e deplores the "loose living," as she
calls it of this generation.

She is very deliberate, but seems very sure of the story of her early
life.

Submitted December 9, 1937
Indianapolis, Indiana

Ex-Slave Stories
District No. 5.
Vanderburgh County
Lauana Creel

THE STORY OF BETTY JONES
429 Oak Street, Evansville, Ind.

From an Interview with Elizabeth Jones at 429 Oak Street, Evansville,
Ind.

"Yes Honey, I was a slave, I was born at Henderson, Kentucky and my
mother was born there. We belonged to old Mars John Alvis. Our home was
on Alvis's Hill and a long plank walk had been built from the bank of
the Ohio river to the Alvis home. We all liked the long plank walk and
the big house on top of the hill was a pretty place."

Betty Jones said her master was a rich man and had made his money by
raising and selling slaves. She only recalls two house servants were
mulatoes. All the other slaves were black as they could be.

Betty Alvis lived with her parents in a cabin near her master's home on
the hill. She recalls no unkind treatment. "Our only sorrow was when a
crowd of our slave friends would be sold off, then the mothers,
brothers, sisters, and friends always cried a lot and we children would
grieve to see the grief of our parents."

The mother of Betty was a slave of John Alvis and married a slave of her
master. The family lived at the slave quarters and were never parted.
"Mother kept us all together until we got set free after the war,"
declares Betty. Many of the Alvis negroes decided to make their homes at
Henderson, Kentucky. "It was a nice town and work was plentiful."

Betty Alvis was brought to Evansville by her parents. The climate did
not agree with the mother so she went to Princeton, Kentucky to live
with her married daughter and died there.

Betty Alvis married John R. Jones, a native of Tennessee, a former slave
of John Jones, a Tennessee planter. He died twelve years ago.

Betty Jones recalls when Evansville was a small town. She remembers when
the street cars were mule drawn and people rode on them for pleasure.
"When boats came in at Evansville, all the girls used to go down to the
bank, wearing pretty ruffled dresses and every body would wave to the
boat men and stay down at the river's edge until the boat was out of
sight." Betty Jones remembers when the new Court House was started and
how glad the men of the city were to erect the nice building. She
recalls when the old fram