old goods into his wagon in December, '66. I do hope
you will yet find him. Suppose you make inquiries through the African
Methodist Church? He ought to be a bishop by this time.

Very respectfully,
James Tally,
Attorney at Law.

* * * * *

Sunshine Parsonage,
Washington County, Mississippi.

Major Geo. E. Tommey, Louisville, Ga.

My Dear Sir: I was greatly interested in your letter copied into our
county paper from the _Atlanta Constitution_, concerning Eneas Tommey.
He was here in 1868 or 1869 with a wife and several children. They came
in a one-horse wagon drawn by an old grey mare he called Lady Chain, and
followed by a splendid young colt he declared was from celebrated racing
stock. An almost worn out pass from his mistress, Mrs. Tommey, though it
bore no date or address, saved the old man from arrest. His story, that
he was lost and on his way home, though remarkable, was possible, and he
was not molested. The narrative of his wanderings interested me greatly.
He came up the river--the Mississippi--from Jefferson County, trying to
find a ford. He had heard of a Washington parish and a Thomasville in
Louisiana, and was trying to reach them. He rented a piece of land near
here and raised a crop, leaving in 1869 for Jefferson County, Alabama. I
gave him a letter to a minister in that county.

Very truly,
(Rev.) John Simms.

P. S.--I regret to say that after leaving here, Eneas, though an active
minister of the Gospel, suffered the young horse to be entered in a
county race. I understand that he won about $75. Allowance, however,
must be made for the old man's necessities and distress.

J. S.

* * * * *

Idlewilde, Jefferson County, Ala.
October 26, 1872.

Major Geo. E. Tommey, Louisville, Ga.

My Dear Sir: A Birmingham paper to-day gave me the explanation of a
mystery that has puzzled my family for several years, when it reproduced
your letter to the _Atlanta Constitution_. Eneas--or the Rev. Eneas
Tommey, as he called himself--came here in 1869 with a grey mare, and a
splendid young horse, which he claimed