ed to the old man relate the following incidents.

A slave boy by the name of Milton Hammond was born in Griffin, Georgia,
October 20, 1853. His parents, Emily and James Hammond, had 10 children
8 boys and 2 girls of whom he was oldest. His mother, sisters and
brothers used the name Hammond as this was their father's name. Although
every number of his family with the exception of his father, belonged to
Bill Freeman they always used his name. Mr. Hammonds family always lived
in the town of Griffin and belonged to a class known as "Town Slaves".

When Mr. Hammond reached the age of 6 years their old master, Bill
Freeman died and all the property money, slaves, etc., had to be re-sold
at an administrations sale. Among his four children a plan was made to
repurchase their favorite slaves; but many were sold to owners in
different states particularly Mississippi and Louisiana. Mr. Hammonds
father, desiring to keep his family near him, spoke to his master and
asked that he appeal to the young mistress to purchase his family. "I
remember the auction sale quite well, remarked Mr. Hammond. They stood
us on the block side by side. The mistress held my baby brother in her
arms; and they began to cry us off just as they do now. Of course my
mistress came forward and bought us, and we returned home the same day
we left". Slaves were always sorted and placed into separate groups or
classes. For instance, the heavy robust ones were placed together and
sold for large sums of money. The light weights were grouped and sold
accordingly.

Although the Freemans owned a large plantation several miles from
Griffin and had a large number of slaves, who lived on this plantation
to do the work, they resided in town with only the Hammond family as
their servants. Mr. Hammonds' grandmother acted as the cook for the
household and his mother assisted her. His sister was the chamber-maid
and kept the house spotlessly clean. Smiling, Mr. Hammond remarked,
"Until I was older my job was that of playing, later I became my young
mistress's carriage driver". Miss Adeline Freeman was the young mistress
whom Mr. Hammond continued to speak of; and during the war period she
did welfare work; that is, Mr. Hammond drove her and her mother around
through different counties, soliciting medicines, rags for bandages,
etc., which were sent, to the hospitals.

Mr. Hammond related the following experiences while driving through the
country. "We always visited the r