Alabama ~	. ~ Edward F. Harper,
Birmingaham.
~ ~~95	.	e
ESTHER KING CASEY.	. .

-~- ~	.




	LivIng with her grandchildren at 801 Washington Avehue, Birminghain, Alabama,Esther King ~Casey, former slave O.f Capt. Henry King of‘

A~aericus, G‘eorgia, recalls from fading memory a few vivid scenes of the eLaye when men in gray moved hurridly about the town, suddenly disappeared. for a while and then retui‘ned, one by one, with weary, halting tread and.

hollow faces, while gloom and despair hovered over the town like a pa11Z~ of .deaolat4~~~

	Less vivid in her memory are the stories told her by her grand~other of a long voyage across the oceàn, of. the arrival in a new land c~Iled Mobile, and of slaves being sold at public auction. Less vivid, too, are the memories of her own 3ourney to Georgia, where she, with her parents and brother, were brought to be the slaves of Captain King.

	UI was only four or five years old whe~t we carne to Captain Kjng~s

~:\i~ house,“ said the old woman, brightening with pride~‘\in her ability to i~collect. Her manners bore the marks of culture and refinement, and :1~f speech was surprisingly void of the usual Negro dialect. She is an

•~::ar~jle of the former slave who was educated along with the white child—~ i-e~-i in the family.

	“There were eight or ten slaves in all,“ Esther continued. UWe Uveci in a house in the backyard of‘ Captain King‘s Big House. My mamma ~ the cook. Papa was a mechanic. He built houses and made tools :T~ r:~achinery. Captain King gave me to the ‘white lady;‘ that was ~Uc~,;:~fl, the CRptain‘s wife. Captain King was. a fine man. He treated. all c~ ~ just like his own family. The white lady‘ taught us to be res-‘ ~eci;ahle and truthful.“

	When asked ii‘ she had ever been punished for misbehavior the oi~ woman smiled and said: ~$Ofl~~ the 4white ‚~ady‘ whipped me for play—