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A white fig tree grew out by Neilous’s lot fence, and when the figs were ripe, they
were as large as a china coffee cup. Neilous picked one for me, and one was all that I could

eat because it was so big.
Evidently Pa had known Neilous all his life. I’m pretty sure nobody but Pa, Ma,
Neilous, his wife, and me ever knew we spent the night at Neilous’s home. If white people

back then had known we spent the night with black folks like Neilous and his wife, they
would have rode Pa out on a rail—or even shot him.

I recently saw the road sign “Gabe Road” located between my nephew Dewy Gay’s

house and my brother-in-law C.M. Roger’s house. It reminded me of taking a short cut path
to school; it passed right by a house which had a hip roof porch on the front. The house
belonged to Gabe Shears, a black man. Gabe Road is close to where Gabe’s home was

located. The house was about 1'00 yards to the left of Gabe Road.
When it rained, a lot of water accumulated on the ground around Gabe’s house. I
remember seeing Gabe and his wife sitting on boxes on their little porch with their tin plates
of food eating and looking happy as larks. I would stop and talk to them. I had never seen

folks sit on their front porch to eat.
In the tape that Kermit Home made of Pa telling about the old times, he talks about

Gabe. Most of my brothers and sisters have listened to the tape. Sharon and Dan also have
the tape. Gabe Shears served in the Confederate Army.
The area election booth was a little old shack, and it always had a board or two off the
back where those who were buying votes could see exactly who everyone voted for. They

coiild hand money to the voter through the hole in the wall.
A mob of people always lingered around the election booth. When the law was passed

that gave blacks the right to vote, Gabe Shears went to vote in the next election.
Some white people asked Gabe, “Nigger, what are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to vote,” he answered.

The whites disapproved of Gabe or any other black voting. I heard grownups talking
about Gabe wanting to vote. I think they roughed Gabe up pretty bad and kept him from
voting. I knew most of the white men who mistreated Gabe. Even though I was very young,

I thought Gabe was a better citizen than most of them. Gabe was a good old black man.
When my brother Rodney was county commissioner, he named the road “Gabe Road.”

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