recounted by her of her captivity among the Indians.

"Papa had no gray hairs until after mama died. His hair turned gray from
grief at her loss," said Mrs. Della Smith, one of his daughters. Uncle
Joe's smile reveals a set of unusually sound teeth from which only one
tooth is missing.

Like all fathers and grandfathers, Uncle Joe recounts the cute deeds and
funny sayings of the little children he has been associated with: how
his own children with feather bedecked crowns enacted the capture of
their grandmother and often played "Voo-Doo Doctor."

Uncle Joe stresses the value of work, not the enforced labor of the
slave but the cheerful toil of free people. He is glad that his sons and
daughters are industrious citizens and is proud they maintain clean
homes for their families. He is happy because his children have never
known bondage, and he respects the laws of his country and appreciates
the interest that the citizens of Evansville have always showed in the
negro race.

After Uncle Joe became a young man he met many Indians from the tribe
that had held his mother captive. Through them he learned much about his
father which his mother had never told him.

Though he was a Gardner slave and would have been Joseph Gardner, he
took the name of Carter from a step father and is known as Joseph
Carter.