mden is perhaps the most fertile section of
land in the State of Alabama. Taking a southwest course from Tilden, I
crossed into Wilcox County again, where I saw acres of corn and miles of
cotton, all being cultivated by Negroes.

The evening was far advanced when we reached Camden, but having been
there before, we had no difficulty in securing lodging. Camden is the
seat of Wilcox County, and has a population of about three thousand
inhabitants.

The most costly buildings of the town were the court-house and jail, and
these occupied the most conspicuous places.

Here great crowds of Negroes would gather on Saturdays to spend their
earnings of the week for a fine breakfast or dinner on the following
Sunday, or for useless trivialities.

On Saturday evenings, on the roads leading to and from Camden, as from
other towns, could be seen groups of Negroes gambling here and there,
and buying and selling whisky. As the county had voted against licensing
whisky-selling, this was a violation of the law, and often the
commission merchant, a Negro, was imprisoned for the offense, while
those who supplied him went free.

In Camden I found one Negro schoolhouse; this was a box-like cottage, 20
by 16 feet, and was supposed to seat more than one hundred students.
This school, like those taught in the churches, was open only three
months in the year.

After a two days' stay in Camden I next visited Miller's Ferry; this is
on the Alabama River, twelve miles west of Camden. The road from Camden
is one of the best roads in the State, and for miles and miles one could
see nothing but cotton and corn.

At Miller's Ferry a Negro schoolhouse of ample proportions had been
built on Judge Henderson's plantation. Here the school ran seven months
in the year, and the colored people in the community were prosperous and
showed a remarkable degree of intelligence. Their church was equally as
attractive as their schoolhouse.

Judge Henderson was for twelve years Probate Judge of Wilcox County. He
proved to be one of the best judges this county has ever had, and even
unto this day he is admired by all, both white and black, rich and poor,
for his honesty, integrity, and high sense of justice. From Judge
Henderson's place we traveled southward to Rock-west, a distance of more
than fifteen miles. During this journey hundreds of Negroes were seen at
work in the corn- and cotton-fields. These people were almost wholly
ignorant, as they had neither