A Slave Girls Story | Page 9

praying for her she saw her
own sins and asked me to come on to visit all of my people, and I,
getting ready, got my oldest sister to go with me. I found that the way
was opened for work, as there we began the work, and they were
looking to see something that they would never see in this world, and
sweetly they were all brought to the Saviour. Grandma went home to
carry the good news and some of the rest have gone with the same good
news.
Later years some of my sisters came and some did not come. Then
some got tired and went back to the world, but I have no joy like the
joy there is in the Lord.
My dear mother found the peace in Jesus before she went to that land

of song. When the Lord sent the death angel to call her name she was
ready to answer, "Here am I ready to go in, to come out no more."
My mother left us on the 28th day of February, 1894, in the triumph of
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessed thought that I shall soon
be with her on the other side of the river to help her "Crown Him Lord
of all."
To my story:
The subject of this sketch, as I said, was born again under the preaching
of Rev. David Moore, of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church,
which is one of the noblest churches of this city, and it has some of the
best people in it of any church in the world, for there is more done for
those in need in other lands. When I became a member of that church I
could not read in any book, for I did not know a letter. There was a
gentleman in the church by the name of Mr. Lansberry, who finding
that I was one of those that was going to learn, went to a store and
bought me a First Reader and gave it to me, and I did not lose any of
my time at nights. I went to the meetings every night and came back
and got a lady, who was a sister of Mr. Bailey, to be my teacher, and
sometimes she used to be so very sleepy that she could not keep her
eyes open and I would shake her and say that my lesson was to be
learned, and it was always well learned. Then I went to the
Sunday-school to let my Sunday-school teacher hear it on Sundays, and
he, Mr. Ward, always said that he was sure that I would learn so fast I
would soon catch up with his Bible Class. It was not long before I
could lay my Reader down and take my lessons in the Bible, and I can
bless God for all of this, for the love and the kindness that I received of
all that knew me was a token of His great love for me, and I know that
He was near me all the time to bring me nearer to the Light. My mind
was then fixed that I should some day go to school and I could not rest
night or day I was so anxious to go to school; but my dear mother could
not send me. She had poor health and no one to help her to take care of
the younger children, and I had to work and do the best I could with my
books, hoping that the time would come that I should see myself sitting
in some school studying, the same time asking mother to let two of the

other children go to school every day. She did let them go for awhile,
but some one came and wanted her to let them go to work out again
and she let them go out to work:
Well, I said that I would go to school some day, and they had a fine
time laughing at my high ideas and I let them laugh all that they wanted
to, but I worked hard and long to get the means that I might be able to
go, as I said, to some pay school, where I could not be stopped at any
time. When I was almost ready to leave for some school the smallpox
took me, and I was laid aside for three or four years; that is, I was not
well, and thought that my plans were all broken. I still trusted in God,
for I knew that He would do all things for me as long as I put my trust
in Him.
Well, as time rolled on I found myself improving slowly and I was then
living with a