SLAVE NARRATIVES - Library of Congress

"My brother who had run off during slavery time and who later became a
preacher in the North invited us to live in the city with him*
Vocational Experiences
"I wasnH fourteen years old when I was tending to flowers for the
Cairo and Fulton Railroad* That was a railroad which later became Missouri
Pacific* They beautified everything* There wasn f t any bridge* They had
a boat to take you into the town of Argenta then, and when the trains came
through, the same boat would carry the cars across* An engine would be on
the other side to finish the journey with them*
n There is one engineer living now who was active in that time, Charlie
Seymour, retired, of Little Hock* He used to run the first train over the
Baring Cross Bridge, and then he ran the first engine over the new bridge
here* He had already been retired when they finished the new bridge, but
they had him pull the first train over the new bridge because he had pulled
the first one over the old bridge* They wanted to give him that honor*
"My manager in that time was Superintendent A* S* Buchanan*
"From this work, I was advanced to the office and stayed there twenty
years* I served under Commissioner Thomas Essex and later under Commis-
sioner Jo A* Dean» This service included twenty years in various
departments*
"After that I billed freight for the Missouri Pacific at the Baring
Cross Storerooms under Mr* H. S, Turner for eight months or more* Then I
was transferred, because the location was not good for my health, to De
3oto, Missouri, forty-five miles this side of St* Louis* Sedentary work
had proved bad for me and I needed more active work* I waited on the
waster mechanic there* After that I came back to Little Rock and worked
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