o permitted his slaves to be whipped, was
a church deacon, whereas Wamble, who never attended church, never
whipped or mistreated his slaves.

The Reverend states that in the community where he resided the slaves
were well treated except for the whippings they received. They were
well-fed, and if injured or sick, were attended by a doctor on the same
principal that a person would care for an injured horse or sick cow. The
slaves were valuable, and it was to the best interest of the owner to
see that they were able to work.

In case of slaves having children, the children became the property of
the mother's owner. If the south had won the war, Wamble would have been
a Westbrook since his mother was a Westbrook slave, and if it lost, he
would go to live with his father and take the name of his father, a
Wamble slave. So until the war was over he was hid out much like a small
child would bring a stray dog home and hide it somewhere for fear that
if his parents discovered it, it would be taken away.

The living quarters of the slaves were made of logs covered with mud,
and the roof was covered with coarse boards upon which dirt about a
foot in depth was placed. There were no floors except dirt or the bare
ground. The furniture consisted of a small stove and the beds were two
boards extending from two walls, the extending ends resting on a peg
driven into the ground. This would make a one-legged bed. The two boards
were covered across ways with more boards and the slaves slept on these
boards or upon the dirt floor. There were no blankets provided for them.
For food the slaves received plenty of meat, potatoes, and whatever
could be raised. If the master had plenty to eat, so did the slaves, but
if food was not plentiful for the master, the slaves had less to eat.

Only one of the three Wamble boys joined the southern army. Until the
war was over, the other two boys who refused to go to war hid out in the
surrounding woods and hills. The only time the Reverend's father left
the farm was to attend his master Billy, when he was in a hospital
recovering from wounds received in battle.

Wamble was a wagon-maker, and he made two or three wagons which usually
took about six months. Then he hitched teams to them and went north to
Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas and kept going until he had sold the
wagons and teams, keeping one wagon and team, with which to return home.
Some times the master would be gone for a period of nine to t