sas and when she came home he picked up the courtship where he had
left off when she went away. He would ride 20 miles on horseback to see
her. He brought her candy and nice things to eat, but she still wouldn't
"give him no satisfaction 'bout whether she keered fer him er not." She
said other men wanted to come to see her, but she paid them not one bit
of attention. "No mam, I wouldn't 'cept of them, I never did go with in
an' everybody, I don't do dat yit." She said one day Franklin was to see
her and said "Less us marry, I think 'nough of you to marry." She said
she wouldn't tell him nothin' so he went to see her parents and they
agreed, so she married him sometime later. They were married by a white
minister, Mr. Joe Carter.

Aunt Arrie leads a lonely life now. She grieves for her loved ones more
than negroes usually do. She doesn't get about much, but "I does go over
to see Sis Lou (a neighbor) every now an' den fer consolation." She says
she is living on borrowed time because she has always taken care of
herself and worked and been honest. She said that now she is almost at
the close of her life waiting day by day for the call to come, she is
glad she knew slavery, glad she was reared by good white people who
taught her the right way to live, and she added: "Mistess, I'se so glad
I allus worked hard an' been honest--hit has sho paid me time an' time
agin."

[HW: Dist. 5
ExSlv. #7
Driskell]

HENRY BLAND--EX-SLAVE
[MAY -- --]

Henry Bland is one of the few living ex-slaves who was born on a
plantation near Edenton, Ga., in 1851. His parents were Martha and Sam
Coxton. In this family group were three other children, two girls and
one boy, who was the oldest. When questioned regarding the birthplace
and the movements of his parents, Mr. Bland stated that his father was
born in Hancock County, Ga. His mother along with her mother was brought
to Georgia by the speculator with a drove of other slaves. The first
thing that he remembers of his parents is when he was quite small and
was allowed to remain in the Master's kitchen in the "big house" where
his mother was cook.

Mr. Coxton, who was the owner of Mr. Bland and his family, was described
as being very rich and influential man in the community where he lived.
Says Mr. Bland, "His only fault was that of drinking too much of the
whisky that he distilled on the plantation." Unlike some of the other
slave owners in that section, Mr. Coxton was very kind t