"In 1881 I married. The year after that, in '83,[HW: ?] I merchandised a
little. Then I got converted. I got it in my head that it was wrong to
take big profits from business, so I sold out. Then I was asked to
assist the keeper of the jail.
"In 1888 I went to school for the first time. I was then twenty-six
years old. By the end of the first term, I knew all that the teacher
could teach, so he sent me to Claflin University. I left there in the
third year normal.
"When I returned home, I taught school, at first in a private school and
later in a public school for $15 a month.
"A man named Boyle told me that he had some ground to sell. I saved up
$45, the price he asked for it. When I offered it to him, he said that
he had decided not to sell it. I went to town and spent my $45. A few
days later, he met me and offered me the place again. I told him I had
spent my money. He then offered it to me on time. There was plenty of
timber on the place, so I got some contracts with a man named Roland and
delivered wood to him. When I went to collect the money, he said he
would not pay me in money.
"A man named Pennington offered me 20¢ a day for labor. I asked if he
would pay in money.
"He replied, 'If you're looking for money, don't come.'
"I went home and said to my wife, 'I am going to leave here.'
"I came to Forrest City, Arkansas January 28, 1888. I farmed in Forrest
City, making one crop, and then I entered the ministry, and then I
preached at Spring Park for two years.
"Then I entered Philander Smith College where I stayed from 1891-1897. I
preached from the time I left Philander until 1913.
"Then I studied law and completed the American Correspondence course in
Law when I was fifty years old. I am still practicing.