John" was not the proper title by which to denote
a freeman; and so in many cases "John Hatcher"
was changed to "John S. Lincoln" or "John S.
Sherman," the initial "S" standing for no name, it
being simply a part of what the coloured man
proudly called his "entitles."

As I have stated, most of the coloured people left
the old plantation for a short while at least, so as to
be sure, it seemed, that they could leave and try
their freedom on to see how it felt. After they
had remained away for a time, many of the older
slaves, especially, returned to their old homes and
made some kind of contract with their former
owners by which they remained on the estate.

My mother's husband, who was the stepfather of
my brother John and myself, did not belong to the
same owners as did my mother. In fact, he sel-
dom came to our plantation. I remember seeing
him there perhaps once a year, that being about
Christmas time. In some way, during the war, by
running away and following the Federal soldiers,
it seems, he found his way into the new state of
West Virginia. As soon as freedom was declared,
he sent for my mother to come to the Kanawha
Valley, in West Virginia. At that time a journey
from Virginia over the mountains to West Virginia
was rather a tedious and in some cases a painful

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