ily ties seemed to him very cruel.
When George was told that he was grown as formerly related, he saved his
money and when the great earth quake in Charleston occured he went down
there to see what it had done to the place. Before that time in 1882 he
remembered having seen the first block of ice. When he got there, the
Charleston people had been making ice for a few years. It was about that
time that George saw the first pair of bed springs.
George remained in Pennsylvania and other states farther north for a
long time after freedom. His first trip to Florida was made in 1893. He
came direct from Altoona, Pennsylvania, with a white man whose name he
has forgotten as he did not remain in the man's employ very long after
reaching the state.
Since that time he has farmed in and around different parts of Florida,
but now he resides at Tero Beach and Gifford, Florida. He makes regular
trips to Palatka, being as much at home there as in the cities on the
East Coast.
George says that he has never had a doctor attend him in his life,
neither while he was in Altoona, nor since he has been in Florida. He
claims to be able to identify any root or herb that grows in the woods
in the State of Florida having studied them constantly since his arrival
here. Before coming to this state he knew all the roots and herbs around
Altoona and it still acquainted with them as he makes regular visits
there, since he moved away 43 years ago. (1)
George Pretty is a dark complexioned man; about five feet three inches
in heighth; weighs about 135 pounds and looks to be much younger than he
is. When asked how he had maintained his youth, he said that living
close to nature had done it together with his manner of living. He does
not dissipate, neither does he drink strong drink. He is a ready
informant. Having heard that only information of slavery was wanted, he
volunteered information without any formality or urging on the part of
the writer. (1) (2)
REFERENCES
1. George Pretty, Vero Beach and Gifford, Florida
2. Observation of Field Worker
FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
American Guide, (Negro Writers Unit)
Viola B. Muse, Field Worker
Jacksonville, Fla.
January 11, 1937
ANNA SCOTT
AN EX-SLAVE WHO WENT TO AFRICA
Anna Scott, an ex-slave who now lives in Jacksonville near the
intersection of Moncrief and Edgewood Avenues, was a member of one of
the first colonization groups that went to the West coast of Africa
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