File							District #6
Copied							Clark County
1-15-41							Racial Group
bw



			19/3/270


			 THOMAS MCINTIRE

		       Ex-slave,  90  years old

	"I wuz bawned in Bath County, Kentucky, Jan. 17, 1847.  My father

wuz Bryant McIntire, en my mother wuz Sally McIntire.  Father wuz took 

by slave traders from Africa, en dey done bring him to Norfolk, Virginia,

en put him on de block, en sold him to Jim Lane of Bath County, Kentucky,

Lane made de first cookin' stove man'factered en de United States west of 

New York.  It wuz made at Ashland, Kentucky, en it burned wood."

	"Lane en de people what owned mother wuz friends, en betwixt em

dey give father en mother en order so dey cud be man en wife.  You see, 

in dem days all dey done wuz to giver er order in writin' fer a man er

woman ter be man er wife.  Lane wuz a little mo' human den some of de

slave owners back in den times, so he 'lowed mother en father to go by 

de name of McIntire as de married name."

	"Dey wuz ten of us chillun: Hannah, Lomie, Melvinie, Sally, Williams,

Georgia, Wash, Tannar, John, en me."

	"Jim Lane owned 550 slaves en about 2,000 acres of good land.  He

wuz one of de big rich men in dem days, en I reckon he's be de same now.

He had a big, red brick house with 24 rooms, en he needed em, fer he had six-

teen shillun, en he wuz allus havin' company en lots of it."

	"De slave quarters quz 'bout 300 yards from de big house, en ev'ry 

fam'ly had dew own cabin en eight acres of land fer dey ownself's, en all 

de vegetables en garden truck dey needed.  Dey raied dey own chickens en 

tu'keys.  But de hogs en cattle wuz butchered en shared with all de 

diffu'nt fam'lies, en so wuz de milk."
			

Works Progress Administration (WPA) Ex-Slave Narratives

Thomas McIntire, Ex-Slave Narrative