"A lot of men from our place went to war.  I had two uncles what

went.  It wuz nothin' to see sojers in our neighborhood.  When de wah

wuz ovah, Mr. Preston give all his slaves deeds foh so much land, en built

em each a little four-room cottage.  Some of dem folks is still on dat

piece of land."

	"We moved to Lexin'ton aftuh a few yeahs, en latuh to Gawgtown.

I married Mr. Robert Baumont, from Orange County, Vi'ginia, en we went 

to Cincinnati.  We moved from Cincinnati to Springfield bout twenty-five

years ago."

	"When we lived on de Preston farm somethin happened dat raised

a lot of talk.  One de Preston girls fell in love with de Negro coachman

en run off en married him in Canada.  Said she never wanted to marry a

white man.  She never did have no white beaux as a girl."

	"Her father wuz so hurt en he said he wuz goin' to disown her;

but he did give em $10,000.  Den he said he never wanted them to come back

to visit him or his folks, but his folks could go up to Canada en visit with

her en her fam'ly."

	"Befoh, de Prestons threatened to kill de man, but de girl she said

if dey killed him she would kill some of dem en herself, too.  She told dem

dat she pu'suaded him to take her, en dat she had been in love with him

foh years, en had tried ever so long to git him to run off with her en 

marry her.  Ole Miss like to a died, but she got ovah it, en took trips 

up to Canadada when she wanted to see her daughter.  But de girl en her 

husband dey nevuh come back to her old home."

	"Dey had a fam'ly, so we heard, en he wuz doin' well, en had

some kind of business, en latuh, it wuz said, he made a lot of money.		

			

Works Progress Administration (WPA) Ex-Slave Narratives

Kate Dudley Baumont, Ex-Slave Narrative