oo crowded with colored people--there was not
room for them; some must be removed. So, large numbers of them were sent
to Cincinnati, and my daughter and I were among them. This is why you
see us here together."

When she had finished telling this story my wife and I were shedding
tears of joy. My sister-in-law, Mary Ellen, whom Boss bought at the same
time that he bought my wife, was with us; thus the mother and three
daughters had met again most unexpectedly, and in a way almost
miraculous. This meeting again of mother and daughters, after years of
separation and many vicissitudes, was an occasion of the profoundest
joy, although all were almost wholly destitute of the necessaries of
life. This first evening we spent together can never be forgotten. I can
see the old woman now, with bowed form and gray locks, as she gave
thanks in joyful tones yet reverent manner, for such a wonderful
blessing.

* * * * *

IN CANADA.

We did not remain long in Cincinnati, as houses were so scarce we could
not get a place to stop in. My wife's mother had but one room, and we
could not stay there. We went on to Hamilton, but stayed there only two
months. I worked at whatever I could get to do--whitewashing and odd
jobs of any kind. The women managed to get washing to do, so that we got
on very well. Our aim was when we left Memphis to get to Canada, as we
regarded that as the safest place for refugees from slavery. We did not
know what might come again for our injury. So, now, as we had found some
of my wife's people, we were more eager to go; and, as I could not get
any steady work in Hamilton, we made ready to move on. We went straight
to Detroit, and crossed over the river to Windsor, Canada, arriving
there on Christmas 1865. I succeeded in getting work as a porter at the
Iron House, a hotel situated near the landing. Here my wife also was
employed, and here we remained until spring; when, as the wages were so
small in Windsor, I went over to Detroit to seek for more profitable
employment. After some effort, I succeeded in securing a situation, as
waiter, in the Biddle House, and remained there two years, when the
manager died, and it changed hands; and, much as I disliked to make a
change in my work, I found it necessary. An opportunity soon offered of
a position as sailor on the steamer Saginaw, which ran from Green Bay to
Escanaba, in connection with the railroad.

* * *