page 6 Archie Koxitz, Field Viorkei~ Federal Writer$t Project ‚~ ~ Porter County ~ Dist~1ct #1 ~ Va iparal so ‚ Indiana Reverend remeniber~ that several of these drLvers froze to death I‘ durixiß the cold weather, and that in the winter, many times the j horses on the mail carriage upon coining to this rac]~ would sto~~f and the driver would be sitting frozen to death In his seat, J Men would take him down, carefully saving the silk beaver- ( skin hat for some other driver. ) Since the slaves had no votes, they had. no interest in politics when they became free and knew nothing about political conilitions other than that after the Civil War they were free and had a vote. As a boy the Reverend remembers seeing the white and black soldiers marching on election day. The politicians would always tell the negroes what was good for then and making it appear that it was for their best interest, and they should vote for him, always giving them the desert first and making them think that they were on the level no matter what the meal might be or what hardships they were causing the negro to suffer. On one instance after the negroes were forbidden to vote they marched in a body to the polls and dem~anded a Democratic ballot and were then per~nitted to vote. Rev. Wamble was twenty-seven years of age before he saw and read his first newspaper. He lived with the Wambles for twenty years after the war, when his father. then in partnership with another man, purchased forty acres of land. He attended his first school for a period of two months only in 1871. In 1872 the government built a school on hi~ father‘s farm and it was taught by a mission‘ary. The school term wa s for a period of three months each year. The Reverend attended this ~ohool for seven years. In 1880 ho married the first time. His first wife died in