recalled during the visit to the old home. One of these was the bringing home from the War of the dead body of young master Billy, one of the younger sons of the Burroughs family, whom young Booker had known and played with as a boy. It was the first vivid impression that the people on the plantation had of the War. Across the road from the "big house" there is a little plat of ground where the young master was buried. It is covered over with wild growth, but Dr. Washington found the spot, paused to look at the headstone and to recall the incident, which had made a deep impression upon his boyish mind.
The second big impression of those early days which this visit recalled referred to the memorable day on which the people on the plantation learned that they were free. Booker Washington has described the occasion in one of the most impressive paragraphs in his remarkable autobiography. He says:[1]
The night before the eventful day, word was sent to the slave quarters to the effect that something unusual was going to take place at the "big house" the next morning. There was little, if any, sleep that night. All was excitement and expectancy. Early the next morning word was sent to all the slaves, old and young, to gather at the house. In company with my mother, brother, and sister, and a large number of other slaves, I went to the master's house. All of our master's family were either standing or seated on the veranda of the house, where they could see what was to take place and hear what was said. There was a feeling of deep interest, or perhaps sadness, on their faces, but not bitterness. As I now recall the impression they made upon me, they did not at the moment seem to be sad because of the loss of property, but rather because of parting with those whom they had reared and who were in many ways very close to them. The most distinct thing that I now recall in connection with the scene was that some man who seemed to be a stranger (a United States officer, I presume) made a little speech and then read a rather long paper—the Emancipation Proclamation, I think. After the reading we were told that we were all free, and could go when and where we pleased. My mother, who was standing by my side, leaned over and kissed her children,
- ↑ Up From Slavery, pp. 20–22.
