie Bledsoe50, Jesse Bogle 35, Susan Bogle30, Jefferson Bursh 54, MargretBursh 44, Fanny Carr 46, MarthaCarr 30, Richard Carr 20, MishChestnut 25, Thomas Clontz 35,Anna M. Coffee 28, Henry Coffee35, Mary Cruise 27, StephenCruise 44, Robert Crumbaker 36,Sarah Crumbaker 36, Susan Davis28, Sally Dean 45, William Dean19, Mary Duke 16, AndrewEdwards 53, Anna Elliott 22,Jefferson Elliott 27, Henry Evans68, John Evans 19, Ellen Farris 21,Squire Farris 24, Bettie Fish 35,Isaac Fish 39, Mariah Fish 58,Miram Fish 33, Robert Fish 36,Scott Fish 16, Warren Fish 63,

Frank Fitch 50, James Francis 45,Abraham Freels 63, Patsy Freels42, George Gatliff 23, JamesGatliff 38, Mariah Gatliff 59, MaryJ. Gatliff 22, Lucy Gatliff 22, Su-san Gattiff 45, Reuben Gillis 45,Irvin Gilmore 35, Liza Gilmore 29,Sidney Gilmore 30, SusanGilmore 33, Henry Gresham 45,Nancy Griffin 35, Solomon Grif-fin 35, Albert Guest 45, ChloeGuest 58, Savannah Guest 17,Walker Hackney 24, Amanda Hag-gard 24, Candace Haggard 16,Harrison Haggard 40, SophronaHaggard 47, Laura Hale 30, Lav-ender Hale 43, Adam Haley 80,America Haley 37, Edney Haley77, Isaac Haley 39, James Hayes22, Levina Hayes 33, MaggieHayes 19, Peter Hayes 24, BettieHiatt 22, Elizabeth Hiatt 26,Hannah Hiatt 56, Jack Hiatt 55,James Hiatt 18, Lewis Hiatt 50,Mariah A. Hiatt 38, Mary Hiatt 20,Moses Hiatt 16, Silvey Hiatt50,Viny Hiatt 18, Patsy Higgs 34,Spencer Higgs 36, Pete Holman40, Sina Huff 68, Jennie Ingraham26, Sidney Ingraham 27, JohnLarue 42, Margaret Larue 24,Daniel Lawrence 38, MahuldaLawrence 35, Issabella Lear 20,Edward Livingston 26, MarthaLivingston 26, Sallie McFarland45, Cynthia Middleton 22, GeorgeMiddleton 31, John Middleton 31,Salley Middleton 27,AlexanderMoss 40, Mary Moss 25, AmandaMotrel 27, Fontain Motrel 40, Pe-ter Mullins 33, Violet Mullins 37,David Nealy 19, Emanda M.Nealy 19, Henry Nealy 38, Eliza-beth Newcomb 55, WalkerNewcomb 55, James Newcum 40,Ellen Osby 22, Amanda Owens 58,Austin Owens 65, George AnnOwens 26, Samuel Owens 27, Sa-rah Owens 18, Polley Patterson

Close up view of stone retaining walls. Photo by Bruce Ross.

25, Delphy Ann Price 50, Doc B.Price 20, Franklin Price 65, JamesPrice 17, Mary E. Price 22, Rob-ert Price 24, Sarah Price 20, MaryProctor 25, William Proctor 38,Abraham Redd 18, Alfred Redd56, Henry Redd 40, Joseph Redd21, Rachel Redd 40, Robert Red21, Sarah Redd 40, ColumbusReed 16, Felix Reins 17, LewisReins 34, Louisa M. Reins 42,Harriet Roberts 19, EllenRobinson 19, George Robinson20, James Rogers 25, MaryRoundtree 24, James Rutledge 26,Margret Rutledge 21, Jane Scarber23, John Scarber 23, Alex Sember19, Mary Shank 20, WilliamShank 17, William Smother 25,Alvira Smith 24, Isaac L. Smith18, John Smith 33, Kisiah Smith36, Louisa Smith 19, Mary Smith40, Mary Smith 36, Mollie Smith38, Mollie Smith 16, OlmsteadSmith 54, Samuel Smith 43, EmilyStewart 18, Henry Stewart 40,James Taylor 36, Jerry Taylor 27,John W. Taylor 30, Margret Tay-lor 26, Martha Taylor 24, AndyTate 33, Jane Tinsley 22, RobertTinsley 23, George Umber 33,Henrietta Umber 28, Sarah Umber50, Mary Wallace 32, WilliamWallace 36, Henry Washington 30,Billie Welch 21, Daniel Welch 40,Emma Welch 31, John Welch 40,John Welch 17, Peggie Welch 20,John West 60, Mary E. West 60,Mullins West 56, Dill White 16,James White 49, James White 22,Jane White 54, Jane White 26,Lidda White 20, Nannie White22, Peyton Whitley 26, JamesWiggins 35, John Wiggins 29,Mariah Wood 22, John Woods22, Mary Woods 27, WilliamWoods 60,

ACROSS

1 TV monitor? 4 Frankfort's first

water pipes weremade of this

9 Atlantic fish13 Machine at Berea

College, maybe15 Developed16 Spur (on)17 Stage solo18 Rajah's wife19 KY horse track,

The Red __20 Knott Co. hamlet,

or collect22 Warsaw, KY is this

county's seat24 Louisville's famous

Cassius Clay25 Play part26 Gawk29 KY Secretary of

State Grayson32 Pencil holder35 Sheltered36 Luster37 Hoops grp.38 Northern

Kentucky's onlypro sports team

42 Evergreen43 Paper quantities44 Yield45 Hosp. readout46 Memo47 Kentuckian,

musical greatHampton

49 German river51 Possess52 Thoroughbred,

1948 triple crownwinner

57 Somerset, KYnative, long-timeUS senator

61 Soon62 Farewell64 Yard pest65 Oaths66 Single-channels67 Kind of candle68 Ornithology

pioneer inKentucky, __Stamm

69 Small goose foundin KY

70 WKU mascot, Big__

DOWN

1 National symbol 2 First female

president of KEA,__ Stewart

3 Rope fiber 4 Famous

prohibitionist fromGarrard Co.

5 Baseball stat 6 Bell sound 7 Offshore 8 Fishing spinner 9 Common KY

roadside tree/bush10 Home county of

Mexico andOxford, KY

11 Wrinkly fruit12 Hammer part14 Gregory

Langbehn for theLexingtonLegends

21 Annex23 KY governor

Martha __

Collins26 Blooper27 Former ML

shortstop,Kentuckian, __Beard

28 KY home to an NFLtraining camp

29 Motif30 Officiates31 Always, in verse33 Home34 Basketball Wildcat

Bradley36 Skedaddle39 Artist Max40 Modern: Prefix41 Election time issue47 Trimble Co. area,

or grasshopper48 __ Jima50 Parson's home52 Pepper shrub53 Aware of54 Poetic foot55 Aroma56 Number of KY

counties est. priorto statehood

58 Rain cats and dogs59 Fashion magazine60 Kentuckian,

Supreme CourtJustice, (1938-57)

63 Years on end

Please call us with yournew 911 address!!

John G. Fee

Cassius M. Clay

“Invisible”(Cont. from B2)

Map of the area