and sold.  By selling a portion of the plantation, the owner was able to keep a token of the past

society.  He was able to retain the large southern house and some acres.

John had been fortunate enough to sell his homestead in Wisconsin and purchased forty acres of

Arkansas prime soil.  On this land was a two room, log cabin, where, in July of 1874, John and

Mary waited for their third son to be born.  They named this son Samuel Bejamin Sweitzner.

Sam was a small child, but very active.  By the time he was ten years old, he knew well every foot

of the old plantation.  He knew where the big, white house stood with four large columns.

Sam noticed Mr. Wellington, who lived in the big house, come to see Papa under the large trees

and asked how the crops were doing.  Mr. Wellington must have loved those great trees standing

in the yard of the old mansion.  It semmed to Sam that every time he and Papa talked, it was

under the trees.  Sam did overhear his mother say to Papa that Mr. Wellington still refused to

invite Yankees into his house, and he still thinks that the blacks will stay with him.

Sam knew well where the black people lived.  He could remember the day he was playing at the

edge of the collot field with Jess and Jim.  They were black boys.  Jess hit Sam for standing on

his cotton sack, then ran home.  Sam overtook Jess a few yards from Jess' cabin.  Jim came to

help Jess and Sam hit him.  He let out a cry that brought the black woman on the run with a

broom in her hand.  Sam looked up just in time to jump the rail fence and escape a hard blow

from the broom.  To Sam, it felt good to escape danger.  It felt better than anything, when he

stopped to think about it.