among the people because of the
lack of sufficient food and clothing. There were the Joneses,
a family of nine, the Harrisons, a family of ten, and the
Battles, a family of six. No family on the place had an
allowance of more than $25 per month for food and clothing.
When this allowance gave out, nothing could be gotten until
the next month and the tenants dared not leave their farms to
work elsewhere. The owner of this plantation lived in town ten
miles away and only visited the farm about once a week. Much
to his surprise, on one of his weekly visits, he found all the
homes and farms deserted except one. On that were two old men,
Uncle Ben and Uncle Joe, who had been left behind because
they were unable to secure passes. Uncle Ben and Uncle
Joe sorrowfully told the landlord all that had happened,
emphasizing the fact that they were the only ones who had
remained loyal to him. Then they told him their needs. The
landlord, thinking that the old negroes were so faithful,
rewarded them with a good sum of money and left with the
assurance that they would see to the crops being worked. No
sooner had the landlord left than these old men with grips
packed and with the money they had received, boarded the train
to join their companions in the North.[49]

As an example of the irresistible force which characterized the
movement, one old negro made the remark: "I sorter wanted to go
myself. I didn't know just where I wanted to go. I just wanted to git
away with the rest of them." A woman in speaking of the torture of
solitude which she experienced after the first wave passed over her
town, said: "You could go out on the street and count on your fingers
all the colored people you saw during the entire day. Now and then a
disconsolate looking Italian storekeeper would come out in the street,
look up and down and walk back. It was a sad looking place, and so
quiet it gave you the shivers."[50]

In the heat of the excitement families left carrying members
dangerously ill. There is reported one interesting case of a family
with one of its members sick with pneumonia. As soon as the woman
was able to sit up, she was carried away. At St. Louis it was found
necessary to stop because of her condition. Finding that she could
not recover, they proceeded to Chicago, where she died. Several of the
migrants have seen fit to make heroes of themselves by decl