My mother was named Elizabeth Warrington. She was a cook for Mr. Bolling, the contractor and builder that my father was an apprentice under. She was one of ten children, and was born in Virginia. She and two of here sisters were sold to slave traders when they were young. They were taken to Mississippi and sold again.

She used to tell us that her father was half Indian, and that his father was full blooded. She often wrote back to Virginia, trying to find our about her people, but she was unsuccessful. We were too young at the time to realize the significance of what she was trying to do.