ourt before all
the practising attorneys of that bar, and was given license to practise
law in the State of Alabama.

I was elated, overjoyed--my dream was nearing its realization!

I selected Mobile, Ala., a city of about fifty thousand inhabitants, as
my field of labor. I opened my office on September 8, 1892, and have
practised law there from that time to the present date. Though I have
met many obstacles and have had many difficulties to surmount, I have
never had to close my office, or seek other employment to make a living.
I have done well.

I have experienced no embarrassment because of prejudice. The judges and
juries have discussed cases with me in the same manner that they would
with any other lawyer at the bar. I have even had a few white clients.

To get the confidence of my own people is the hardest problem I have had
to solve, for I find that men are still sometimes without honor in their
own country.

I am daily confronted with many petty difficulties. I sometimes find
that even a religious difference will come between me and a probable
client. Some think I should be a Baptist, others would have me a
Methodist, and others still suggest that I should embrace the Catholic
faith. I should also belong to every secret society in the city, and
attend every public gathering no matter what the hour, whether it be
called at high noon or at dawn of day.

Despite these things to be expected of a people but forty years free,
and used to white judges, and juries, and lawyers, and unused to dealing
with one of their own, I feel that I am still winning my way. It is my
desire to help my fellow men, and in return receive an appreciable
share of their help.

After practising my profession for nearly two years, I was married to
Miss Sarah E. Ogden, who was at that time a student at the Tuskegee
Institute. We have been happily married for ten years and have been
blessed with six children, only three of whom, I am sorry to state, are
living.

I feel that I can not close this short sketch without paying a closing
tribute to my _alma mater_--Tuskegee. Those lessons of thrift, industry,
and integrity dwelt upon by Principal Washington and his coworkers, I
shall never forget. My heart thrills and its pulses beat whenever I
think of what it has meant to me to come in contact with the quickening
influences of that school.

I lift up my voice and call her blessed, my Tuskegee!

IV

A SCHOOL TREASURER'S STORY