In the book is printed a bill-of-sale for a negro woman slave. When Mr. Stern gave the bill-of-sale to his wife he said, “I felt like a mean creature when I paid the money for that girl, but I knew that we needed a nurse girl ... so what was to be done ... Where I was born, on the Rhine, no one would believe for a moment that I would buy a human being. They would hate me, as I hate myself, for bartering in human flesh.” The exact bill of sales for Sarah read as follows: “Received from Jacob Stern two thousand dollars for a negro woman, by name Sarah, about thirty-four years of age, copper colored. Said woman I promise to deliver to Jacob Stern, in course of six days. I hereby guarantee the woman, Sarah, to be sound in body and mind. I also guarantee said woman, Sarah, to be a good house woman. If not, I promise to take her back and refund to said Jacob Stern $1000.” Just before Mr. Stern’s death their old servant “Aunt Caroline” and he were talking and he told her that he thanked God he had set the colored people free, and she replied, “But thanks be to him mos’en fer giben me my good marsar and misses, who gib me my close, my vittles and my medicine.” WALNUT GROVE Five miles south of Linden there stands today an immense walnut grove. Planted on both sides of the old dirt road, one hundred or more of these trees are all that are left of the 320 planted by Mr. Jim Lockett, more than 60 years ago. The trees make a dense shade and a beautiful lane. The story is, that Mr. Lockett in a reminiscent mood, thought, that the country some day would run out of split rails, with which to make fences. Realizing that wire would some day be used for making fences he knew that fence posts would be needed, so he ordered his farm hands to plant in every other corner of the rail fence a slim seedling walnut tree to be used for future fence posts. They are standing today waiting for the wire and we are told that when the new highway was built that it was moved over 200 feet to keep from injuring the roots of Mr. Lockett’s trees. Mr. Lockett passed away more than 20 years ago, but his Walnut line is still a joy to the many who pass that way and many people gather the Walnuts by the bushel each fall. Another interesting thing that Mr. Lockett had on his farm was his water gin. One of the neighbors said, “that in its day it could really go after the cotton.” The water was brought to the gin through a series of ditches and water troughs a mile and a quarter long. From overhead and controlled by a gate, the water fell onto the top of a large wooden wheel 36 feet in diameter. Around the wheel were attached buckets holding 15 gallons of water each, and when enough buckets were filled with water the wheel began turning and the gin ran. “She would launch out five bales a day, if you got going by daylight.” MURDER ALLEY