ntil
we came to Demopolis, Alabama, where we found Boss camped on the bank of
the Tombigbee river with all the farm slaves from Bolivar county. This
was the first time I had seen Boss since he was captured and taken to
Helena. As my wife and I were the only ones in the gang who belonged to
Boss, we left those with whom we had come and joined his gang. We all
then went aboard a boat and were taken to the salt works, situated on
the Tombigbee, ninety miles from Mobile. These salt works belonged to
the rebel government. The first president of the works was Mr. Woolsey,
of Salem, Alabama. During Mr. Woolsey's term, the first part of 1864,
when we had been there some time, he wrote to Boss asking if he would
sell myself and wife, and offering $3,000 for both of us. Boss was
indignant at this and curtly refused. My wife acted as cook at the salt
works, in the headquarters for the president, managers and clerks. Mr.
Woolsey was delighted with her cooking; her bread and rolls, he said,
could not be surpassed.

* * * * *

M'GEE'S GREAT SCHEME.

When the election of officers of the works came off in the fall, Mr.
Gallatin McGee was chosen president. Boss then hired us all, about 100
in number, to labor in these works, but he, of course, received all the
revenue. The work assigned me was that of butler at headquarters, and my
wife was cook. Both women and children, as well as men, were employed in
these works. After some months labor here, soon after Gallatin McGee
became president, Matilda and I were removed to the Montgomery
headquarters, where we remained until nearly Christmas. A few days
before that time, Boss came to Montgomery and arranged for us to meet
him in Mobile. We started at the appointed time, reached the city in the
morning, and I went directly to the hotel where he told me he would be.
I found him at once, and he informed me all about his plans for the
future, and what he expected to accomplish. He had purchased an island
in the bay, a little way from Mobile, where he had decided to establish
salt works of his own. All the brick and lumber for the buildings had
been carried there, and work upon them was to be commenced immediately
after Christmas. He intended to make a home for the family on the
island; and, as soon as he could complete the works, to remove all his
hands from the government works to his own. He was very enthusiastic
over this scheme, claiming that he would make f