t Rina Rivers, whom I had learned to love as
a mother, and to whom I always feel that I owe my life, for had it not
been for the care she gave me during my sickness, I could not have stood
the ordeal. Her death came while I was in Boston and without sufficient
funds to take me either to her bed-side or to her funeral. This incident
in my life has always been a cause for deep sorrow and as the years go
by I feel it more keenly. I had always hoped that she could have lived
until I could make her life happy, but this pleasure has been forever
denied me. However she left behind four daughters and many grandchildren
and I have tried to be unusually kind to them because of my great love
for their mother and grandmother. Again this was a hard year because of
the Spanish War and the consequent excitement.

I returned to Snow Hill early in the fall, cast down, but not destroyed.
I had to adjust myself to the loss of my best earthly friend. In the
meantime, our enrollment was constantly increasing and new teachers and
industries were being added from year to year.

My campaign in the North during the summer of 1899 was made alone, just
as the previous one had been. I got much needed experience during this
summer.

In this house-to-house campaign for money, one must expect many rebuffs,
but on the other hand one meets some of the finest people that have ever
lived. I find, however, that as I grow older the strain is harder. I
don't think that I am a very successful money raiser. However, on April
5th, 1906, at the 25th anniversary of Tuskegee, I delivered an address
that interested Mr. Andrew Carnegie and he gave the Snow Hill Institute
ten thousand dollars. (See Appendix.)

[Illustration: PARTIAL VIEW OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE]

CHAPTER 9.

RESULTS.

In the preceding chapters I have tried in a plain and practical way to
tell the story of my life and struggle for twenty-five years. I now
purpose to tell some results of this effort.

We started our work with no land, no building, and no assurance of any
support from any source. In fact, we rented an old log cabin in which to
begin our work. On the first day of opening, we had one teacher, three
pupils and fifty cents in money, a pretty small capital with which to
build a Normal and Industrial Institute. As I now look back on this
early adventure of mine, I am amazed at the undertaking. Although
penniless and almost without a place to rest my head, I had an abundance