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Plum Thickets and Field Daisies
My Mother
Beginning of Part IV --- Table of Contents --- Next Section
Bill Houser - One of Brooklyn's Earliest Settlers
MY AIM IN WRITING A SHORT SKETCH of Mr. Houser is to try to present a word picture of him as a worthy citizen, and at the same time, call attention to the length of time that colored people had been landowners in the Brooklyn section of Charlotte.
The deed to our old homestead lot on East Boundary Street which was bought for our grandmother is dated 1884. The yellowed old document shows that this plot of land was bought over eighty years ago from William Houser and his wife. The lot was a portion of a large tract of land that this couple owned in Brooklyn.
Mrs. Amay James
MISS AMAY, as she was affectionately called by her children and friends, lived on Boundary Street about two blocks from our home in Brooklyn. She was a short, stout woman with a very friendly serene face and a rare ability to make friends. For years, she and my mother had been friends and neighbors. I felt a closeness to her also. She had known me as a child and when I was a teacher at Fairview School where I first began my teaching career in Charlotte.
A Jewish Friend
AFTER OUR FATHER’S DEATH, our older brother began working when he was ten years old to supplement the family income. His salary was only one dollar and a half per week, but it was a great financial help to my mother, especially during the summer.
Churches and Religious Activities of Various Members of the Brooklyn Community
THE COLORED RACE as a whole was markedly religious during the dark days of slavery, and out of many a fervent gathering held in the recesses of dark swamps or other forbidden places came the simple, sincere thoughts expressed in many grand old spirituals.