SWEET CHARIOT SWINGS LOW FOR 'RINDA JOHNSON--FORMER SLAVE DIES BEFORE REACHING 101; RITES HELD FOR OTHERS.--Miss Marinda Johnson, who could remember her childhood as a slave died Friday at the home of a niece, Mrs. Lottie Wright in New Albany.--She would have observed her 101st birthday anniversary April 15.--Funeral services were held Monday afternoon in the Tankard funeral home and burial was in the West Street Cemetery [now known as West Haven Cemetery] in New Albany.--"Aunt 'Rinda" was born in slavery April 15, 1850. She had 15 brothers and sisters, some younger and some older than she. Her parents were slaves of a Meade County, Ky., plantation owner named Norman Johnson. She could remember the whippings the young Negro boys received when they became unruly. She could remember that the master came to her parents' cabin and took away her baby sister wrapped in a shawl. The baby was never seen again. She also remembered when her sister Betty and brother Jim were sold to a neighbor. She liked to talk about her mistress who was kind but would reprove the slaves for wrong doing. One expression that her mistress used made her a "better girl." The expression was, "By the great powers, some of these days you might be drinking Mississippi water." The expression was a warning that slaves could be sold down the river where "things were not so nice and happy for slaves." Marinda could remember and talked of the times during the Civil War. When Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves most of the slaves on the plantation, including some of her brothers and sisters went to Louisville to work. She said she, her parents and her brother Ben stayed on the farm. Later they left the plantation and moved to Laconia taking the name of their master. Her father died in 1880. Later she and her brother Ben moved to Corydon where they lived for many years. She cared for some of Ben's children and grandchildren. Many people in Harrison County remember Ben because of his skill in handling log teams.Two of Marinda's brothers, John and Floyd saw service in the Spanish-American War and John was killed in action. Marinda had lived in Floyd County since 1939. She has been bedfast for a number of years. Source: -Harrison County Republican 1951 [West Haven Cemetery Records she died 2 Feb 1951, buried 5 Feb 51, age 100 years, buried on Range 23 Plat 2 Single grave #9] S Carpenter ___________________________ Did you know: The Southern Indiana Genealogical Society meets on the first Thursday of each month at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library 180 W. Spring Street New Albany, IN 47150