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	~vPA lit Ohio	~ Jefferson County
	Federal Writers‘ Project	. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~. ~	liistriot ~6	.~ • S
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	Reporter s Bishop	(Revision)	July 8 ‚ 1937
	1..	~	‚.
Jobi •Williame ~ Matheus
	.	Ex~-Slavo, 77 yeara.


	“My mothers nan~e was Martha. She died when I was eleven months old. My mother wB.s oimed by Raoer Blue ax3d his wife Sootty. When I was bout eleven or twelve they put me out with Michael Blue and his wife Mary. Michael Blue was a brother to Racer Blue. Racer Blue died. when I was three or four. I have a faint rememberance of him dying suddenly one night and see him laying out. He was the first dead person I saw end it seemed ±~uxmy to me to see hi~ laying there so stiff and still.~‘

~T remember the Yankee Soldier, a string of them on horses, oomin~ through Springfield, W. Va. ‚ It was like a oirou~s parade. 1I~hat made me
	remember that, was a colored man standing near mà who had a new bat on his head, A soldier came by and ~w the hat and he took lt off the colored zaan~ head, and put his old &LZ‘ty one. on the o olored inax~ ‚ s head. and put the nice new one on his own head.“

“I think Abraham Lincoln the greate~st man that ever lived. He belonged
J to no church, but he sure was a ~ris1~n. I think he was born for the time
j and. if he lived longer he would have dane lots of good for the colored
‚~	people.“

	.	al wore jeans and. they got so stiff when they were wet that they iottld stand up. I wore boots in the winter, but none in the summer.“

~.S	~ slavery was göjug on there wasthe ‘undergroundrailway‘ in Ohio. But after the surrender some of the people in Ohio were not so good to the colored people.. The old folks told. me they were stoned when they came across the river to Ohio after the surrender and that the colored people)
~ .	were treated like cats and dogs.“

	“Mad. Blue had two daughters,both a little older than me antt I played with them. • One day they went to pick be~rie s • When they came back they left the berries on the ‘bable in the kitchen and went to the front room to talk to their mother, I remember thé two steps down to the room and I tame to~listen5to thorn tell about berry pioki&. Then their mother told me. to go swéep the kitchen. I went an~ tàôk the broom and saw the berries. I helped myself to the berries . ~ Mary wore soft shoes, so I did not hear her oom~ng until ehe ~was n.ar;!,y in the room. I bad berries ~n my hand and I closed my h~Id ~ of the broom with the berries in my band. She says~.!Jo1rn, what ‚ar,e you dom‘? i say, ‘nothin‘. Denshe say, ‘Let me see your hands I showed her my hand with xiothiu‘ in it. She say, ‘let me see the other hax4~ I had to show her my hand ‘with the berries all dus~ied an the juice on my band and on the handle of the broom.“

	.	. ~ “Den she say; ~ You done twö in‘ . ~ You stöle the berne e ‚ I dont t mind you ~iav~~ . the bex‘~,ee., b~t . yOu si~ou1d ha .. ‚ ye asked for therni tY~ii stole them ax4 you have sinned. ‘Den you told a lies She says, ‘Jobn I must