Part 14 - Dead eye Sam

     “Do you remember the Dudley’s, who live back behind the swamps?  I’m sure you remember, they’ve been suspected of stealing from folks around here for years. Well, there is a new man with them now. When I went to town to buy garden seed last week, he kept watching Tenny. People call him Bad Bob. He even followed us around some. I was scared, so we bought our seed and came right home. Since then, Josh saw him once out behind the barn, and I saw him once, just pretending to be walking by, hunting. He never talked to any of us, but I’m scared to death about this.”

     James thought awhile. “Baby, its’ one thing for a man like that to stalk women and children who are alone, quite another with the men around. Don’t worry. Just keep Tenny close. Tom or I will make a point to stay around. Lafayette will be here awhile, and although he can’t move around much, he’s a lawman, remember? And he can hit a man in the head at 300 yards with his big gun. I would say, Tenny could not find a safer place to be in Tennessee right now. I’ll clue Tom and LaFayette in tomorrow. Don’t you worry your pretty little head. Let’s just keep a sharp eye out.” He kissed her twice more. She smiled. She felt better.

                                            *

     As Spring faded into Summer, everybody stayed busy on the farm. Clearing the croplands was a big job. The whole family was involved, Except LaFayette, who was still unable to do much of anything. But he was slowly gaining his strength and his weight back, thanks to Sara’s good cooking. His main job was protecting the home place – and one of his best friends, Tenny.

                                            *

     Most farmers in this part of Tennessee had never had slaves. These were mostly small hill farms. The land was not suitable for large plantations. The cotton grown in this part of Tennessee was called bumblebee Cotton. The idea was, a bumblebee could put one foot on a cotton boll, the other foot on the ground.

      But now, many homeless people, Blacks and some Whites alike, were on the move through Tennessee. The North had established The Freedman’s Bureau after the war, attempting to work out share cropping arrangements between freed slaves and former owners. But for now, it was not working, for the most part. The Freedmen’s Bureau was just not up to the task. Thousands of Blacks were homeless, starving, and looking for a way to stay alive.

     Many of these displaced Blacks passed through southern Tennessee, headed to – where? Many did not know. Someplace better. Some had heard that Mississippi had much better cropland. Maybe they could share crop down there, but most did not know exactly where Mississippi was. Some had heard rumors of free homestead land, but so far, that’s all it was. Rumors. When it did actually happen, it was far west of Tennessee.

     Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who moved to the North and became a famous abolitionist and a major voice on behalf of African Americans, said it well –

     “I stand before you tonight as a lowly thief. I stole these legs, these arms, and this body from my master, and ran off with them.”

     “You say you have emancipated us. You have, and I thank you for it. But what is your emancipation?

     When the Russian serfs had their chains broken, and were given their liberty, the government of Russia – Aye, the despotic government of Russia - gave these poor emancipated serfs a few acres upon which they could live and earn their bread. But when you turned us loose, you gave us no acres. You turned us loose to the sky, to the storm, to the whirlwind. And, worst of all, you turned us loose to the wrath of our infuriated masters.”

     Frederick Douglas was once invited to the White House, where he met Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln told Douglass, “ I trust your judgement more than that of any man in this house.”

AUTHOR'S NOTE; I JUST LEARNED, FIVE MINUTES AGO, A NEW DETAIL ABOUT THE BABY-HOG STORY I TOLD YOU ABOUT IN POST 13. THERE WAS A THIRD PERSON PRESENT WHEN MY MOTHER TOLD THE STORY TO MY WIFE. MY SON WAS THERE AS THEY HUNG OUT THE CLOTHES. LYING IN AN INFANT SEAT. Wow!