The soldiers finally departed, with all but five of the Overtree slaves
joyously trooping behind them. Before leaving, however, they tore up the
railroad and its station, burning the ties and heating the rails until
red then twisting them around tree-trunks. Wheat fields were trampled by
their horses, and devastation left on all sides.

Lindsey and his mother were among those who stayed at the plantation.
When freedom became general his father began farming on a tract that was
later turned over to Lindsey. Lindsey operated the farm for a while, but
later desired to learn horseshoeing, and apprenticed himself to a
blacksmith. At the end of three years he had become so proficient that
his former master rewarded him with a five-dollar bonus for shoeing one
horse.

Possessing now the trades of blacksmithing, tanning and
weaving-and-spinning, Lindsey was tempted to follow some of his former
associates to the North, but was discouraged from doing so by a few who
returned, complaining bitterly about the unaccustomed cold and the
difficulty of making a living. He moved South instead and settled in the
area around Palatka.

He is still in the section, being recognized as an excellent blacksmith
despite his more than four-score years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Interview with subject, Lindsey Moore, 1114 Madison Street, Palatka,
Fla.

FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit)

J.M. Johnson, Field Worker
John A. Simms, Editor
Jacksonville, Florida
September 18, 1936

MACK MULLEN

Mack Mullen, a former slave who now lives at 521 W. First Street,
Jacksonville, Florida, was born in Americus, Georgia in 1857, eight
years before Emancipation, on a plantation which covered an area of
approximately five miles. Upon this expansive plantation about 200
slaves lived and labored. At its main entrance stood a large white
colonial mansion.

In this abode lived Dick Snellings, the master, and his family. The
Snellings plantation produced cotton, corn, oats, wheat, peanuts,
potatoes, cane and other commodities. The live stock consisted primarily
of hogs and cattle. There was on the plantation what was known as a
"crib," where oats, corn and wheat were stored, and a "smoke house" for
pork and beef. The slaves received their rations weekly, it was
apportioned according to the number in the family.

Mack Mullen's mother was named Ellen and his father Sam. Ellen was
"house woman" and Sam did the blacksmithing,