Sarah H. Locke, the daughter of William A. and Priscilla Taylor, was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1839. The fieldworker described her as “an intelligent old lady.” She had been a good dressmaker and had sewn for a number of the “first families” of Indianapolis. She had been married twice. Her first husband died shortly after their marriage, and she was a widow for twenty-five years before she married again. When interviewed, she was living on a pension and appeared to be happy.
Sarah talked about her early days with great interest. Jacob Keephart, her master, was kind to his slaves and never sold them to slave traders. His family was very large, so they bought and sold slaves within the family or to neighbors. Sarah’s father, brothers, and grandmother belonged to the same owner in Henry County, Kentucky. Her mother and two sisters belonged to another branch of the Keephart family, who lived about seven miles away.
Her father came to see her mother on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and they would have big dinners on these nights in their cabin. Her father cradled all the grain for the neighborhood. He was a very hot-tempered man and would not work when he was angry; therefore, every effort was made to keep him in a good humor when the workload was heavy. Sarah’s mother died when the children were very young, and Sarah was given to the Keephart daughter as a wedding present and taken to a new home. She was always treated like the others in the family.
The women milked ten or twelve cows a day, knitted socks, and wove “linsey” for their dresses. Sarah said that Keephart sheared sheep right along with the slaves. After the abolition of slavery, Mr. Keephart gave her father a horse and rations to last for six months so the children would not starve.
Christmas was a joyous time for the Keephart slaves. They had a whole week to celebrate—eating, dancing, and making merry. Sarah remembered one night when the slaves were having a dance in one of their cabins. A band of Ku Kluxers came and took all the firearms they could find, but to the slaves’ surprise no one was hurt. It did not take long for them to find out why no one was punished, because another night when the Kluxers were riding, the slaves recognized the voice of their young master among the riders. That was the reason why the Keephart slaves were not beaten when the firearms were found.
Sarah said that freeborn blacks were not allowed to associate with slaves because they were said “to have no sense” and would taint the slaves.
Charles and Lydia French, fellow workers with Sarah’s family, went to Cincinnati and in 1857 sent for Sarah and her sister so that they could go to school, as there were no schools they could attend in Kentucky then. The girls stayed one year with the French family, and that was the longest time they ever went to school. After that, they attended school for only three months at different times. Sarah could read and write very well, though.