e I had seen a few Yankees. They stopped now
and then at marster's and got their breakfast. They always asked about
buttermilk, they seemed to be very fond of it. They were also fond of
ham, but we had the ham meat buried in the ground, this was about the
close of the war. A big army of Yankees came through a few months later
and soon we heard of the surrender. A few days after this marster told
me to catch two horses that we had to go to Dickenson which was the
County seat of Webster County. On the way to Dickenson he said to me,
'Bob, did you know you are free and Lincoln has freed you? You are as
free as I am.' We went to the Freedmen's Bureau and went into the
office. A Yankee officer looked me over and asked marster my name, and
informed me I was free, and asked me whether or not I wanted to keep
living with Moore. I did not know what to do, so I told him yes. A fixed
price of seventy-five dollars and board was then set as the salary I
should receive per year for my work. The Yankees told me to let him know
if I was not paid as agreed.

I went back home and stayed a year. During the year I hunted a lot at
night and thoroughly enjoyed being free. I took my freedom by degrees
and remained obedient and respectful, but still wondering and thinking
of what the future held for me. After I retired at night I made plan
after plan and built aircastles as to what I would do. At this time I
formed a great attachment for the white man, Mr. Atlas Chandler, with
whom I hunted. He bought my part of the game we caught and favored me in
other ways. Mr. Chandler had a friend, Mr. Dewitt Yarborough, who was an
adventurer, and trader, and half brother to my ex-marster, Mr. Moore,
with whom I was then staying. He is responsible for me taking myself
into my own hands and getting out of feeling I was still under
obligations to ask my marster or missus when I desired to leave the
premises. Mr. Yarborough's son was off at school at a place called
Kiloh, Kentucky, and he wanted to carry a horse to him and also take
along some other animals for trading purposes. He offered me a new pair
of pants to make the trip for him and I accepted the job. I delivered
the horse to his son and started for home. On the way back I ran into
Uncle Squire Yarborough who once belonged to Dewitt Yarborough. He
persuaded me to go home with him and go with him to a wedding in Union
County, Kentucky. The wedding was twenty miles away and we walked the
entire distan