I was born in 1868 on February 23rd in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It lies in the dip of two mountain ranges, the Berkshires to the west and the Taconic to the east. It was a town of about five thousand people. And of that number, somewhere between 25 and 50 were Blacks.

The town's people was made up mostly of English and Dutch descendents along with some Germans. They were mostly laborers. Some were well-to-do and a few had a little wealth.

The Irish, who were mostly Catholics, started coming into the area in the 1850's, after the well-known famine in Ireland. Later, other Irishmen came, and poured into slums. Most of the discrimination that was noticeable in Great Barrington was directed toward them.