which turned the ground was made of
point iron, (he could not describe point iron.) Plows were not made of
cast iron or steel as they are today.

Two kinds of plows were used so far as George remembers. One was called
the skooter plow and the other the turn plow. The skooter plow he
describes as one which broke the ground up which had been previously
planted. When the earth needed loosening up to make more fit for
planting, this plow was used over the earth, leaving it rather smooth
and light. The turn plow was used to turn the ground completely over.
Where grass and weeds had grown, the earth needed turning over so as to
thoroughly uproot the weeds and grass. The ground was usually left a
while so that the weeds could die and rot and then men with hoes would
go over the ground and make it ready for planting.

When freedom came to Negroes in the slave territory, George remembers
that Sherman's army drilled a long time after the Civil War had ended.
He saw them right in Pennsylvania. He was much impressed with their blue
suits and brass buttons and which fitted them so well. Some of the men
wore suits with braid on them and they supposedly were the officers of
the outfit. Negro and white men were in the same companies he saw and
all were manly and walking proudly.

As George was fifteen years of age when freedom came much of which he
related happened after Emancipation. He being out of the slave territory
did not have as much contact with the slaves, but he lived around his
grand parents who had been slaves in the southern part of the state.
After slavery they moved up to Altoona, with George's parents and
brought much in the way of customs to George.

Grandfather McCoy and also grandfather Pretty told of many experiences
that they went through during their enslavement. The Negro and white
over-seer was much in evidence down there and buying and selling of
children from their parents seemed to have left a sad memory with
George.

Isaac Pretty's family was large. He had seven girls and seven boys,
George being the eldest. George remembers how his heart would ache when
his grandfather told of the children who were torn from their mother's
skirts and sold, never to see their parents again. He went into deep
thought over how he would have hated to have been separated from his
mother and father to say nothing of leaving his brothers and sisters.
They were brought up to love each other and the thought of breaking the
fam