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.
J. S.
Idlewilde, Jefferson County, Ala.October 26, 1872.
Major Geo. E. Tommey, Louisville, Ga.
My Dear Sir: A Birmingham paper to-day gave me the explanation of a mystery that has puzzled my family for several years, when it reproduced your letter to the Atlanta Constitution. Eneas – or the Rev. Eneas Tommey, as he called himself – came here in 1869 with a grey mare, and a splendid young horse, which he claimed was of marvelous speed, and a letter from a friend of mine in Mississippi. He also brought a wife and two children. To the latter he added a third before leaving. My daughter was greatly interested in the old man's remarkable story, and made an effort to help him. She took down a letter to you, which he dictated, made seven copies of it and sent one to every Thomasville in the South. They all came back to her. By good luck she retained one for her scrapbook, and I enclose it that you may see how the faithful old fellow was trying to reach you. He stayed around here farming and preaching until 1870 when, hearing from a horse trader of a Macon and a Sparta in Tennessee, he moved on. He had no trunk with him, and I am afraid your cup is gone.
Very truly,(Rev.) Amos Wells.
P. S. – I am informed that Eneas participated in a horse race in Birmingham after leaving here, and won a great deal of money.
A. W.
Letter of Eneas inclosed in that of Rev. Mr. Wells:
Marse George: I am loss in er distric called Yellerhama, by a town name o'Burningham. Ef you knows whar Burningham is, fer God's sake come ter me fer I can't git ter you! Me an' Lady Chain is plum wore out.
Marse George, I been ter firs one an' den ernuther Thomasville, year in an' year out, tell thar ain't no sense in hit. An' I ain't hit de right one yit. Evy yuther place is name Thomasville er Macon er Washington er Jefferson. Evybody knows whar I wanter go but me, an' shows me de road; but all I kin do is ter keep er movin'. De firs Thomasville I got ter I got back fo' times. Hit was harder ter lose it than hit was ter find it!
Marse George, I come ter one pond I couldn't see ercross an' de water warn't no count. The last Thomasville was out most ter sundown an' I was headin' fer ernuther when I struck er creek er mile wide an' Lady Chain couldn't wade hit, so we turn back.
Marse George, Lady Chain's colt come, back in the secon' Jefferson, an' he sholy is ole Lightnin's colt; long-legged, big-footed an' iron grey. I been tryin' him out hyar an' thar an' thar ain't nothin' kin tech him.
Marse George, I got ernuther wife down in de third Washington an' am bringin' her erlong. She weighs one hundred and sixty, an' picks fo' hundred pounds er cotton er day. She b'longs ter you, same as me an' Lady Chain an' de colt.
Marse George, er horse trader goin' by told me erbout some more Macons an' Spartas an' Jeffersons an' Washingtons up de country fum hyar an' ef I don't git word fum you by nex' month, I'm gointer move erlong.
Marse George, ef you knows whar I is fum dis hyar letter an' can't come yo'self, sen' fer me. I'm sick o' de road an' wanter git home. Do somp'n an' do it quick!
Yo' ole nigger,Eneas.
Macon, Tenn., Oct. 30, 1872.
Maj. George E. Tommey, Louisville, Ga.