Dave Webb's item on the ex-slave narratives was interesting.He is right about the value of these records for people researching their families. A few weeks ago I was researching my family in Franklin County, Alabama. I used census records to track down the grandfather of my great grandfather-William Hugh McKinney. He was the grandson of Johnson McKinney (born 1764 in Virginia) I discovered in the separate slave schedules for 1850 and 1860 that Johnson McKinney owned 10 slaves. I also found that his sons (including my great great grandfather) fought for the Union and the Confederacy, that war really was "Brother against Brother". Anyway I found that William's maternal grandfather was a man named Hugh Nelson. While searching through online records Hugh Nelson's name turned up in some ex-slave narratives. He is described as befriending a slave family and share cropping with them, during the worst of the Klu Klux Klan times, helping the slave family and taking up for them against the Klan. The ex-slave's name was Mingo White. At first I thought that the chances of this Hugh Nelson and my Hugh Nelson being the same were not too good, but it made me dig a little deeper. There were other things in the narrative that seemed to fit...so I rechecked my census records. I found the 1870 census with my great great gr gr grandfather Hugh on it..then I looked at the family next door. They were a black family named White, and Mingo White was listed as a twelve year old. I now think that this was my ancestor mentioned in the narrative. And it was a very valuable bit of insight into the family that I am very glad I ran across. I agree with Mr. Webb about the value of these narratives and their ability to help us see a time otherwise closed to us. -Beryl Reid-