The day of the murders I was approaching the school with a supply of milk and bread so that the children could have a nuncheon, when I saw the cowardly demons throwing kerosene on the building and setting it ablaze. I screamed and ran, scattering milk and bread. The monsters fled, but by the time I reached the school it was a bonfire. Father and Miss Carruthers were heroic, sacrificing themselves to move the children to safety. I smothered their smoldering clothes in my skirts, which fell to rags around my legs by the time we were finished.
Kind Mr. Schapen saw the blaze and drove over with his wagon. He and I stood helpless in front of the conflagration. As soon as the flames had died near the entrance, we saw the bodies of our dear ones, charred and contorted from the fire, with the last two of the children.
Mr. Schapen took the surviving children to their parents in the settlement the town’s Colored folk have built near the hill they call Yancy.