This surprised me, and I asked him why he thought
so. 'Well, you got your vest and collar on backwards, so you must be
drunk!'

"Since, I have had pastorates at Aiken, Peak, Rock Hill, and Walterboro.
From Walterboro I came to Columbia as pastor of St. Anna's Episcopal
Church and the missions of Ann's at New Brookland and St. Thomas at
Eastover. I presume I have done pretty well in this field, since the Rt.
Rev. Bishop Kirkman G. Finlay, D.D., appointed me arch-deacon for Negro
work in upper South Carolina.

"As I was coming away from the Bishop's office, I was accompanied by
another colored rector, who had very short legs. I am six feet, four
inches in height, and he looked up at me as we walked along and asked
quizzically: 'How long should a man's legs be?' I smiled and told him I
thought, perhaps, every man should have legs long enough to reach to the
ground. Yes, of course, we laughed at each other, but my argument won,
because Bishop Finlay is about six feet, three inches, and I told my
short friend: 'When Bishop Finlay and I talk, we are able to look each
other in the eye on the level.'

"I married Susan McMahan, a colored school teacher, and the Lord has
blessed us with a son, John B. Jr., a fine wood-worker, like his
grandfather was, and two sweet daughters. Alice, the older one, is a
teacher in the public schools of Columbia and Annie is a student. Our
home life has always been pleasant and unusually sunny.

"I had one very humorous experience three years ago when I was invited
to deliver an address near Mount Olive, N.C., to a convention of young
people. Arriving about 10 o'clock that day, I was met by a citizen who
told me he was assigned to introduce me that evening. As we rode along,
I cautioned him not to boost me too highly. He said little.

"When the big, and, I may say, expectant audience was seated that night,
he arose and seemed much embarrassed, ultimately saying: 'Ladies and
gentlemen, I have an unpleasant duty to perform this evening.' Then,
pointing at me, he went on: 'I don't know this man, much. Fact is, I
only know two things about him. One is, he has never been in jail; and
the other is, I never could figure why.'

"No, I am not related to the late Robert Bruce Elliott by ties of
consanguinity. He was successively twice a member of Congress from South
Carolina, and a member and Speaker of the South Carolina House of
Representatives in 1876. Perhaps these honors came to him because he had