Bricks Without Straw

f existence: free without power or right; neither slave nor freeman; neither property nor citizen. He had been, meanwhile, a bone of contention between the Provisional Go

ness of the old slave "Mahs'r" and "Missus," made his employer liable for his taxes, and allowed recoupment th

that the freedman was a man, and must be treated as such. It needed only the robe of citizenship, it was thought, to enable him safely to dispense with the one of these ag

the board of registration appointed by the commander of the military district in which Horsford County was situated would convene there, to take and record the names, and pass upon the qualificatio

l movement. This would greatly increase the labors of the other members of the board, yet was thought not only just but necessary. As the labor of recording the voters of a county was no light one, especially as the lists had to be made out in triplicate, it was necessary to have some clerical ability on the board. These facts often made the composition of these boards somewhat heterogeneous and peculiar. The one which was to register the voters of Horsford consisted of a little old white man, who had not enough of stamina or character to have done or said anything in aid of rebellion, and who, if he had done the very best he knew, ought yet to have been held guiltless of evil accomplished. In his younger days he had been an o

d a little since. He wore an amazing pair of brass-mounted spectacles. His head was surmounted by a mass of snowy hair, and he was of erect and powerful figure despite the fact that he boasted a life of more than eighty years. He read about as fast

. He did the writing, questioning, and deciding, and as each voter had to be sworn he utilized his two associates by requiring them to administer the oaths and-look wise

and afterward aided the rebellion, the angrier they grew, until finally they declared that the registration should not be held. Then there were some sharp words between the ex-Federal soldier and the objectors. As no house could be procured for the purpose, he proposed to hold the registration on the porch of the hotel where he stopped, but the landlord objected. Then he proposed to hold it on th

ier sharply, as Nimbus came up in. his turn in th

r Red Wi

e's t

own h'yer on

his c

ld tink hit was. Hit's not above

ld are

on't know dat,

you think-

s; more nor

n wh

er in Hors

is you

mbu

asked the offic

sah; jes' strai

r, looking puzzled, "you mus

ne; nigger no us

dah, you is! Niggah mighty little use fer heap o' names. Jes' like a m

er the railing; "used to belong to old Potem Desmit, over to Louisburg. Mighty good ni

lass, who was himself an expert in "yaller le

Desmit eighteen hundred dollars for him afore the war-State

y. Commands almost any price in the season, but is powerfu

smit-Nimbus Desmit," said

tai

master's name?" aske

war," was

, ain't it

it ai

that ain't so," said the sheriff, m

on. As a slave he had but one name. He could have no surname, because he had no family. He was arraigned, tried, and executed as 'Jim' or 'Bill' or 'Tom.' The volumes of the reports are full of such cases, a

id the sheriff, with some chagrin

man refuses to acknowledge the master's name as his, who can impose it on him? We are directed to register the names of parties, and while we might have the right to refuse one whom we found attemptin

, and nodded acquiescence

use," said the would

-noffi

o save trouble when you come to vote," said the

n't want ter carry nobody's name widout his leav

u choose. I shall write

illin', M

h it, Nimbus," said War

ee he wuz my ole oberseer, Mahs'r, an' wuz powerful good ter me, tu. I'd a heap ru

airman, as he made the e

iven a certificate showing that Nimbus Ware had been duly registered as

overnment of the United States, and to uphold its constitution and the laws passed in conformity therewith; and ther

heriff said to those ab

th that nigger yet. He'

"I thought you said he was ind

y got a better character for honesty and hard work than he,

d what you mean,"

d the other. "Talks as indepen

right to talk indepe

ree," said the

heart of the Yankee officer. "You just ought to see his place down at Red Wing. Damned if he ain't better fixed up than lots of white men in the county. He's got a good house, and a terbacker-barn, and a church, and a nigger school-house, and stock, and one of the

ur people ain't used to that and won't stand it. He'

e better for everybody. A man like him is worth something for an ex

like him, a white man couldn't live in the country. They'd be so damned sass

redly; "you seem to be vexed at the poor fello

iggers gittin' above us. Them's my sentiments," w

f applause among the group of white

s sturdy manhood. He may be a trifle too positive, but it is a good fault. I think he

cries of "Dar now," "Listen at him," "Now you'

ing scorn. "You don't think, now, that it's any harm to talk that way b

into a hearty lau

nned that you can't allow a colored man to think, talk, act, and prosper like a man, the sooner you get over your squeamishness the better. For

f him if you go there, n

f cheer from the colored men in waiting, and the business of the

r one name, married under another, and now enfranchised under a third, returned to hi

onsequences, might well puzzle a wiser head tha