"My father belonged to Judge Prioleau and was trained to wait on the
table from the time he was a boy; and this is how he nearly got a
whippin'--his master liked 'Hoppin John' and there was some cold on the
table--you know 'Hoppin John'? His master told him to 'heat it'; he
thought his master said 'eat it', so he took it out and sat down and eat
it. When he went back his master asked him where was the 'Hoppin John'?
Paris say he eat it. His master was mad--after waitin' all that
time--and say he should have a whippin'. But Mistress say 'Oh, no, he is
young and didn't understand'; so he never got the whippin'.
"Later he was taken from waitin' on table to be his master's
body-servant and that was when his name was changed. One of the young
ladies, his master's daughter, was named Alice, and when he called
'Paris', it sounded like 'Alice', so his master named him 'Forest' and
he kept the name from that time, for his first and his last name, and he
always went by the name of Forest until he died."
He went abroad with Judge Pricleau as his body-servant, and traveled in
Europe. (Authority--Mrs. Arthur Lynah)
"In later years, when his master was paralyzed, Forest was his
attendant; and when his master died, Forest watched by him all night. He
lay down under the couch--they used to lay them on couches then--and he
slept there and wouldn't leave him, and stayed there all night; and his
mistress came in the early morning and kissed his master, and she said
'you here, Forest' and he answered, 'yes, mistress.' After that,
everything was changed. His mistress wanted to give him his freedom, but
the rest of the family didn't agree to that, so he went to Savannah with
'Mas Charles'. But though he was treated well he was so homesick that he
couldn't stay. He thought of his mistress and of the old home, and of
his mother, and he ran away and came back to the Plantation. Mas Charles
was so mad when he came after him that he was ready to whip him; but
when he saw how happy they were he agreed to give Forest his freedom."
Before the War Between the States Forest was married, living in
Charleston, and working on the Bay. Susan remembers her terror when the
shells of the Federal bombardment were bursting over the city, and
recalls holding out her arms for someone to hold her. Her father had
returned home one afternoon and was resting from a hard days work, when
a shell crashed through the walls of their little home on Tradd street,
and passed immediately over him as he lay on his cot. The neighbors came
rushing in thinking that everybody had been killed, but the shell had
passed through, shattering the house but leaving Forest unharmed. He
lived to the age of ninety-seven, valued and respected; his daughter
carries on his good reputation, and is known by the name of SUSAN
"FOREST."