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Archie Koritz, Field Worker ~
Pederal Writers‘ Project ~ Lalce County..Di3triet #1
Gary, Indiana

doing. At the beginning of the wax, 3ohn was twenty-one years of age. When Lincoln freed the slaves by his Etriancipation Px‘oclamat Ion ‚ ~‘ohn wa s pr onipt ly given hi. s freedom by hi ~ ma st er and mistress.

	John deoided to join the nox~thern army which was 1ocat~d at Bowling Green, Kentitcky ‚ a distance of~ thirty.five miles from Glasgow where John was living. He had to walk the entire thirtyfive miles. A1thou~i he fails to remember all the units that he was attached to, he does remember that it was pert or Geiieral Sher.. man‘ s army • Hi s regiment started with Sherman on bi s famous march through Georgia, but for some reason unknown to John, shortly after the campaign was on Its way, his regiment was recalled anti sent elsewhere.

	His regim~it was near Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the time Lee surrenderei. Since Lee was a proud southerner and did not vi‘ant the negroes present when he surrendered, Grant pnDbably for this reason as much as any other rerused to accept Lee‘s sword. Then Lee surrendered there was im~.ch shouting among the troops ax~I John was one or many put to wo rk J.oa ding cannons on boat s to be shipp ed up the river. His company returned on the steamboat “Ifldia~ .„ Upon his retuzth to Glasgow~he saw for.the first time In six years, his mother and other members of his famtly who had retu.rned free.

	Shortly after he rett~.rned to Œlasgow at the close of the Civil War, he saw several colored people walking down the highway and. was attracted to a young colored girl in the group who was wearing a yellow dress. Immediately he said to himself, !tlf she ain‘t married there goes my wife.“ Sometime later they met ard were married Chili atmas day in 1866 • To this union twelve chi ld.ren were born f our of whom are 1ivin~ today, two in Gary and the others in the south.