Buchanan Co.	Fo1k1â~re. 7j
page. 2.

(Con‘t, sL.AVi~ * ~GRO L~:EL


	mile distant through the open yard to the dinir~ room table has always been a mystery. She did it, however, and successfully. (A)

	1~ir. Alex Bufrord, an ex-‘slave, lives at 1823 Seneca street, St. Joseph, Missouri.. ~r BufI‘ord, (everyone calls him Uncle ~1ex) does not know how old he is, but e~ys he does remember thRt he was a grown man at th~ time of the Civil dar.

	I heard about th‘icle Alex from one of the ladies in the referei2~ce room at the Public Library in St. Joseph, I~o. She told ~e I would have to see Uncle Alex right et the noon hour o~ in the evening, as he would be at work during working hours. I didn‘t ask her what kind ofwork he did but I heeded heralvice about seeing hirn at the noon hour. I arrived at his place about 11:50 A.M. As I got out of my car I happened to look ~p the alley. ~An old Negro driving a Qne—horse wagon was just entering it. I guessed in a minute that this was th~ old gentlemen I~e~nted tosse. ~1hen he approached I did not tell him at first what I wanted but 8tartedtalking~Dout. the weather. I sew in a minute the old fellow was going to be interesting to t alk to.

	After we had commented ebout the weather, I told him what I wanted. Uncle Alex, ‘tYa sir ‚ 1~ ‚ 11 be bery glad to t eli you anything I kin recollect ‚ but I don‘ t remember like I use‘d to .„ He said, “I don‘t know how oie I am, but I was a grown n~n at the time of de war and I guess l‘es de oldest n~n in de city. I was born in Buchanne.n County and have ].ibed here all my life. I only been out de~ate once in my life and dat wuz ober to Elwood seberal years ago . (Elwood ‚ Kansas is only a bout 2 miles west of St. Joseph,) I‘se just don‘t keer to go any place.“

	To my question about his Iniily he replied. “Ya sir, I hab four daughters and one son libing, bût da don‘t help dis oie man any. Y untill I got de oie age pension seberal months ago, I had a terbil time traking a libing.“

	Uncle ftlex and his brother who is younger than he~ live togather. The brother is an old man more feeble than Uncle Alex.

~~• :. After the ~ •	.



~ ~ ~	War Uncle Alex worked on the farm for the Conetta, near Faucett, Mo.