the lash was
administered and the slave wiggled, the barrel moved.

Now it so happened that Sambo was the first to be put into his own
invention for a whipping. The overseer applied the lash rather heavily,
and Sambo was compelled to wiggle his body to relieve his feelings. In
wiggling the barrel under his stomach rolled a bit straining Sambo's
neck and breaking it. After Sambo died from his neck being broken the
master discontinued the use of the device, as he saw the loss of
property in the death of slaves.

Charles was still a carriage driver when freedom came. He had
opportunity to see and hear many things about the master's private life.
When the news of the advance of the Union Army came, Mr. Hall carried
his money to a secluded spot and buried it in an iron pot so that the
soldiers who were confiscating all the property and money they could,
would not get his money. The slave owners were required to notify the
slaves that they were free so Mr. Hall sent his son Sherard to the
cabins to notify all the slaves to come into his presence and there he
had his son to tell them that they were free. The Union soldiers took
much of the slave owners' property and gave to the slaves telling them
that if the owners' took the property back to write and tell them about
it; the owners only laughed because they knew the slaves could not read
nor write. After the soldiers had gone the timid and scared slaves gave
up most of the land; some few however, fenced in a bit of land while the
soldiers remained in the vicinity and they managed to keep a little of
the land.

Many of the slaves remained with the owners. There they worked for small
monthly wages and took whatever was left of cast off clothing and food
and whatever the "old missus" gave them. A pair of old pants of the
master was highly prized by them.

Charles Coates was glad to be free. He had been well taken care of and
looked younger than 37 years of age at the close of slavery. He had not
been married; had been put upon the block twice to be sold after
belonging to Mr. Hall. Each time he was offered for sale, his master
wanted so much for him, and refusing to sell him on time payments, he
was always left on his master's hands. His master said "being tall,
healthy and robust, he was well worth much money."

After slavery, Charles was rated as a good worker. He at once began
working and saving his money and in a short time he had accumulated
"around $200."

The fir