Morgan County AlArchives News.....Various Items of Genealogical Interest September 21, 1881
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Kenneth Stacy klstacyfamily@aol.com November 7, 2006, 9:58 am

The Huntsville Weekly Democrat, 21 September 1881 September 21, 1881
A Couple of Curiosities in the Colored Race.

The Madisonian.
There is a Negro in Morgan county, Lewis Jordan, who is thoroughly conversant 
with the rudiments of the Latin language, knows a smattering of French, and is 
fast learning to read and parse Greek.  He is a capital scholar in English 
grammer, and is ready in mathematics.  He had acquired this extraordinary 
amount of learning without the assistance of a preceptor, and seems charmed 
when under some great mental task.  He hasn’t an intelligent face, but rather 
the reverse – appearing, at times, silly in the extreme.  He is about thirty-
five years old, and feels confident that he can master several languages before 
his death.  He laughs at you, when you ask if he could not progress faster, if 
placed under a competent teacher.  He is humble, polite, and strictly reliable.
There is another Negro – we forget the name – who has been blind since early 
boyhood, made so by drinking poke-root tea, who is the best and readiest 
mathematician we ever saw.  He makes all his calculations without the use of 
pencil or slate.  He can multiply any numbers, and give you a correct answer to 
any sum in interest, before the most expert mathematician can tell by means of 
figures and pencil.  He is also silly, and seems a little above an idiot.  He 
is perfectly black, about thirty years old, and has made since the war at his 
trade, making wagon fixtures, gates, and splitting boards, about $2,000 in 
cash.  He owns several hundred acres of land, which he rents.  One peculiarity 
about him, he buries all his money, unless he can get 12 per cent interest with 
good security.  He goes about in winter and summer more naked than clothed.

Page 3
The Decatur News:  Evans Skillington, an employee in the yard of the L.& N. R. 
R. Co. at this place, in attempting to couple two freight cars was caught 
between the bumpers and badly hurt, the injury received being in the breast.  
Dr. W. J. Young, who has called, at first considered the wound a dangerous one –
 there were three ribs broken, and serious internal injury was feared.  But 
reaction having taken place, it is hoped the patient will recover.  The 
accident occurred about noon, Thursday.

Dr. Peter Binford and Miss Lee, a sister-in-law of Dr. J. B. West, were married 
at Clarksville, Tenn., a few days since.  The happy bride and groom passed 
through Decatur Thursday, on their way to Somerville, his home, which is now 
hers.  We wish them much pleasure and prosperity through life.


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