* * * * *
Talbotton, Ga., Oct. 18, 1872.
Major George Tommey, Louisville, Ga.
Sir: Read your letter in the _Columbus Enquirer_. I kept a livery
stable here in '64 and saw the man you are huntin about that time. He
drove a broken down old speckled grey mare he called Lady Chain, now
that you mention it, and claimed she was in foal to "Lightning," the
great four-mile horse. I took this for a joke along with some of the
fairy stories he gave me about the Tommeys, but he was so polite and
humble that I let him stay over night in the stable. Offered to pay me
next morning, an seemed like he had about a bushel of Confedrit money;
but I was long on Confed myself and didn't let him put any more on me.
Don't remember seein any trunk. He was on his way to Thomasville, so he
said, and I giv him as much directions as he could carry.
Very truly,
William Peters.
* * * * *
Thomas County, Oct. 19, 1872.
Major George Tommey, Louisville, Ga.
Dear Sir: My wife remembered your old nigger as soon as she read your
letter in the paper, and so did I when she called it to my mind. He was
a big talker all right, and sat on our back steps half the night talking
about the Tommeys, their race horse, twenty-room house, yard with six
fountains, and a whole tribe of niggers. We fed him and he slept in his
wagon. Next day he wanted to pay me in Confederate money; was using a
corn sack for a pocketbook, and it was most full. He moved on to
Thomasville, about six miles from here, but I don't think it was the
place he was looking for. I reckon it must have been "Tommeysville" he
was looking for. Major, I took a good look at Lady Chain and you ain't
lost much if you never get her back, but if you don't find the nigger,
you've lost the champion liar of Georgia. I hope you get him back, but
it's hardly possible a man talking like he did could last seven years on
the public road.
Respectfully,
Abner Cummings.
* * * * *
Thomasville, Ga., Oct. 19, 1872.
Hon. Sir and Major:
Your man Eneas came to my home in Thomasville in the winter of '65 or
the fall of '64, in great distress. He said he had traveled a thousand
miles to get to Thomasville, but it wasn't the right Thomasville. He had
no idea of States, geography or direction. Claimed he lived in Jefferson
County, next to Washington County, and as this describes two counties
across the line in Florida, several people at different times had sent
him over there. I gave him a letter to a friend over in Jefferson County
near Tallahassee. He had an old grey mare he said was a famous race
horse, but she didn't look it. Claimed she was in foal to the celebrated
"Lightning," whose four-mile race in the mud at New Orleans I witnessed.
I thought the old nigger was loose in the upper story. He had no trunk
when here.
Very truly,
Andrew Loomis.
* * * * *
Tallahassee, Fla., Oct. 20, 1872.
Major Geo. E. Tommey, Tommeysville, via Louisville, Ga.
My Dear Sir: Eneas, your old negro, whose name I had forgotten until I
read your letter in a local paper, was on my plantation near here in
'65. He came here very blue and utterly discouraged from Thomasville,
Ga. Said he was looking for a little Thomasville owned by Major George
E. Tommey. He brought a letter from a friend of mine. There are no
Tommeys in this county, and no Thomasville, and not knowing what to do
with him, I passed him along to Colonel Chairs, a friend in Washington
County, which is on the gulf coast. Chairs wrote me that he had had a
great deal of fun out of Eneas. The gulf astonished him. He declared
solemnly that he knew he was in the wrong Washington, because there were
no oranges, or scrub palmettoes, or big green spiders (crabs) in his,
and the water had no salt in it. Eneas talked a good deal of Macon and
Louisville, and there being a county and town so named, besides another
Thomasville, to the north in Alabama, Chairs started him up that way. I
am truly sorry the old man came to grief. He was a harmless old fellow,
though a picturesque liar, as are many old negroes when they talk of
their white folks.
It is possible that Eneas had a trunk, but I have no recollection of
seeing one in his possession.
Yours very truly,
Randolph Thomas.
* * * * *
Louisville, Ala., Oct. 28, 1872.
Major Tommey, Louisville, Ga.
Sir: A ole nigger name of enus come by hyar in the firs yer atter the
war with er old mare an er colt he claim was by the lightnin. He was
lokin for a tomusville, an I tried to show him the way back to
tomusville, in Georgia, but he got mad and wanted to fight me, an ef he
hadnt ben er ole man I would have busted him open. Mr. tommy, you wont
never see yo nigger no more less he mends his way of acktin when you are
tryin to help him.
Respectfull, sir, yours,
Pompey Wiley (Colored).
He lef hyar for Macon County.
* * * * *
Barton, Washington County, Ala.
Major G. E. Tommey, Louisville, Ga.
Dear Sir: Your negro, Eneas, came to my place in this county in 1865, I
think, from a little village named Thomasville to the northeast. He was
very poor and his pathetic story appealed to my sympathies. I let him
have some rations and a piece of land and he planted a cotton crop. He
married a young mulatto woman on my place that year, and when he left
here about Christmas, 1866, carried with him a young baby besides the
old mare and her colt. The colt, by the way, was a beauty.
Eneas was a puzzle to me, though I have lived among negroes all my life.
His stories of you and your place were marvels. But for the fact that he
held the mare and colt in your name, refusing dozens of offers for the
latter when in dire need, I should have put him down a reckless
romancer. He began preaching here among the negroes and proved to be a
most eloquent spiritual advocate. He claimed to be the pastor of a big
congregation at home. I heard him on one occasion when he baptized forty
converts and was thrilled by his imagery and power.
Eneas knew nothing of geography beyond the names of a few towns and
counties. Hearing of a Macon and Louisville over in Mississippi, he
gathered his household goods into his wagon in December, '66. I do hope
you will yet find him. Suppose you make inquiries through the African
Methodist Church? He ought to be a bishop by this time.
Very respectfully,
James Tally,
Attorney at Law.
* * * * *
Sunshine Parsonage,
Washington County, Mississippi.
Major Geo. E. Tommey, Louisville, Ga.
My Dear Sir: I was greatly interested in your letter copied into our
county paper from the _Atlanta Constitution_, concerning Eneas Tommey.
He was here in 1868 or 1869 with a wife and several children. They came
in a one-horse wagon drawn by an old grey mare he called Lady Chain, and
followed by a splendid young colt he declared was from celebrated racing
stock. An almost worn out pass from his mistress, Mrs. Tommey, though it
bore no date or address, saved the old man from arrest. His story, that
he was lost and on his way home, though remarkable, was possible, and he
was not molested. The narrative of his wanderings interested me greatly.
He came up the river--the Mississippi--from Jefferson County, trying to
find a ford. He had heard of a Washington parish and a Thomasville in
Louisiana, and was trying to reach them. He rented a piece of land near
here and raised a crop, leaving in 1869 for Jefferson County, Alabama. I
gave him a letter to a minister in that county.
Very truly,
(Rev.) John Simms.
P. S.--I regret to say that after leaving here, Eneas, though an active
minister of the Gospel, suffered the young horse to be entered in a
county race. I understand that he won about $75. Allowance, however,
must be made for the old man's necessities and distress.