Cecil C. Miller, flppecauoe Go.
~1et. 41	E	77


interview with Mr. John W. Fields, P~-$1avu
of Civil War period. September 17, 1957



	John?!. Fields, 2120 North Twenti oth Street, Lafayette, Indiana, nOW 6TOpIO~TOd as a donestic by Judge Emmett lu a typioal example of a ~ colored ~ ont1cex~, whoa de~.pitc hit lowly birth and adverse cirounstanoes, has laborect axg~ economIzed until lie has acquired a nizpcoted place in his home conunil;:. Ho is the mzior of three properties, ~2ns1ikortgaged, and is a taiLor of the colored flœ%tist church of lafayette. AS Will later be SO~U his life has been one of constant effort to better hins~f spiritually and phys~ca1Iy. He is a fine example of a zaun who baa lived a nonilly and physioally clean lite. But, as for his life, I VIII let 1Ir,1~‘ielü epeak for hizaselfa

„ ‘et, «t! ~ John W, ttelda and aM I‘m e&ghtyswnins(89) years o34. t

was born March 21, 1848 in ~ensburg,t~,~ha4s 115 talles below

Louisville, 1~y. There nell other ohiidren besides x~‘self in my family.

When I was six years ofd, alt of us children were taken from my

parents, because my master d&ed end his estate had to be settled.	Ç We slaves were divided by this method, Three disintorested persona were

ehosen to coete to the plantation and together they wrote the au*tn

of the different heirs on a fow slips of paper. These slips were put in a hat and j*SB*& among us elans. Each one took a slip and the ~naas on the slip was the new owner, t happened to dn the nt~e o! a

relativ. of ~ master ito was a widow, t oan~t describe the hearts breakaadhorrorifthats.psration. Xnsos4yehxyeanotdax4tt s the last bias Z e4iir mother ter Longer than one nitt, Tanin