In addition to this, I gave private lessons to several young
men whom I was fitting to send to the Hampton Institute. Without
regard to pay and with little thought of it, I taught any one who
wanted to learn anything that I could teach him. I was supremely
happy in the opportunity of being able to assist somebody else. I did
receive, however, a small salary from the public fund, for my work as
a public-school teacher.
During the time that I was a student at Hampton my older brother,
John, not only assisted me all that he could, but worked all of the
time in the coal-mines in order to support the family. He willingly
neglected his own education that he might help me. It was my earnest
wish to help him to prepare to enter Hampton, and to save money to
assist him in his expenses there. Both of these objects I was
successful in accomplishing. In three years my brother finished the
course at Hampton, and he is now holding the important position of
Superintendent of Industries at Tuskegee. When he returned from
Hampton, we both combined our efforts and savings to send our adopted
brother, James, through the Hampton Institute. This we succeeded in
doing, and he is now the postmaster at the Tuskegee Institute. The
year 1877, which was my second year of teaching in Malden, I spent
very much as I did the first.
Pages:
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85